Jim Backus' first major acting gig was playing a snotty millionaire named Dexter Hayes on the 1940 radio serial "Society Girl." This was to kick off a decades-long career in radio, film, and television, wherein Backus invented multiple indelible characters that remain a part of the pop fabric to this very day. He appeared on "The Jack Benny Program" and even briefly had his own TV show, "The Jim Backus Show" in 1957. He famously played the voice of Mr. Magoo from 1949 until his death in 1989, and starred in "Rebel Without a Cause." He was adept at playing clueless weirdos and self-absorbed egotists, although he had a great deal of comedic range. Be sure to listen to his hit comedy single "Delicious!" sometime. He elicits laughter without saying anything. I could list more credits, but we'd be here all day; Backus starred in over 100 films and shorts, and several dozen TV shows.
- 5/18/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Tom Smothers, who with his younger brother Dick changed the face of comedy with their musical humor and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, died Tuesday in Santa Rosa, California, following a cancer battle. The news was announced by the National Comedy Center, on behalf of Smothers’ family. He was 86.
Tom and Dick Smothers started out as folk musicians in the early ’60s, and soon discovered that, while they were not good enough to be professional musicians, the act worked if they mixed in comedy.
Dick Smothers said in a statement, “Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner. I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years. Our relationship was like a good marriage – the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another.
Tom and Dick Smothers started out as folk musicians in the early ’60s, and soon discovered that, while they were not good enough to be professional musicians, the act worked if they mixed in comedy.
Dick Smothers said in a statement, “Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner. I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years. Our relationship was like a good marriage – the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another.
- 12/27/2023
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Dick Curtis, a veteran comedian and character actor, died September 16 in Los Angeles of heart failure at the Va hospital in Westwood. He was 95 and his death was confirmed by longtime friend and TV writer, Paul Jackson.
Curtis’s varied career spanned song and dance, nightclubs, TV, movies, commercials, producing for Pm magazine, and cutting two record albums.
But he was perhaps best known to TV viewers as the straight man to Jonathan Winters on his eponymous CBS series. Curtis also appeared in many weekly TV shows of the ’60s and ’70s, including The Andy Griffith Show, Batman, That Girl and The Dick Van Dyke Show, among others.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, he was a U.S. Marine in World War II. Returning to civilian life, he appeared on the Jack Benny Show.
In a memorable Dick Van Dyke Show appearance on the episode Coast to Coast Bigmouth, he played Johnny Patrick,...
Curtis’s varied career spanned song and dance, nightclubs, TV, movies, commercials, producing for Pm magazine, and cutting two record albums.
But he was perhaps best known to TV viewers as the straight man to Jonathan Winters on his eponymous CBS series. Curtis also appeared in many weekly TV shows of the ’60s and ’70s, including The Andy Griffith Show, Batman, That Girl and The Dick Van Dyke Show, among others.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, he was a U.S. Marine in World War II. Returning to civilian life, he appeared on the Jack Benny Show.
In a memorable Dick Van Dyke Show appearance on the episode Coast to Coast Bigmouth, he played Johnny Patrick,...
- 10/11/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
So long, soundstage of 1,000 memories.
The Price Is Right aired its final episode from Television City on Monday. The iconic CBS game show, produced by Fremantle, is leaving the Los Angeles studio complex where it has taped since its 1972 relaunch.
The daytime staple will relocate for season 52 to Haven Studios, a new facility in nearby Glendale, CA., in which Fremantle is an investor with a long-term lease.
The final episode at TV City featured contestants playing classic Price Is Right games, including the “Grand Game” but for $33,000, as well as the fan-favorite, “The Money Game.” One contestant also got to play the very first game executed on the show in 1972.
Along with host Drew Carey and announcer George Gray, all six of the show models appeared — Rachel Reynolds, Manuela Arbeláez, Amber Lancaster, Alexis Gaube, James O’Halloran and Devin Goda.
“Today we say farewell to the legendary Bob Barker Studio,...
The Price Is Right aired its final episode from Television City on Monday. The iconic CBS game show, produced by Fremantle, is leaving the Los Angeles studio complex where it has taped since its 1972 relaunch.
The daytime staple will relocate for season 52 to Haven Studios, a new facility in nearby Glendale, CA., in which Fremantle is an investor with a long-term lease.
The final episode at TV City featured contestants playing classic Price Is Right games, including the “Grand Game” but for $33,000, as well as the fan-favorite, “The Money Game.” One contestant also got to play the very first game executed on the show in 1972.
Along with host Drew Carey and announcer George Gray, all six of the show models appeared — Rachel Reynolds, Manuela Arbeláez, Amber Lancaster, Alexis Gaube, James O’Halloran and Devin Goda.
“Today we say farewell to the legendary Bob Barker Studio,...
- 6/26/2023
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
Along with rival NBC, CBS found success in radio before adding on the new medium of television in the 1940s. With the creation of ABC a few years later, the “Big Three” networks dominated the small screen for half a century before receiving competition from Fox network, cable stations and, later, streaming services. In the earliest days of TV, CBS and NBC vied for top spots in the ratings; by the mid-1950s, CBS commanded the lead with pioneering and groundbreaking programs across multiple genres — a trend that would continue for decades.
Like NBC, CBS transitioned radio programs over to television. One successful radio series they wanted to convert was “My Favorite Husband,” but the star refused to commit unless her real-life husband was allowed to be her lead. However, her husband was from Cuba, and CBS executives didn’t think Americans would believe an American woman would marry a hispanic.
Like NBC, CBS transitioned radio programs over to television. One successful radio series they wanted to convert was “My Favorite Husband,” but the star refused to commit unless her real-life husband was allowed to be her lead. However, her husband was from Cuba, and CBS executives didn’t think Americans would believe an American woman would marry a hispanic.
- 6/14/2023
- by Susan Pennington and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Along with rival NBC, CBS found success in radio before adding on the new medium of television in the 1940s. With the creation of ABC a few years later, the “Big Three” networks dominated the small screen for half a century before receiving competition from Fox network, cable stations and, later, streaming services. In the earliest days of TV, CBS and NBC vied for top spots in the ratings; by the mid-1950s, CBS commanded the lead with pioneering and groundbreaking programs across multiple genres — a trend that would continue for decades.
Like NBC, CBS transitioned radio programs over to television. One successful radio series they wanted to convert was “My Favorite Husband,” but the star refused to commit unless her real-life husband was allowed to be her lead. However, her husband was from Cuba, and CBS executives didn’t think Americans would believe an American woman would marry a hispanic.
Like NBC, CBS transitioned radio programs over to television. One successful radio series they wanted to convert was “My Favorite Husband,” but the star refused to commit unless her real-life husband was allowed to be her lead. However, her husband was from Cuba, and CBS executives didn’t think Americans would believe an American woman would marry a hispanic.
- 6/13/2023
- by Susan Pennington, Chris Beachum and Misty Holland
- Gold Derby
Diversity has historically been slow to come to the highly filmed stretch of Orion Avenue in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley known as Cameron Woods. But the same throwback suburban qualities that have long brought film crews to its spacious ranch-style homes and Cape Cods — it’s called “The Leave It to Beaver Street” for a reason — are drawing new residents who look more like the surrounding city.
