Latest News from The Interviews

Happy New Year 2008!

 Fri, 12/28/2007 Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve reaches its 36th annual edition with the Dec 31, 2007-January 1, 2008 special. Dick Clark spoke about his first New Year's special in 1959 and his inaguaration of New Year's Rockin' Eve in 1972, when he was interviewed by the Archive of American Television (scroll to 24 minutes into the segment below) on July 29, 1999. To access Dick Clark's entire Archive intervew, click here. Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest will host the special starting at 10:00 p.m. (ET...

"Howdy Doody" Celebrates 60 Years

 Thu, 12/27/2007 On December 27, 1947 one of TV's first success stories debuted, Howdy Doody , which began as Puppet Playhouse , seen three times a week on NBC. Through 1948 and 1949, with its title change to Howdy Doody , and now airing five times a week, every child with a television set knew the answer to "Say kids! What time is it?!" Host "Buffalo Bob" Smith sang the theme song "It's Howdy Doody Time" which was sung to the melody of "Ta-ra-ra Boom dee-ay." Howdy began as a long faced cowboy puppet but got a...

An Archive Christmas Special: Andy Williams

 Fri, 12/21/2007 To celebrate the season, the Archive has posted our interview with Andy Williams. Williams hosted his network primetime variety series from 1958-71. The best-known version ran on NBC from 1962-71 and featured "Moon River" as its theme song. Through his variety series, Williams began hosting a series of Christmas specials. From these specials and his many renditions of Christmas standards, he's become closely associated with the holiday. Listen to Andy Williams talk about his work in television...

Archive's interview with Patricia Heaton featured in Emmy magazine

 Mon, 12/17/2007 The latest issue of Emmy magazine (Issue No. 6, 2007, with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's Mariska Hargitay on the cover) includes selections from our Archive of American Television interview with actress Patricia Heaton, star of Everybody Loves Raymond and the current hit series Back to You . Heaton was interviewed in October, 2006. The interview is not online, but can be viewed at the Archive's headquarters in North Hollywood, CA. Here are some excerpts from the article: Q: What was...

Blast from the Past: Electronic TV Inventor Philo Farnsworth on "I've Got a Secret"

 Fri, 12/14/2007 Here's a little 8-minute gem we found on YouTube -- electronic television inventor Philo Farnsworth's full 1957 appearance on the panel show I've Got a Secret . Garry Moore’s show, and I don’t know, it just hit him right I guess and so he agreed. That was a very great experience because that night, he had Buster Keaton on [as a guest]. As well as a fellow that had something like 22 snakes on his person (laugh). Q: And Phil’s secret was? Elma Farnsworth: Okay, his secret that Gary showed the the...

TV Exec Roger King Dies - Interview Online

 Sun, 12/09/2007 Roger King, CEO of CBS Television Distribution, has died at the age of 63. King was interviewed by the Archive of American Television in 2004. His interview is now online. Click here to access his 3-part interview. Interview description: King talked about his early years in television, including his position as general manager of Fort Lauderdale station WKID. He discussed the founding of the family business, syndication company “King World,” by his father Charles King, and his later association...

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series DVD Set Released

 Thu, 12/06/2007 Just released: the much-anticipated The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The Complete Collection DVD set. It's a definitive, 41-disc set that includes the entire run of the series plus over 10 hours of bonus material, including interviews with stars Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, commentaries, home movies from the U.N.C.L.E. set, and rare promos and TV appearances . This DVD release features footage from the Archive of American Television's interview with series executive producer Norman Felton. The...

The Archive's Dick Clark interview featured on TV Land Online

 Wed, 11/28/2007 Bandstand fans: check out this new 5-minute video produced by our partner TV Land Online featuring excerpts from the Archive's Dick Clark interview (conducted in 1999). In the photo-filled piece, he discusses his journey from radio to hosting American Bandstand -- the show's groundbreaking racial integration, the move from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, and the many cultural changes the program reflected throughout the decades it aired.

Writer Mel Tolkin Dies at 94 - Archive Interview Online

 Tue, 11/27/2007 We're sad to report that comedy writer Mel Tolkin passed away yesterday, November 26th, at his home in Century City. Mel Tolkin was interviewed for the Archive of American Television for four hours. In his interview, Mr. Tolkin discussed his long writing partnership with Lucille Kallen (also an Archive interviewee) and writing for such shows as Admiral Broadway Revue and Your Show of Shows, Caesar's Hour, The Sid Caesar Show and The Danny Kaye Show , as well as writing for All in the Family...

Archive of American Television interview with producer Robert Halmi, Sr., featured in Emmy magazine

 Mon, 11/26/2007 The latest issue of Emmy magazine (Issue No. 5, 2007, with Cane's Jimmy Smits on the cover) includes selections from our Archive of American Television interview with producer (nearly 200 television movies and miniseries) and chairman of RHI Entertainment, Robert Halmi, Sr. He was interviewed for two hours in May, 2007. Halmi’s credits include many of the most acclaimed broadcast and cable productions of the past four decades: Lonesome Dove, The Josephine Baker Story, Gypsy, Gulliver’s Travels...