TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 720.1: From January 2011: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember of the premiere of Masterpiece Theater (PBS, 1971-…) and the first NBC broadcast of Kukla, Fran and Ollie as part of This Week in TV History.

TVC 720.4: Ed welcomes Doug Thompson, award-winning writer, producer, and director of more than 1,000 hours of radio programming for broadcast across the U.S. and Canada, as well as more than thirty TV documentaries for Canadian television. Among his credits, Doug created and produced three radio shows for John Candy, including Radio Kandy, a weekly two-hour show that was not only carried by more than 350 radio stations across the U.S. for two years at the height of Candy's movie career, but which captured the essence of SCTV on radio. Topics this segment include why Candy enjoyed doing radio; how Doug and Candy got Star Trek actor James Doohan to join the cast of Radio Kandy during the first year; and Candy's loyalty to his fellow cast mates on SCTV.

TVC 720.5: Award-winning radio producer Doug Thompson talks to Ed about working with Ringo Starr on the nationally syndicated radio series Ringo's Yellow Submarine; with Jim Henson on both The Dark Crystal and The Fantastic Miss Piggy Special; and with The Monkees on a radio documentary that Doug produced for broadcast in Canada in 1967.

Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the premiere of Batman (ABC, 1966-1968). With that in mind, we thought we'd bring you an encore presentation of a conversation that Tony, Donna, and I had in January 2016 about the legacy of the Batman television series, including how the premiere of Batman as a midseason replacement ushered in the era of the "second season," a staple of network TV that continues to this day.

We took a few days off for the holidays, but we'll be back with a new edition of TV Confidential later this week. In the meantime, we thought we'd bring you this special preview of our upcoming conversation with Lindsay Wagner, the Emmy Award-winning actress known around the world as Jaime Sommers, The Bionic Woman. Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere of The Bionic Woman (ABC/NBC, 1976-1978). In this clip, Lindsay tells us how she accepted the part of Jaime after some prodding from both her mother and her younger sister, and how the development of Jaime's character was a true collaboration between Lindsay and series producer Kenneth Johnson. Our complete conversation with Lindsay will air during the weekend of Jan. 16-19 on TV Confidential.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of The Bionic Woman, Lindsay Wagner is making available some special, limited-edition fiftieth anniversary Bionic Woman memorabilia, including newly released signed photos of Lindsay as Jaime; a limited number of autographed, printed copies of "On the Run," the script for the final episode of The Bionic Woman; and a chance to have a one-on-one video chat with Lindsay herself. All of these items are available for pre-order right now at Bionic50.com. Physical items will be mailed out later in January. If you would like to book a video chat with Lindsay, the video chat will be held in February. The deadline for all orders is Feb. 28, 2026. For details and more information, go to Bionic50.com

For our listeners in the Southeast, you can meet Lindsay Wagner in person for photos and autographs at Central Carolina Comic Con in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday, Jan. 10 and Sunday, Jan. 11. For more details about that event, go to LindsayWagner.com/events/

We took a few days off for the holidays, but we'll be back with a new edition of TV Confidential later this week. In the meantime, please enjoy this Blast from the Past clip from January 2013 featuring renowned Elvis historian Cory Cooper. Cory's knowledge of The King is based on his deep ties to many of the people who were closest to Elvis, including members of the "Memphis Mafia." Topics this segment include some of Cory's favorite Elvis movies; what Elvis looked for when he listened to other music artists; and why Elvis was always a gentleman to everyone he met.

By now, most of you are probably aware of the tragic deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner on Dec. 14, 2025. We are in the process of putting together a formal tribute program in memory of Rob Reiner that will air in a few weeks on TV Confidential. In the meantime, please enjoy this clip from January 2011 in which Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss the many ways in which All in the Family changed television when it premiered on Jan. 12, 1971.

We're taking a few days off for the holidays, but we'll be back with brand new editions of TV Confidential in the new year. In the meantime, please enjoy this Blast from the Past clip from November 2021 in which Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter ask comedian and voice artist extraordinaire Harry Shearer about the back story of This is Spinal Tap, including the pivotal role that Norman Lear played in helping the movie get made.

We're taking a few days off for the holidays, but we'll be back with brand new editions of TV Confidential in the new year. In the meantime, please enjoy this Blast from the Past clip from December 2015 in which author Paul Green helps Ed revisit the life and career of Pete Duel, the star of Alias Smith and Jones who took his life on Dec. 30, 1971, at the height of his television celebrity. The second edition of Paul's book Pete Duel: A Biography includes new information from not only Duel's family and friends, but the many fans who have kept the memory of Duel alive, more than four decades after his death.

TVC 719.2: Part 2 of a conversation that began a few weeks ago with author, essayist, novelist, and TV historian Mitchell Hadley (The Electronic Mirror, ItsAboutTV.com). Mitchell's latest book, Darkness in Primetime: How Classic-Era TV Foresaw Modern Society's Descent into Hell, is a series of essays that shows how certain episodes of such classic series as The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Star Trek, and The Prisoner—all of which were originally written and broadcast in either the 1950s or 1960s—not only envisioned a society of 24/7 surveillance, thought control, disinformation, persecution, and loss of freedom, but portrayed those realities in ways that are disturbingly similar to the world that we currently occupy. Topics this segment include a look at The Brotherhood of the Bell (CBS, 1970), a made-for-TV movie starring Glenn Ford (adapted for television by David Karp, based on his novel The Brotherhood of Velvet, about a secret society that is bent on world domination) that is also a variation of the classic tale of Faust; and "Susan B. Anthony, I Love You," an episode of Petticoat Junction from February 1970 that, whether by design or not, has a storyline that is reminiscent of Lysistrata, the classic Greek play by Aristophanes.