Classic "All in the Family" episode given the "Simpsons" Treatment

On the recent Simpsons episode "Stealing First Base" (airdate: 3/21/10) Sarah Silverman guest-starred as a girl who plants a kiss on Bart, leading to a Cinema Paradiso-inspired montage of famous movie & TV kisses. The last kiss seen in the montage is, unusually, and hilariously, from the All in the Family episode "Sammy's Visit" (in which the Bunker household welcomes Sammy Davis Jr., who gets the last laugh on Archie). The Simpsons' team brilliantly capture the look that Carroll O'Connor's Archie gave during this memorable classic TV moment.


Watch the Simpsons montage on the Archive's new page for All in the Family: "Sammy's Visit" and hear from the contributors of this classic episode including star Carroll O'Connor, writer Bill Dana, and director John Rich.

Chet Simmons, the First President of ESPN, Has Died

Chet Simmons, who served as ESPN's first President when the network started in 1979, has died at the age of 81. Simmons began in sports programming in the 1950s and was instrumental in the development of ABC's Wide World of Sports in the 1960s. He became the first President of NBC Sports in 1977. The Archive of American Television Chet Simmons on December 16, 2008; the interview is not yet available online, below is an excerpt.



Interview description:
Chet Simmons was interviewed for four hours in Atlanta, GA. Simmons spoke about his early interest in following sports, on radio and in print. He noted his work selling time to small radio stations in the Southwest, meeting Edgar Scherick at this job. He described working in television mentored by Scherick (who taught him the business) and Jack Loubelle (who taught him television production), for their company Sports Programs, Inc.— working as a jack-of-all-trades production assistant, at first on big ten basketball. He talked about the expansion of the company under their exclusive deal with ABC and spoke frankly about Scherick’s difficult personality (and abrupt depature from the company), yet complimented his successes. He related a story of how the company, under Scherick, was able to get the rights for college football away from NBC in the mid-60s. He also described the working methods of Roone Arledge and his growing stature as a legendary figure in television. He outlined the concept of ABC’s Wide World of Sports and described how the show launched Jim McKay as a major sports announcer. He recounted how he came to work for NBC, spoke about his colleagues, and acknowledged how he became the first President of NBC Sports— the title created in 1977 for the first time. He spoke about his disappointment in losing college basketball to CBS due to disinterest internally and how this was the beginning of NBC’s loss of dominance in sports. He recalled hearing about a “sports-all-the-time” network that was being bandied about and the call he received to hire him to run this new Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (EPSN). He outlined the idea of the network by Bill Rasmussen (and his embracing of newly developed satellite technology) and spoke openly about how he was responsible for Rasmussen’s leaving the network. He talked about the contribution of Getty Oil executive Stuart Evey to early ESPN as well as NBC veteran Scotty Connal’s contribution to getting the network on the air. He described getting the sports coverage necessary to fulfill the network’s (eventual) mandate of 24-hour sports. He looked back on the first day’s programming and the emotions he felt, comparing it to the birth of a child. He outlined the kinds of sports the network showed and noted their breakthrough in programming with college basketball. He commented on the network’s location in Bristol, CT; described his management style; spoke about the network’s Sportscenter; and described how he came to leave the network. Lastly, he talked about his appointment as the Commissioner of the United States Football League. The interview was conducted by Paul Leone.

Producer-director Ira Skutch ("Match Game," "Philco Television Playhouse") Has Died-- Archive Interview Online

Ira Skutch, a producer-director and a television historian, has died at the age of 88. Skutch worked as a stage manager on some of the earliest regularly scheduled shows on NBC, including the landmark variety series Hour Glass (1946-47), the first hour-long entertainment series produced for network television. Moving up the ladder, he became a director on Philco Television Playhouse (helming the live commercials, and a few of the full productions themselves) and a producer-director on such series as Disc Magic, which featured popular songs played "live." Ira Skutch is best known for his tenure at Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, producing such series as Match Game. Skutch contributed to TV scholarship with The Days of Live and The Du Mont Television Network: What Happened? (co-written with Ted Bergmann) and worked with such directors as Delbert Mann on interview-style autobiographies.

The Archive of American Television interviewed Ira Skutch on January 29, 2004 and the interview is currently available online.

