TV Confidential

TVC 522.1: Part 2 of a conversation that began on our Dec. 18-20 program with television writer and producer Paul Robert Coyle. Paul’s memoir, Swords, Starships and Superheroes, not only includes great behind-the-scenes stories of his experiences on such shows as The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, CHiPs, Crazy Like a Fox, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Incredible Journeys, and Stephen King’s The Dead Zone, but includes many useful tips on how to pursue a career as a...

TVC 522.2: Television writer/producer Paul Robert Coyle talks to Ed about his experiences on Crazy Like a Fox and CHiPs, and the meetings he had with Peter Falk near the end of the ABC run of Columbo; the importance of paying attention to a producer’s notes whenever a writer receives them; and why even a one-line handwritten rejection note is better than no response at all. Paul’s memoir, Swords, Starships and Superheroes, includes many useful tips on how to pursue a career as a professional...

TVC 522.3: From July 2011: Ed welcomes Emmy Award-winning writer/producer William Link (Columbo, Mannix, Ellery Queen, Murder She Wrote, The Columbo Collection). This particular conversation originally aired as part of a tribute to Peter Falk. As such, we talked to Bill that day about the origins of Columbo (which Bill created along with his longtime collaborator, Richard Levinson); Falk’s friendship with Levinson and Link, which predated their work on the Columbo television series; how Falk...

TVC 522.4: Ed welcomes Carolyn Hennesy, the Emmy Award-winning actress who has played attorney Diane Miller on General Hospital for fourteen years and more than five hundred episodes. (Carolyn’s 500th episode aired on GH just before the Christmas holidays.) Topics includes how Carolyn approaches playing characters that are either downright evil or over the top; the fun she had filming The Swing of Things; how her interest in trapeze helped her cope with the industry-wide shutdown in...

From January 2011: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss the many ways in which All in the Family changed television when it premiered on Jan. 12, 1971. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our program. They’re great to work with and will help you advertise on our show. Please email sales@advertisecast.com or click the link below to get started:...

From January 2011: Tony, Donna, and Ed discuss the many ways in which Batman changed the face of television when it premiered on Jan. 12, 1966. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our program. They’re great to work with and will help you advertise on our show. Please email sales@advertisecast.com or click the link below to get started:...

TVC 522.5: From July 2011: Emmy Award-winning writer/producer William Link, co-creator of Columbo, Mannix, Ellery Queen, Murder She Wrote, and other acclaimed TV-movies and TV series, gives Ed and his listeners a window into how he and his longtime collaborator Richard Levinson worked together. William Link passed away on Sunday, Dec. 27. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of...

TVC 522.6: From July 2011: From July 2011: Emmy Award-winning writer/producer William Link, co-creator of Columbo, talks to Ed about the three elements that comprise a typical Columbo story, including the final clue (or what Peter Falk liked to call “The Pop”). Other topics include The Columbo Collection, a series of original Columbo short stories, written by Bill, was published in 2011. William Link passed away on Sunday, Dec. 27. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has...

From May 2011: Pete Duel biographer Paul Green talks to Ed about how Duel's confidence as an actor grown during the time he filmed Love on a Rooftop; the similarities in format and style between Rooftop and Bewitched; and how well Duel played off Rich Little when they worked together on the series. Paul’s books include Pete Duel: A Biography, a comprehensive look at the life of the actor best known for playing Hannibal Heyes on Alias Smith and Jones. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV...

From May 2011: Pete Duel biographer Paul Green talks to Ed about Duel's work on television in the mid 1960s, particularly when he starred in the Screen Gems comedies Gidget and Love on a Rooftop. Paul’s books include Pete Duel: A Biography, a comprehensive look at the life of the actor best known for playing Hannibal Heyes on Alias Smith and Jones. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast...

TVC 445.3: Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter welcome Robert Hooks (Trouble Man, N.Y.P.D., Star Trek III: The Search for Spock), the Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor and producer who founded three significant African-American theatre companies: the Group Theatre Workshop in New York; the DC Black Repertory Company in his hometown of Washington, D.C.; and the internationally recognized Negro Ensemble Company in New York. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has...

