"Robert Montgomery Presents" Debuted 60 Years Ago

One of the top big-budget "live" anthology series of "The Golden Age of Television," Robert Montgomery Presents debuted on January 30, 1950 with an adaptation of "The Letter" starring screen star Madeleine Carroll. Although the kinescope copies of Robert Montgomery Presents are very little seen today (and seem relatively scarce), the series featured top established actors, such as James Cagney and Helen Hayes, and up-and-comers such as Elizabeth Montgomery (Robert's daughter, of later Bewitched fame), Joanne Woodward, and James Dean. Robert Montgomery was also featured frequently himself.

The series ran from 1950-57, offering over 300 productions. Variety noted in it's initial review that the series "lends stature to video's conquest of the dramatic field."

Series director from 1950-55, Norman Felton spoke of some ingenuity he used on "Kitty Foyle," the series second production, in his Archive interview:

"On the second show that I did on Robert Montgomery, there was a scene up front in which the actress was in the living room of a house in the summer. In the next scene, she was supposed to be outside of the house in winter. Now it was always a problem to make costume changes, and we’d devise all sorts of ways of giving enough time for an actress to make a change, but this was a pretty tough one to do. But I solved it and the show went on, and after the show was over, I had a call from Fred Coe who was then the top producer in live television and he said, "Okay, how’d you do it?" I said: "Twins." I got two girls who were twins and I dressed one in summer clothes and one in winter clothes and the winter one was outside the door of the house and the other one was in the living room and I went from the living room, dissolved, not cut, dissolved to the same girl over here. It was pretty neat."

Pioneering Female TV Director Frances Buss Buch Has Died

Frances Buss Buch, the first woman director at CBS, died at the age of 92 on January 19. She was an on-camera assistant on the very first TV game show— CBS Television Quiz— and also assisted with Richard Hubbell's CBS newscast, which included the announcement of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Among Frances Buss Buch's TV credits as a director were: game show The Missus' Goes-A-Shopping, interview show Vanity Fair (also producer), cooking show To the Queen's Taste with Dione Lucas (also producer), and children's show The Whistling Wizard. She was a producer on the talk show Mike and Buff, featuring then husband-and-wife team Mike Wallace and Buff Cobb. She is also credited as a director who contributed to the first commercial TV show that was broadcast in color— the June 25, 1951 special Premiere. Her Archive of American Television interview was conducted on June 16, 2005.



Interview description:
Frances Buss Buch was interviewed for two hours plus in Hendersonville, NC. She described how a two-week summer job at CBS led to an over decade-long association with the network, and her historic role as CBS’ very first female director. She detailed her work at CBS before and after broadcasting was interrupted during World War II. She talked about her assistance creating maps for the news program on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. She described several of the earliest commercial broadcasts on CBS which featured her on-camera, including The Country Dance, a monthly dance program by the American Country Dance Society; Children’s Story, in which a story was read to a child, “illustrated” by an artist on camera; and the CBS Television Quiz, which featured such games as “Peanuts in the Bottle” in which a contestant attempted to spoon peanuts into an empty milk bottle that they held on their head. She talked about some of her earliest directorial efforts such as Sorry Wrong Number, an adaptation of the famed radio show. Buch talked about several of the key creative talent at CBS at the time including Worthington Miner and Gilbert Seldes. She spoke in great detail about other early CBS series including The Missus Goes A-Shopping, To the Queen’s Taste with Dione Lucas, The Whistling Wizard, and Mike and Buff. She also talked about CBS’ color experimentation and her role as a director with the first color broadcast for the network on June 25, 1951. She also discussed "Telecolor Clinics," a series of television documentaries done for the American Cancer Society. The interview was conducted by Karen Herman on June 16, 2005.

Tyne Daly Guest Stars on "Burn Notice" Tonight

Burn Notice returns for the second half of season three with Sharon Gless' Cagney & Lacey co-star Tyne Daly in a guest role. After a few years off the small screen following Judging Amy, Tyne Daly has recently returned to TV in such projects as last year's television movie Georgia O'Keefe (playing Mabel Dodge Sterne).

Sharon Gless talked about Tyne Daly visiting her on the set of Burn Notice in her Archive of American Television interview.

"When we walked on the set together, the crew [saw me] with Tyne, and I said, "You guys don't get that excited when I walk on the set!"

