Latest News from The Interviews

Happy Birthday to Gunsmoke star James Arness!

 Thu, 05/26/2011 Happy birthday to actor James Arness (born May 26, 1923) who turns 88 today! Best known for his longtime portrayal of Marshal Matt Dillon on the classic Western series Gunsmoke , the publicity-shy star was interviewed by the Archive of American Television in 2002. Here's a playlist of highlights from his insightful two-and-a-half hour interview: The entire interview is available at http://emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/james-arness For more about the TV legend, here's a link to James...

Will June Foray have another shot at Betty Rubble?

 Wed, 05/25/2011 With Seth McFarlane set to reboot The Flintstones , perhaps he should take a second look at voiceover legend June Foray (best known as the voice behind Rocket J. Squirrel and Natasha Nogoodnik of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame). Foray voiced Betty Rubble for the 1960 series' pilot presentation, but then was unceremoniously dumped! Here's a clip from June's Archive interview where she talks about Hanna-Barbera's rejection of her for the original Flintstones cartoon series: Here's TV Squad's take on...

Dick Ebersol steps down as Chairman of NBC Sports

 Fri, 05/20/2011 Dick Ebersol announced yesterday that he would step down as Chairman of NBC Sports -- a title he has held since 1989. In this clip from his Archive of American Television interview, he talks about returning to work in sports television after working on Saturday Night Live and other entertainment shows. About Dick Ebersol Dick Ebersol began his career in sports television, working under Roone Arledge at ABC's Wide World of Sports in the early 1960s. He became a producer on the show, and later on...

Newsflash: Host Jerry Lewis stepping down from MDA Telethons

 Tue, 05/17/2011 The Muscular Dystrophy Association announced today that Jerry Lewis , who presided over 900 hours of MDA live telethons, is retiring as host of the annual event. "As a labor of love, I've hosted the annual Telethon since 1966, and I'll be making my final appearance on the show this year by performing my signature song, ' You'll Never Walk Alone'," Lewis stated in a press announcement . "I'll continue to serve MDA as its National Chairman – as I've done since the early 1950's. I'll never desert...

Remembering TV News Legend Joseph Wershba

 Mon, 05/16/2011 Legendary news producer Joseph Wershba passed away on Saturday, May 14th at the age of 90. Wershba, who decided to become a journalist at a very early age, began his broadcast career in radio, and transitioned to television at CBS News, where he worked on See It Now (where he was part of the core team to expose McCarthyism), CBS Reports and 60 Minutes . Here are a few excerpts from his 6-hour career-spanning Archive of American Television interview conducted by Jeff Kisseloff in 1997: Joseph...

Mark Burnett Has Spoken!

 Wed, 05/11/2011 The creator/producer of Survivor , The Apprentice, The Voice and many other hit series was recently interviewed for the Archive of American Television. In his newly released interview, he discusses the production of the competition-based reality series he's best-known for, and the "reality tv" genre in general. Watch Mark Burnett's full interview here . In this video clip, he discusses his philosophy behind Survivor and the tribal council: About the Interview: In his Archive interview , Mark...

50 Years Later: A Vaster Wasteland?

 Mon, 05/09/2011 On May 9, 1961 FCC Chairman Newton N. Minow, an appointee of President Kennedy's administration, delivered his historic speech to the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, DC. The speech is best known for two words he uttered in reference to the programming found on TV stations nationwide: Vast Wasteland . The term became a cultural touchpoint for critics of television, and remains so to this day. Interestingly, in Mr. Minow's Archive of American Television interview, he discusses...

A Conversation with Richard Chamberlain - Now Online

 Wed, 05/04/2011 Actor Richard Chamberlain sat down with the Archive of American Television for three hours and detailed his television work. The entire interview is now online . Below are some excerpts from this extensive interview: Richard Chamberlain on the wild popularity of Dr. Kildare . I think people are fascinated by the medical profession. They’re fascinated by situations of life and death. Everybody knows that someday you’ll get sick or break something, or have a problem and need a doctor and people...