Cameron Woods residents are still mostly white, a contrast to the rest of Van Nuys where it’s situated and heavily Latino. Traditionally, the 30 or so homes on this upscale stretch of Orion Avenue between Victory Boulevard and Erwin Street rarely came up for sale, instead passing to family members or the children of neighbors. But as more of those homeowners have been “aging out” or otherwise moving on, the increased turnover is bringing greater diversity.
While there are still few if any Latino residents here,...
Cameron Woods residents are still mostly white, a contrast to the rest of Van Nuys where it’s situated and heavily Latino. Traditionally, the 30 or so homes on this upscale stretch of Orion Avenue between Victory Boulevard and Erwin Street rarely came up for sale, instead passing to family members or the children of neighbors. But as more of those homeowners have been “aging out” or otherwise moving on, the increased turnover is bringing greater diversity.
While there are still few if any Latino residents here,...
- 3/2/2023
- by Brenda Gazzar
- The Wrap
Jeanine Ann Roose, best known for playing Little Violet Bick in the holiday classic film It’s a Wonderful Life, died Friday night at her Los Angeles home after battling an infection, TMZ reports. She was 84.
Roose worked as a child actor in the 1940s and ’50s. Her role as Little Violet in the 1946 Christmas classic was her sole film credit. You can see a clip of her in a scene from the film below.
Roose landed her first acting job at the age of eight on The Jack Benny Program. She also appeared on The Fitch Bandwagon and The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show from 1946 to 1954 as a character based on the real-life daughter of Harris and Faye.
Other radio appearances included playing Chris in the Lux Radio Theatre production of I Remember Mama and an episode of Mr. President with Edward Arnold. She also starred in the unaired television pilot Arabella’s Tall Tales.
Roose worked as a child actor in the 1940s and ’50s. Her role as Little Violet in the 1946 Christmas classic was her sole film credit. You can see a clip of her in a scene from the film below.
Roose landed her first acting job at the age of eight on The Jack Benny Program. She also appeared on The Fitch Bandwagon and The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show from 1946 to 1954 as a character based on the real-life daughter of Harris and Faye.
Other radio appearances included playing Chris in the Lux Radio Theatre production of I Remember Mama and an episode of Mr. President with Edward Arnold. She also starred in the unaired television pilot Arabella’s Tall Tales.
- 1/1/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
In this clip from a 1957 episode of "The Jack Benny Program", the world's worst violin player and penny-pincher arrives in Rome and has a brief encounter with a young, ruggedly handsome Italian luggage porter played by Sean Connery. Most amusing is that Connery's brief dialogue is delivered in a unique Italian accent highlighted by a Scottish brogue! (A tip of the hat to reader Doug Gerbino who alerted us to this video.)...
- 12/18/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
After host Jimmy Kimmel opened the audience-less 2020 Primetime Emmys ceremony from Los Angeles, the metaphorical spotlight stayed fixed for quite a while on the socially distanced “Schitt’s Creek” viewing party in Toronto as the series became the first to conquer every major comedy category in a single year. After “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Veep,” it became only the third show to win Best Comedy Series for its sixth season, and just the ninth to win for its final season after “Fleabag” did so one year earlier. Throughout Emmys history, both comedy and drama series have usually been honored significantly earlier in their runs.
This year, the TV academy has nominated eight shows in each of the two continuing series categories, including several that premiered during the latest eligibility period. As reigning drama champ “Succession” did not begin its third season in time, this will be the second consecutive...
This year, the TV academy has nominated eight shows in each of the two continuing series categories, including several that premiered during the latest eligibility period. As reigning drama champ “Succession” did not begin its third season in time, this will be the second consecutive...
- 9/4/2021
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
“Ted Lasso,” “The Mandalorian,” “Hacks,” “The Flight Attendant,” “The Crown” and “The Queen’s Gambit” are among the top nominees for the 73rd annual Primetime Awards, which are set for Sept.19 on CBS with Cedric the Entertainer, who stars on the network’s sitcom “The Neighborhood,” set to host. But this is now, but what about the Emmys 60 years ago.
Dick Powell hosted the 13th Emmy Awards which took place at the famed Moulin Rouge Nightclub in Los Angeles on May 16, 1961. There were just three broadcast networks as well as local channels and National Education Television, now known as PBS.
History was made when The Flintstones” became the first animated series to be nominated in a main category: program achievement in the field of humor. It would be nearly 50 years before another animated series, “The Family Guy,” contended for a top award.
Veterans such as Jack Benny and Red Skelton were among the winners,...
Dick Powell hosted the 13th Emmy Awards which took place at the famed Moulin Rouge Nightclub in Los Angeles on May 16, 1961. There were just three broadcast networks as well as local channels and National Education Television, now known as PBS.
History was made when The Flintstones” became the first animated series to be nominated in a main category: program achievement in the field of humor. It would be nearly 50 years before another animated series, “The Family Guy,” contended for a top award.
Veterans such as Jack Benny and Red Skelton were among the winners,...
- 7/15/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Ray MacDonnell, who played Dr. Joe Martin on ABC’s All My Children for more than 40 years, died June 10 of natural causes at his home in Chappaqua, NY, according to a report from Michael Fairman TV. He was 93.
Born on March 5, 1928, MacDonnell appeared early in his career on series such as Robert Montgomery Presents, The Jack Benny Program, Producers’ Showcase and Armstrong Circle Theatre.
While he also portrayed Philip Capice on CBS soap The Edge of Night from 1961-69 and played Dick Tracy in a pilot that was not picked up, he is best known for his appearances on multiple iterations of All My Children between 1970 and 2013.
MacDonnell was an original cast member on the daytime soap, which debuted on ABC in 1970, and would stay with the show for more than four decades. While he officially retired from the series in 2009, he returned in 2011 for a number of appearances, featuring in its final episode.
Born on March 5, 1928, MacDonnell appeared early in his career on series such as Robert Montgomery Presents, The Jack Benny Program, Producers’ Showcase and Armstrong Circle Theatre.
While he also portrayed Philip Capice on CBS soap The Edge of Night from 1961-69 and played Dick Tracy in a pilot that was not picked up, he is best known for his appearances on multiple iterations of All My Children between 1970 and 2013.
MacDonnell was an original cast member on the daytime soap, which debuted on ABC in 1970, and would stay with the show for more than four decades. While he officially retired from the series in 2009, he returned in 2011 for a number of appearances, featuring in its final episode.
- 6/29/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
All My Children vet Ray MacDonnell died on June 10 of natural causes, at his home in Chappaqua, New York. He was 93.
Michael Fairman TV reported on the daytime-tv vet’s passing.
More from TVLineAll My Children Primetime Series in Development at Abctv Characters Who Vanished Without a TraceTVLine Items: Awkwafina Return Date, Work in Progress Premiere and More
After starting out his TV career with appearances on The Jack Benny Program and Armstrong Circle Theatre, MacDonnell landed the role of The Edge of Night businessman Philip Capice, whom he played for eight years.
With the 1970 debut of ABC’s All My Children,...
Michael Fairman TV reported on the daytime-tv vet’s passing.