Interview description:
Ira Skutch was interviewed for nearly three hours in Los Angeles, CA. Skutch talked about his early years as a page and later manager of guided tours at NBC in the mid-1940s. He described in detail the layout of the NBC building, listing the various studios and the radio series that were produced in each, as well as which were modified to bring in television production. Skutch talked about his work as a stage manger on NBC’s earliest television series including NBC Television Theater, You Are an Artist, Face to Face, Kraft Television Theater, and the big budget variety series Hour Glass. Skutch discussed his work in technique and production as a director of “live” television commercials for television series as well as the 1952 political conventions. He chronicled his work as a director on such shows as Disc Magic (a 1946 precursor to music video), The Swift Home Service Club (one of network television first daytime series), and Philco TV Playhouse. Lastly Skutch talked in detail about his 26-year tenure as director, then producer at Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, where he worked on such series as Beat the Clock, Play Your Hunch, and Match Game. The interview was conducted by Gary Rutkowski.

"I Spy" Star Robert Culp Has Died-- Archive Interview Online

Robert Culp, an Emmy nominee for both writing and starring in I Spy, has died at the age of 79. Culp's considerable TV credits include the classic sci-fi anthology The Outer Limits, the comedy-adventure series The Greatest American Hero, and the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond.

The Archive of American Television interviewed Robert Culp on November 6, 2007 and the interview is currently available online.

Interview description:
Robert Culp was interviewed for three hours in Los Angeles, CA. Culp talked about his childhood interests and how he aspired to be an animator for Disney when he grew up. He talked about his acting training and his move to New York City, breaking into theater and television. He explained how he was able to get work in television as an indirect result of the Hollywood Blacklist: since he was a newcomer, he had no affiliations. He talked about his early experiences in Los Angeles as a struggling actor and described his first role as a series regular on the series Trackdown, which he called a “western Dragnet.” He spoke fondly of working with Dick Powell, whose Four Star Productions produced this series. He described some of the roles he had in a variety of the popular TV genres of the day— western, detective, medical, sci-fi— including his memorable parts on the classic sci-fi anthology The Outer Limits. He then spoke in great detail about the role and the series for which he is most closely associated: “Kelly Robinson” on I, Spy. For this series he talked about the on-location shooting, working with co-star Bill Cosby (and the controversial casting of an African-American lead), and talked about some of the series’ episodes that he wrote as well as acted in. He then spoke about two other series for which he memorably appeared: The Greatest American Hero and Everybody Loves Raymond. The interview was conducted by Stephen J. Abramson on November 6, 2007.

"T.A.M.I. Show" on DVD-- Archive Interviewee Steve Binder Describes the Landmark Concert

1964's historic two-day rock/r&b concert, the T.A.M.I. Show, comes out on DVD today. Although the acronym T.A.M.I. was used inconsistently, it stood for either Teen Age Music International or Teenage Awards Music International-- with free tickets to the concert distributed to high school students. The concert, which took place at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, featured James Brown, the Supremes, and the Rolling Stones. Among the go-go dancers seen were a young Toni Basil and Teri Garr.

Steve Binder directed the concert and filmed it using "Electronivision," described by Wikipedia as "one of the first high-definition video camera [systems] that captured somewhere between 1000-1100 lines at 25fps." Herein lies the T.A.M.I. Show's connection to TV-- it was filmed with television cameras and crews (from The Steve Allen Show) and transferred to film for posterity. The concert has been shown on Canadian and American television in the years since, but has never had a fully authorized release on home video. It's now-authorized edition is released restored and digitally remastered for DVD.


Watch Archive interviewee Steve Binder discuss the technical know-how behind the T.A.M.I. Show and the experience of filming the concert in chapter two of his Archive of American Television Interview.