TV Academy Hall of Fame: 2010

Tonight, seven new inductees will be added to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame at a special ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel— actress Candice Bergen, art director Charles Lisanby, announcer Don Pardo, show creator-producer Gene Roddenberry (posthumously), performers Tom and Dick Smothers, and game show creator-producer Bob Stewart.

Television Academy Chairman-CEO John Shaffner notes: "Each year, the Television Academy has the privilege of honoring television greats that have contributed to the development and success of this ever-evolving medium." "This year's inductees have challenged and shaped popular culture, changed television for the better and entertained us royally while doing so. We are very pleased to be able to induct them into the Hall of Fame for their many achievements."

The Archive of American Television has conducted interviews with several of the new inductees, click on the links below to view their interviews.

Charles Lisanby - Art Director

Don Pardo - Announcer

Tom and Dick Smothers - Performers

Bob Stewart - Game Show Creator/Producer

See also the Archive's newly posted pages for:

Actress Candice Bergen







Show Creator/Producer Gene Roddenberry.

Bob Barker Out of Contestant's Row

Bob Barker's full Archive interview is now online. The legendary game show host discusses his long career and his activism in his July 7, 2000 interview.

"When we started The Price is Right in 1972 we gave away automobiles with four numbers in the price and the first number was 2. Two-thousand-dollar cars. And then it was three, the first number, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and then we had to remodel some of our props to accommodate five digits because you can’t get the cars for less than ten-thousand dollars. And then they try to tell us there’s no inflation."

Interview Description:
Bob Barker was interviewed for three hours plus in Los Angeles, CA. Barker talked about his childhood growing up on an Indian reservation in South Dakota. He described his work in radio which led him to be “cast” as the host of the game show Truth or Consequences, by show creator Ralph Edwards. Barker talked about his long run on Truth or Consequences in its network and syndicated runs. Barker then discussed in detail the show for which he is most associated, The Price Is Right, which he hosted continuously from 1972 until the time of this interview (and eventually to 2007). Barker also talked about his other hosting duties on such programs as the “Miss USA Pageant” and “The Tournaments of Roses Parade,” as well as his animal rights activism. The interview was conducted by Fred Wostbrock on July 7, 2000.

"The Jeffersons" Celebrates its 35th Anniversary

On January 18, 1975, The Jeffersons began its ten-year run on CBS. A spin-off, the series had its "pilot" episode air on All in the Family (on Jan. 11). The Jeffersons began in a period in TV history when African-American characters were becoming the leads of their own shows. Isabel Sanford, in fact, was the first African-American Emmy winner as Best Actress in a Comedy Series (in 1981). The series broke ground in its inclusion of an interracial marriage (in Tom and Helen Willis) and explored the same types of topical issues as All in the Family. Although, as the Museum of Broadcast Communications' Encyclopedia of Television notes, "America's black community remained divided in its assessment of the program," the show was unique in the television landscape for its portrayal of an affluent African-American family.

The Archive of American Television interviewed many of the contributors to The Jeffersons. Watch interviews with Isabel Sanford (who admits she was reluctant to take the spin-off), Sherman Hemsley (who describes the creation of "George Jefferson's" famous "walk"), Marla Gibbs (who comments on how she kept her job at American Airlines in the beginning of the show's run), director Jack Shea (whose kids told him their classmates were doing impressions of the characters-- he then knew the show was a hit), and many others.

Andy Rooney at 91

Andy Rooney is profiled in today's USA Today, on his 91st birthday. There doesn't seem to be any retirement in sight for the nonagenarian. "I can't stop writing," he says. "I like to sit at the typewriter."

The Archive of American Television interviewed Andy Rooney in 1999. When asked how he'd like to be remebered he says: "I’d like to be remembered as a good writer, [but] I won’t be, I’ll be remembered as Andy Rooney, the guy who does those little things at the end of 60 Minutes."



Rooney talks about 60 Minutes and the rest of his long and distinguished career, that began as a print correspondent during World War II in his four-hour Archive of American Television interview.