More from TVLineAll My Children Primetime Series in Development at Abctv Characters Who Vanished Without a TraceTVLine Items: Awkwafina Return Date, Work in Progress Premiere and More
After starting out his TV career with appearances on The Jack Benny Program and Armstrong Circle Theatre, MacDonnell landed the role of The Edge of Night businessman Philip Capice, whom he played for eight years.
With the 1970 debut of ABC’s All My Children,...
- 6/29/2021
- by Matt Webb Mitovich
- TVLine.com
“What We Do in the Shadows” surprised with eight Emmy Award nominations this summer for its second season on FX, quadrupling its haul from last year. None of these are for acting, but do not count it out of the Best Comedy Series race yet. The Emmys have awarded five Best Comedy Series that they snubbed for acting. “Art Carney Special,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “The Jack Benny Program” and “The Monkees” achieved the feat in the 1960s. It was 21 years until the next instance, when “The Wonder Years” won for its 1988 debut, with its only other nomination being for Best Comedy Writing. “The Wonder Years” went on to sweep up wins from the Casting Society, Directors Guild, Television Critics Association and Writers Guild for its first season, before exploding to 14 Emmy nominations for its second, including three for acting.
With that second season, “The Wonder Years” became the fifth...
With that second season, “The Wonder Years” became the fifth...
- 8/27/2020
- by Riley Chow
- Gold Derby
We’re still a couple of weeks out from The Boys returning with its second season, but based on the footage we’ve seen so far, it certainly looks as if we’re in for another wild ride. One that may even top the first run of the show, which was one of the best things that we’d seen on television in a long time.
Of course, trying to predict how something as crazy as The Boys is going to end up is a fool’s errand, but let’s not forget that it won’t be the only new thing arriving on Amazon Prime in September. Far from it, in fact.
Earlier today, the streaming service announced their entire line-up of new titles for next month and it’s a meaty list, comprising both films and television shows. And though The Boys may be the highlight for many...
Of course, trying to predict how something as crazy as The Boys is going to end up is a fool’s errand, but let’s not forget that it won’t be the only new thing arriving on Amazon Prime in September. Far from it, in fact.
Earlier today, the streaming service announced their entire line-up of new titles for next month and it’s a meaty list, comprising both films and television shows. And though The Boys may be the highlight for many...
- 8/26/2020
- by Matt Joseph
- We Got This Covered
An election season is fast-approaching in the U.S. So for its new releases in September 2020, Amazon Prime is bringing back one of its most political shows.
The Boys season 2 premieres its first three episodes on September 4. Though the show on its face is a superhero story, viewers of season 1 will know it’s really about America’s troubling embrace of entertainment with fascism. Sounds fun and not at all terrifying right before a presidential election!
That’s not the only bleak Amazon original on the schedule for September. British TV adaptation Utopia arrives on September 25. This Gillian Flynn-produced series follows fans of a comic book who believe it predicts…world-ending pandemics. Darn it. Amazon’s only original film this month is a…documentary about voter suppression from Liz Garbus called All In: The Fight for Democracy. Yikes.
For those of us who want to relax with some ‘member berries,...
The Boys season 2 premieres its first three episodes on September 4. Though the show on its face is a superhero story, viewers of season 1 will know it’s really about America’s troubling embrace of entertainment with fascism. Sounds fun and not at all terrifying right before a presidential election!
That’s not the only bleak Amazon original on the schedule for September. British TV adaptation Utopia arrives on September 25. This Gillian Flynn-produced series follows fans of a comic book who believe it predicts…world-ending pandemics. Darn it. Amazon’s only original film this month is a…documentary about voter suppression from Liz Garbus called All In: The Fight for Democracy. Yikes.
For those of us who want to relax with some ‘member berries,...
- 8/26/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
“Another Classic Hollywood Problem Film?”
By Raymond Benson
Recently there was hue and cry about the new streaming service HBO Max and their decision to remove the 1939 Oscar-winning classic Gone with the Wind from their lineup because of its no-question-about-it racial stereotypes. While the intention might be admirable, there is also the danger of destroying a part of cultural history that should be studied and learned from, rather than rendering it invisible. Besides, viewers have a choice to watch a movie, unlike, say, gazing at a statue on public display that is there for all to see no matter what.
Another Hollywood classic from the same era that certainly falls into identical “problem” areas is William Wyler’s Jezebel, which earned Bette Davis her second Oscar, awarded supporting actress Fay Bainter a trophy, and was nominated for Best Picture of 1938. It, too, is...
“Another Classic Hollywood Problem Film?”
By Raymond Benson
Recently there was hue and cry about the new streaming service HBO Max and their decision to remove the 1939 Oscar-winning classic Gone with the Wind from their lineup because of its no-question-about-it racial stereotypes. While the intention might be admirable, there is also the danger of destroying a part of cultural history that should be studied and learned from, rather than rendering it invisible. Besides, viewers have a choice to watch a movie, unlike, say, gazing at a statue on public display that is there for all to see no matter what.
Another Hollywood classic from the same era that certainly falls into identical “problem” areas is William Wyler’s Jezebel, which earned Bette Davis her second Oscar, awarded supporting actress Fay Bainter a trophy, and was nominated for Best Picture of 1938. It, too, is...
- 7/8/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Black Americans saw very little representation of their lives and culture on TV during the 1950s. The only mainstay was Eddie Anderson, who played Jack Benny’s sardonic valet Rochester on CBS’ “The Jack Benny Program.” In 1937, he’d became the first Black performer to be a regular on the radio version of the beloved comedy series and played Rochester on television from 1950-65. Terry Carter played Pvt. Sugie Sugerman for 98 episodes of CBS’ Emmy Award-winning “The Phil Silvers Show.’ And Black singers and performers would occasionally appear on various musical-variety series.
Pianist Hazel Scott was given her own summer series “The Hazel Scott Show” on DuMont in 1950. But she was soon named as a Communist by “Red Channels”. Though she denied the charges, the series couldn’t attract a sponsor and was history after four episodes. Likewise, NBC’s 1957-58 “The Nat King Cole Show” couldn’t find a...
Pianist Hazel Scott was given her own summer series “The Hazel Scott Show” on DuMont in 1950. But she was soon named as a Communist by “Red Channels”. Though she denied the charges, the series couldn’t attract a sponsor and was history after four episodes. Likewise, NBC’s 1957-58 “The Nat King Cole Show” couldn’t find a...
- 6/25/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Is it going to be another marvelous Emmy night for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”? The Amazon hit leads our early odds to snag Best Comedy Series once again. A win would put it in a prestigious group of multiple champs and even rarer group of shows to reclaim the prize.
Two years ago, “Maisel” came out swinging and nabbed eight Emmys for its debut season, including comedy series to become the first streaming series to take the award. Last year, it lost the top prize to the hottest show in town, “Fleabag,” but it still accrued another eight statuettes, including four acting victories (both guest and both supporting races). Since “Fleabag” is done and there’s obviously a ton of affection for Midge & Co. from the TV academy, it’s natural to assume “Maisel” will reassert itself at the top in September — something only five shows have managed to do...
Two years ago, “Maisel” came out swinging and nabbed eight Emmys for its debut season, including comedy series to become the first streaming series to take the award. Last year, it lost the top prize to the hottest show in town, “Fleabag,” but it still accrued another eight statuettes, including four acting victories (both guest and both supporting races). Since “Fleabag” is done and there’s obviously a ton of affection for Midge & Co. from the TV academy, it’s natural to assume “Maisel” will reassert itself at the top in September — something only five shows have managed to do...