"Chicago Television"-- New Book from the Museum of Broadcast Communications

The Chicago-based Museum of Broadcast Communications recently released Chicago Television, a survey of the city's first fifty years of TV broadcasting. Chicago TV stations WBKB (now WBBM-TV), WENR (now WLS-TV), WGN, and WNBQ (now WMAQ-TV) began commercial broadcasting in the 1940s, launching Chicago as one of the first centers of TV production in the US. The broadcasting style in the early years, particularly at WNBQ, established the "Chicago School of Television," which compensated for a lack of resources with creativity. MBC's Encyclopedia of Television describes the "Chicago School" as "an almost totally scriptless-improvisational approach reliant on interpretive camera work and creative use of scenery, costumes, props, and lighting." In later days, Chicago made it's mark nationally with such shows as At the Movies (which began locally as Opening Soon... at a Theater Near You at WTTW in 1975) and The Oprah Winfrey Show (nationally syndicated since 1986).

With the release of Chicago Television, featuring over 200 photographs of TV in the Midwest metropolis, visit as well the Archive's pages on some of the shows that have defined the city's TV programming:


Kukla, Fran & Ollie (1947 WBKB; 1948-57, NBC, ABC)

Garroway at Large (1949-54, NBC)

Studs' Place (1949-1952, NBC, ABC)

Siskel & Ebert & the Movies (1980s-90s, syndicated)

TV's Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone— Fess Parker, Has Died— Archive Interview Online

Fess Parker became a TV star portraying "Davy Crockett" in a series of adventures that aired on the anthology series Disneyland, earning him an Emmy nomination as Most Outstanding New Personality in 1955. Parker had a rare second act in American TV stardom, as Daniel Boone, on the NBC series that ran from 1964-70.

The Archive of American Television interviewed Fess Parker on July 24, 2000, currently available online.

Interview description:
Fess Parker was interviewed for two-and-a-half hours at his inn in Los Olivos, CA. Mr. Parker talked about his childhood in Texas and his eventual journey to Hollywood after visiting there during his military service in World War II. He discussed his early roles in filmed westerns and his early television roles including Dragnet and Annie Oakley. In 1954, he was hired by Disney to play the lead in Davy Crockett, a limited series. The program was so popular, and spawned such a merchandising craze, that Parker’s Crockett was brought back for two more limited series. After the series ended, Parker worked on many other series as a guest star, before launching into the short lived 1962 series, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. In 1964, Parker triumphed as the lead in (and occasional director of) the series, Daniel Boone, which ran for six years. With his success with Daniel Boone, Parker semi-retired and acquired real estate, resorts and wineries. The interview was conducted by Don Carelton on July 24, 2000.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The Archive of American Television is getting in the St. Paddy’s Day spirit by recognizing some of the most beloved Irish-American television greats. So, if green beer isn’t your thing, but you’d still like to celebrate, EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG presents a few Irishmen (and women) who deserve some recognition.




Carroll O’Connor: All in the Family star Carroll O'Connor used the stage name George Roberts in the 1950s, until famed Irish actor Cyril Cusack convinced him to reclaim his name and embrace his Irish heritage!


Rue McClanahan: She may have grown up in rural Oklahoma but Rue McClanahan’s Irish name gives away her background. If you find yourself missing Blanche Devereaux, as we often do here, watch her interview clip below.


Ron Howard: In addition to his many impressive television credits, including producing and narrating Arrested Development, and starring in The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days, Ron Howard directed the feature film Far and Away getting back in touch with his Irish roots. He got cast as "Opie" on The Andy Griffith Show after appearing on the General Electric Theater show "Mr. O"Malley," where he got a plug from host Ronald Reagan.


Phil Donahue: Born into a churchgoing Irish-Catholic family, Phil Donahue continued the tradition by becoming one of the “fighting Irish” at the University of Notre Dame.


The proud Irishman and much beloved Hollywood Reporter force of journalism, Steve Brennan, penned the definitive volume on the intersection of Ireland and Hollywood, “Emeralds in Tinseltown,” which you can find here.

Other television legends you can find in the Archive with Irish roots are:

Steve Allen
Tim Conway
Bob Costas
Roy E. Disney
Mike Douglas
Sharon Gless
Bob McGrath
Jim McKay
Ed McMahon
Anne Meara (in an interview with husband/comedy partner Jerry Stiller)
Mary Tyler Moore
Regis Philbin
Andy Rooney
Tim Russert
Dennis Weaver

You weren't the only one whose sister forced you to watch "Little House on the Prairie"

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences hosted "An Evening with Modern Family" on March 3rd. Short interviews with the show's ensemble on the press line are now posted on the Archive's new page for Modern Family. Hear Ed O'Neill comment on how he wasn't looking to do a sitcom, but the writing was too good to pass up; Sofia Vergara talk about the camraderie on the set; Julie Bowen say how Modern Family reflects her own family.

