Harry Friedman-featured in this month's "Emmy"

Harry Friedman, producer of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! among many other iconic programs, was interviewed by the Archive in 2007. His story is featured in this month's EMMY magazine, available now.




UPDATE: 1/1/09 The full article has been posted to the Jeopardy! site. Read it here.

Detailed description:
Harry Friedman was interviewed for over two hours in Culver City, CA. Friedman described his early career path and how he came to be a writer on The Hollywood Squares in the 1970s. He talked about producing the late 80s version of the show that featured Joan Rivers as the center square. He spoke in great detail about his long association with the game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! that he began producing in the mid-90s. For Wheel he talked about changes made to the game play through the years, such as the addition of the Jackpot Round and the Mystery Round; as well as the Wheel Watchers Club. For Jeopardy!, he talked about the winning streak of Ken Jennings. The interview was conducted on October 10, 2007.

For more on this and other Archive interviews, visit emmytvlegends.org or our TVLegends youtube channel

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.

TV Exec Roger King Dies - Interview Online

Roger King, CEO of CBS Television Distribution, has died at the age of 63. King was interviewed by the Archive of American Television in 2004. His interview is now online. Click here to access his 3-part interview.






Interview description:
King talked about his early years in television, including his position as general manager of Fort Lauderdale station WKID. He discussed the founding of the family business, syndication company “King World,” by his father Charles King, and his later association as an executive with the company. He talked about some of the first shows that “King World” syndicated and the transition to syndicating their own properties that started with the game show Wheel of Fortune. He detailed the continued success of the company with such popular programs as Jeopardy, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Dr. Phil. Additionally, he talked about the merger between “King World” and CBS, and his subsequent role as CEO of CBS Enterprises.