- 3/20/2020
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Kirk Douglas, the prolific actor and producer whose “Spartacus” is credited with helping to end the Hollywood blacklist, patriarch of a successful entertainment dynasty and one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s golden age, died Wednesday. He was 103.
“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” his son Michael Douglas said in a statement posted on Instagram. “To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to.
“But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne, a wonderful husband.
“It is with tremendous sadness that my brothers and I announce that Kirk Douglas left us today at the age of 103,” his son Michael Douglas said in a statement posted on Instagram. “To the world, he was a legend, an actor from the golden age of movies who lived well into his golden years, a humanitarian whose commitment to justice and the causes he believed in set a standard for all of us to aspire to.
“But to me and my brothers Joel and Peter he was simply Dad, to Catherine, a wonderful father-in-law, to his grandchildren and great grandchild their loving grandfather, and to his wife Anne, a wonderful husband.
- 2/5/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Veteran character actress Norma Micheals passed away from natural causes Jan. 11 at her home in Palm Springs, CA. She was 95.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, she was a character actor for six decades. She was best known for her recurring role of “Josephine” opposite Jerry Stiller on the hit CBS series King of Queens, but also had an extensive film and TV career.
Her last film role was that of Sally Field’s mother in the award-winning 2016 hit indie film Hello My Name is Doris. Other television appearances include Modern Family, Highway to Heaven, The Crazy Ones, Suburgatory, 2 Broke Girls, Angie Tribeca, Playing House, Everybody Loves Raymond, Dr. Kildare,The George Gobel Show and The Jack Benny Show, The Benny show marked her acting break.
Micheals took a hiatus from acting to become a therapist, but returned in the late ’80s in Highway to Heaven. Her last TV...
Born and raised in Los Angeles, she was a character actor for six decades. She was best known for her recurring role of “Josephine” opposite Jerry Stiller on the hit CBS series King of Queens, but also had an extensive film and TV career.
Her last film role was that of Sally Field’s mother in the award-winning 2016 hit indie film Hello My Name is Doris. Other television appearances include Modern Family, Highway to Heaven, The Crazy Ones, Suburgatory, 2 Broke Girls, Angie Tribeca, Playing House, Everybody Loves Raymond, Dr. Kildare,The George Gobel Show and The Jack Benny Show, The Benny show marked her acting break.
Micheals took a hiatus from acting to become a therapist, but returned in the late ’80s in Highway to Heaven. Her last TV...
- 1/17/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Arte Johnson, who won an Emmy for his memorable work on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and worked in TV and film for nearly half a century, died early Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, his family said announced. He was 90 and had battled bladder and prostate cancer for the past three years.
Johnson earned three consecutive Emmy noms for Laugh-In from 1969-71, winning the first year. He was part of the politically tinged NBC sketch series’ main cast from its launch in January 1968 until 1971, playing myriad characters in the show that launched the careers of such stars as Lily Tomlin, Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Henry Gibson, Jo Anne Worley and many others.
Among his most popular characters was Wolfgang, a cigarette-smoking German soldier who believed that World War II was still ongoing, as he scouted the show while hidden behind bushes. He would then invariably comment on the preceding sketch...
Johnson earned three consecutive Emmy noms for Laugh-In from 1969-71, winning the first year. He was part of the politically tinged NBC sketch series’ main cast from its launch in January 1968 until 1971, playing myriad characters in the show that launched the careers of such stars as Lily Tomlin, Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Henry Gibson, Jo Anne Worley and many others.
Among his most popular characters was Wolfgang, a cigarette-smoking German soldier who believed that World War II was still ongoing, as he scouted the show while hidden behind bushes. He would then invariably comment on the preceding sketch...
- 7/3/2019
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
This post contains spoilers for all of Fleabag Season Two, now available on Amazon Prime Video.
When the first season of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag debuted back in 2016, it seemed to fit into a long tradition of TV shows where characters break the fourth wall and address the audience directly. This has been going on since the medium’s early days in sitcoms like The Jack Benny Program, and has continued over the decades in series as wildly different from one another as Saved By the Bell and House of Cards.
When the first season of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag debuted back in 2016, it seemed to fit into a long tradition of TV shows where characters break the fourth wall and address the audience directly. This has been going on since the medium’s early days in sitcoms like The Jack Benny Program, and has continued over the decades in series as wildly different from one another as Saved By the Bell and House of Cards.
- 5/21/2019
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
Clint Walker, who starred in the television Western “Cheyenne” and had a key supporting role in the WWII film “The Dirty Dozen,” died on Monday in Northern California, according to the New York Times. He was 90.
For seven seasons from 1955-61, he played Cheyenne Bodie, a rambunctious wanderer in the post-Civil War West, on the ABC series “Cheyenne.” (He also guested as the character on “Maverick.”)
The actor’s seriocomic confrontation with star Lee Marvin was one of the highlights of the classic 1967 war picture “The Dirty Dozen.”
After “Cheyenne” ended, Walker made some guest appearances on TV — “77 Sunset Strip,” “Kraft Suspense Theatre” and “The Lucy Show,” in an episode called “Lucy and Clint Walker.”
But the actor became more interested in movies both theatrical and for TV. In 1964, he had a supporting role in the Doris Day-Rock Hudson comedy “Send Me No Flowers.” His acting was not distinguished,...
For seven seasons from 1955-61, he played Cheyenne Bodie, a rambunctious wanderer in the post-Civil War West, on the ABC series “Cheyenne.” (He also guested as the character on “Maverick.”)
The actor’s seriocomic confrontation with star Lee Marvin was one of the highlights of the classic 1967 war picture “The Dirty Dozen.”
After “Cheyenne” ended, Walker made some guest appearances on TV — “77 Sunset Strip,” “Kraft Suspense Theatre” and “The Lucy Show,” in an episode called “Lucy and Clint Walker.”
But the actor became more interested in movies both theatrical and for TV. In 1964, he had a supporting role in the Doris Day-Rock Hudson comedy “Send Me No Flowers.” His acting was not distinguished,...
- 5/22/2018
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
The first and only time “Will & Grace” won Best Comedy Series at the Emmys was a full adult ago — 18 years, way back in 2000. The NBC sitcom could pick up a bookend Emmy in September with the revival, which would set a record for the longest gap between Best Comedy Series wins.
Now it goes without saying that this wouldn’t be possible without the revival, and a gap this long is practically unheard of, since most shows don’t run continuously for nearly two decades, let alone receive Emmy recognition for that entire duration. The Emmys like to get into streaks with their favorites and then drop them like a bad habit.
Sixteen shows have won multiple Best Comedy Series and almost all of them did it with consecutive wins. “Frasier” and “Modern Family” both pulled off a five-peat. All six three-time winners — “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Phil Silvers Show,...
Now it goes without saying that this wouldn’t be possible without the revival, and a gap this long is practically unheard of, since most shows don’t run continuously for nearly two decades, let alone receive Emmy recognition for that entire duration. The Emmys like to get into streaks with their favorites and then drop them like a bad habit.
