TV Confidential with Ed Robertson

TVC 735.3: From May 2014: Tony, Donna, and Ed take us back to May 6, 1959, the night on which Raymond Burr won his first Emmy Award as Best Dramatic Actor in Perry Mason (CBS, 1957-1966).

TVC 735.4: Ed welcomes Emmy Award-winning producer Charles Floyd Johnson (The Rockford Files, Magnum, p.i., Quantum Leap, JAG, NCIS, Red Tails, John Lewis: Get in the Way). Charles is also one of the six authors 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 in the 20th and 21st century. All of the stories told in A Gathering of Voices resonate with memories of struggles waged, battles won and lost, and experiences that illuminate the collective wisdom learned by each author and their hard-won resilience. A Gathering of Voices is available through BookBaby.com, Amazon.com, and LongwoodWritersWorkshop.com. In this segment, Charles talks to Ed about the formation of the Longwood Writers Workshop, and how that eventually led to the publication of A Gathering of Voices. He also discusses some of his mentors in television (including Roy Huggins, Stephen J. Cannell, and Don Bellisario), and how his experience contributing stories for Rockford and Magnum early in his career reflected his longtime desire to become part of the "creative" side of television writing and production.

TVC 735.5: Emmy Award-winning producer Charles Floyd Johnson talks to Ed about his successful battle against cancer in 2020, and how his journey, in many ways, makes him a "poster child" for early detection. He also discusses the importance of learning how to allow himself to become vulnerable on the page when writing about other difficult moments in his life (which he does in each of the six stories that he wrote for A Gathering of Voices). A Gathering of Voices: The Longwood Writers Workshop is available through BookBaby.com, Amazon.com, and LongwoodWritersWorkshop.com.

TVC 735.6: Emmy Award-winning producer Charles Floyd Johnson talks to Ed about how he came to work on the groundbreaking PBS documentary John Lewis: Get in the Way; why Red Tails, the award-winning feature motion picture about the Tuskegee Airmen (which Charles produced, along with George Lucas), took twenty-three years to make; and why Stephen J. Cannell remains a seminal influence in his life. Photo of Charles Floyd Johnson courtesy Military.com Charles Floyd Johnson is one of the six authors—along with Denise Nicholas, Denise Billings, Otto Stallworth, Jr., GW Williams, and Hattie Winston—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

Please enjoy this preview of our upcoming conversation with Barry Weitz, co-creator and co-executive producer of Movin' On (NBC, 1974-1976), and Kathy Bird, author of Sundance Turns 50: The Amazing Legacy of Movin' On. In this segment Barry discusses his initial inspiration for Movin' On; how he originally envisioned the series as a 10pm show that would cater specifically for adults (and how NBC curtailed that strategy when it moved the show to Tuesdays 8pm); and the many ways in which the earlier time slot proved to be a blessing in disguise. Our complete conversation with Barry Weitz and Kathy Bird will air in a few weeks on TV Confidential.

Please enjoy this preview of our upcoming conversation with David Spencer, the author of The Novelizers: An Affectionate History of Media Adaptations and Originals, Their Astonishing Authors, and the Art of the Craft—a deep dive into the world of tie-in fiction that not only introduces readers to many of the people who have adapted film and TV screenplays into original tie-in novels, but makes the case that tie-in writing is an honorable tradition with artistry of its own. The Novelizers is available through our friends at Bear Manor Media as well as Amazon.com. Our complete conversation with David Spencer will air in a few weeks on TV Confidential.

Please enjoy this preview of our upcoming conversation with Hall of Fame radio broadcaster Don Sainte-Johnn. For more than twenty years, Don was one of the voices heard every day on KFRC, The Big 610 in San Francisco, the powerhouse station that not only shaped a generation of listeners in the San Francisco Bay Area, but was one of the most successful radio stations anywhere in the U.S. throughout the 1970s. Don's memoir, San Francisco's Last Top 40 Disc Jockey, not only takes you behind the scenes of KFRC and the world of Top 40 radio, but is filled with many great stories about a career that also took him to Chicago, St. Louis, San Diego, and other media markets. San Francisco's Last Top 40 Disc Jockey is available thorugh Amazon.com. Our complete conversation with Don Sainte-Johnn will air in a few weeks on TV Confidential.

Please enjoy this preview of our upcoming conversation with Emmy Award-winning producer Charles Floyd Johnson (The Rockford Files, Magnum, p.i., Quantum Leap, JAG, NCIS, Red Tails, John Lewis: Get in the Way). Charles is also one of the six authors 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 in the 20th and 21st century. All of the stories told in A Gathering of Voices resonate with memories of struggles waged, battles won and lost, and experiences that illuminate the collective wisdom learned by each author and their hard-won resilience. A Gathering of Voices is available through BookBaby.com, Amazon.com, and LongwoodWritersWorkshop.com. Our complete conversation with Charles Floyd Johnson will air the weekend of May 8 on TV Confidential.

Photo of James Garner and the production staff of The Rockford Files by Gene Trindl/TV Guide and is from the personal collection of host Ed Robertson Top row (L to R) Stephen J. Cannell, David Chase Middle row (L to R) Charles Floyd Johnson, Meta Rosenberg, Juanita Bartlett Bottom row James Garner

TVC 734.1: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with music journalist A. Scott Galloway about the life and legacy of producer, composer, arranger, and musician Quincy Jones. Scott not only interviewed Jones at the time of the release of Jones' album Q's Jook Joint, but 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 Q 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 Jones, Burt Bacharach, and Charles Fox were among the many composers who studied music in France under legendary teacher and conductor Nadia Boulanger; what made Jones a "people groover"; and the full-circle moment when Scott was able to introduce his father to Q, many years after Scott's dad had introduced the music of Jones to him.

TVC 734.2: From May 2012: An encore presentation of our conversation with Mike Pingel, author of Channel Surfing: Wonder Woman, everything you wanted to know about the classic TV series starring Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner. April 2026 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere of Wonder Woman (ABC/CBS, 1976-1979).