TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 709.4: Howard Smith shares a poignant memory of the last time he and his wife had dinner with Johnny Carson, just before a few days before Carson's death in January 2005. Also in this segment: Howard shares a few memories of his friendship with actor Lloyd Haynes, which began a few years before Haynes became a star on Room 222 (ABC, 1969-1974), and which continued until Haynes' death in December 1986. Howard's new book, My Friend Johnny, is now available at MyFriendJohnny.com.

TVC 709.5: Ed welcomes Emmy Award-winning actress, producer, and author Mariette Hartley (The Incredible Hulk, Goodnight, Beantown, Breaking the Silence, Law and Order: SVU). Mariette stars, along with her husband Jerry Sroka (who we also hear from in this segment), in Our (Almost Completely True) Love Story, a romantic comedy about two people of a certain age who meet online, strike up an unlikely romance, and weather the storm when an untimely illness threatens to tear them apart. Mariette and Jerry co-wrote the film, as well as produced it, while the cast includes such other film and TV favorites as Tess Harper, Bernie Kopell, Morgan Fairchild, Peter Onorati, Peter MacNichol, Stuart Pankin, John Rubinstein, Jack McGee, Sam McMurray, Don Scardino, and many, many others. Our (Almost Completely True) Love Story is available now for streaming on demand on Amazon Prime and other major platforms; it is also available on DVD and Blu-ray.

TVC 709.6: Emmy Award-winning actress Mariette Hartley talks to Ed about some of her other movie and TV roles, including the back story of the long-running, highly successful series of commercials that she did with James Garner for Polaroid cameras—and how the chemistry between her and Garner was so natural, many viewers believed that they were actually married. Mariette co-stars, co-wrote, and co-produced, along with her husband Jerry Sroka, in Our (Almost Completely True) Love Story, a romantic comedy that is available now for streaming on demand on Amazon Prime and other major platforms; it is also available on DVD and Blu-ray. Photo of James Garner and Mariette Hartley courtesy Polaroid.

TVC 708.1: From October 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the premiere of The Flintstones (ABC, 1960-1966), the first animated series development for prime time, along with the various spinoffs and reimaginings of The Flintstones over the ensuing decades.

TVC 708.2: From October 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed look back to Game 1 of the 1955 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, the first time that a World Series game was broadcast in color. Mel Allen and Vin Scully covered the game for NBC. Photo courtesy National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

TVC 708.3: From October 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the premiere of Baywatch Nights (Synd., 1995-1997), the spinoff of Baywatch starring David Hasselhoff, Gregory Alan Williams, Angie Harmon, and Donna D'Errico, the premise of which was more or less "Mitch Buchannon, private detective."

TVC 708.4: From October 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed look back at how the print and television media covered the death of Rock Hudson. The legendary actor and screen heartthrob died from complications on Oct. 2, 1985. Photo of Rock Hudson courtesy People magazine

TVC 708.5: TV Confidential pays tribute to Academy Award winner Robert Redford by playing highlights from conservations we've had with actors who either co-starred with Redford or were directed by him, including Hank Garrett (Three Days of the Condor), Basil Hoffman (The Electric Horseman, Ordinary People, All the President's Men, The Milagro Beanfield War), and Dinah Manoff (Ordinary People). Also in the segment: special tributes from Stefanie Powers and Joan Van Ark, courtesy of B. Harlan Boll. Robert Redford passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at age eighty-nine.

As long as we're in a Robert Redford frame of mind... please enjoy this special preview of our upcoming conversation with Louise Sorel (Days of Our Lives, Santa Barbara). Louise's husband Herb Edelman starred with Redford in both the original 1963 Broadway production of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park as well as the 1967 film adaptation. Louise's new book, If There Were No Dogs: Musings and Mutterings, is now available through Book Baby, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online. Our complete interview with Louise Sorel will air later in October. Photo of Herb Edelman and Robert Redford courtesy Getty Images. Louise Sorel is scheduled to appear at United Solo, the world's largest solo theatre festival, in New York City on Saturday, Nov. 15 beginning at 2pm. She'll read passages from If There Were No Dogs, followed by a Q&A session. Click here for tickets and more details.

TVC 708.6: Ed welcomes Howard Smith, a retired tech mogul who not only found himself living four doors down the street from Johnny Carson in 1985, but became tennis buddies and, later, best friends with the legendary King of Late Night for the next twenty years. Howard shares many stories of the Johnny Carson he knew—a funny, kind, generous, modest, shy, yet deeply complex man that he knew simply as John—in My Friend Johnny: The Last 20 Years of a Beautiful Life with Johnny Carson and Friends, which you can find right now at MyFriendJohnny.com Calendar year 2025 marks not only the twentieth anniversary of Carson's passing, but the 100th anniversary of his birth.