Commercials

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

Tabs

About

“I did a Right Guard commercial, I did a Midas Muffler commercial. One commercial I did won an Andy Award, which was an award given to the best commercials that year, so the byline in ‘Variety’ was ‘Amos wins Andy.’” - John Amos, Actor

Commercials describe advertisements created to sell a product, concept or service.

Highlights

John Amos on appearing in a well-known McDonalds commercial

04:36

Walter Cronkite on trying to correct grammatical ad copy; he antagonized Winston cigarettes and never did another commercial

02:36

Ricardo Montalban on his ads for Chrysler's Cordoba

01:22

Florence Henderson on the famous Wesson oil jingle

01:53

William Clotworthy on memorable TV commercials on which he worked

01:33

Barbara Feldon on the commercial she did for Revlon for Top Brass where she growls like a tiger

02:00

Who talked about this genre

Jason Alexander

Jason Alexander on commercials he did when he was starting out

02:35

John Amos

John Amos on appearing in commercials

05:55

John Amos on appearing in a well-known McDonalds commercial

04:36

Alan A. Armer

Alan A. Armer on appearing in commercials

04:00

Hank Azaria

Hank Azaria on his first professional acting job in an Italian gum commercial

00:50

Rick Baker

Rick Baker on working on various commercials

03:55

Paris Barclay

Paris Barclay on co-directing a PSA for "AIDS: It's nobody's fault and everybody's problem" with Elizabeth Taylor

04:55

Frances Buss Buch

Frances Buss Buch on directing the first color commercials during the 1951 CBS program Premiere

02:48

Allan Burns

Allan Burns on creating "Cap'n Crunch"

06:59

Phil Carey

Phil Carey on doing commercials for Granny Goose while under contract for Laredo

01:59

Marcy Carsey

Marcy Carsey on acting in commercials

00:34

Stan Chambers

Stan Chambers on selling and hosting ads for KTLA in the early 1950s

06:12

Art Clokey

Art Clokey on animated TV advertising campaigns he did for Coca-Cola

05:32

William Clotworthy

William Clotworthy on commercials for American Tobacco

01:29

William Clotworthy on the Lucky Strike bulls eye

01:30

William Clotworthy on the 1952 political campaign and BBDO representing the Republican party - Eisenhower; on how they got Ike to wear makeup

06:44

William Clotworthy on loving radio commercials

01:09

William Clotworthy on memorable TV commercials on which he worked

01:33

Barbara Feldon with Emerson College

Barbara Feldon on acting in commercials

00:12

Henry Colman

Henry Colman details being production coordinator on Kraft Television Theatre

07:00

Henry Colman on working in as a commercial producer at an Emil Mogul Advertising agency in 1956; on working on Pillsbury commercials for Arthur Godfrey and His Friends

08:26

Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite on trying to correct grammatical ad copy; he antagonized Winston cigarettes and never did another commercial

02:36

Richard Donner

Richard Donner on opening his own commercial company

03:51

Louis Dorfsman

Louis Dorfsman on creating on-air promos for CBS

04:38

Patty Duke

Patty Duke on commercials in which she acted as a child

01:16

Linda Ellerbee

Linda Ellerbee on starting her production company, Lucky Duck Productions, and on her Maxwell House commercials

04:18

Danny Epstein

Danny Epstein on he and Joe Raposo playing music for Jim Henson for his commercial appearances

00:40

Barbara Feldon

Barbara Feldon on the commercial she did for Revlon for Top Brass where she growls like a tiger

02:00

Ray Forrest

Ray Forrest on how senior radio announcers made money -- commercials -- and what "standby duty" was

01:22

Ray Forrest on his first job as a junior radio announcer and why he finally joined AFRA (the precursor to AFTRA)