Interview description:
Andy Rooney spoke about his 50-year career as a writer and producer for television. Rooney detailed his roots as a journalist writing for The Stars and Stripes during World War II. He talked about his entrance into radio and television as a staff writer for Arthur Godfrey and later on television’s The Morning Show with Will Rogers, Jr. and The Seven Lively Arts. He described his shift to the non-fiction form working on such CBS series as The Twentieth Century and Calendar. It was on the later series that Rooney first worked with newsman Harry Reasoner. He spoke in detail about the many CBS documentary specials the two collaborated on (Rooney as writer, Reasoner as narrator) including: An Essay on Doors (1964), A Bird’s Eye View of America (1964), and The Strange Case of the English Language (1968). Rooney talked about several other documentaries in which he contributed as a producer, writer, or a combination of the two including: Sinatra (1965, re-shown on CBS in 1998) and Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed (1968, Emmy winner). He talked about his long association with 60 Minutes, which began in 1968 when he wrote and appeared in (in silhouette) the recurring segment “Digressions,” a tongue-in-check 30-second “debate” on current events. He talked about his temporary break with CBS when the network refused to air an anti-Vietnam War piece An Essay on War, and the subsequent airing of it on PBS’s The Great American Dream Machine. Rooney described several documentaries he made for ABC and CBS in the 1970s including: A Small Town in Iowa, Mr. Rooney Goes to Washington, and Mr. Rooney Goes to Dinner. Rooney spoke of his work writing and appearing in “A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney,” the literate and often cantankerous essays on everyday life that appear as an end-of-the program tag to 60 Minutes, a spot he has occupied since 1978. The interview was conducted by Don Carleton on June 22, 1999.

"Gumby" Creator Art Clokey Has Died-- Archive Interview Online Soon

Art Clokey's claymation TV classics include The Gumby Show and Davey and Goliath. He died at the age of 88. The Archive of American Television interviewed Mr. Clokey on July 19, 2001.

Interview Description:
Art Clokey was interviewed for three-and-a-half hours in Los Aptos, CA. Mr. Clokey spoke of his work creating and producing the classic clay-animated character Gumby, which debuted on Howdy Doody. The character soon had his own show on NBC and had many resurgences since his debut. Mr. Clokey also spoke about his work producing Davey and Goliath, a series created for the Lutheran Church and syndicated throughout the country. The interview was conducted by Karen Herman.

Elvis at 75

Elvis Presley would have been 75 years old today. TV made a great impact on Elvis' career, when, in 1968, he appeared on Singer Presents Elvis, which would become known as his "comeback special." Variety noted in their review of the show that this special was "loose and sometimes interesting," a marked difference from the '50s TV Elvis of "dynamo hips [that] had stirred a fever pitch of controversy [on] Ed Sullivan."

In his Archive of American Television interview, 1968 Comeback Special producer/director Steve Binder describes the experience of working with Elvis in detail.

Trailblazing Cinematographer Joseph M. Wilcots Has Died

The first African American to join the International Cinematographers Guild, Joseph Wilcots was nominated for an Emmy for his work on Roots. The Archive of American Television interviewed Wilcots on December 5, 2007; his over three-hour Archive interview is now online.

Link to his L.A. Times obituary.

Interview description:
Joseph M. Wilcots was interviewed for three hours plus in Los Angeles, CA. Wilcots spoke about his early interest in photography as a teenager and his filmmaking experiences while serving in the Navy. He described his work, following the service, at the Westheimer Optical House, in particular the creative work being done for the special effects on the original Star Trek series. He related how he became the first African-American member of the camera operators union and identified the slow shift in adding other African-American members into the union over the years. He talked about his work in independent filmmaking and reminisced about some of the people he worked with including director Gordon Parks and cinematographer Robert Surtees. He spoke in great detail about the two projects for which he is most associated, the miniseries: Roots and Roots: The Next Generations in which he served as Directory of Photography. He talked about his approach to the Roots shows (“I wanted to make the audience smell the dirt”), meeting and working with Alex Haley (“Everything he wrote was shootable”), and working with actor Marlon Brando (he says he took 200 pounds off him using a fireplace as the key light). He noted the impact of Roots and what working on the miniseries meant to him. He acknowledged his work on the Alex Haley/Norman Lear series Palmerstown U.S.A. Lastly, he gave his impressions of three individuals for whom he worked for extensively: actor/director George Stanford Brown, Bill Cosby, and Michael Jackson. The interview was conducted by Gary Rutkowski on December 5, 2007.

