Studio and Network Management

Lucie Arnaz on the Desilu Studios

Steven Bochco describes joining MTM Enterprises in 1978

Steven Bochco on how MTM Enterprises changed after founder Grant Tinker moved to NBC

James L. Brooks on dealing with CBS executives during the development of The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Ken Burns on his relationship with PBS throughout his career

Stephen J. Cannell on leaving Universal Television to start his own production company

Stephen J. Cannell on growing Stephen J. Cannell Productions to become the third largest studio in television with the help of his father on the board of directors

Charles Cappleman on William S. Paley

Charles Cappleman on Frank Stanton

Charles Cappleman on James T. Aburey and Robert D. Wood

Charles Cappleman on William S. Paley's management style

Stan Chambers on the history and facilities of KTLA and some of the key people who were there at the beginning

Stan Chambers on Gene Autry's purchase of KTLA Los Angeles

Henry Colman on covering The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour for the network when Tom Smothers wouldn't relinquish a tape to CBS

Robert Conrad on being under contract at Warner Bros. Television

Roy Disney on the continuation of Walt Disney Studios after the deaths of Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney

Dorothy Fontana on the status of Desilu Studios at the time Star Trek was being developed

Sheldon Leonard on an example of network script notes on I Spy

Leslie Moonves on the state of CBS when he arrived in 1995

Leslie Moonves on running a network

Leslie Moonves on the process of audience testing for ER

Mary Tyler Moore on the formation of MTM

Mary Tyler Moore on the sale of MTM Productions

Mary Tyler Moore on Grant Tinker's leadership of MTM Productions

Michael Moye on the pilot, initial testing, and network notes for Married...With Children

Michael Moye on FOX executives hating Married...With Children

Michael Moye on "the Rakolta incident" (so called because a woman named Terry Rakolta complained about content on Married...With Children) and FOX withholding fan mail; on subsequent problems with the network

Leonard Nimoy on his guest appearances on Sea Hunt, and how this series compared budget and salary-wise to other series produced by syndication giant Ziv Television Programs

Nicolas Noxon on working for MGM in the 1960s and 1970s and the state of the studio at that time

Bob Carroll, Jr. & Madelyn Pugh Davis briefly on working at Desilu

Rob Reiner on his production company, Castle Rock

John Rich on the live broadcast of the opening of Disneyland ("Dateline: Disneyland")(airdate: July 17, 1955)

Jay Sandrich on network interference and how Fred Silverman was a rare TV executive who knew how to leave creative people alone to do their job

Thomas W. Sarnoff on negotiating land for the NBC production facility in Burbank, CA

Thomas W. Sarnoff on taking a stand about NBC handing show concepts to MCA, which would then be sold back to NBC

Thomas W. Sarnoff on NBC's early dominance of long-form television programming

Reese Schonfeld on the decision to make CNN a non-union shop

Sherwood Schwartz on FCC Chair Newton Minow's "vast wasteland" speech and his naming of the Gilligan's Island boat the S.S. Minnow

Sherwood Schwartz on network programming strategies at CBS

Fred Silverman on becoming head of daytime programming at CBS in New York and changing and fine-tuning the Saturday morning schedule to "superhero adventure" programs which included Underdog, the animated Superman, Space Ghost, and Mighty Mouse.  He describes in detail developing the long-running Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and other comedy-adventure and "pure-comedy" programs, and touches on developing spin-off concept during this time

Fred Silverman on getting promoted at CBS to Vice President of Planning and Development, and then Vice President of Programming

Fred Silverman on the corporate culture of CBS when he became Vice President of Programming

Fred Silverman on the success of The Waltons, and on "going out in style" if the show hadn't worked, and on how The Waltons and All In The Family were, each in their own way, both about the "sanctity of the family"

Fred Silverman on why he left CBS in 1975, and a brief recap of what had been accomplished during his tenure there

Fred Silverman on "seizing the moment" during his time at President of ABC Entertainment, working with existing shows and developing new ones, on the basis of ABC's appeal, and on Les Moonves

Tom and Dick Smothers on their lawsuit following the firing of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

Tom and Dick Smothers on their lawsuit following the firing of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

George Takei on the history of Desilu Studios

Lauren Zalanzick on diversifying the genres on VH1

Lauren Zalaznick on programming the Trio network

Lauren Zalaznick on what she learned about programming as the head of Trio

Lauren Zalaznick on the challenge of building on the success of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy as head of Bravo, and on shows she programmed early in her tenure there

Lauren Zalaznick on creating a marketing strategy when she started at Bravo, and on creating the logo