TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 734.4: Ed welcomes back Kathleen Bradley, the first African-American model to join ranks with Barker's Beauties on The Price is Right, and the actress known around the world as the voluptuous Mrs. Parker in the 1995 cult comedy Friday. Kathleen can currently be seen in the highly anticipated two-part episode of E!'s Dirty Rotten Scandals that not only explores the good, the bad, and the ugly behind the scenes of The Price Is Right, but is partly inspired by Kathleen's memoir, Backstage at The Price is Right. Topics this segment include how, both in her memoir and in the docu series, Kathleen presents both sides of the Bob Barker that she knew and worked with for more than ten years; how she joined the show at a time when culture in the workplace was beginning to change; and why The Price is Right still represents the happiest years of Kathleen's professional life. Dirty Rotten Scandals is available for viewing on demand on YouTube TV, the E! app, and other online platforms. Backstage at The Price is Right is available both at Amazon and at KathleenBradley.tv

TVC 734.5: Kathleen Bradley shares a few memories with Ed about performing all over the world with The Love Machine, the popular female soul group of the 1970s (including the night when she experienced a wardrobe malfunction on live TV while performing the song "Rock Steady"). She also talks about how difficult it really is to sing and dance at the same time, plus she shares a few of her personal health tips. Kathleen can currently be seen in the two-part episode of E!'s Dirty Rotten Scandals that not only explores the good, the bad, and the ugly behind the scenes of The Price Is Right, but is partly inspired by Kathleen's memoir, Backstage at The Price is Right. Dirty Rotten Scandals is available for viewing on demand on YouTube TV, the E! app, and other online platforms. Backstage at The Price is Right is available both at Amazon and at KathleenBradley.tv

TVC 733.1: From March 2014: Kimberly Johnson, daughter of Russell Johnson, joins Ed, Tony, Donna, and guest co-host Bill Funt as TV Confidential remembers the life and career of the actor known around the world as The Professor on Gilligan's Island. Kim shares a few memories of her dad, plus she talks about her dad's favorite episodes, her favorite episodes, and her dad's take on the whole Gilligan's Island pop culture phenomenon. The son of Candid Camera originator Allen Funt, Bill Funt first came to know Kim Johnson and other Gilligan's Island personnel (including series creator Sherwood Schwartz) as part of an effort to bring the three Gilligan TV-movies from the late 1970s to DVD. We learned last week via Facebook that Kimberly Johnson passed away on Thursday, Apr. 2, 2026. We are replaying this program in her memory.

From March 2014: Kimberly Johnson, daughter of Russell Johnson, joins Ed, Tony, Donna, and guest co-host Bill Funt as TV Confidential remembers the life and career of the actor known around the world as The Professor on Gilligan's Island. Kim shares a few memories of her dad, plus she talks about her dad's favorite episodes, her favorite episodes, and her dad's take on the whole Gilligan's Island pop culture phenomenon. The son of Candid Camera originator Allen Funt, Bill Funt first came to know Kim Johnson and other Gilligan's Island personnel (including series creator Sherwood Schwartz) as part of an effort to bring the three Gilligan TV-movies from the late 1970s to DVD. We learned last week via Facebook that Kimberly Johnson passed away on Thursday, Apr. 2, 2026. We are replaying this program in her memory.

TVC 733.4: Music journalist A. Scott Galloway joins Ed for a special appreciation of the life and legacy of Grammy Award-winning, Emmy Award-winning, and Tony Award-winning producer, composer, arranger, musician, and Renaissance man Quincy Jones. Scott interviewed Jones at least once (at the time of the release of Jones' album Q's Jook Joint). He also wrote the liner notes for three other Jones music releases (including The Reel Quincy Jones, a compilation of scores from Jones' early years as a composer for film and television), plus he crossed paths with him on many other occasions during the last thirty years of Jones' life. Quincy Jones passed away on Nov. 3, 2024. Topics this segment include how much the music of Quincy Jones has always meant to Scott on a personal level; Jones' facility for bringing people together; why Jones was the "Zelig" of music, in that he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time; and why Jones always looked for a "sound hook," especially when he composed for movies and television.

TVC 733.5: Music journalist A. Scott Galloway talks to Ed about the collaboration between Quincy Jones and Oliver Nelson on the film score for The Pawnbroker, the first film for which Jones composed music (the conversation particularly focuses on the piece "Rack 'em Up"); the circumstances that led Jones to produce Off the Wall and Thriller for Michael Jackson; and how Jones developed his eclectic tastes in music.

TVC 732.4: Ed welcomes Denise Nicholas, the Golden Globe-nominated actress known to television audiences for her starring roles in Room 222 and In the Heat of the Night, and the author of Freshwater Road, the critically acclaimed novel that was largely drawn from Denise's experience as a working actress with the Free Southern Theater in the Deep South in 1964, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Denise's new memoir, Finding Home, is a moving look at her lifelong search for who and what she is—a search that that not only navigates the intersections of love and identity, but which sees Denise endure many traumatic events throughout her life, including nearly being killed several times while performing with the Free Southern Theater; overcoming her volatile marriage to singer Bill Withers; and trying to unfathom the tragic murder of her younger sister, Michele Burgen, in 1980 (a case that is still unsolved). Finding Home is available wherever books are sold through Agate Publishing and Amazon.com. Topics this segment include how Denise has always had the soul of a writer, even when she began her career as an actress; how her experience with the Free Southern Theater not only ignited Denise's lifelong commitment to social justice and activism, but served as the backdrop to the struggles and achievements that marked her path as an artist; how Denise based Liz McIntyre (the guidance counselor she played on Room 222) on her aunt Fanette, a guidance counselor in the Detroit public school system; and the emotional difficulty that Denise often faced in writing about some of the most traumatic moments in her life, including the murder of her sister.

TVC 732.5: Actress and novelist Denise Nicholas (Room 222, In the Heat of the Night, Freshwater Road) talks to Ed about working with Sidney Poitier as a director three times (and how she particularly relished the comedic roles she played opposite Poitier and Bill Cosby in Let's Do It Again and A Piece of the Action); how she first met Carroll O'Connor long before they starred together in In the Heat of the Night (and before O'Connor came to mentor Denise as a writer); why she enjoys writing literary fiction among all other genres; and how Denise has "a little Norman Lear in her" as a writer. Denise's memoir, Finding Home, and her novel, Freshwater Road, are available wherever books are sold through Agate Publishing and Amazon.com. Denise Nicholas is also one of the six authors—along with Denise Billings, Otto Stallworth, Jr., GW Williams, Hattie Winston, and Charles Floyd Johnson—whose work is featured in A Gathering of Voices: The Longwood Writers Workshop, an anthology of vibrant, introspective, lyrical, and personal stories that provide a full, rich, and multidimensional look at life in Black America. A Gathering of Voices is available through BookBaby.com, Amazon.com, and LongwoodWritersWorkshop.com

TVC 732.6: Ed welcomes director and producer Nick Leisure. Known for crafting grounded, character-driven thrillers with strong visual language with performance-driven storytelling, Nick developed his cinematic style combines from his experience directing hundreds of commercials for such major brands as Toyota, Nike, Ray-Ban, and the Sacramento Kings, as well as many music videos for such artists as Babyface, After 7, Too Short, and Kurupt. Nick's latest movie, the action thriller Golden, stars Brian Austin Green (Beverly Hill 90210, Knots Landing) as a struggling print shop worker who discovers that he can create flawless counterfeit money, only to be pulled into a dangerous cross-border criminal world that he cannot escape. Based on a true story, Golden is now available for viewing on demand on Amazon Prime Video and other streaming platforms.

TVC 731.1: TV Confidential commemorates the recent passing of Chuck Norris by bringing you an encore of our conversation with Wayne Péré, the actor known to fans of Walker: Texas Ranger as the villainous Victor LaRue. At the time we spoke to Wayne in November 2018, he was starring as Dr. Emerson in the hit Sony/Marvel feature Venom, while his many other film and television credits include Friends, That 70s Show, Tracey Takes On…, The Practice, Third Rock from the Sun, Nip/Tuck, Star Trek: Voyager, NCIS, SpiderMan: Homecoming, Out of Sight, The Limey, Galaxy Quest, Trumbo, Ocean's Thirteen, and Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House. Topics in this segment include the appeal of Walker: Texas Ranger; how Wayne did some of his own stunt work on Walker while filming an episode in New Mexico; and his experience riding a horse while filming the miniseries Roots.