02:09

James Garner

James Garner on his popular Polaroid commercials

02:06

Marge Greene

Marge Greene on writing and performing early television commercials

03:30

Marge Greene on performing in commercials when Marge and Jeff ended

04:25

Donald Hall

Donald Hall on Hallmark's television commercials

04:16

Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm on going to dark places while playing "Don Draper" on Mad Men and how "Don's" journey ends in the final episode (the Coca-Cola commercial)

05:48

Florence Henderson

Florence Henderson on her commercials for Wesson Oil

03:55

Florence Henderson on appearing in live television commercials

00:28

Florence Henderson on the famous Wesson oil jingle

01:53

Paul Henning

Producer Paul Henning on ending cigarette ads on The Beverly Hillbillies

01:56

Stanley Hubbard

Stanley Hubbard on the then-current state and then-future of television advertising and the impact of the internet on television

06:37

Charles Lisanby

Charles Lisanby on some of the commercials he art directed including Merrill Lynch and Dr. Pepper

03:52

Barry Livingston

Barry Livingston on appearing in a Superbowl ad for Heineken directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt

02:16

Stewart MacGregory

Stewart MacGregory on live commercials for Kraft Television Theatre

03:32

Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow on getting involved with writing commercial jingles

02:40

Barry Manilow on the various jingles he composed for commercials, including State Farm, Band Aids, Stridex, Dr. Pepper, and McDonald's

05:17

Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall on her Head & Shoulders shampoo commercial with Farrah Fawcett

00:56

John A. Martinelli

John Martinelli on the difference between editing commercials and television shows

04:23

Anne Meara

Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara on their Blue Nun radio commercials

04:50

Bill Melendez

Bill Melendez on working for Playhouse Pictures animating spots for Ford Motor Company

02:04

Bill Melendez on animating spots for the Ford Falcon featuring Charles M .Schulz's "Peanuts" characters

04:32

Bill Melendez on the content of the Ford Motor Company commercials featuring the "Peanuts" gang

02:24

Bill Melendez on commercials produced by his production company

00:55

Ricardo Montalban

Ricardo Montalban on his ads for Chrysler's Cordoba

01:22

Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore on being "Happy Hotpoint" on commercials for the sponsor of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

01:59

Howard Morris

Howard Morris on directing commercials, including one with George Burns

02:42

Bill Moyers

Bill Moyers on the "Daisy" ad for the 1964 Presidential campaign

05:31

Bill Mumy

Bill Mumy on doing commercials

02:05

Thomas Murphy

Thomas Murphy on the role of the advertising agency in the television business in the '50s

02:39

Thomas Murphy on advertising in the early days of television

01:49

Thomas Murphy on working at the Kenyon & Eckhardt ad agency

03:25

Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Nimoy on why villains were not allowed to smoke on Ziv Television Programs' syndicated shows, due to sponsorship, circa 1950s-60s

01:42

Don Pardo

Don Pardo on his work in commercials

07:43

Estelle Parsons

Estelle Parsons on her first acting roles on television and on appearing in commercials, and on Mort Werner

03:28

Charlotte Rae

Charlotte Rae on appearing in several commercials in the '60s and '70s

02:06

Ed Resnick

Ed Resnick on shooting television commercials

05:57

Maria Riva

Actress Maria Riva on being the spokesperson for Alcoa (and learning how to demonstrate the use of aluminum foil on "live" TV) on The Alcoa Hour in the 1950s

00:59

Doris Roberts

Doris Roberts on appearing in Glade commercials

00:36

Phil Roman

Phil Roman on animating commercials after his time with Disney

00:52

Isabel Sanford

Isabel Sanford on appearing in a series of Old Navy and Denny's commercials with Sherman Hemsley

03:29

Joe Sedelmaier

Joe Sedelmaier on the state of television advertising in the '60s

03:55

Joe Sedelmaier on incorporating more subtlety into television advertisements

06:14

Joe Sedelmaier on his Federal Express commercials

03:41

Joe Sedelmaier on his Alaska Airlines commercials

03:31

Joe Sedelmaier on his preference to use film in his advertisements

02:31

Joe Sedelmaier on turning down clients and his affinity for comedic commercials

05:39

Joe Sedelmaier on gaining creative control over his advertisements

03:53

Joe Sedelmaier on Southern Airways putting his TV commercial agency on the map

04:36

Joe Sedelmaier on Wendy's "Russian Fashion Show" commercials

05:34

Joe Sedelmaier on Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" campaign with Clara Peller

