TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 719.3: Mitchell Hadley talks to Ed about "The Running Men," an essay that Mitchell recently wrote for ItsAboutTV.com that makes the case for why it's not necessary for every television series to have a final episode that resolves the premise and ties up any other loose ends. Ed agrees with Mitchell, but adds that the influence of social media on today's TV landscape makes it impossible for show runners to avoid producing a series finale without upsetting the fan base. Mitchell's latest book, Darkness in Primetime: How Classic-Era TV Foresaw Modern Society's Descent into Hell, is available wherever books are sold through Throckmorton Press and Amazon.com.

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 March 2016 featuring sixties film historian Tom Lisanti. Tom's books include Pamela Tiffin: Hollywood to Rome, 1961-1974, a comprehensive look at Tiffin's work in film and television that includes insight from Tiffin herself (as well as such co-stars as Franco Nero), while also exploring the reasons why she remains a cult film icon. In this particular clip, Tom and Ed discuss "The Girl from Little Egypt," the episode of The Fugitive that originally aired on Dec. 24, 1963. Not only is "Little Egypt" among the most popular episodes of the series (because it provided viewers with the back story of Kimble's trial and the night of Helen Kimble's murder), but it also marked one of Pamela Tiffin's few appearances on network television.

TVC 719.4: Ed welcomes Tom Sturges, son of Academy Award-winning writer/director Preston Sturges, one of the top executives in the music industry, and the author of such books as Every Idea is a Good Idea, A Good Divorce Begins Here, and Preston Sturges: The Last Years of Hollywood's First Writer-Director. Tom's latest book, Men Explained... Finally, is a humorous, totally unscientific, and yet often very wise look at the male species that reveals such universal Man Truths as Why All Men are Really Fourteen Year-Old-Boys, Why Men Are Like Whales, Why All Men Have Three Basic Needs, and Why Every Problem in the World Can Be Solved with Duct Tape. Topics this segment how Tom's thirty-five years in the music business has helped him develop many of the observations about men that appear in Men Explained... Finally; how the key to survival for most men comes from their ability to compartmentalize; and why the goal of Tom's book is to help men have better relationships with the women in their lives. Men Explained... Finally is available wherever books are sold through Centimilla Press.

TVC 719.5: Tom Sturges talks to Ed about how his father, Preston Sturges, embodied some of the "man truths" that Tom writes about in his new book, Men Explained… Finally; how Tom came to work with NBA star Shaquille O'Neal when O'Neal became a rap artist; and what Tom looks for when determining whether a new song has what it takes to become a hit record. Men Explained… Finally is available wherever books are sold through Centimilla Press.

TVC 718.1: From November 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss the legacy of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS, 1970-1977), including a look at its spinoff series Rhoda (CBS, 1974-1978), Phyllis (CBS, 1975-1977), and Lou Grant (CBS, 1977-1982).

TVC 718.2: From November 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss "Rhoda's Wedding" (CBS, Oct. 28, 1974), the famous first-season episode of Rhoda in which Rhoda Morgenstein (Valerie Harper) marries Joe Gerard (David Groh), and why the episode remains a television classic more than fifty years later, even though the decision to marry the two characters ultimately hurt the series.

TVC 718.3: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Mark Shaw, author of Abuse of Power: Connecting Robert Kennedy's Assassinaton with the Murders of JFK and Dorothy Kilgallen and The Reporter Who Knew Too Much. Topics this segment include new findings that suggest that the autopsy performed on Kilgallen after her death in November 1965 may have been compromised. As was the case with Mark's previous book, Collateral Damage, Abuse of Power emphasizes the importance of relying on primary sources whenever possible. Abuse of Power, Collateral Damage, and The Reporter Who Knew Too Much are all available through Post Hill Press and Amazon.com.

TVC 718.4: Ed welcomes back Stefanie Powers, the actress known around the world as Jennifer Hart on Hart to Hart (ABC, 1979-1984), and the founder and president of the William Holden Wildlife Foundation, the nonprofit organization that Stefanie established in 1982 in memory of her longtime life partner that continues and furthers the conservation work of William Holden in East Africa. Stefanie will reunite with McLintock! co-star Patrick Wayne for the first time in sixty years for a one-performance-only benefit production of A.R. Gurney's Love Letters that will take place on Sunday, Jan. 11 on the Debbie Reynolds Main Stage at the historic El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood, CA beginning at 1pm. Tickets start at $55. If you purchase a VIP ticket for $150, you'll have a chance to meet Stefanie and Patrick on stage. Proceeds for this production will support the efforts of the William Holden Wildlife Foundation. For tickets and more information, call (818) 508-4200 or go to ElPortalTheatre.com. Topics this segment include why Love Letters continues to appeal to actors and audiences alike; Stefanie's experience working with John Wayne, Patrick Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, and (briefly) director John Ford while filming McLintock!; a trick that Stefanie learned during the production of McLintock! that enables her to drive through dusty terrain without eating dust (a trick that she has used many times during her travels to Africa); and why you can't visit Ireland without seeing The Quiet Man first.

TVC 718.5: Stefanie Powers talks to Ed about why her experience as a contract player at Columbia Pictures at the start of her career was like "a finishing school for actors"; working with Ava Gardner on Maggie (CBS, 1986), a pilot for a series that marked Gardner's final screen appearance (the pilot, however, never aired); and why James Garner ranks alongside Robert Wagner as among Stefanie's favorite co-stars. (Stefanie starred opposite Garner in "The Red Easy Red Dog," a second-season episode of The Rockford Files.) Stefanie Powers will reunite with McLintock! co-star Patrick Wayne for the first time in sixty years for a one-performance-only benefit production of A.R. Gurney's Love Letters that will take place on Sunday, Jan. 11 on the Debbie Reynolds Main Stage at the historic El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood, CA beginning at 1pm. Proceeds will support the efforts of the William Holden Wildlife Foundation. For tickets and more information, call (818) 508-4200 or go to ElPortalTheatre.com. Stefanie Powers is also featured in Vision for the Future: Capturing Inspiring Stories from Leaders and Changemakers, a recently released anthology eBook that profiles twenty-five visionaries who not only are making a significant impact in their respective fields, but are dedicated to making the world a better place through hope, action, and lasting change. Vision for the Future recognizes Stefanie for her work with The William Holden Wildlife Foundation. Vision for the Future is available for free at visionforthefuture.ai.

TVC 718.6: Mark Shaw, author of Abuse of Power: Connecting Robert Kennedy's Assassinaton with the Murders of JFK and Dorothy Kilgallen and The Reporter Who Knew Too Much, talks to Ed about how the City of New York honored Dorothy Kilgallen on Saturday, Nov. 8 by naming a street after her on the sixtieth anniversary of her death. Other topics this segment include why so many of us are enamored with real-life murder mysteries. Abuse of Power and The Reporter Who Knew Too Much are both available through Post Hill Press and Amazon.com.