Sixteen shows have won multiple Best Comedy Series and almost all of them did it with consecutive wins. “Frasier” and “Modern Family” both pulled off a five-peat. All six three-time winners — “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Phil Silvers Show,...
- 4/13/2018
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” has a pretty, pretty good chance of making the Best Comedy Series cut. According to our early Emmy odds, Larry David’s brainchild, which returned for Season 9 in October after a six-year hiatus, is safely in in fifth place. A nomination would mark its eighth in the category, having only missed its first year. And if “Curb” finally takes home the gold, it’d go down as the oldest first-time Best Comedy Series champ.
Currently, the record is held by “Barney Miller” (1982) and “Friends” (2002), both of which won their first and only awards for their eighth seasons. Season 8 was also “Barney Miller”‘s last, while “Friends” triumphed for its renaissance year with Rachel’s (Jennifer Aniston) pregnancy. “All in the Family” also won in its eighth season in 1978, but it had nabbed three earlier victories.
See Emmys 2018: Thanks to revivals, this year’s Best Comedy Series...
Currently, the record is held by “Barney Miller” (1982) and “Friends” (2002), both of which won their first and only awards for their eighth seasons. Season 8 was also “Barney Miller”‘s last, while “Friends” triumphed for its renaissance year with Rachel’s (Jennifer Aniston) pregnancy. “All in the Family” also won in its eighth season in 1978, but it had nabbed three earlier victories.
See Emmys 2018: Thanks to revivals, this year’s Best Comedy Series...
- 3/27/2018
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Actress Kendall Carly Browne died Friday of natural causes at her home in Indio, California. She was 99.
Browne appeared in such films as Dreamscape (1984) and Pineapple Express (2008) and on television on The Jack Benny Program; Beverly Hills, 90210; ER; CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; and My Name Is Earl. She also toured the country with Forrest Tucker in theatrical productions of Plaza Suite.
Browne began her career as a receptionist at the Zeppo Marx Talent Agency, worked at CBS Television City when it first opened in 1952 and hosted the Four Star Theater program on KECA-TV (now KABC-TV).
...
Browne appeared in such films as Dreamscape (1984) and Pineapple Express (2008) and on television on The Jack Benny Program; Beverly Hills, 90210; ER; CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; and My Name Is Earl. She also toured the country with Forrest Tucker in theatrical productions of Plaza Suite.
Browne began her career as a receptionist at the Zeppo Marx Talent Agency, worked at CBS Television City when it first opened in 1952 and hosted the Four Star Theater program on KECA-TV (now KABC-TV).
...
- 1/29/2018
- by THR Staff
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There's a running gag in the first episode of alt-comedian Maria Bamford's new Netflix comedy series Lady Dynamite where guest star Patton Oswalt, ostensibly playing a cop in Bamford's La neighborhood, keeps breaking character to warn her against doing stand-up on her show, listing all the famous comics who have already done it: "You've got Louie, Seinfeld, Chappelle, Amy Schumer, my two pilots..." Eventually, other comedians — some of whom also did failed shows that featured them performing material from their stage act — turn up to express their own dismay. But even though Bamford is playing herself and drawing on both her past work and private life, no one who watched Lady Dynamite (executive produced by Bamford, Pam Brady, and Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz, it debuts tomorrow) for even a minute would think to mistake it for another Seinfeld knock-off — or even an imitation of Louie, where Bamford has appeared a few times.
- 5/19/2016
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
Wesley Mead Dec 21, 2016
Here's day three in our countdown of the top Christmas TV episodes of all time: entries 60 to 41...
This article was first published in December 2015. Read entries 100 - 81 here and entries 80 - 61 here.
See related Sherlock series 4 episode 1 spoiler-free review: The Six Thatchers Sherlock series 4: go behind the scenes; spoiler-free review Doctor Who Christmas special: The Return Of Doctor Mysterio review Doctor Who Christmas special: The Return Of Doctor Mysterio nerdy spots & Easter eggs
Since the medium’s infancy, viewers have enjoyed sharing holidays with their favourite television characters. We grow invested in our friends on screen over the years; spending Christmas with them is a rite of passage, a chance for us to share tradition from our world with the fictional ones we see on screen. Some shows embrace the season wholeheartedly, characters in good spirits and enjoying the trappings of the season; others skew a little darker,...
Here's day three in our countdown of the top Christmas TV episodes of all time: entries 60 to 41...
This article was first published in December 2015. Read entries 100 - 81 here and entries 80 - 61 here.
See related Sherlock series 4 episode 1 spoiler-free review: The Six Thatchers Sherlock series 4: go behind the scenes; spoiler-free review Doctor Who Christmas special: The Return Of Doctor Mysterio review Doctor Who Christmas special: The Return Of Doctor Mysterio nerdy spots & Easter eggs
Since the medium’s infancy, viewers have enjoyed sharing holidays with their favourite television characters. We grow invested in our friends on screen over the years; spending Christmas with them is a rite of passage, a chance for us to share tradition from our world with the fictional ones we see on screen. Some shows embrace the season wholeheartedly, characters in good spirits and enjoying the trappings of the season; others skew a little darker,...
- 12/15/2015
- Den of Geek
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Here's day three in our countdown of the top Christmas TV episodes of all time: entries 60 to 41...
Read entries 100 - 81 here and entries 80 - 61 here.
Since the medium’s infancy, viewers have enjoyed sharing holidays with their favourite television characters. We grow invested in our friends on screen over the years; spending Christmas with them is a rite of passage, a chance for us to share tradition from our world with the fictional ones we see on screen. Some shows embrace the season wholeheartedly, characters in good spirits and enjoying the trappings of the season; others skew a little darker, bringing the more oppressive, burdensome side of the holidays to life. Either way, Christmas episodes tend to demonstrate the strengths of our favourite series, and it’s long been a festive ritual of mine to wheel out old DVD sets and settle back for a few favourites during December.
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Here's day three in our countdown of the top Christmas TV episodes of all time: entries 60 to 41...
Read entries 100 - 81 here and entries 80 - 61 here.
Since the medium’s infancy, viewers have enjoyed sharing holidays with their favourite television characters. We grow invested in our friends on screen over the years; spending Christmas with them is a rite of passage, a chance for us to share tradition from our world with the fictional ones we see on screen. Some shows embrace the season wholeheartedly, characters in good spirits and enjoying the trappings of the season; others skew a little darker, bringing the more oppressive, burdensome side of the holidays to life. Either way, Christmas episodes tend to demonstrate the strengths of our favourite series, and it’s long been a festive ritual of mine to wheel out old DVD sets and settle back for a few favourites during December.
- 12/15/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
59 years ago today, Elvis Presley made his second appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” It was the first time he was on the show with the eponymous host present, as Sullivan was recovering from a car accident. Charles Laughton guest hosted that show. On the October 28, 1956 show, Presley performed “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Love Me Tender.” And he played a four minute-long version of his hit “Hound Dog.” (That September, he had performed a one minute and seven seconds version of the song on the show.) At both his first and second appearance on the show, audiences went wild for his gyrating hips. It was at his third and final appearance on the show, in January 1957, that he was famously taped and photographed from the waist up only. Before his first appearance on “Ed Sullivan,” the host had vowed to never allow Presley on the show. Sullivan wouldn’t...