13:04

Joe Sedelmaier on discovering Clara Peller, Wendy's "Where's the Beef?" lady

05:12

Joe Sedelmaier on his famous, fast-talking Federal Express series of commercials

09:57

Joe Sedelmaier on creating commercials for Valvoline

03:15

Joe Sedelmaier on creating Eyewitness News commercials

01:57

Joe Sedelmaier on his Jartran commercials

03:06

Joe Sedelmaier on creating Mr. Coffee commercials

01:19

Joe Sedelmaier on foreign commercials he created

06:07

Joe Sedelmaier on Federal Express commercials he created

01:54

Joe Sedelmaier on structuring his commercial rates and dealing with the heads of the companies

02:25

Joe Sedelmaier on the effect his ads had on Wendy's

02:01

Joe Sedelmaier on Wendy's "Parts is Parts" commercial

02:07

Joe Sedelmaier on Wendy's "Russian Fashion Show" commercial

04:26

Joe Sedelmaier on the then-current state of advertising

01:32

Joe Sedelmaier on advice to aspiring advertising professionals

04:05

Joe Sedelmaier on creating commercials for AAMCO and HP

01:35

Joe Sedelmaier on creating commercials for Texaco Super Unleaded and the process of casting commercials

05:04

Hazel Shermet

Hazel Shermet on the audition process for television commercials

03:12

John Silva

John Silva on introducing Lawrence Welk to the ten-minute interval between commercials

04:08

Doris Singleton

Doris Singleton on becoming active in radio, being introduced to writer Sanford Barnett, and auditioning for Lever Brothers commercials for Lux Radio Theatre

02:02

Doris Singleton on doing early television commercials

00:46

Ira Skutch

Ira Skutch on directing commercials during the 1952 political conventions

03:19

Ira Skutch on the commercials that ran during Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse and sponsors for the show

13:22

Ira Skutch on a photo of an Old Gold commercial

00:49

Jean Stapleton

Jean Stapleton on refusing to reprise "Edith Bunker" or a likeness of her in television commercials

00:37

Johnny Stearns

Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns on commercials they appeared in

03:27

Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns on their commercials as spokespeople for The U.S. Steel Hour

00:36

Mary Kay Stearns

Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns on commercials they appeared in

03:27

Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns on their commercials as spokespeople for The U.S. Steel Hour

00:36

Leonard Stern

Leonard Stern on Jackie Gleason, who memorized his lines, making a mistake on a commercial for Schick

01:43

Jerry Stiller

Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara on their Blue Nun radio commercials

04:50

Daniel J. Travanti

Daniel J. Travanti on moving to Los Angeles for his acting career, and on appearing in commercials

03:37

Helen Wagner

Helen Wagner on appearing in Reynolds Wrap commercials on Mr. Peepers

01:27

Mike Wallace

Mike Wallace on being a pitch man for Peter Pan peanut butter on Super Circus, and on a mishap on the show

04:05

Dennis Weaver

Dennis Weaver on appearing in an ad for Pall Mall cigarettes

01:03

Matthew Weiner

Matthew Weiner on his disapproval of real ads written in the style of Mad Men strategically placed during the show

05:06

Matthew Weiner on using real life products and companies on Mad Men, leading up to the Coca-Cola commercial finale

06:11

Joseph M. Wilcots

Joseph M. Wilcots on shooting early commercials using doctored products

02:14

Joseph M. Wilcots on doing visual effects for commercials

02:31

Lauren Zalaznick

Lauren Zalaznick on making the transition from feature films to television via making promos for MTV

10:04