Garry Simpson

On his childhood and early influences; on acting in plays in high school and college; on getting accepted to West Point, but going to Stanford to study theater instead; on getting a scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York; on working in experimental television for NBC in the late 1930s

On the first time he heard about television; on the NBC television demonstration at the 1940 New York World's Fair with Burr Tillstrom; on Tillstrom's puppets; on the pavilion at the Fair; on technical challenges with early television; on audience response to the NBC television demonstrations; on directing the demonstrations and becoming the NBC studio stage manager in NY; on directing mobile units

On directing mobile units for NBC; on NBC Studio 3-H; on his role as NBC stage manager; on working with nitrate film; on selecting films for television; on showing civil defense films during World War II; on serving as a test engineer for the Navy during the war

On returning to NBC and how TV technology was advanced during the war; on old image orthicon cameras

On post-war programs he directed - Chevrolet Tele-Theater; on directing Grace Kelly, Jack Lemmon, James Dean, and Gertrude Berg

On directing actors Chevrolet Tele-Theater; on early makeup for television and the intense lighting; on covering the Joe Louis- Billy Conn fight in NY and Rocky Graziano's fights

On covering Jackie Robinson's first televised game; on directing sports; on political coverage; on covering President Truman and President Eisenhower; on the documentary series Eye Witness, and in particular an episode which featured TV pioneer Vladimir Zworykin; on the low budget variety series Television Screen Magazine

On directing Paris Cavalcade of Fashion; on directing inaugural broadcasts from Boston and Washington, D.C. (before coaxial cable connected cities); on directing Barney Blake, Police Reporter; on Red Channels and advertiser control over early TV programs

On directing the sitcom Mary Kay and Johnny; on directing Macbeth for NBC- considered NBC's first "spectacular"; on working with NBC's Pat Weaver; on changing the look of the original Tonight Show; on directing Jimmy Durante, Ed Wynn, Johnny Carson, and Danny Thomas on Four Star Revue

On directing Four Star Revue; on seeing Jimmy Durante's last show in Las Vegas; on directing Jimmy Durante in Four Star Revue; on working with Ed Wynn and Jackie Gleason

On directing Jack Carson on Four Star Revue; on live television mishaps and a motorcyclist getting killed during a rehearsal

On directing the Ford Festival; on Armstrong Circle Theatre; on working on Campbell's Summer Soundstage; on directing The World of Mr. Sweeney

On innovate shots he directed on Wide Wide World; on Robert Frost and Frank Lloyd Wright appearing on Wide Wide World; on directing Kitty Foyle

On directing Tic Tac Doug h; on his preference for directing dramas; on working in videotape and how color affected television production; on getting fired from NBC in 1958; on directing commercials and directing Breck Golden Showcase for CBS in 1962;

On becoming Director of Programming for Vermont PBS; on staying in touch with friends from NBC; on his demeanor as a director on set and working with writers

On a picture of Sarah Bernhardt; on advice to an aspiring director; on how acting informed his directing; on what he believes represents the best of television; on Olivia de Havilland being somewhat of a mentor to him; on how he'd like to be remembered

On people with whom he's worked: Morey Amsterdam, Fred Coe, James Dean, David and Robert Sarnoff, Tony Randall, Lorne Green, Roger Muir and Bob Keeshan; on his wife, Kathleen

B-roll of pictures from his career: on NBC stages and at the 1977 Emmy Awards