Category Archives: Television

Voices: James Arness, 1923 – 2011

Posted on June 3, 2011 by lmharnisch

James Arness, from “Them!” to “Gunsmoke” and "How the West Was Won." Times TV critic Howard Rosenberg interviewed Arness (or tried to) in 1981 as he began working on “McClain’s Law.” Arness was thrifty with his … Continue reading →

Posted in 1923, 1954, broadcasting, Film, Hollywood, Obituaries, Television | 2 Comments

Vice President Predicts ‘Long, Costly’ Struggle in Southeast Asia

Posted on May 24, 2011 by lmharnisch

May 24, 1961: Radio and TV comedy star Joan Davis dies of a heart attack and gets a Page 1 obituary with a jump. Raymond Chandler got an six-paragraph obituary on Page 4. Davis was 48 when she died.

Posted in 1961, broadcasting, Film, Hollywood, Obituaries, Politics, Raymond Chandler, Television | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on May 17, 2011 by lmharnisch

Los Angeles Times file photo [Update: STRANGE CASE — Dan Barton plays the central figure in a homicide with an unusual twist in "A Matter of Degree," Goodson-Todman's production in the new "The Web" telefilm series … Continue reading →

Posted in broadcasting, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography, Television | 10 Comments

Jim Murray, April 14, 1961

Posted on April 14, 2011 by lmharnisch

April 14, 1961: The arrival of major league baseball in Los Angeles has curtailed network TV's games of the week, so that sports announcer Dizzy Dean is off the local airwaves, which may be … Continue reading →

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Paul Coates, April 4, 1961

Posted on April 4, 2011 by lmharnisch

April 4, 1961: Paul Coates has an update on the Watts Towers. On the jump, Al Capp writes about Jim Hagerty, President Eisenhower's former press secretary, who is heading ABC's news operations. One goal is to cut 90 … Continue reading →

Posted in 1961, art and artists, broadcasting, Columnists, Paul Coates, Television | Comments Off

Paul Coates, March 23, 1961

Posted on March 23, 2011 by lmharnisch

March 23, 1961: Desi Arnaz, ABC and the National Italian American League to Combat Defamationreach an agreement that fictional characters in “The Untouchables” will not have Italian names. Arnaz also agrees to show the contributions of Italian Americans … Continue reading →

Posted in 1961, broadcasting, Columnists, Paul Coates, Television | Comments Off

Jim Murray, Feb. 27, March 14, 1961

Posted on March 14, 2011 by lmharnisch

Feb. 27, 1961: Jim Murray takes his wife and two other women to see boxing at the Olympic. One question: The best way to wash blood out of boxers’ trunks. Murray writes a nice … Continue reading →

Posted in #Jim Murray, 1961, broadcasting, Columnists, Film, Sports, Television | 1 Comment

In Walter (Cronkite) We Trust, March 14, 1981

Posted on March 14, 2011 by lmharnisch

March 14, 1981: Howard Rosenberg, The Times Pulitzer Prize-winning TV critic, watches Dan Rather’s debut in taking over from Walter Cronkite on the “CBS Evening News” and he is not a happy man. Art … Continue reading →

Posted in 1981, @news, art and artists, Art Seidenbaum, Blues, broadcasting, Columnists, Comics, Howard Rosenberg, Television, Walter Cronkite | 2 Comments

Confessions of a Story Editor, March 6, 1981

Posted on March 6, 2011 by lmharnisch

March 6, 1981: Pulitzer Prize-winning TV columnist Howard Rosenberg talks to a story editor about lining up people for a canceled show called "That's My Line." Z (Rosenberg's source) was one of six story … Continue reading →

Posted in 1981, art and artists, Columnists, Comics, Television | Comments Off

Jim Murray, Feb. 19, March 5, 1961

Posted on March 5, 2011 by lmharnisch

Feb. 19, 1961: Baseball fans are over-conservative, Jim Murray says, so they don't like Phil Wrigley's idea of using eight coaches and a computer to manage the Cubs. March 5, 1961: Jim Murray writes … Continue reading →

Posted in #Jim Murray, 1961, broadcasting, Columnists, Sports, Television | Comments Off

Paul Coates, Feb. 28, 1961

Posted on February 28, 2011 by lmharnisch

Feb. 28, 1961: Arthur Godfrey announces that he’s leaving TV’s “Candid Camera” and Paul Coates takes the opportunity to say he can’t understand Godfrey’s appeal. Notice: This KNX ad actually ran Feb. 27 but I wanted … Continue reading →

Posted in 1961, broadcasting, Film, Hollywood, Television | 6 Comments

What Next for Richard Chamberlain After ‘Shogun?’

