Are TV ads too loud?

From Parade.com:

http://www.parade.com/news/intelligence-report/archive/090927-are-tv-ads-too-loud.html

TV CONFIDENTIAL Sept. 7 edition, Hour 2 with guest William Schallert

Actor William Schallert (Get Smart, The Patty Duke Show) joins Ed and Frankie to discuss his many roles in film and television, including his work with Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, John Sturges and Don Siegel:

http://media.podcastingmanager.com/9/3/5/3/3/142636-133539/Media/090709tvc29_2.mp3

TV CONFIDENTIAL Sept. 7 edition, Hour 1 with guest Andrew Lee Fielding

Ed and Frankie welcome TV historian Andrew Lee Fielding, author of The Lucky Strike Papers, as they look back at the career of bandleader Kay Kyser. Then, during This Week in TV History, Tony Figueroa remembers Bob Newhart, Yvonne de Carlo, Jane Curtin, the game show Truth or Consequences and the inimitable Saturday morning series H.R. Pufnstuf:

http://media.podcastingmanager.com/9/3/5/3/3/142636-133539/Media/090709tvc29_1.mp3

Your Favorite TV Themes and More: Next on TV CONFIDENTIAL

Your favorite TV theme songs will be the topic of discussion on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, Sept. 21 at 10pm ET, 7pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio, with a rebroadcast Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 11pm ET, 8pm PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org.

Our guest this week will be Jon Burlingame, music writer for Daily Variety and Film Score Monthly and author of TV’s Biggest Hits: The Story of Television Themes from Dragnet to Friends. Jon’s book is hands down the most comprehensive resource there is on the subject of TV themes, filled with behind-the-scenes stories of the many great composers responsible for our favorite television music. Get ready to test your TV M.Q. (Television Musical Quotient) when Jon joins us in the studio for our first hour.

If you want to be part of this week’s program, if you have a favorite TV theme that you can never get tired of hearing, join us for our live broadcast, premiering Monday, Sept. 21 at 10pm ET, 7pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio. Phone number is (888) 746-5875 (or 888 SHOKUS-5). If you have questions or comments you’d like to send in advance, our email address is talk@tvconfidential.net.

Ed Robertson
Co-Host, TV CONFIDENTIAL
Mon-Sun 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Shokus Internet Radio
Every other Tuesday at 11pm ET, 8pm PT
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner

Writer/producer George Eckstein dies at age 81

If George Eckstein were just remembered for co-writing “The Judgment,” the record-setting two-part concluding episode of The Fugitive, that would’ve been enough to leave his mark in television. But Eckstein’s accomplishments beyond “The Judgment” were impressive in their own right. In addition to penning some of the best episodes of the Fugitive series (including “Man in a Chariot,” the episode that would win The Fugitive the Emmy for Best Dramatic Series in 1965), Eckstein wrote for several other popular TV shows in the ’50s and ’60s, including Gunsmoke, Dr. Kildare, The Invaders and The Untouchables. He also went on to become a successful producer for Universal Television in the late 60s and 1970s, with credits including such series and TV-movies as The Name of the Game, Banacek and a taut little thriller called Duel that, besides being a really good movie, put a then-unknown director named Steven Spielberg on the map.

I had the pleasure of speaking to George Eckstein on several occasions throughout the 1990s, first for my book The Fugitive Recaptured, then for a history of The Untouchables that I wrote for Television Chronicles. He was also very generous with his time, not to mention very gracious.

The final episode of The Fugitive, of course, was seen by a whopping 72 percent of the television viewing audience when it originally aired on Aug. 29, 1967. That figure has has been topped just twice in the 42 years since, first by the “Who Done It?” episode of Dallas (aka the episode that finally answered the question “Who Shot J.R.?”) on Nov. 21, 1980, then by “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen,” the series finale of M*A*S*H, which originally aired on Feb. 28, 1983.

Read the obituary on George Eckstein from The Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-george-eckstein13-2009sep13,0,305987.story

Army Archerd, the Walter Cronkite of the entertainment industry, dies at age 87

In the world of show business, you knew for sure you were on the map if Army Archerd mentioned you in his column for Daily Variety. Far beyond the sheer publicity factor (which obviously was huge, considering that anybody who is somebody in Hollywood reads Variety), a mention in Archerd’s column meant something because of who he was. Even today, at a time in journalism when the rush to be first seems more important than getting the story right, Archerd never failed to be diligent and accurate in whatever he reported. That’s why he was always so widely respected throughout show business. In many respects, you might say he was the Walter Cronkite of the entertainment industry.

My first major print mention was in August 1993, when Army Archerd wrote about the publication of my book The Fugitive Recaptured. He was kind enough to mention me again in his column on two other occasions. He was a class act, and he will be missed.

Here are tributes from Variety:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118008280?categoryId=13&cs=1

from CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/09/09/obit.army.archerd/index.html?section=cnn_latest

and last, but not least, from our friend Susan McCray:

http://blog.ksav.org/?p=141

Ed Robertson
Co-Host, TV CONFIDENTIAL
Mon thru Sun, 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Shokus Internet Radio
Every other Tuesday, 11pm ET, 8pm PT
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner

TV CONFIDENTIAL Aug. 24 edition: Hour 2 with guest Bob Mills

Ed and Frankie welcome television comedy writer Bob Mills, author of The Laugh Makers: A Behind the Scenes Tribute to Bob Hope’s Incredible Gag Writers. Bob wrote for Bob Hope during the last 20 years of Hope’s career. His book not only looks fondly at the era of big-name television variety shows and slapstick sketch comedy, but provides insight into Hope’s remarkable longevity as a performer:

http://media.podcastingmanager.com/9/3/5/3/3/142636-133539/Media/082409tvc28h2.mp3

TV CONFIDENTIAL Aug. 24 edition, Hour 1: Emmy Forecast, The Dick Van Dyke Show and This Month in TV History

Ed and Frankie discuss the upcoming Emmy Awards telecast, David Krell remembers the original Dick Van Dyke Show, while Tony Figueroa covers a month’s worth of milestones with This Week in TV History:

http://media.podcastingmanager.com/9/3/5/3/3/142636-133539/Media/082409tvc28_1.mp3

Ben Fong-Torres: Internet radio is not just for your PC anymore

From The San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/06/PK7H19E6VU.DTL

William Schallert, Kay Kyser and More: This Week on TV CONFIDENTIAL

Character actor William Schallert, a familiar face (and voice) for anyone who’s grown up watching television, will be our special guest on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, Sept. 7 at 10pm ET, 7pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio, with a rebroadcast Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 11pm ET, 8pm PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org.

Though often remembered for his regular roles as Patty Duke’s dad, Dobie Gillis’ teacher or the Admiral on Get Smart, William Schallert has played a wide variety of characters on stage, screen and television, in comedies and in dramas, for more than 60 years, including recent appearances in such top shows as True Blood, According to Jim, How I Met Your Mother, Desperate Housewives and the HBO movie Recount. Along the way he has worked with some of the top names in the entertainment industry. We’ll be talking about that and more when Bill joins us in our second hour.

In our first hour, Andrew Lee Fielding will join us as we look back at the career of bandleader Kay Kyser. Andrew’s book, The Lucky Strike Papers, is a history of such early network TV variety programs as Your Hit Parade, The Freddy Martin Show and Kay Kyser’s College of Musical Knowledge; his mother, Sue Bennett, was a featured singer on the Kyser show, as well as other musical variety shows of that era.

Ed Robertson
Co-Host, TV CONFIDENTIAL
Mon-Sun 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Shokus Internet Radio
Every other Tuesday at 11pm ET, 8pm PT
Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner