Remembering Alexander Courage

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-courage30-2008may30,0,1290138.story

Remembering Joseph Pevney

Though probably best remembered for his work on Star Trek, his many credits in film and television include episodes of The Fugitive, Mission: Impossible, The Virginian, Bonanza, The Paper Chase, as well as “The Big Cheese,” which according to my pal and colleague Frankie Montiforte ranks among the very best episodes of The Rockford Files.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-pevney29-2008may29,0,2766431.story

Ed Robertson
Pop Culture Critic and Television Historian
Author, Thirty Years of The Rockford Files, The Fugitive Recaptured, The Ethics of Star Trek and other books
Co-Host, Talking Television with Dave White
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
www.edrobertson.com
www.doctorrerun.com
www.talkingtelevision.org

New on DVD this week: The Adams Chronicles miniseries

Back in 1976, long before HBO’s much heralded miniseries on the life of John Adams, PBS produced The Adams Chronicles an epic 13-hour miniseries that chronicled not only the life of John Adams, but the lives of the entire Adams family, from the days before the American revolution to the dawn of the early 20^th century. It’s a fascinating look at one of the first great families of American politics that, in many respects, also set the standard for Roots, Centennial and other great network miniseries of the ’70s and ’80s.

I had a chance to preview The Adams Chronicles for Share-a-Vision Radio. Click here for my complete report. 

Ed Robertson
Pop Culture Critic and Television Historian
Co-Host, Talking Television with Dave White
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
www.edrobertson.com
www.doctorrerun.com
www.talkingtelevision.org

New on DVD this week: Season One of The Invaders

The big news today is the release of Season One of The Invaders, the classic sci-fi series from 1967 starring Roy Thinnes as David Vincent, a mild-mannered architect who discovers that aliens from another planet are trying to conquer the human race… only to find that whenever he tries to report this to the authorities, no one seems to believe him.The Invaders, of course, was among the many shows produced by Quinn Martin for ABC in the 1960s. We’ll be paying tribute to this unusual series on Tuesday, June 10, when series creator Larry Cohen and TV historian Stephen Bowie join Frankie Montiforte and me on Talking Television with Dave White.

In the meantime, I had a chance to preview the Season One DVD package. Click here for more information.

Ed Robertson
Pop Culture Critic and Television Historian
Co-Host, Talking Television with Dave White
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
www.edrobertson.com
www.doctorrerun.com
www.talkingtelevision.org

 

Tribute to Barry Morse: archive now available online

In case you missed it, our tribute to Barry Morse is now available at TalkingTelevision.org. This is the program that was originally scheduled for April 27, but which had to be postponed at the last minute due to transmission difficulties. Joining Dave White and me are Barry’s son, actor/director Hayward Morse, who co-starred with his father in such productions as Bernard and Bosie; Anthony Wynn and Robert Wood, who collaborated with Barry on many projects, including his memoir, Remember with Advantages, and the 2007 radio production Rogues and Vagabonds; and longtime DGA member Bob Rubin, who worked with Barry on The Fugitive, The Invaders and other shows for QM Productions.

Ed Robertson
Pop Culture Critic and Television Historian
Co-Host, Talking Television with Dave White
www.edrobertson.com
www.doctorrerun.com
www.talkingtelevision.org

 

The Magician: A modern-day Count of Monte Cristo

Time has been kind to The Magician (NBC, 1973-1974), the offbeat action drama starring Bill Bixby as Anthony Blake, a modern-day Count of Monte Cristo who, after clearly his name after years of imprisonment on a false espionage charge, uses his vast wealth and resources to help other victims of injustice. Unlike most television crime stoppers, Blake didn’t carry a gun – in fact, he abhorred violence, relying instead on his skills as a magician as his only arsenal against evil.

Despite its intriguing premise, not to mention the star power of leading man Bill Bixby, The Magician was a marginal success at best – if indeed a series whose network run lasted but 21 episodes can be construed a success. And yet, the show has lived on since its cancellation, finding new audiences in overseas syndication and on U.S. cable television, while sparking a renewed interest in the performance of magic over the past 30 years. In that respect, despite its limited number of episodes, The Magician continues to have the kind of far-reaching impact that few television shows ever achieve.

We paid tribute to The Magician last week on Talking Television with Dave White, from its uneven network run in 1973 to its ongoing legacy today – a legacy that, as our guest J. Kingston Pierce noted on the program, no doubt received a boost in 1994 when it became permanently part of the X Files mythology). We also announced the URL for the online petition asking Paramount Studios to formally release The Magician in DVD; if you wish to sign that petition, you can do so by clicking here.

Our tribute to The Magician was the second of two programs honoring the career of Bill Bixby; the first program originally aired on Tuesday, April 15, and featured J. Kingston Pierce, as well as actor/musician Brandon Cruz, Bixby’s co-star on The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, and Renee Tufo, who is leading a campaign to win posthumous induction for Bixby in the Television Academy Hall of Fame. If you would like to see Bixby inducted in the TV Hall of Fame, there’s a petition for that as well, which you can sign by clicking here.