Posted on February 24, 2011 by lmharnisch

Feb. 24, 1981: Young persons…. There was once a sensationally popular TV miniseries called “Shogun,” based on James Clavell’s novel set in feudal Japan, that aired in September 1980 and starred Richard Chamberlain, the … Continue reading →

Posted in 1981, books, Film, Hollywood, Roderick Mann, Television | 1 Comment

Movieland Mystery Photo — From Our Readers [Updated]

Posted on February 2, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photos courtesy of Matthew Harris [Update: Please congratulate Steve Stoliar for identifying this mystery group as the T-Bones! Nice research, Steve!] [Update: Here’s a frame grab from YouTube.] Here’s a series of mystery photos … Continue reading →

Posted in broadcasting, Rock 'n' Roll, Television | 18 Comments

Jack LaLanne, 1914 – 2011 [Updated]

Posted on January 23, 2011 by lmharnisch

Oct. 4, 1974: Jack LaLanne celebrates his 60th birthday by swimming from Alcatraz to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco — with his hands and feet tied and pulling a 1,000-pound boat. In addition to his usual training program … Continue reading →

Posted in broadcasting, health, Obituaries, Television | 5 Comments

The Loud Family, Seven Years After TV Series

Posted on January 6, 2011 by lmharnisch

Jan. 6, 1980: Years before there was MTV’s “The Real World” (or MTV, for that matter), there was Craig Gilbert’s “An American Family,” the story of the Loud family of Santa Barbara, which aired on PBS … Continue reading →

Posted in #gays and lesbians, broadcasting, Film, Hollywood, Television | Comments Off

Location Sleuth — ‘Starsky and Hutch’

Posted on December 22, 2010 by lmharnisch

Starsky and Hutch Look! They had a two-for-one sale on Volkswagen Beetles! I’m a respectful researcher. So when someone writes to The Times and asks about the location of a sleazy hotel featured in the “Bounty Hunter” episode of “Starsky … Continue reading →

Posted in broadcasting, Film, Hollywood, Television | 3 Comments

Reagan May Call Economic Emergency

Posted on December 18, 2010 by lmharnisch

Ronald Reagan’s political education: The new Assembly speaker, Van Nuys Democrat Bob Moretti, went to Reagan and said, “Look, you don’t like me and I don’t like you but if we want to get anything done here we’ve got to work together.”
Continue reading →

Posted in Comics, Front Pages, Ronald Reagan, Television | 2 Comments

Paul Coates, Dec. 2, 1960

Posted on December 2, 2010 by lmharnisch

Dec. 2, 1960: Paul Coates and his wife visit the tomb of Lenin (and, at that point, Stalin) … and John Grover takes a humorous look at President-elect Kennedy’s plan to televise news conferences.

Posted in Columnists, Front Pages, JFK, Paul Coates, Television | Comments Off

‘Ma Perkins,’ ‘Amos ‘n’ Andy’ Signing Off Radio

Posted on November 26, 2010 by lmharnisch

Nov. 26, 1960: CBS cancels four radio soap operas: “Ma Perkins,” “Dr. Jerry Malone,” “The Right to Happiness” and “The Second Mrs. Burton.” Also canceled: “Amos ‘n’ Andy.” A Times editorial said: “Daytime radio is retrenching. There will … Continue reading →

Posted in broadcasting, Television | 2 Comments

Lakers Playing to Empty Seats

Posted on November 5, 2010 by lmharnisch

Nov. 5, 1960: Don Page was worried about the Lakers. No one was watching. "Bigger crowds have watched knitting tournaments than have viewed the Lakers thus far," wrote Page, The Times' radio columnist. He blamed the lack of … Continue reading →

Posted in broadcasting, Downtown, Lakers, Television | Comments Off