Too Hip for the Room

We know you've been waiting, and now the wait is over! Finally, all 7 parts of our interview with legendary comedian George Carlin have been posted to our youtube channel. Visit youtube/tvlegends or see below.

The new Carlin "It's Bad for Ya" DVD, featuring his HBO standup special and edited segment from this interview & other bonus features, is available now at MPI Home Video.

TV Art Director and Sculptor Dick Stiles Passes

(Above) Dick Stiles (pictured 2nd from left) participates in the unveiling of
the Jim Henson wall sculpture on the Television Academy's Hall of Fame Plaza in 2005.
L to R: Phil Wayne, Sculpture Committee chairman; Dick Stiles, Hall of Fame Sculptor;
Lisa Henson and Dick Askin, former chairman of the Television Academy.

We were truly saddened to learn that Emmy-nominated television art director and sculptor Dick Stiles died Monday of pneumonia and heart failure. Stiles worked tirelessly on the Television Academy's Hall of Fame Sculpture Committee during the past two decades, serving three terms as co-chair as well as sculpting many of the works himself. Along with being an Archive interviewee, Dick was a staunch supporter of the Archive, even giving his time to allow us to chronicle his creation of the Jim Henson wall sculpture (above) at the Television Academy.



In the above clip (part 3 of 3 of his interview), he discusses his work with the Television Academy. His full interview can be seen here.

Interview description:
Television Art Director Dick Stiles spoke about working at CBS' Television City and the introduction of color TV, as well as about the craft of drafting and art direction. He detailed his work on various other productions, culminating in a 27-year career as the art director of "Wheel of Fortune". He also talked about his contributions in the selection and creation of sculptures on the plaza of the Television Academy's headquarters. Mr. Stiles was interviewed June 21, 2003.

Say Kids.. What Time is It?

"It's Howdy Doody Time!" is a 6-DVD box set chronicling the popular 50s children's show which aired on NBC from 1947-1960. The set includes a half-hour featurette with many of the Archive's interviewees, including "Buffalo" Bob Smith, the show's host, Bob Keeshan, who played Clarabell the Clown and Chief Featherman, & E Roger Muir, the show's producer.

Other interviewees who talked about the show include Dominick Dunne (his first job was as a stage manager on the show!), Eddie Kean (writer/ composer), Bill Persky (wrote the "Pigloo" storyline), Heino Ripp (technical director), Herbert Schlosser (Executive at NBC), Ira Skutch (director at NBC), Dick Smith (makeup artist), Denniz Franz (who remembered watching the show as a kid), Ron Howard (who talked about Smith appearing on an episode of "Happy Days"), and Dick Wolf, who as a child was a member of the Howdy Doody peanut gallery!

The DVD is available through Mill Creek Entertainment.

50 Years Ago Today "Playhouse 90" Presented "Old Man"

On November 20, 1958, Playhouse 90, the preeminent dramatic television anthology of the day, presented William Faulkner's "Old Man," a program for which Variety wrote, "such a word as incomparable must be applied." Archive interviewee Del Reisman, the series story editor, explained, "there were all kinds of stunt shows that were done. In the third or fourth season, John Frankenheimer directed 'Old Man,' it’s a wonderful show, but he virtually flooded the CBS studio."

The show was about a convict (played by Sterling Hayden), who is ordered into a flat-bottomed boat to rescue a pregnant woman (Geraldine Page) during a flood. It was adapted for television by Horton Foote, produced by Fred Coe, and directed by John Frankenheimer.

Variety opined: "Much of the credit for this over-powering story of man's humanity as well as inhumanity to man also must go to Geraldine Page, as the pregnant woman in the tiny rowboat, and Sterling Hayden, the monosyllabic convict who must fullfill his mission amid the swollen waters of the Mississippi."

John Frankenheimer said in his Archive interview: "Fred Coe gave me the script because he loved 'Days of Wine And Roses,' and he said, 'You know, I honest to God don’t know how to do this, but I love this script.' And I read it, and I had been playing around with videotape with the editors. And I read it and I said, well, there’s only one way to do this, Fred. We’ll tape the whole goddamned show. And we got to do it scene by scene, and we got to have a huge [water] tank. Up to that time, nobody had ever cut videotape. So, the editor, a guy named Ross Murray and I just took arbitrary scenes and cut them together with a straight razor blade.... I was totally obsessed on how to do this show. I brought in a Chapman Boom. A Chapman Boom is a huge movie crane that goes 30 feet in the air. Has engines and everything on it. Brought that into the studio, that’s the first time that had ever been done. If fact, the Cameraman who worked the Chapman Boom, Pat Kenney put on a aviator’s helmet, you know, it was that, that kind of a thing."

Click here to view John Frankenheimer's entire Archive Interview.

