TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

We're taking a few days off this week, but we'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential on Monday. In the meantime, please enjoy this Blast from the Past, featuring this clip from December 2010 in which Tony, Donna, and Ed remember the network premiere of A Charlie Brown Christmas, the very first Peanuts animated special, on CBS on Dec. 9, 1965.

Thursday, Dec. 5 marks the one-year anniversary of the death of television icon Norman Lear. TV Confidential marks the occasion by bringing you this "Blast from the Past" clip from July 2022 in which Ed, Tony, Donna, and writer, producer, and author Jay Moriarty (The Jeffersons, All in the Family, Honky in the House) discuss how "The Draft Dodger," the controversial episode of All in the Family that originally aired on Christmas Night 1976, was just one example of Lear's penchant for balancing uproarious comedy with serious topical issues. Jay co-wrote "The Draft Dodger," along with Mike Milligan, while Lear made a small yet significant contribution to that episode. Jay's memoir, Honky in the House, takes you behind the scenes of not only The Jeffersons, but Norman Lear's company Tandem Productions in general.

We're taking a few days off this week, but we'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential next week. In the meantime, please enjoy this Blast from the Past, featuring an excerpt from our January 2013 conversation with Barbara Feldon (Get Smart, Getting Smarter, Living Alone and Loving It).

Television is one of the few things that we have in common. Just about all of us has a favorite show that we either grew up watching or binge-watch today, or a favorite star whose career we continue to follow. That's the premise behind TV CONFIDENTIAL, an engaging blend of talk and entertainment featuring lively conversations with the stars and other creative people behind the scenes of some of America's most popular TV shows. Originating from Los Angeles, CA, and hosted by award-winning, nationally known author Ed Robertson, TV CONFIDENTIAL not only features exclusive, in-depth interviews with such iconic stars as Jaclyn Smith (Charlie's Angels), Robert Wagner (Hart to Hart), Barbara Feldon (Get Smart), Eric Braeden (The Young and the Restless), Laraine Newman (Saturday Night Live), Louis Gossett, Jr. (Roots), Burt Ward (Batman), Ed Asner (Lou Grant), Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek), and Shirley Jones (The Partridge Family), but often compares today's programs with those of the '50s, '60s, '70s, and '80s. That makes TV CONFIDENTIAL unlike any radio show or podcast on the air today. Check it out yourself and, if you like what you hear, please consider subscribing to our show or posting a review on your favorite podcast platform.

We're taking a few days off this week, but we'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential next week. In the meantime, please enjoy this Blast from the Past, featuring an excerpt from our December 2022 conversation with Norma Maldonado (Jane the Virgin, Sweet Navidad).

We're taking a few days off this week, but we'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential next week. In the meantime, please enjoy this Blast from the Past, featuring an excerpt from our September 2011 conversation with Julie Newmar (Batman, Li'l Abner, Silk Stockings, The Marriage-Go-Round, My Living Doll, The Conscious Catwoman Explains Life on Earth).

We're taking a few days off this week, but we'll be back with a brand new edition of TV Confidential next week. In the meantime, please enjoy this "Blast from the Past," featuring an excerpt from our December 2012 conversation with actor, author and CBS Radio commentator Charles Grodin (Rosemary's Baby, Catch-22, Midnight Run, The Heartbreak Kid, Seems Like Old Times, Beethoven).

TVC 668.1: Ed welcomes actress, producer, and comedienne Kat Kramer, author Jimmy Byrge, and actress and producer Patricia Riley. Jimmy is the author of The Evergreen Christmas Tree, a new children's book, based on a true story, about a family in the mountains of Tennessee who, despite not having a lot of money, set off to find the perfect Christmas tree that represents love and standing up for what you believe in. Patricia is the creative editor of the book, while Kat wrote the foreword and afterword. A beautiful story of hope, The Evergreen Christmas Tree includes fifteen sign languages signs at the end of the book, making it one of the first children's book to teach ASL. The Evergreen Christmas Tree becomes available for purchase an eBook and in paperback and hardcover on sixteen platforms beginning Black Friday, Nov. 29, with global distribution in four languages. For more information, including news on upcoming signings and events, follow the book on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and EvergreenChristmasTree.com.

TVC 668.2: From November 2019: Tony Figueroa remembers Ric Ocasek, the front man of The Cars, with a particular focus on the iconic video "You Might Think," the first music video to use computer graphics. Ric Ocasek passed away on Sept. 15, 2019.

TVC 668.3: From November 2019: Tony and Ed talk about how the award-winning video "You Might Think" by The Cars—the first music video to use computer graphics—went on to influence the production of movies and TV shows, as well as such other music video pioneers as Michael Nesmith.