- 10/28/2015
- by Emily Rome
- Hitfix
Bud Yorkin, a film and TV director, producer and writer who partnered with Norman Lear on the groundbreaking television comedies All In The Family, Maude, Good Times and Sanford and Son, died today of natural causes at his home in Bel-Air. He was 89. Yorkin won writing and directing Emmys for the special An Evening With Fred Astaire (1959) and another for directing The Jack Benny Program in 1960. But it was as director and co-producer of many of the 1970s shows that broke…...
- 8/19/2015
- Deadline TV
In the forum topic in which I asked why Emmy voters are such snobs, DS0816 posted the following reply which merits its own discussion: "This is really a topic not so much specifically about "Modern Family" but about numerous series winning three or beyond top Emmys…while others, also deserved, never won. It's been going on, at least in comedy, for the last five decades." [I would say six, if you include three-time champ "The Phil Silver Show" (1956 - 1958) and two-time winners "I Love Lucy" (1953, 1954) and "The Jack Benny Show" (1959, 1961).] Indeed, in the 63 years since 1952 -- when the Emmys first gave out an award for Best Comedy Series -- only 32 different laffers have won. Among the repeat champs is "Modern Family," which has owned this award for five years running and looks like it will make it a record six this year. -Break- Dish this Emmys race in our red-hot forums...'...
- 7/10/2015
- Gold Derby
A slew of classic Disney movies are hitting for the first time on Blu-Ray, including one double-pack release, and you’re going to want to make sure to pick these up. You haven’t paid attention to some of these titles for a while, and it’s about time you got the chance to catch them on Blu-Ray. The best part is that there’s a great mix of releases hitting. Bedknobs and Broomsticks is all but lost in the cultural consciousness, and it deserves a return. The Academy Award-winning movie from the year I was born is filled with a lot of fun and adventure, and like most Disney films, holds up well for a whole new generation.
The rest of the group covers a great spectrum, including two animated “big” titles, and a 10th Anniversary release. There’s a lot to expose your family to here, so check out all the info below,...
The rest of the group covers a great spectrum, including two animated “big” titles, and a 10th Anniversary release. There’s a lot to expose your family to here, so check out all the info below,...
- 8/6/2014
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
If you aren’t making any mistakes,
it’s a sure sign you’re playing it too safe.
John Maxwell
By the end of the 1980s, HBO’s nightmarish headlong collision with The Wall in 1984 was just that; a bad dream fading over time. Even during the tough days, the company had remained a money-maker, and although it was taking more effort and cash to bag subscribers, the service was growing again, HBO original programming was racking up awards and acclaim, and in subscriber homes, the channel was kicking broadcast network ass. During the 1990-91 television season, the service beat all three major networks during Saturday and Sunday prime time hours. The good times were back.
Which did not change the underlying, immutable fact, and the greatest lesson to come out of that horrifying 1984 flatline: that the domestic cable universe was finite. Sooner or later, HBO was bound to hit another wall.
it’s a sure sign you’re playing it too safe.
John Maxwell
By the end of the 1980s, HBO’s nightmarish headlong collision with The Wall in 1984 was just that; a bad dream fading over time. Even during the tough days, the company had remained a money-maker, and although it was taking more effort and cash to bag subscribers, the service was growing again, HBO original programming was racking up awards and acclaim, and in subscriber homes, the channel was kicking broadcast network ass. During the 1990-91 television season, the service beat all three major networks during Saturday and Sunday prime time hours. The good times were back.
Which did not change the underlying, immutable fact, and the greatest lesson to come out of that horrifying 1984 flatline: that the domestic cable universe was finite. Sooner or later, HBO was bound to hit another wall.
- 11/6/2013
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Louis C.K. ("Louie") is the favorite to win the Emmy as Best Comedy Actor according to experts polled by Gold Derby. See their rankings here. In looking at the graph above, notice how C.K. only gained his lead in recent weeks. When nominations were announced on July 18, two-time champs Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory") and Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock") were out front, but the support for both men has declined. While C.K. has won four Emmys for writing (including one last weekend for his variety special "Oh My God"), he has never prevailed in a performance category. If he does triumph on Sunday, he would be the first to do it in this category for playing himself since Jack Benny ("The Jack Benny Program," 1959). Currently, C.K. leads the experts' predictions with 2 to 3 odds over both Baldwin and Parsons at 9 to 2. All three other nominees - Jason Bateman...
- 9/20/2013
- Gold Derby
Chicago – The TV show “Get Smart,” which had its original run on the NBC network from 1965-1970, was an oddball classic. Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, the sitcom was a goofy satire on cold war politics of the 1960s, with a hapless operative named Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) working for the Control agency, spying against a foreign menace called Kaos. Barbara Feldon (Agent 99) and Bernie Kopell (Sigfried) were part of the supporting cast.
Feldon and Kopell were also part of The Hollywood Show, a two day gathering of favorite TV and movie stars to meet fans and sign autographs. The next show in Chicagoland will be at the Hilton Rosemont on September 7th and 8th, 2013 (details below the article). The Show will have over 30 celebrities in attendance, including Barbara Eden and Bill Daily (“I Dream of Jeannie”); Tippi Hedren (“The Birds”); Barry Livingston, Stanley Livingston and Tina Cole...
Feldon and Kopell were also part of The Hollywood Show, a two day gathering of favorite TV and movie stars to meet fans and sign autographs. The next show in Chicagoland will be at the Hilton Rosemont on September 7th and 8th, 2013 (details below the article). The Show will have over 30 celebrities in attendance, including Barbara Eden and Bill Daily (“I Dream of Jeannie”); Tippi Hedren (“The Birds”); Barry Livingston, Stanley Livingston and Tina Cole...
- 9/3/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – We like to think that creative progress has led to a more open-minded era of today than decades ago but the fact is that I really don’t think a major studio with major actors would make a film today that felt as honestly dangerous as Ernst Lubitsch’s “To Be or Not To Be” did when it was released. A dangerous Jack Benny comedy? You bet.
Making a comedy that mocked not just Adolf Hitler himself but the wartime tragedies that were happening throughout Europe in 1942 took such amazing courage that this comedy, now considered a classic, was divisive when it was released. Benny’s own father reportedly walked out of his first viewing, uncomfortable seeing his son in a Nazi uniform. This was daring material and what’s so remarkable about watching it now is that the high-wire tonal tightrope that Lubitsch walks in the film can still be appreciated.
Making a comedy that mocked not just Adolf Hitler himself but the wartime tragedies that were happening throughout Europe in 1942 took such amazing courage that this comedy, now considered a classic, was divisive when it was released. Benny’s own father reportedly walked out of his first viewing, uncomfortable seeing his son in a Nazi uniform. This was daring material and what’s so remarkable about watching it now is that the high-wire tonal tightrope that Lubitsch walks in the film can still be appreciated.
- 8/27/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week
"The Great Gatsby"
What's It About? Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann's reinterpretation of the famous F. Scott Fitzgerald Depression-era novel is a glamorous and audacious one. The film follows the original story of the Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), mysterious millionaire who throws the most epic parties New York City has ever seen. His new neighbor Nick Caraway (Tobey Maguire) writes about the love and deceit surrounding Gatsby and his old love Daisy Buchanan (Carrie Mulligan) that spins out of control into tragedy.