"Studio One" Celebrates Its 60th Anniversary

Studio One, one of the first and most successful of the live dramatic anthologies of early television, celebrates its 60th anniversary today.

The first Studio One was a presentation of the McKnight Malmar suspenser "The Storm," starring Margaret Sullavan and Dean Jagger (airing November 7, 1948). The show was produced and directed by Worthington C. Miner, who is credited as one of the most significant creative forces in American television's early years.

During the Archive of American Television and Koch Entertainment's panel discussion last night (to launch the debut of "The Archive of American Television Presents" DVD series) at the Television Academy, actress Gloria Stroock reiterated Miner's contribution to both television and Studio One:

"The driving force, as I remember in Studio One, was Worthington Miner, whom we called 'Tony' Miner, all of us. Even though there were other directors and producers he was really the [main] force... It was a magical time. There was so much trust. I never read for anything. They just would call and say 'are you available?' and they'd say 'we have something for you.' And the parts were wonderful."

In their review of "The Storm," Variety gave the show an "A for effort" but admitted it was off to a rocky start. However, before long, the series ranked as the preeminent TV drama, particularly when it aired its eight production, an adaptation of "Julius Caesar," starring William Post Jr. and directed by Paul Nickell. The New York Times' Jack Gould called it "spectacular television" and wrote in his review that CBS "has a real obligation to present a repeat performance" of the show... which they did with Studio One's twelfth show, airing two months later. (Studio One wasn't through with "Julius Caesar" though, and a third version was aired on August 1, 1955, starring Theodore Bikel-- this presentation can be found on the new DVD.)

Studio One would feature some of the legendary stars of old-- Paul Lukas, Franchot Tone, and Burgess Meredith, while providing a venue for some of the newest up-and-comers: Jack Lemmon, Sal Mineo, and Grace Kelly. Among the notable writers whose work was featured on Studio One included: Rod Serling (including "The Arena"), Gore Vidal ("Dark Possession"), Reginald Rose ("Twelve Angry Men"), and Arthur Hailey ("No Deadly Medicine")

Studio One won the Emmy Award for Best Drama series in 1951, and the 1954 presentation of "Twelve Angry Men" won for director Franklin J. Schaffner, star Robert Cummings, and writer Reginald Rose.


Pictured left to right: Archive Director Karen Herman, Barbara Rush, Jack Klugman, Jayne Meadows, Gloria Stroock, Dick Van Patten, and Koch President Michael Rosenberg. At the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, November 6, 2008.

"Twelve Angry Men" Screening Event This Thursday with guests Jack Klugman, Jayne Meadows, Gloria Stroock, Dick Van Patten, and Barbara Rush

Written especially for Studio One by Reginald Rose and starring Robert Cummings, Studio One's "Twelve Angry Men" (original air date: September 26, 1954) was a classic, Emmy-award winning episode in this anthology series and the inspiration for the Oscar-nominated film.

Join us this Thursday, November 6 at 7:30 PM (at the Leonard Goldenson Theatre, 5220 Lankershim Blvd., N. Hollywood) for a special screening of the newly-remastered episode followed by a panel event on live television moderated by Thomas K. Arnold (Home Media Magazine publisher) with honored guests Jack Klugman, Jayne Meadows, Barbara Rush, Dick Van Patten, and Gloria Stroock.

Click here for more event details, and RSVP by calling 516-484-1000 x400

In addition to celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Studio One, this event will also launch "The Archive of American Television Presents", a new DVD line featuring culturally and historically significant programs from the Golden Age of Television. The "Studio One Anthology" is the first set in this series.

"The Archive of American Television Presents" is a partnership between
 Koch Entertainment and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation (home to the Archive of American Television). The collaborative 
mission is to present classic productions from the Golden Age of Television on DVD, restored and 
re-mastered from the best-quality sources.

We hope to see you there!

Early TV Pioneer and Author Studs Terkel Has Died-- Interview Online

Interview Excerpt:

Studs Terkel was a pioneer in what became known as the "Chicago School" of early television broadcasting. His show, Studs' Place, is described by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh's The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows as an "affable program of songs and stories." The shows was, in part, improvised by the cast to the point that Terkel says they would run a credit at the end of the show that read "dialogue by the cast." Terkel died at age 96.

Click here to watch his entire Archive interview.

Interview description:

Studs Terkel was interviewed for one-and-a-half hours in Chicago, IL. Mr. Terkel related the history of the “Chicago School” of television (including his relationships with Burr Tillstrom, Fran Allison and Dave Garroway) and spoke in detail about his own program, Stud’s Place and efforts to keep the show on the air after he was blacklisted. After the program went off the air, Terkel became one of America’s premier oral historians and radio interviewers. The interview was conducted by Karen Herman on July 19, 1999.