Robert Culp's Interview is Now Online

Iconic actor Robert Culp's Archive interview is now available online! For I,Spy fans, here's a short segment from his interview:



Click here to watch the entire 3-hour interview.

Full Interview Description:
Robert Culp was interviewed for three hours in Los Angeles, CA. Culp talks about his childhood interests and how he aspired to be an animator for Disney when he grew up. He talks about his acting training and his move to New York City. He explains how he was able to get work in television as an indirect result of the Hollywood Blacklist: since he was a newcomer. He discusseshis early experiences in Los Angeles as a struggling actor and describes his first role as a series regular on the series Trackdown, which he calls a “western Dragnet.” He describes 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 speaks 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 talks about the on-location shooting, working with co-star Bill Cosby (and the controversial casting of an African-American lead), and talks about some of the series’ episodes that he wrote as well as acted in. He then discusses 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.

MSN Entertainment Celebrates 60 Years Of Emmy

MSN and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences are presenting classic clips from 60 years of the Primetime Emmy Awards. Additionally, Emmy winners who have been interviewed by the Archive of American Television share their stories about their Emmy-winning work and their experiences on Emmy night.

Click here to access dozens of clips posted on MSN.

Below are three of the video pieces: Doris Roberts discusses her work on Everybody Loves Raymond and her Emmy acceptance speeches, Joseph Barbera talks about pitching Huckleberry Hound and what winning the Emmy meant to him, and Tim Conway & Harvey Korman talk about their work together and comedic Emmy appearances.


Emmy Archive: Doris Roberts


Emmy Archive: Joseph Barbera


Emmy Archive: 'The Carol Burnett Show'

Archive's interview with Patricia Heaton featured in Emmy magazine

The latest issue of Emmy magazine (Issue No. 6, 2007, with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's Mariska Hargitay on the cover) includes selections from our Archive of American Television interview with actress Patricia Heaton, star of Everybody Loves Raymond and the current hit series Back to You. Heaton was interviewed in October, 2006. The interview is not online, but can be viewed at the Archive's headquarters in North Hollywood, CA.

Here are some excerpts from the article:

Q: What was your first professional job?
A: It was a commercial for Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Jason Alexander was in it. I was a waitress serving beer. I was moving through the bar with the cameras following me, just serving people — all happy, young people having a good time. I made a lot of money because they ran it during the Olympics.

Q: What was your first television work in Los Angeles?
A: My strategy was not to try to get an agent, but rather to get casting people to see me. Casting people can hire you whether you have an agent or not. So I got a lot of casting people to come to a play. I was very businesslike about it. I called people on a regular basis; I sent out flyers with the reviews from my shows. The first thing I did was an episode of Alien Nation. My first ongoing gig was on thirtysomething. I still didn’t have an agent or a manager. At that time, that was the hottest show on TV, and it was miraculous that I got on without any representation. I used to go to agents and say, “I’ve now done my fifth episode of thirtysomething. Would you like to represent me?”

Q: Was that role a turning point?
A: It was the driest role. I played the ob-gyn to Patricia Kalember and Patricia Wettig. The storyline ended up that Patricia Wettig’s character was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. In every episode, I was looking up her gown. There was no emotional arc — I was just a device. But everybody watched that show, and that opened doors. It got me an agent. Soon after, I auditioned for a pilot called Room for Two with Linda Lavin. It really clicked. It’s funny, because they said, “She just came off the drama thirtysomething. Can she do comedy?” At Bill Esper’s class, almost everything I did was comedy or turned into comedy. I knew I could do it. I got the part, but it only went for, maybe, twelve episodes.

Q: How did you hear about Everybody Loves Raymond?
A: I had read for a couple things, and nothing was quite right. When I read the pilot for Raymond, I thought, “This is a beautifully written script.” I didn’t think my character was that interesting, but the script was so good, I thought, “They’re very good writers, they’ll figure it out.” The day I went to the audition, I was really harried and had a babysitting issue and had to get in and out fast. I ran in and they talked and talked and talked. I was thinking, “I have got to get out of here. I need to just read and go!” So I finally said, “Can we just go ahead and read?” And they said, “You’ll read for us?” My agent had said, “She’ll meet, but she won’t read,” because I was such a star — yeah, sitting in my backyard clip- ping coupons, trying to save fifty cents on two packs of Ballpark franks. I said, “Yes, I’ll read, and then I’ve got to go.” I was in this mode, which was exactly where Debra was in the scene. I didn’t really have to do anything. She was angry with Ray — I’m always angry with my husband. Initially, I’d never heard of Ray — he was a big deal in the standup world. He was sitting by the door when I walked in. I saw him and I thought, “Hmm, I’m not going to put the addition on my house yet, ‘cause I don’t think it’s going.” But we really hit it off. He also says I’m the only actress who would kiss him in the scene when it was required. None of the other actresses who did the scene would kiss him.

Q: What made Debra funny?
A: I think it was her ability to put up with certain things and then just fall apart. She really tried all the time. What was really interesting were the silences. Debra got to just stare at Ray or Marie when they said or did something that was so over-the-line — she couldn’t believe what she was hearing and seeing. The writers allowed you to just have those moments, and the audience would go crazy. You wouldn’t have to say a word, but the audience was laughing because they knew what Debra was thinking.

Q: What advice would you give aspiring actors?
A: Try to create your own work. The business is changing; television is changing. Nobody knows where it’s going, and it seems a little tough right now. They’re doing more reality shows and fewer scripted shows and cutting back on money, so you need to create product for yourself. Get together with your actor friends and write stuff and film it or pro- duce it or put it on stage. Use YouTube and MySpace to put your product out there — and to put yourself out there.

