Latest News from The Interviews

"It's Always Sunny's" Frank Reynolds Shows Up at Our Interview with Danny DeVito

 Thu, 01/19/2012 The Archive recently had the pleasure of conducting an interview with Mr. Danny Devito . Interviewer Amy Harrington of the Pop Culture Passionistas shares a few thoughts about the experience: I knew that Danny DeVito was a great actor when I signed up to interview him for the Archive of American Television. After all I'd been watching him since I was a little kid and he was the dastardly Louie DePalma on Taxi . And I grew to admire him over the years for his roles in films like “One Flew Over...

Happy Birthday to "All in the Family's" Jean Stapleton!

 Thu, 01/19/2012 Wishing a very happy birthday to actress Jean Stapleton !! The New York City native is best known for playing "Edith Bunker" on the '70s sitcom All in the Family , but has also appeared on Broadway and guest-starred on many TV shows, from Dr. Kildare to The Defenders (on which she first met Carroll O'Connor ). Enjoy some selections from our 2000 Interview with Jean Stapleton: Watch Stapleton as "Edith Bunker" in this clip of one of her favorite All in the Family episodes - The Thanksgiving Show...

No Heart Attacks, Please, but "Sanford and Son" is Turning 40!

 Sun, 01/15/2012 Based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son , Sanford and Son is the creation of producers Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear . Comedian Redd Foxx starred as widower and junk dealer, "Fred G. Sanford," an Archie Bunker-type curmudgeon, Demond Wilson played his grown son, "Lamont," and the two lived together and ran the family business in South Central L.A. Fred's wife had passed away decades before, and his trademark move on the program was to feign a heart attack, grab his chest, and call out, "I'm coming to...

This is "Today" at 60

 Sat, 01/14/2012 "When The Today Show started in the morning, every station manager in the country objected to it because they said, 'who’s gonna get up that early to watch television?'” - Former NBC Executive Michael Dann It was certainly a revolutionary premise for its day. Back in 1952, networks did not broadcast programming in the wee early or way late hours of the day, so when NBC executive Sylvester "Pat" Weaver wanted to do a weekday morning show from 7-9 a.m, he encountered more than a few skeptics. Yet...

Life in Llanview Comes to an End: "One Life to Live" Goes Off the Air

 Fri, 01/13/2012 After 43 years on daytime, soap opera One Life to Live will broadcast its final episode today. The creation of Agnes Nixon (who also created All My Children ), One Life to Live made its debut on ABC on July 15, 1968. The program started out as a half-hour show, and over the years expanded to 45 minutes and then to a full hour in 1978. Agnes Nixon on creating One Life to Live : One Life to Live focused its storylines on the happenings of the Lord family, and actress Erika Slezak , who played the...

Ken Corday On “Days of Our Lives” and the Future of Soap Operas

 Thu, 01/12/2012 Bo and Hope, John and Marlena, Tom and Alice – some of the most beloved soap opera couples stem from Days of Our Lives . In his Archive interview, Days ’ Executive Producer Ken Corday takes us behind-the-scenes of one of America’s favorite soaps. Corday shares that his parents, Ted and Betty, were two of the creators of Days of Our Lives . He discusses their contributions to the program, and describes many of the show’s memorable storylines over the years -- from “Marlena’s possession by the...

Everybody Loves Patricia Heaton

 Mon, 01/09/2012 With her success on Everybody Loves Raymond and now The Middle , Patricia Heaton is a household name. But that wasn't always so. Heaton spent years as a struggling actress in New York and Los Angeles, doing bit parts and odd jobs to make a living. Her first appearance on a television show was on 1989's Alien Nation ; her first recurring role was on the critically acclaimed dramedy, thirtysomething , and her first starring role was on the short-lived 1992-3 series, Room For Two , opposite Linda...

Remembering Garry Simpson

 Thu, 01/05/2012 The Archive just learned the sad news of director Garry Simpson 's passing. NBC television's first stage manager passed away at his home in Middlebury, Vermont on November 19, 2011. Simpson was an instrumental part of the NBC television demonstration at the 1940 World's Fair, and directed multiple presentations of Chevrolet Tele-Theater , where he worked with Grace Kelly and James Dean. He also directed Armstrong Circle Theatre , Four Star Revue , and TV's first sitcom, Mary Kay and Johnny . In...

Director James Burrows on Makin' His Way in the World Today

 Wed, 01/04/2012 Director James Burrows is practically synonymous with popular television comedies. Burrows got his start in television under the tutelage of Jay Sandrich on The Mary Tyler Moore Show , went on to direct episodes of T he Bob Newhart Show , co-created Cheers with Les and Glen Charles (and directed almost all of the series' episodes), directed episodes of Taxi , Friends , Frasier , and the entire series run of Will & Grace . Burrows stated that one of the biggest laughs he's ever seen on...

The Story You are About to See is True: "Dragnet" Is Turning 60

 Tue, 01/03/2012 Dum da dum dum. Those 4 notes comprise perhaps the most recognizable opener in all of television, signaling the beginning of an episode of TV's first hit crime drama, Dragnet . Starring Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday, the show followed detectives of the LAPD as they solved crimes and restored justice to the City of Angels. Originally a radio program, Dragnet aired on television for the first time as part of Chesterfield Sound Off Time on December 16, 1951. The success of the pilot led to a...