Plus, don't miss: show co-creator Steve Levitan and cast members Ed O'Neill, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winter, Nolan Gould, and Rico Rodriguez talk about the shows they grew up watching. Who was forced by their sister to watch Little House on the Prairie? Who said she cried the day Married with Children... went off the air, even though she wasn't born yet-- must have been the re-runs! Who said they watch Modern Family every week, sometimes multiple times?

"The Untouchables" Aired a Potent Series Episode Fifty Years Ago Today

As so aptly noted by The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: "With the chatter of machine-gun fire and the squeal of tires on Chicago streets, The Untouchables brought furious controversy— and big ratings— to ABC in the early 1960s." This was no more evident than in the March 10, 1960 episode "The White Slavers." Although one wouldn't think an episode about the abduction of young Mexican women for the purposes of prostitution to be a subject for 1960 prime time television, it was par for the course on The Untouchables. The show's Dragnet-esque good guys versus bad guys approach and "based on fact" defense (which was debatable, to the point that the show was even sued at one point by the estate of Al Capone) kept the series on the air from 1959-63.

"The White Slavers" is cited by Larry James Gianakos in Television Drama Series Programming: A Comprehensive Chronicle 1959-75 as the series "finest episode," furthering: "Betty Field was extraordinary as a former procuress for the mob.... [years later] the denouement [with a mafioso trapped in a cellar] still disturbs." The authoritative The Untouchables by Tise Vahimagi calls "The White Slavers" "chilling" and "perhaps, the first season's most uncomfortable and ugliest episode" and notes that "it also marked a peak in terms of the body-count."

Featuring future Bewitched co-star Dick York, others in the cast include: Betty Field, Mike Kellin, Theona Bryant, Mona Knox, and Jim Anderson; the episode was written by Leonard Kantor and directed by Walter Grauman.

Director Walter Grauman talks about one of the most brutally memorable scenes in "The White Slavers" in his Archive of American Television interview featured on the Archive's page for The Untouchables: "The White Slavers."

Stephen J. Cannell on "Wiseguy"

Wiseguy: The Collector's Edition gets released on DVD tomorrow. Although short-lived (it ran from 1987-90), Wiseguy garnered Emmy nominations for Best Drama series and acting nominations for star Ken Wahl and supporting player Jonathan Banks; Wahl was awarded the Golden Globe. Harry and Wally's Favorite TV Shows (by Harry Castleman & Walter J. Podrazik), said of the then-contemporary series: "When producer Stephen J. Cannell gets it right, he somehow manages to combine action, adventure, drama, character, whimsy, and poignancy into a form that a mass audience can relate to and critics can applaud....Ken Wahl may have the looks of a pretty-boy hunk, but he adds some spice to the beef in his portrayal of Vinnie.... The writing is top-notch and the acting (especially by the guests) is far above average." Variety said of the series premiere: "Ken Wahl comes smashing through.... production moves like an express train [in] what's essentially as actioner but has all indications that, despite the plethora of violence, there are human beings with feelings at work there."

Creator Stephen J. Cannell talks about Wiseguy in his Archive of American Television interview, discussing where the seed of the series' idea came from and his fidelity to the series' story arcs concept.

The Monsters Were Due on Maple Street Fifty Years Ago Today

One of The Twilight Zone's best remembered episodes— and a staple of Twilight Zone marathons— is the first season's "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street." Scripted by Rod Serling, it's one of the series' social commentaries-- on how easily ones neighbors can turn against each other. It stars Claude Akins and Jack Weston, and among the supporting cast is young actor Burt Metcalfe. Metcalfe would become an Emmy-nominated producer (M*A*S*H) in later years. Watch what he had to say about this early acting foray along with Twilight Zone producer Del Reisman (who talks about how Rod Serling created The Twilight Zone specifically to tell these kinds of stories) on the Archive's new page for "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street."