Emmy magazine is available at some newsstands or can be ordered directly online here.

Archive Interviewee Brad Garrett Talks About "'Til Death" -- Now Out on DVD

FOX comedy 'Til Death: Season One comes out on DVD today; the series has been renewed for its second season for 2007-08. Series star Brad Garrett is best known for playing Ray Romano's brother, policeman "Robert Barone" on Everybody Loves Raymond. He's also the voice of "Gusteau" in the current Pixar feature Ratatouille. Brad Garrett sat down with the Archive of American Television on April 26, 2007 where he talked about starring in 'Til Death.

Describe the character you play.

Eddie, I think is 90% of your married men out there that have made it to 20 years. I was close to make it to 20 years, I was just 13 years shy. You know how, [people say] “I married my best friend.” If I’d married my best friend I’d be bass fishing right now. You don’t marry your best friend, what you hopefully try to do is marry someone who is a wonderful blending of your neuroses-- that’s really where the marriage is. And then you get to the point where you’re too tired to leave or you’re too tired to break up and you realize later in life you’re just going to need someone to change you, not emotionally, your diaper. So when you look at 80 year olds, they’re not still in love, they hold hands-- it’s balance, they can’t walk without, that’s why they’re holding hands, they’re not in love after 60 years, no matter what they tell you.


Talk about the casting of Joely Fisher.

So Eddie is a guy who has met his match in Joely Fisher who plays Joy. She was the last woman to audition for the part and I didn’t have a wife for the show, literally 12 hours before our first table read, she came in at the last minute and just blew our doors off because what I loved about her is what she is in real life-- as well as this character-- she’s courageous and she’s strong and she pushes the envelope and she’s incredibly instinctive and I knew it was important kind of like The Honeymooner dynamic of Ralph and Alice. If I’m going to be a blowhard and be an in-your-face type of husband, I need a woman that could stand toe to toe and not you know be blown over by my wind if you will. And she was just there, to stand right there and be Joy and still be feminine and still be sexy and still be strong and... people aren’t supposed to look at the show and say oh my God look, they’re happy 20 yeas later, I want them to go oh my wow that is like me, boy a marriage is work, boy it is the little things that piss you off, boy it is the little things that keep you together.


You have a catchphrase with “Fantastic”…

Oh “fantastic.” Yes. Which came out, sadly enough, is out of my own life, that’s what I sometimes say when I don’t know what to say, someone will say I’m thinking about getting this lanced you want to look at it? And I’ll go “fantastic,” said I’ll be happy to look at anything on you that you think should be removed.


So that came from you?

It did come from me. I called Raymond cubby as Robert [on "Everybody Loves Raymond"], I’d go 'come here cubby,' that came out of an ad-lib. Again it’s those little things, the layers, it’s all about layers that we try to find. That’s what’s fun about acting or creating a show or being involved with a show and I’m also a producer on “’Til Death,” which only means I have parking, that’s really all it means, that and I can say we need more sherbet, it’s really nothing more than that.


Do you have a favorite episode so far?

I loved the dream getaway, I loved the episode where we go on a small vacation with the newlyweds and uh, it ends up that um, Kat Foster that plays the, the young ingenue on our show, who, one of the newlyweds ends up having a sex dream about me, and ends up telling Eddie Kay Thomas, the Jeff character about it, and I get wind of it and I am reveling in it, that this young hot woman would, and I really, it gives Eddie uh, you know a feeling of being wanted again, which guys that have been married 20 years. So, it gives Eddie a color we’ve really never seen and he starts you know dressing better and feeling better. What happens of course Eddie takes it overboard as he usually does and you know rubs it in Joy’s face a little bit, and she calls him on it and says come on you got to be kidding it was a dream and, and then we end up seeing the dynamic of a couple that has 20 years under their belt and how it’s two people that are really feeling insecure you know, and nothing more than that you now. There’s two things in a 20 year relationship, you’re either feeling insecure or you’re hungry.


And the show has a new time slot and how is it doing?

Well they put us after “American Idol” and you know to be honest my Bar Mitzvah video after “American Idol” could probably get a 12 share. We’re trying not to get, too high up on that, but Fox believes in the show, and they wanted to get more eyes on it and since they moved us after “Idol” not only have people been coming, but people have been staying with it. Now what’s the fate for season two? We’re still waiting to hear, if you hear or anybody at home hears, I’m usually the last to hear, please contact me, I’ll be at the primate clinic donating my plasma for the new Gibbon survey.

Brad Garrett's entire Archive interview can be seen at the Archive's offices at the Television Academy Headquarters in North Hollywood and will be available online in the future.

Interview description: Garrett spoke about his early comedy influences and his own break into the stand-up comedy world as a teenager. He talked about his first appearance on television on Norm Crosby’s Comedy Shop and his contest-winning turn on Star Search. He described two short-lived sitcoms he appeared on, before he landed the role for which he is most known, “Robert Barone” on Everybody Loves Raymond. He spoke in great detail about Raymond: describing his character, talking about the ensemble and series creator Phil Rosenthal, and mentioning notable episodes. He then talked about his next sitcom success as twenty-years-married “Eddie Stark” on ‘Til Death, a series he also produces. Additionally, he spoke about playing comic icon Jackie Gleason in the 2002 made-for-television movie Gleason. The 2 hour interview was conducted by Gary Rutkowski.