Hal Eisner on why news reporting is another form of storytelling
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
Release Date: 03/04/2026
Why Quincy Jones was "the people groover"
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 734.1: Part 2 of with music journalist about the life and legacy of producer, composer, arranger, and musician . Scott not only interviewed Jones at the time of the release of Jones’ album , but also wrote the liner notes for three other Jones music releases (including , a compilation of scores from Jones’ early years as a composer for film and television), plus he crossed paths with Q on many other occasions during the last thirty years of Jones’ life. Quincy Jones passed away on Nov. 3, 2024. Topics this segment include how Jones, Burt Bacharach, and Charles Fox were among...
info_outline
50 Years of Wonder Woman on TV
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 734.2: From May 2012: An encore presentation of our conversation with , author of , everything you wanted to know about the classic TV series starring Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner. April 2026 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere of (ABC/CBS, 1976-1979).
info_outline
Kathleen Bradley takes us backstage at The Price is Right
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 734.4: Ed welcomes back , the first African-American model to join ranks with Barker’s Beauties on , and the actress known around the world as the voluptuous Mrs. Parker in the 1995 cult comedy . Kathleen can currently be seen in the highly anticipated two-part episode of E!’s Dirty Rotten Scandals that not only explores the good, the bad, and the ugly behind the scenes of The Price Is Right, but is partly inspired by Kathleen’s memoir, . Topics this segment include how, both in her memoir and in the docu series, Kathleen presents both sides of the Bob Barker that she knew and...
info_outline
Kathleen Bradley and The Love Machine
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 734.5: shares a few memories with Ed about performing all over the world with , the popular female soul group of the 1970s (including the night when she experienced a while performing the song “Rock Steady”). She also talks about how difficult it really is to sing and dance at the same time, plus she shares a few of her personal health tips. Kathleen can currently be seen in the two-part episode of E!’s Dirty Rotten Scandals that not only explores the good, the bad, and the ugly behind the scenes of The Price Is Right, but is partly inspired by Kathleen’s memoir, . Dirty Rotten...
info_outline
Remembering Kimberly Johnson
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 733.1: From March 2014: Kimberly Johnson, daughter of Russell Johnson, joins Ed, Tony, Donna, and guest co-host Bill Funt as TV Confidential remembers the life and career of the actor known around the world as The Professor on Gilligan's Island. Kim shares a few memories of her dad, plus she talks about her dad’s favorite episodes, her favorite episodes, and her dad’s take on the whole Gilligan’s Island pop culture phenomenon. The son of Candid Camera originator Allen Funt, Bill Funt first came to know Kim Johnson and other Gilligan’s Island personnel (including series...
info_outline
More with Kimberly Johnson and Bill Funt
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
From March 2014: Kimberly Johnson, daughter of Russell Johnson, joins Ed, Tony, Donna, and guest co-host Bill Funt as TV Confidential remembers the life and career of the actor known around the world as The Professor on Gilligan's Island. Kim shares a few memories of her dad, plus she talks about her dad’s favorite episodes, her favorite episodes, and her dad’s take on the whole Gilligan’s Island pop culture phenomenon. The son of Candid Camera originator Allen Funt, Bill Funt first came to know Kim Johnson and other Gilligan’s Island personnel (including series creator Sherwood...
info_outline
The “sound hooks” of Quincy Jones
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 733.4: Music journalist joins Ed for a special appreciation of the life and legacy of Grammy Award-winning, Emmy Award-winning, and Tony Award-winning producer, composer, arranger, musician, and Renaissance man . Scott interviewed Jones at least once (at the time of the release of Jones’ album ). He also wrote the liner notes for three other Jones music releases (including , a compilation of scores from Jones’ early years as a composer for film and television), plus he crossed paths with him on many other occasions during the last thirty years of Jones’ life. Quincy Jones...
info_outline
Quincy Jones, Oliver Nelson, and Michael Jackson
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 733.5: Music journalist talks to Ed about the collaboration between and Oliver Nelson on the film score for , the first film for which Jones composed music (the conversation particularly focuses on the piece “Rack ’em Up”); the circumstances that led Jones to produce and for Michael Jackson; and how Jones developed his eclectic tastes in music.
info_outline
Denise Nicholas, author of Finding Home
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 732.4: Ed welcomes Denise Nicholas, the Golden Globe-nominated actress known to television audiences for her starring roles in and , and the author of , the critically acclaimed novel that was largely drawn from Denise’s experience as a working actress with the Free Southern Theater in the Deep South in 1964, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Denise’s new memoir, , is a moving look at her lifelong search for who and what she is—a search that that not only navigates the intersections of love and identity, but which sees Denise endure many traumatic events throughout her...
info_outline
Denise Nicholas on “finding a way in” as a writer
TV Confidential with Ed Robertson
TVC 732.5: Actress and novelist Denise Nicholas (, In the Heat of the Night, Freshwater Road) talks to Ed about working with Sidney Poitier as a director three times (and how she particularly relished the comedic roles she played opposite Poitier and Bill Cosby in Let’s Do It Again and A Piece of the Action); how she first met Carroll O’Connor long before they starred together in In the Heat of the Night (and before O’Connor came to mentor Denise as a writer); why she enjoys writing literary fiction among all other genres; and how Denise has “a little Norman Lear in her” as a...
info_outline TVC 726.2: Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Hal Eisner, the multiple award-winning broadcast journalist who covered the news every day for fifty-eight years, including fifteen years at various radio stations in Texas and Louisiana and the last forty-three years on television in Los Angeles. Hal’s memoir, An Accidental Career, is available through Amazon.com. Topics this segment include how Hal’s encounters with such celebrities as Ed Asner and Roy Scheider; how news reporting is another form of storytelling; and how living in retirement can be like floating in a bowl of Jell-o.
For our listeners in the Greater L.A. Metro area, Hal Eisner will appear at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, CA on Wednesday, Mar. 4 beginning at 7pm.