TV Producer and Studio Executive David Gerber has Died

Archive interviewee David Gerber passed away Saturday at the age of 86. His prolific TV work includes overseeing such classic series as Police Woman, Batman, Room 222, and thirtysomething. A multiple Emmy Award nominee, he won the Emmy as the producer of Police Story in 1976. His interview will be placed online soon.

Obituary at TheWrap.com

Interview Description:
David Gerber was interviewed for nearly three-and-a-half hours in Bel Air, CA. Gerber talked about his start in television working at advertising agency BBDO as a television supervisor (on such accounts as Burgermeister beer) and as a packager at Famous Artists Agency. He talked about becoming familiar with network and agency executives and the importance of making vital career connections. He described his tenure as Senior Vice President of Television at General Artists Corporation (GAC) working with such television luminaries as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. He described his move to 20th Century Fox where he worked as Vice President in charge of television packaging. He talked about working with producer Irwin Allen on his many science-fiction series. He then related how he became affiliated with Columbia Pictures Television, and became Executive Vice President (and explained how he suggested that the name of the division be changed from “Screen Gems” to “Columbia Pictures Television”). He described the creation, issues covered, and production of the 1970s drama series Police Story. He also spoke in detail about spin-off series Police Woman (and working with star Angie Dickinson), and the highly-rated miniseries Beulah Land (and the controversy surrounding its production). He talked about becoming the President of MGM Television and discussed the series he oversaw including thirtysomething (and his initial excitement over the pilot script and fight to get the series financed) and In the Heat of the Night (and working with star Carroll O’Connor). He also talked about later series and television movies he produced. Throughout the interview, he noted his managerial style of expecting the best from people, his personal interest in the post-production process, and offered advice to aspiring producers. The interview was conducted by Karen Herman on September 13, 2006.

"All My Children" Celebrates 40 Years in Pine Valley

All My Children debuted on January 5, 1970. Created by legendary Agnes Nixon (her other soaps include One Life to Live and Loving), AMC helped contemporize the daytime serial by incorporating social themes into the storylines, covering race, sex, and medical issues. The Vietnam War was featured in early storylines, and according to The Museum of Television & Radio's Worlds Without End: The Art and History of the Soap Opera, character Erica Kane had television's first legal abortion in 1973.



In her Archive of American Television interview, Agnes Nixon told a story regarding the longevity of the series:

"Once we were plotting an episode and I looked down and saw that it was the six thousandth episode of All My Children, and so I said to the group, hey let’s knock off and go to lunch, I’ll take you to lunch. And when we came back, for the first time in my life, I had forgotten that I was supposed to have a telephone interview. So I called the reporter, who happened to be a woman in the Midwest, and apologized profusely and explained that we had discovered that it was our six thousandth episode we were writing-- and she did some figuring and said, do you realize, that if you had been writing nighttime that you would have been working 240 years? So it did sort of put that in perspective."

On November 12, 2008, All My Children celebrated its 10,000th show with a special appearance by Nixon.

A solid ratings-winner, All My Children intially had less success with the Daytime Emmy Awards. First in the running for the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in the mid-70s, it took until the 1991-92 season before it won the top honor (another notorious example of AMC's Daytime Emmy battles, actress Susan Lucci-- the show's "Erica Kane" since it's inception-- was first nominated in 1978, and finally won in 1999).

In addition to Agnes Nixon, the Archive has interviewed several of the stars of All My Children, including: David Canary, Ruth Warrick, and Ellen Wheeler.

Alfred Hitchcock in the Schoolyard

Fifty years ago, Alfred Hitchcock Presents offered up the episode “Man from the South,” which adversely inspired some impressionable young viewers. In the story, a gambler makes an unusual bet with a sinister man— that he can light his Zippo lighter ten times in succession, without fail. If the gambler succeeds he gets a car, if he doesn’t… he loses a finger!

The intriguing plot was made that much more popular due to its guest stars: young up-and-coming Steve McQueen (as the gambler) and everyone’s favorite sinister character actor Peter Lorre. After the episode aired, children across the country tried to repeat the feat... thankfully, no fingers were known to have been lost.

The episode was written by William Fay based on a story by Roald Dahl; it was directed by Norman Lloyd. In his Archive interview, Norman Lloyd, who also served as the series’ associate producer, talks about the impact of “Man From the South,” which aired on January 3, 1960.