Local TV Horror Movie Hosts from the ’60s and ’70s
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
Release Date: 10/27/2025
Les Lannom on why playing the bagpipes requires a strong stomach
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 714.5: Actor and musician talks to Ed about learning how to play the bagpipes when he was age forty; why one needs strong stomach muscles and a strong neck to play the bagpipes; the upcoming audiobook project about explorers Lincoln Ellsworth and Raold Amundsen in which Les will provide the voices; and the events leading up to Les’ guest appearance on Kung Fu in December 1972—a role led to Les being cast in the first pilot of Harry O in early 1973. Les not only wrote the foreword for by Steve Aldous and Gary Gillies, but contributed many behind-the-scenes anecdotes about...
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Les Lannom, Henry Fonda, and James Garner
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 714.6: Actor and musician shares a few memories about working with Peter Falk in Columbo Goes to College (ABC, 1990), with James Garner in the miniseries Space (CBS, 1985), with Henry Fonda in the acclaimed made-for-TV movie Gideon’s Trumpet (CBS, 1980), and with Dennis Weaver in the epic miniseries Centennial (NBC, 1978-1979).
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Alison Arngrim on the many events celebrating Little House’s 50th anniversary
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
Please enjoy this special preview of our upcoming conversation with (, ) with news on several events coming up over the next few weeks that will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere of Little House on the Prairie (NBC, 1974-1983), including a special featuring Alison, Dean Butler, and Pamela Bob that premieres Saturday, Nov. 22 at 1pm ET 10am PT (click for tickets and more information); the world virtual premiere of , the new documentary by Jonathan Parker that, to quote Alison, “really gets what Little House means to so many people around the world” (streaming Wednesday,...
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Ralph Senensky on his early career in television
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 714.1: TV Confidential remembers , longtime member of the Directors Guild of America and one of the most prolific directors in TV history (particularly when it comes to episodic television) with an encore presentation of a conversation that originally aired in February 2014. Ralph Senensky passed away on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025 at the age of 102. Topics this segment include a look at Ralph’s early career in television on such live dramas as Playhouse 90, as well as his work with casting directors Marion Dougherty and John Conwell on shows like Route 66 and Naked City.
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Ralph Senensky and The Waltons
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 714.2: From February 2014: Prolific television director talks to Ed about working with Ralph Waite, Will Geer, Ellen Corby, and Michael Learned on The Waltons, and with Richard Thomas on “Game of Terror,” an episode of The FBI that aired in 1971, one year before the premiere of The Waltons. Ralph not only helmed twelve episodes of The Waltons, many of which rank among the very best episodes in the history of that series. Ralph Senensky passed away on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025 at the age of 102.
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Les Lannom, Prime Cut, and the smell of a good pipe
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 714.3: Ed welcomes , the actor known around the world as Lester Hodges on (ABC, 1974-1976), and a man who has worked with such movie and TV legends as Lee Marvin, Gene Hackman, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Joe Don Baker, Sissy Spacek, Dennis Weaver, Pat Hingle, James Garner, David Carradine, and David Janssen in the course of his career. Topics this segment include the appeal of the smell of a good pipe, the merits of pipe smoking versus cigar smoking, and the bad experience that Les had while smoking a cigarette in 1971 during production of Prime Cut, his first film credit as an actor.
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Louise Sorel, Herb Edelman, and Dame Judith Anderson
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 714.4: Part 2 of a with (Days of Our Lives, Santa Barbara). Louise's new book, , is a collection of prose pieces and poems drawn from her life, childhood, and career that reveals how Louise navigated a sometimes difficult childhood with emotionally distant parents by discovering the theatre at a young age and through her lifelong love of animals. Topics this segment include the surreal, almost sitcom-like way in which she first met Dame Judith Anderson, one of her co-stars on Santa Barbara (and an accomplished stage actress who was one of Louise’s idols long before Santa Barbara);...
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Les Lannom, Kung Fu, and Harry O
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 714.5: talks to Ed about how his penchant for performing cold readings stems from his longtime passion for reading out loud; how his youthful appearances has sometimes worked in his favor (and sometimes not); and how a guest appearance on Kung Fu in 1972 not only put him on the radar of producers Jerry Thorpe, Alex Beaton, and Robert Dozier, but paved the way for his being cast in Such Dust as Dreams Are Made Of, the first pilot for .
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Les Lannom on working with David Janssen
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 714.5: talks to Ed about how he and David Janssen bonded almost immediately when they worked together on , partly because they shared an ability to laugh at themselves and not take themselves too seriously. Les not only wrote the foreword for by Steve Aldous and Gary Gillies, but contributed many behind-the-scenes anecdotes about production of the series. is available wherever books are sold through .
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June Lockhart’s passion for space travel
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 713.1: TV Confidential remembers June Lockhart (Lassie, Petticoat Junction, Lost in Space) with an encore presentation of our conversation from June 2014 with the beloved actress. June Lockhart passed away on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025 at the age of 100. At the time we spoke to June in June 2014, she had just been honored by NASA with its Exceptional Public Achievement Medal for inspiring the public about space exploration. Topics this segment include June’s longtime interest in both space travel and air flight; the back story of the famous TV Guide cover from September 1965 featuring June...
info_outlineTVC 711.2: Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, director, and author Joseph Dougherty (thirtysomething, Pretty Little Liars, The First Cylinder, Comfort and Joi, Rod Serling at 100) joins Ed, Tony, and Dan Farren for a roundtable discussion about some of our favorite local TV horror movie hosts—a staple of television that began in the late 1950s and continued into the 1980s and which, for many of us, was an indelible part of our growing-up years. Topics this segment include how the genre began circa 1958, when Universal released its entire library of horror movies from the 1930s and ’40s to local TV stations; why part of the charm from these local TV productions comes from their threadbare production values; and the many ways in which John Zacherle (pictured) set the standard for local TV horror hosts, first in Philadelphia, then in New York.