In memoriam

Sam Simon

Remembering Sam Simon

Mon, 03/09/2015 We're sad to hear that writer/producer Sam Simon passed away from colon cancer on Sunday, March 8, 2015 at the age of 59. Simon started his career in animation, drawing for Bill Cosby's Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids and other Filmation series. He broke into sitcoms with a spec script for Taxi , which got produced and led to a job on the show's writing staff. Simon was a writer and showrunner on Cheers , and served as a consultant for It's Garry Shandling's Show , The Tracey Ullman Show , and...

Harve Bennett

Remembering Harve Bennett

Fri, 03/06/2015 We're sad to learn that producer Harve Bennett passed away on February 25, 2015 at the age of 84. Bennett got his start in show business as one of the contestants on radio's "Quiz Kids." He wrote for The Chicago Sun-Times as a teenager, attended college at UCLA, and served in the Korean War. He got work at CBS, eventually becoming a producer (the youngest at the time), and then transitioned to ABC, where he ultimately served as Vice President in charge of programming under Leonard Goldberg...

Leonard Nimoy

Remembering Leonard Nimoy

Fri, 02/27/2015 We're sad to learn that actor Leonard Nimoy passed away this morning at the age of 83. Nimoy grew up in the inner city of Boston. He served in the Army (assigned to mount Army-produced shows), moved to Hollywood, and soon appeared on The Pinky Lee Show , Matinee Theater , Wagon Train , and Gunsmoke . He was an acting teacher for many years, and worked on several series produced by syndication giant Ziv Television Programs, including West Point , Sea Hunt , and Highway Patrol . Nimoy auditioned...

Stan Chambers

Remembering Stan Chambers

Fri, 02/13/2015 We're sad to hear that KTLA local news correspondent Stan Chambers passed away today at the age of 91. Chambers was part of the local Los Angeles news scene for over 60 years and was instrumental in the national evolution of local television news coverage. He worked at KTLA almost since its inception. He covered the 1949 Kathy Fiscus tragedy, an above ground Nevada A-bomb test (the first time a test had been covered by television cameras), the 1965 Watts Riots, and broke the 1991 Rodney King...

Bob Simon

Remembering Bob Simon

Thu, 02/12/2015 We're sad to hear that CBS News correspondent Bob Simon died in a car crash yesterday in Manhattan, NY. Simon was 73 years old. He began working at CBS News in 1967 and was soon offered a position in CBS' London Bureau. Simon reported on the conflicts in Northern Ireland, and later covered the Vietnam War from Saigon in 1971-72. He also covered the Yom Kippur War, the Portugal Colonial War, and Anwar Sadat's assassination. He moved to the State Department in 1981, served as a national...

Sanford Socolow

Remembering Sanford Socolow

Tue, 02/03/2015 We're sad to learn that CBS News producer Sanford Socolow passed away on Saturday, January 31, 2015 in New York City at the age of 86. Socolow worked for the International News Service (INS) in the early 1950s as a Far East Correspondent and started his work at CBS in the mid-50s, writing for Ned Calmer for the morning news and for Walter Cronkite on Eyewitness . Socolow enjoyed a long association with Walter Cronkite, which culminated in Socolow serving as the final executive producer of CBS...

Tony Verna

Remembering Tony Verna

Tue, 01/20/2015 We're sad to learn that director Tony Verna passed away from acute leukemia on Sunday, January 18, 2015 at the age of 81. Verna broke into the business in local television at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, where he worked on the local show Big Top and the original version of American Bandstand , then titled Bandstand . Verna is best known for his groundbreaking invention - the instant replay for sporting events - which he created in the wake of the Kennedy Assassination for the 1963 Army/Navy...

Sid Smith

Remembering Sid Smith

Thu, 01/15/2015 We're sad to learn that director Sid Smith passed away on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at the age of 93. Smith started out directing television commercials and soon became an AD on Eddie Condon's Floor Show and Your Hit Parade . He directed and/or produced The Jimmy Durante Show , Wide Wide World , and The Bell Telephone Hour , and enjoyed a seventeen-year association with Bob Hope, directing his television specials. Smith also directed several variety/award shows, including the Miss USA and Miss...

Joseph Sargent

Remembering Joseph Sargent

Sun, 12/21/2014 We're sad to learn that director Joseph Sargent passed away this morning at the age of 89 in Malibu, California. Sargent directed episodes of Lassie , Gunsmoke , The Man From U.N.C.L.E . , and the now-classic "The Corbomite Maneuver” episode of Star Trek . He directed the films "The Taking of Pelham 123" and "Jaws: The Revenge," and worked with Hollywood screen legends James Cagney ( Terrible Joe Moran ) and Elizabeth Taylor ( There Must Be A Pony ). Sargent worked with Stanley Kubrick in the...

Brandon Stoddard

Remembering Brandon Stoddard

Sun, 12/21/2014 We're sad to hear that Executive Brandon Stoddard passed away today, December 22, 2014, at age 77 after a long battle with cancer. Stoddard entered the workforce in the advertising industry, first at BBD&O and later at Grey Advertising. He soon transitioned to television, becoming the Director of Daytime Programming at ABC, where he scheduled the groundbreaking and award-winning ABC Afterschool Specials and the pop culture classic Schoolhouse Rock . He was appointed to Vice President of...