Latest News from The Interviews

Celebrating Gene Roddenberry's Legacy on his 90th Birthday

 Fri, 08/19/2011 Today marks what would have been Gene Roddenberry's 90th birthday. Best-known as the creator and executive producer of Star Trek , Roddenberry was born in El Paso, Texas on August 19, 1921 and grew up in Los Angeles. He became a Los Angeles police officer, but quickly transitioned to TV as a technical advisor to Frederick Ziv on Mr. District Attorney (1954) and later became a headwriter for Ziv on The West Point Story (CBS, 1956-57 and ABC, 1957-58). He eventually created his first original...

6 Things You May Not Know about Lucille Ball

 Fri, 08/05/2011 Tomorrow, August 6, 2011, marks Lucille Ball's 100th birthday! Sadly, Lucy passed away in 1989, before the Archive of American Television was founded. Fortunately, the Archive has captured many interviews with her friends and colleagues in its collection. Here are a few selections: LUCY'S HAIR DYE WAS KEPT UNDER LOCK-AND-KEY Irma Kusely - Lucille Ball's Hairdresser "Her hair color? I call it apricot but a lot of people think of it as red. It’s not red at all. It’s a golden apricot color. We...

From Killing Radio Stars to Smooshing Guidos: MTV Turns 30

 Sun, 07/31/2011 On August 1, 1981 at 12:01 a.m., footage of Apollo 11 blasting off into space filled the TV screen, followed by that of man landing on the moon. Then a flag bearing colorful letters, not stars and stripes, pulsated within a black and white still-image of man on the moon. Instead of the anticipated words of Neil Armstrong, music played and unseen executive John Lack announced, “ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll” – a phrase that would gain its own notoriety as the motto that launched MTV . One...

EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG Wins Second Consecutive Interactive Media Award

 Wed, 07/27/2011 We're thrilled to announce that the Archive of American Television's website EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG was named a recipient of the Interactive Media Awards’ (IMA) Outstanding Achievement in Website Development Award, honored specifically for Excellence in Arts/Culture ! The award recognizes the site’s excellence in relation to five distinct areas: design, usability, feature functionality, standards compliance and content. The Interactive Media Awards were created by Interactive Media Council, Inc. (...

Norman Lear on comedy

 Wed, 07/27/2011 “Life is a serious matter, but I see it through a prism that finds comedy in anything.”- Norman Lear A very happy birthday today to TV writer, producer, and legend Norman Lear, who is 89! In this excerpt from his 1998 Archive interview, Lear addressed the question of how he uses humor to diffuse a serious situation or an emotional issue, without becoming dogmatic: See the full interview with Norman Lear here . About the interview: Regarding his contribution to television, Norman Lear notes: “...

Pat and Vanna put their spin on the "Wheel"

 Tue, 07/19/2011 The hosts of America’s longest running, syndicated game show tell all in their Archive interviews! Pat Sajak and Vanna White were interviewed both separately and together and share tales from behind the scenes of “America’s favorite game show,” Wheel of Fortune . They speak about show creator Merv Griffin, their shooting schedule, and why Pat never thought Vanna would get hired. In the following clip, Pat and Vanna discuss how they entertain each other on the set of Wheel of Fortune : Watch the...

And the Emmy nomination goes to...

 Thu, 07/14/2011 The 2011 Primetime Emmy Award season began today with the official nomination announcement at 8:30 AM EST. Congratulations to all the nominees for the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards! The Archive of American Television would also like to congratulate our interviewees who were nominated this year: Dan Castellaneta for Outstanding Voice-Over performance (As "Homer Simpson") David Crane for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series ( Episodes ) Robert Dickinson (multiple nominations for lighting design)...

"Gilligan's Island" and "Brady Bunch" Creator Sherwood Schwartz dies at 94

 Tue, 07/12/2011 Sad news: Legendary comedy writer/producer Sherwood Schwartz, best known for creating and producing Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch has died in Los Angeles at the age of 94. Schwartz began his career as a radio writer for Bob Hope in the 1940s, and soon transitioned to television as a writer for I Married Joan (where he worked with Jim Backus, who he would later cast as Thurston Howell III on Gilligan's Island ), The Red Skelton Show (where he had a volatile relationship with Skelton), My...

"....It's in the Archive, Bob!" - "The Newlywed Game" turns 45

 Mon, 07/11/2011 Forty five years ago, on July 11, 1966, The Newlywed Game premiered on ABC with host Bob Eubanks . Eubanks is most closely associated with the show although there were many other hosts throughout its run. Produced by Chuck Barris (who also wrote the catchy theme song), the show was created by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir , and focused on newly married couples who were asked a series of revealing questions about their spouse to determine how well they knew, or didn't know, one another. The...

TV Comedy Writing Legend Sam Denoff has Died

 Sun, 07/10/2011 Very sad news, the Archive of American Television has learned that TV Legend Sam Denoff , not only an Archive interviewee, but someone who passionately supported the Archive as an interviewer, passed away on July 8th at the age of 8 3. Sam began his prolific career in radio at WNEW in New York and later moved to Los Angeles to work in television, starting with The Steve Allen Show . He worked on The Andy Williams Show before landing a job with partner Bill Persky on The Dick Van Dyke Show ,...