TVC 446.3: Actress and author Joyce Bulifant (Match Game, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Love Thy Neighbor, Disney’s The Happiest Millionaire, Airplane!) talks to Ed and Greg Ehrbar about being directed by her son John Asher in the Amazon movie I Hate Kids and the independent film Taken. Joyce’s book, My Four Hollywood Husbands, is the inspiring story of how she overcame dyslexia, feelings of self doubt, and a series of marriages characterized by alcoholism, co-dependency and addictive behavior....

TVC 446.4: Actress and author Joyce Bulifant (My Four Hollywood Husbands) talks to Ed and Greg Ehrbar about the Disney TV series that nearly came about while she was filming The Happiest Millionaire; the trouble she had making eye contact with Raymond Burr when they worked together on Perry Mason; and how she nearly turned down Airplane! My Four Hollywood Husbands is the inspiring story of how Joyce overcame dyslexia, feelings of self doubt, and a series of marriages characterized by...

TVC 445.4: Emmy Award-winning actor and producer Robert Hooks talks to Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter about the origins and legacy of the Negro Ensemble Company, one of the three significant African-American theatre companies that Robert founded. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our program. They’re great to work with and will help you advertise on our show. Please...

TVC 445.5: Emmy Award winner Robert Hooks shares a few memories with Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter about Jack Warden and Frank Converse, his co-stars on the groundbreaking police drama N.Y.P.D. (ABC, 1967-1969), the first TV cop show with the official imprimatur of the New York Police Department, the first network TV drama with an African-American star, and the first show to portray an African-American police officer as one of its regular characters. Want to advertise/sponsor our show?...

From February 2016: Actor and artist Roy Thinnes (The Invaders, The X Files) talks to Ed about playing unorthodox psychiatrist James Whitman in The Psychiatrist (NBC, 1971), a six-episode series created by Richard Levinson and William Link and produced by Norman Felton. Want to advertise/sponsor our show? TV Confidential has partnered with AdvertiseCast to handle advertising/sponsorship requests for the podcast edition of our program. They’re great to work with and will help you advertise on...

From July 2011: William Link, co-creator of Columbo, Ellery Queen, Mannix and other classic TV series, talks to Ed about how he and Richard Levinson were actively involved in all aspects of the production of their projects (including casting). Other topics include That Certain Summer, the groundbreaking TV-movie starring Hal Holbrook that Levinson and Link wrote and produced in 1972, and The Gun, a controversial Movie of the Week, written and produced by Levinson and Link, that originally...

From October 2014: Ed, Tony and Donna welcome Dawn Wells, the actress known to three generations of television viewers as Mary Ann on Gilligan’s Island. Dawn’s new book, What Would Mary Ann Do? A Guide to Life, takes the question “Ginger or Mary Ann” a step further by showing readers how Mary Ann would respond to the various changes in today’s culture that face women of all ages. The book also includes memories of Dawn’s life and career before and after Gilligan’s Island, while also paying...

From October 2014: Ed, Tony and Donna welcome Dawn Wells, the actress known to three generations of television viewers as Mary Ann on Gilligan’s Island. Dawn’s new book, What Would Mary Ann Do? A Guide to Life, includes memories of Dawn’s life and career before and after Gilligan’s Island, while also paying tribute to each of her six fellow cast members. In this segment Dawn talks about how part of the enduring appeal of Gilligan's Island is its timelessness. Want to advertise/sponsor our...

From October 2014: Dawn Wells, the actress known to three generations of television viewers as Mary Ann on Gilligan’s Island, shares a few more memories of her time "on the Island," including how she and her fellow cast members particularly enjoyed filming the various dream sequences on the show. Then, Ed, Tony, and Donna spend a few minutes talking amongst themselves about what a thrill it was to meet one of their favorite TV icons. Dawn Wells passed away on Dec. 30, 2020 at age 82. Want to...