"Moonlighting" Silver Anniversary Today

25 years and the Anselmo case is still unsolved. On March 3, 1985 Moonlighting debuted and a beloved television classic was born. Moonlighting fans have remained in such full force that an online petition prompted the release of all five seasons of the show on DVD. And could Bruce & Cybill and Allyce & Curtis reunite for a feature film? That's a dream sequence all Moonlighting fans hope for.

1980s shows such as Hill Street Blues, The Cosby Show, and Roseanne are often cited as groundbreaking. Moonlighting never quite gets that moniker, but at least stylistically, Moonlighting was just as influential. Breaking the fourth wall was hardly the norm in prime time, musical numbers were not a staple in series TV, and the dramedy was practically defined as a result of Moonlighting's nominations for both best direction in comedy and drama series by the Directors Guild of America in 1985.

What is the legacy of Moonlighting? Even creator Glenn Gordon Caron hesitates at the question (but delivers a great answer) when asked in his Archive of American Television interview...

"I have no idea, the legacy of “Moonlighting”? I don’t know, I think it’s a really entertaining show. I would hope, as with any show that’s a little different and takes chances-- and there are a lot of them-- certainly “Moonlighting” isn’t the only one that people will see them and think, oh, you know, television isn’t always about doing the same thing. It perhaps can be about doing a different thing. And working at the top of your game instead of, you know, at the bottom of your game, or the middle of your game. I think when we think of the shows we like the best, the ones that stay with us that’s what’s going on: people who love what they do, who feel an obligation to do their best, you know. So what’s “Moonlighting’s” legacy? That for awhile there that’s what we were doing, you know, I think, and hopefully the shows are still entertaining. I used to say to Bruce, and you have to keep in mind this was a different time, I’d say to him if our kids are in college, and they’re getting high and watching this we’ll have done a good job. What a stupid thing to say. But I really -- because my -- again, I was in college, and you know, you would go see the Marx Brothers at midnight. I was always stunned. It was 1975, you were watching this movie from 1937, and it’s making you laugh, and I don’t care how hip, and how cool, and how in the moment you are, those guys are more in the moment. They’re cooler, they’re hipper, they’re smarter, they’re funnier. It’s humbling. And that’s what I wanted to do, I wanted somebody to be able to look at it a couple of decades after it was done and go pretty funny, pretty special, you know."

Click here for the Archive's newly created Moonlighting show page with recollections of the series by creator Glenn Gordon Caron, pilot director Robert Butler, and cinematographer Gerald Perry Finnerman.

As Leno Returns, a Look Back to Where NBC Late Night Began

Starting tonight, Jay Leno returns to his Tonight Show berth, continuing the hosting duties he initially began in 1992. The Tonight Show's long history started with Steve Allen (photo, left), who hosted the local WNBT-TV Tonight from June of 1953, going national on September 27, 1954. When Allen launched a prime time series in the summer of 1956, he cut back his Tonight hosting to Wednesday through Friday, and a series of guest hosts did the Monday-Tuesday hosting (eventually Ernie Kovacs took this on permanently) until January 1957. When Allen left, a "new" format emerged, a news magazine-type show (akin to the Today show) called Tonight! America After Dark, which lasted until July 1957 when The Jack Paar (Tonight) Show debuted. Following Paar was a six month interim Tonight Show that ran from April to September 1962 with guest hosts, until future "King of Late Night" Johnny Carson (photo, right) became a TV icon hosting The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from 1962 to 1992.

Little known today is the show that launched NBC's late night programming: Broadway Open House. This variety series began on May 29, 1950 and ran from 11 PM to 12 Midnight. The initial hosts were Jerry Lester (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) and Morey Amsterdam (Monday, Wednesday). The loosely formatted undertaking is described by The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows thusly: "Stars were invited to drop in and chat, or perform if they felt like it, and the regulars performed in comedy skits, songs, and dances." Broadway Open House aired its final show on August 24, 1951. Between Broadway Open House's demise and Steve Allen's Tonight, NBC filled the late night time slot with the occasional special, such as several productions under the banner of NBC Opera Television Theatre.

Watch an episode of Broadway Open House (with Jerry Lester) and listen to one of the series' directors, Alan Neuman, at the Archive's Broadway Open House show page, that also features links to all of the versions of the Tonight Show.