Watch: Baz Luhrmann takes you behind the scenes of "Gatsby" (Video)
Why We're In: Blending the modern with the classic, Luhrmann's "Gatsby" both showcases the glitter and glamour of the 1920s alongside a modern pop music score. With extravagant CGI and music from Jay-z to Lana Del Ray, "The Great Gatsby" is unlike any of the film adaptations before it. While Luhramann's...
"The Great Gatsby"
What's It About? Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann's reinterpretation of the famous F. Scott Fitzgerald Depression-era novel is a glamorous and audacious one. The film follows the original story of the Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), mysterious millionaire who throws the most epic parties New York City has ever seen. His new neighbor Nick Caraway (Tobey Maguire) writes about the love and deceit surrounding Gatsby and his old love Daisy Buchanan (Carrie Mulligan) that spins out of control into tragedy.
Watch: Baz Luhrmann takes you behind the scenes of "Gatsby" (Video)
Why We're In: Blending the modern with the classic, Luhrmann's "Gatsby" both showcases the glitter and glamour of the 1920s alongside a modern pop music score. With extravagant CGI and music from Jay-z to Lana Del Ray, "The Great Gatsby" is unlike any of the film adaptations before it. While Luhramann's...
- 8/27/2013
- by Erin Whitney
- Moviefone
Jon Cryer won Best Comedy Actor last year for “Two and a Half Men” but was snubbed this year. The last champ eligible to defend his crown but left off the list of nominees was Eric McCormack for “Will and Grace” (2001). Matt LeBlanc is the only one of this year’s nominees to contend in this category for two different shows: “Friends” (2002, 2003, 2004) and “Episodes” (2011, 2013). Alec Baldwin is nominated for the final season of “30 Rock.” Among those to win this award for their final seasons were Ted Danson (“Cheers,” 1993), Michael J. Fox (“Spin City,” 2000), Kelsey Grammer (“Frasier,” 2004), and Ricky Gervais (“Extras,” 2007). If Louis C.K. (“Louie”) or LeBlanc wins, he'll be the first to do so for playing himself since 1959 (Jack Benny, “The Jack Benny Program”). If Don Cheadle (“...
- 7/30/2013
- Gold Derby
The Wasteland:
Television is a gold goose that lays scrambled eggs;
and it is futile and probably fatal to beat it for not laying caviar.
Lee Loevinger
When people argue over the quality of television programming, both sides — it’s addictive crap v. underappreciated populist art — seem to forget one of the essentials about commercial TV. By definition, it is not a public service. It is not commercial TV’s job to enlighten, inform, educate, elevate, inspire, or offer insight. Frankly, it’s not even commercial TV’s job to entertain. Bottom line: its purpose is simply to deliver as many sets of eyes to advertisers as possible. As it happens, it tends to do this by offering various forms of entertainment, and occasionally by offering content that does enlighten, inform, etc., but a cynic would make the point that if TV could do the same job televising fish aimlessly swimming around an aquarium,...
Television is a gold goose that lays scrambled eggs;
and it is futile and probably fatal to beat it for not laying caviar.
Lee Loevinger
When people argue over the quality of television programming, both sides — it’s addictive crap v. underappreciated populist art — seem to forget one of the essentials about commercial TV. By definition, it is not a public service. It is not commercial TV’s job to enlighten, inform, educate, elevate, inspire, or offer insight. Frankly, it’s not even commercial TV’s job to entertain. Bottom line: its purpose is simply to deliver as many sets of eyes to advertisers as possible. As it happens, it tends to do this by offering various forms of entertainment, and occasionally by offering content that does enlighten, inform, etc., but a cynic would make the point that if TV could do the same job televising fish aimlessly swimming around an aquarium,...
- 7/22/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
In the Beginning Was the Word — Radio:
“I like doing radio because it’s so intimate. The moment people hear your voice, you’re inside their heads, not only that, you’re in there laying eggs”.
Doug Coupland
We can watch TV — or movies, YouTube videos, play videogames, exchange video phone calls — from anywhere and everywhere: on line at McD’s, from our seat on our commuter bus or train (usually annoying the hell out of the napping business professional next to us), even from a toilet stall (crass, I grant, but I’ve seen — , well, ahem, I mean, I’ve heard it done). It’s nearly impossible for a generation growing up immersed, submerged, and buried in portable visual media to imagine the magnetic hold radio had on its audiences back in its early days. Think about it, all you smartphone and ipad users, wi-fiers and Hopper subscribers: there...
“I like doing radio because it’s so intimate. The moment people hear your voice, you’re inside their heads, not only that, you’re in there laying eggs”.
Doug Coupland
We can watch TV — or movies, YouTube videos, play videogames, exchange video phone calls — from anywhere and everywhere: on line at McD’s, from our seat on our commuter bus or train (usually annoying the hell out of the napping business professional next to us), even from a toilet stall (crass, I grant, but I’ve seen — , well, ahem, I mean, I’ve heard it done). It’s nearly impossible for a generation growing up immersed, submerged, and buried in portable visual media to imagine the magnetic hold radio had on its audiences back in its early days. Think about it, all you smartphone and ipad users, wi-fiers and Hopper subscribers: there...
- 7/6/2013
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Aug. 27, 2013
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Carole Lombard and Jack Benny make a joke out of the Nazis in To Be or Not to Be.
Jack Benny (The Jack Benny Program) and, in her final screen appearance, Carole Lombard (My Man Godfrey) star in To Be or Not to Be, a 1942 screwball comedy masterpiece from Ernst Lubitsch (Trouble in Paradise).
As nervy as it is hilarious, the classic film features Benny and Lombard as husband-and-wife thespians in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who become caught up in a dangerous plot wherein a Polish soldier is trying to track down a German spy.
To Be or Not to Be is a Hollywood film of the undeniably bold black humor, which went into production soon after the U.S. entered World War II. Lubitsch manages to brilliantly balance political satire, romance, slapstick, and urgent wartime suspense in a comic high-wire act that has never been equaled.
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Carole Lombard and Jack Benny make a joke out of the Nazis in To Be or Not to Be.
Jack Benny (The Jack Benny Program) and, in her final screen appearance, Carole Lombard (My Man Godfrey) star in To Be or Not to Be, a 1942 screwball comedy masterpiece from Ernst Lubitsch (Trouble in Paradise).
As nervy as it is hilarious, the classic film features Benny and Lombard as husband-and-wife thespians in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who become caught up in a dangerous plot wherein a Polish soldier is trying to track down a German spy.
To Be or Not to Be is a Hollywood film of the undeniably bold black humor, which went into production soon after the U.S. entered World War II. Lubitsch manages to brilliantly balance political satire, romance, slapstick, and urgent wartime suspense in a comic high-wire act that has never been equaled.
- 6/6/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Plenty of television shows have their stars, often comedians, playing fictionalized versions of themselves -- it's the simplest way to translate a stand-up act or other public persona to a scripted situation, from "The Jack Benny Show" to "The Cosby Show" to "Everybody Loves Raymond." But someone taking a regular gig that's centered around skewering him- or herself is a more contemporary phenomenon. Maybe it's because in this showbiz-savvy, invasive tabloid-happy era, we feel iike we have more a sense of an actor's private self (merited or not) and so are in on the joke, or maybe it's because there's no one you get freer rein to come down hard on than yourself. The latest performer to embrace this idea is James Van Der Beek, who plays "himself" on the new sitcom "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23," the smarmy friend of Krysten Ritter's Chloe, still using his "Dawson's.
