Joseph Jennings

On his early life and influences; on how his family dealt with the Great Depression; on his activities during World War II

On the first time he saw television and his early feelings about the medium; on his life after World War II and becoming a junior set designer at Warner Bros.; on doing set design for various feature films at Warner Bros.

On making the transition from art direction of features to television; on working in the television department at Warner Bros. and supervising the art direction of the various shows

On acting as art director for The Wild, Wild West starring Robert Conrad; on the Hollywood Blacklist; on going to work as an art director at CBS Studio Center

On working on various features as lead set designer and the duties of a lead set designer; on his duties as assistant art director; on difficult situations he's faced as assistant art director

On working with the other art directors at CBS Television City, and the differences between art directors working in film and those working in live television or video taped television; on acting as art director for The Wild, Wild West

On being accurate with his art direction including on North and South; on acting as art director for Gunsmoke, and dealing with that show's transition from black and white to color

On the challenges of being art director for Gunsmoke; on working with the producers of Gunsmoke; on dealing with the height of James Arness who played "Matt Dillon" on Gunsmoke

On Gunsmoke's shooting schedule and the handling of the show's sets; on working on the Gunsmoke reunion

On the functions and responsibilities of an art director; on the difference between a production designer and an art director

On the duties of a set designer and on the duties of a set decorator; on the relationship between the director and the art director

On the mechanics of preparing for a show as an art director; on the biggest challenges of preparing for a show as an art director and on doing art direction for science fiction shows including Star Trek

On planning the art direction for the first "Star Trek" feature film; on how the transition to color impacted the work of the art director, and on dealing with lighting; on art directors working with sound designers and on working with the director of photography 

On safety guidelines and on government codes that had to be followed for art directors; on the art director's involvement in location scouting; on deciding on shooting on location or shooting in a studio

On helping with art direction for Gilligan's Island; on acting as art director for Star Trek

On working within the constraints of Star Trek's budget and on memorable designs and episodes for Star Trek; on doing art direction for Alex Haley's Roots; on planning the sets for Roots and on the production of Roots

On selecting locations for Roots and on the special effects for the show; on the great success of Roots; on doing art direction for Shogun

On acting as art director for Shogun in Japan;  on the biggest challenges of acting as art director for Shogun

On the differences between doing art direction for features, and on doing art direction for made-for-television movies 

On doing art direction for James Michener's Space; on doing art direction for North and South

On acting as art director for Ironclads; on his retirement and his legacy; on his production style

On the then-new technologies in art direction and how production design has changed over the years; on advice to an aspiring art director; on the then-current state of art direction on television and on career highlights; on his mentor and how he'd like to be remembered