Ed Robertson
Pop Culture Critic and Television Historian
Co-Host, Talking Television with Dave White
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
www.edrobertson.com
www.doctorrerun.com
www.talkingtelevision.org

Philanthropist Loreen Arbus to Chair Ms Foundation Gloria Awards: National event Salutes Women of Vision and celebrates grassroots

It’s very special to receive a call from Gloria Steinem  – it’s an indescribable honor when she calls to ask if you would consider Chairing a milestone event like the Ms. Foundation’s 20th Annual Gloria Awards and, as an added bonus, celebrate The Ms. Foundation’s 35^th Anniversary, as well.  Longtime friend and colleague Loreen Arbus was on the receiving end of that phone conversation.  “An opportunity to acknowledge the vision and dogged determination of one of the Ms. Foundation’s founders is something I couldn’t pass up — and to have Gloria Steinem, a friend and feminist icon I greatly admire, call and personally extend the invitation to Chair this event, is a privilege,” said Arbus. Celebrities and leaders from the entertainment, philanthropic, and business communities will gather at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City on Wednesday, May 21, 2008, to honor the winners. Gloria Award winners are selected by the Ms. Foundation for their commitment to and achievements in the areas of social justice and women’s leadership. The 20^th Annual Gloria Awards: A National Salute to Women of Vision will be co-hosted by Gloria Steinem, author, activist and co-founder of the Ms. Foundation for Women, and Sara K. Gould, Ms. Foundation President & CEO. 

 

About the Ms. Foundation for Women: Founded in 1973, The Ms. Foundation for Women is the first and leading women’s fund and the foundation engaged across the United States to build women’s collective power to ignite change. The Ms. Foundation delivers strategic grants, capacity building and leadership development to organizations at local, state, Tribal and national levels working for policy change and culture change across the broad areas of women’s health, economic justice, ending violence and building democracy. With its long history of bringing the leadership and perspectives of women who are most marginalized to the center, and building the capacity of diverse women and their organizations to connect across issues, geography and with other social justice groups, the Foundation strengthens social movements and brings our nation closer to its democratic ideals.

 

For more information, visit www.msfoundation.org

By Popular Demand: “The Magician” on Talking Television

The Magician, the short-lived but long-lasting NBC series starring Bill Bixby as a crime-fighting illusionist, will be the subject of the May 20 edition of Talking Television with Dave White, beginning at 10:30pm ET, 7:30pm PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org. Though its original network tenure was just one season (1973-1974), The Magician has enjoyed a remarkable run in worldwide syndication, leaving its mark on television (the show is part of the X Files mythology) while also inspiring a new wave of real-life stage magicians. Not surprisingly, we were bombarded with emails about The Magician last month in response to our tribute to Bill Bixby; for that reason, we decided to devote an entire hour to this immensely popular show. Frankie Montiforte and I will co-host the program; our guest will be J. Kingston Pierce, senior editor of January Magazine, whose writings on television include articles on The Magician  and other popular detective shows of the 1970s. We’ll also play clips from The Magician, and may have a surprise or two up our sleeve. If you’re a fan of Bill Bixby, if you grew up watching The Magician and have a favorite episode, be sure to join us Tuesday, May 20 beginning at 10:30pm ET, 7:30pm PT on KSAV.org. Phone number is (800) 407-KSAV (5728), email address is talk@ksav.org or ed@talkingtelevision.org.

Ed Robertson
Pop Culture Critic and Television Historian
Co-Host, Talking Television with Dave White
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
www.edrobertson.com
www.talkingtelevision.org

 

 

New on DVD: “Great Writers: William Faulkner”

You know how some people like to say that you can never learn anything from watching television? Well, the folks at Kultur Entertainment have put together a series of documentaries that proves that adage wrong. Called the Great Writers Series, these 45-minute films take viewers behind the scenes of the life and times of some of the greatest novelists of the 20^th century, including Truman Capote, John Steinbeck, Tennessee Williams, and William Faulkner. In fact, Great Writers: William Faulkner is now available on DVD. Featuring insightful commentary, archival documents and rare interviews, it’s a thought-provoking look at Faulkner’s life, as well as the politics and social events that helped shape his writing.  

Ed Robertson
www.edrobertson.com

New book by Will Durst skewers partisan politics from every angle

We mostly think of Will Durst as a stand-up comic, radio personality (his talk show with Willie Brown is back as a podcast via willandwillie.com) and political satirist nonpareil. But he’s had his share of odd jobs – 103, to be exact. Why so many? “I have always, still have and probably forever will have an eensy-weensy, teeny-tiny, itty-bitty problem with authority,” Durst confesses in his new book, The All-American Sport of Bipartisan Bashing. “Of course, I was always aiming for Big-Time Headlining Comedian, for which there is no apprenticeship program, and it was necessary to keep my nights free.”

Durst is at his edgy best in All-American Sport, a witty collection of short riffs that skewer partisan politics from every conceivable angle. I had a chance to chat with him last week for The Wave Magazine; click here for the complete article.

Ed Robertson
www.edrobertson.com