- 4/12/2012
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
The state-of-the-art studio that housed The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien is getting a new late-night occupant. E!’s Chelsea Lately will move into the space, Studio 1 on the Universal lot, later this year, probably in the fourth quarter. Stage 1, named The Jack Benny Stage, has remained largely vacant since the quick demise of The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien as Jay Leno, who was brought back as host in March 2010, opted to stay at his old stomping grounds in Burbank. When plans were announced for O’Brien to take over The Tonight Show, NBC spent a reported $50 million to transform Stage 1 — which housed The Jack Benny Show, the first TV show shot at Universal, as well as the original Knight Rider TV series — into a lavish talk show set custom-made to accommodate comedy skits, a band, and a large studio audience. (Chelsea Lately‘s studio audience is...
- 1/8/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Filed under: Reality-Free, TV News
Len Lesser, best-known to TV fans as Uncle Leo on 'Seinfeld,' has died.
Lesser died from pneumonia in Burbank, CA. He was 88.
He had a very long television career, making his first appearance on a 1949 -- yes, 1949! -- episode of 'Studio One.' During the course of his 60-year career he appeared in such shows as 'Dragnet,' 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents,' 'Gunsmoke,' 'Mike Hammer' (the 50s version), 'Playhouse 90,' 'The Jack Benny Program,' 'The Untouchables,' 'The Outer Limits,' 'The Wild, Wild West,' 'Get Smart,' 'Boy Meets World,' 'ER,' 'Cold Case' and dozens of others.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments...
Len Lesser, best-known to TV fans as Uncle Leo on 'Seinfeld,' has died.
Lesser died from pneumonia in Burbank, CA. He was 88.
He had a very long television career, making his first appearance on a 1949 -- yes, 1949! -- episode of 'Studio One.' During the course of his 60-year career he appeared in such shows as 'Dragnet,' 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents,' 'Gunsmoke,' 'Mike Hammer' (the 50s version), 'Playhouse 90,' 'The Jack Benny Program,' 'The Untouchables,' 'The Outer Limits,' 'The Wild, Wild West,' 'Get Smart,' 'Boy Meets World,' 'ER,' 'Cold Case' and dozens of others.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments...
- 2/16/2011
- by Bob Sassone
- Aol TV.
Jill Jackson, a pioneering New Orleans sportscaster who wrote a Hollywood gossip column that ran for decades, died Sept. 8 of natural causes at the Rehabilitation Center of Beverly Hills. She was 97.
Her column, "Jill Jackson's Hollywood," was syndicated and reached more than 1,700 newspapers at its peak. She continued writing until a few weeks ago.
An outstanding athlete in golf and tennis, Jackson became what some believe to be the first woman sportscaster when she did color commentary on golf tournaments with local legend Henry Dupre in the early 1940s and on baseball games with pitcher-turned-broadcaster Dizzy Dean.
Jackson soon had her own sports show on radio and then her own TV show in New Orleans, on which she interviewed celebrities who visited the city. She headed west in 1960.
An actress since her school days, Jackson starred in stage productions in New Orleans and appeared in "I'd Rather Be Rich...
Her column, "Jill Jackson's Hollywood," was syndicated and reached more than 1,700 newspapers at its peak. She continued writing until a few weeks ago.
An outstanding athlete in golf and tennis, Jackson became what some believe to be the first woman sportscaster when she did color commentary on golf tournaments with local legend Henry Dupre in the early 1940s and on baseball games with pitcher-turned-broadcaster Dizzy Dean.
Jackson soon had her own sports show on radio and then her own TV show in New Orleans, on which she interviewed celebrities who visited the city. She headed west in 1960.
An actress since her school days, Jackson starred in stage productions in New Orleans and appeared in "I'd Rather Be Rich...
- 9/23/2010
- by By Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The La Times has sad news to report. The great character actor, Harold Gould, has passed away.
Harold Gould, a veteran character actor who played con man Kid Twist in the 1973 movie The Sting, Valerie Harper’s father on TV’s “Rhoda” and Betty White’s boyfriend on “The Golden Girls,” has died. He was 86.
Gould, who also was known for his stage work, died Saturday at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement community in Woodland Hills of prostate cancer that had metastasized, said Leah Gould, his daughter-in-law.
A former university drama teacher who launched his career in front of the camera in the early ’60s, Gould appeared in movies such as “Harper,” the 1974 remake of “The Front Page,” “Love and Death,” “Silent Movie,” “Freaky Friday” and “Patch Adams.”
Over the last five decades, he made scores of guest appearances on TV shows such as “Route 66,” “Perry Mason,...
Harold Gould, a veteran character actor who played con man Kid Twist in the 1973 movie The Sting, Valerie Harper’s father on TV’s “Rhoda” and Betty White’s boyfriend on “The Golden Girls,” has died. He was 86.
Gould, who also was known for his stage work, died Saturday at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement community in Woodland Hills of prostate cancer that had metastasized, said Leah Gould, his daughter-in-law.
A former university drama teacher who launched his career in front of the camera in the early ’60s, Gould appeared in movies such as “Harper,” the 1974 remake of “The Front Page,” “Love and Death,” “Silent Movie,” “Freaky Friday” and “Patch Adams.”
Over the last five decades, he made scores of guest appearances on TV shows such as “Route 66,” “Perry Mason,...
- 9/15/2010
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
So, who's the cheapskate now? CBS has shelved about 25 recently unearthed episodes of "The Jack Benny Show" -- because it doesn't want the hassle of paying for licensing, etc. Benny's stock-in-trade was to portray himself as the ultimate skinflint on his TV show, which aired on CBS from 1950-64. The original episodes, which were assumed to have been lost to time, were discovered in 2008. The International Jack Benny Fan Club, with the blessing of the Benny estate, approached CBS and offered to pay for the digital transfer and preservation of the rare episodes.
- 1/19/2010
- NYPost.com
This stamp honoring Bette Davis was issued by the U. S. Postal Service on Sept. 18. The portrait by Michael Deas was inspired by a still photo from "All About Eve." Notice anything missing? Before you even read this far, you were thinking, Where's her cigarette? Yes reader, the cigarette in the original photo has been eliminated. We are all familiar, I am sure, with the countless children and teenagers who have been lured into the clutches of tobacco by stamp collecting, which seems so innocent, yet can have such tragic outcomes. But isn't this is carrying the anti-smoking campaign one step over the line?
Depriving Bette Davis of her cigarette reminds me of Soviet revisionism, when disgraced party officials disappeared from official photographs. Might as well strip away the toupees of Fred Astaire and Jimmy Stewart. I was first alerted to this travesty by a reader, Wendell Openshaw of San Diego,...
Depriving Bette Davis of her cigarette reminds me of Soviet revisionism, when disgraced party officials disappeared from official photographs. Might as well strip away the toupees of Fred Astaire and Jimmy Stewart. I was first alerted to this travesty by a reader, Wendell Openshaw of San Diego,...
- 10/14/2008
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
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