- Classic movie diginet Movies! is coming to nine more cities, bringing its coverage to over 50% of the U.S. The new affiliates include KQCA Sacramento, WBGN Pittsburgh, KCWE Kansas City, WYFF Greenville SC, WBKI Louisville KY, WUWB Flint MI, WPME Portland ME, KOLO Reno NV and WURO Traverse City MI. Several of the stations have already launched Movies! with the rest scheduled to go live by January. Movies! is a joint venture of Weigel Communications (MeTV) and Fox Television Stations.
- We lost several more classic TV contributors recently. Longtime TV writer-director Theodore J. Flicker worked on such series as The Andy Griffith Show, I Dream of Jeannie and Night Gallery. He was also creator of the 1970s cop comedy Barney Miller. Writer Lee Maddux got his start on the 1970s Sid & Marty Krofft series Wonderbug. He later penned episodes of Benson, In The Heat of the Night, Night Court and Scarecrow & Mrs. King.
Category Archives: Obituaries
Obits: Richard Kiel, Denny Miller
Two classic TV actors passed away in recent days.
Richard Kiel appeared on such classic shows as Gilligan’s Island, I Dream of Jeannie, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Land of the Lost, The Rifleman, The Twilight Zone and The Wild Wild West. He was also a regular on the short-lived 1975 William Shatner comedy-western series Barbary Coast.
Kiel was perhaps best-known for his role as Jaws in several James Bond movies back in the 1970s. He died Wednesday in Fresno, California at age 74.
Denny Miller played the first blond Tarzan in the 1959 movie Tarzan the Ape Man and was later in the cast of the long-running western series Wagon Train. Miller made numerous guest appearances on TV classics including The Brady Bunch, Gilligan’s Island, Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-0, The Rifleman, The Rockford Files and The Six Million Dollar Man.
Miller also played Juliet Prowse’s husband in the 1965 sitcom Mona McCluskey. He passed away Tuesday in Las Vegas at age 80.
Obit: Joan Rivers
Comedienne Joan Rivers has died.
Rivers first rose to fame in a 1965 guest appearance on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, later going on to be a guest host of the NBC franchise. She guested on such 1970s classics as The Carol Burnett Show and The Hollywood Squares (see a 1970 appearance below). In 1986, she hosted a short-lived late night competitor (The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers) on the fledgling Fox network.
Joan Rivers passed away today in New York. She was 81 years old.
Obit: Don Pardo
Legendary NBC voice Don Pardo has passed away.
Pardo was best-known as the announcer for Saturday Night Live from its 1975 launch until 2014, except for the 1981-82 season. Prior to SNL, Pardo was the announcer for a number of game shows, including Jackpot, The Price Is Right, Three on a Match, Winning Streak and, most famously, the Art Fleming hosted version of Jeopardy!
Pardo died Monday in Tucson, Arizona. He was 96 years old.
Obit: Robin Williams
Actor Robin Williams has been found dead in California.
The 63 year old stand-up comic and film actor appeared in such movies as Good Morning Vietnam, Good Will Hunting, Hook, Jumanji, Mrs. Doubtfire, Night At The Museum and Popeye. Classic TV fans know him best as alien Mork from Ork on the 1970s ABC sitcom Mork & Mindy.
Williams most recently starred in the CBS sitcom The Crazy Ones.
Tuned In: MeTV Fall Additions, New Diginets Coming This Month
- Classic TV digital network MeTV’s Fall 2014 lineup kicks off Monday September 1, Labor Day. Although the full schedule hasn’t been released yet, MeTV is now promoting airtimes for some new and returning shows. Cop drama CHiPs (1977-83) will air weeknights from 6-7PM Eastern (replacing The Rifleman), while sitcom Cheers (1982-93) takes over the 11PM slot (now occupied by The Twilight Zone). New additions to the weekend schedule include Superman (Saturdays 6-7PM), Black Sheep Squadron (Sundays 7-8PM), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Sundays 10-11PM) and Mission: Impossible (Sundays 11PM-12M). Those moves displace Adam-12, Kojak, Thriller and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, respectively.
- Two new digital broadcast networks are scheduled to launch later this month. Katz Broadcasting (Bounce TV) will soon flip the switch on Escape and Grit. Escape will target a female audience, airing a mix of movies and off-cable series including Forensic Files, Snapped and Unsolved Mysteries. Grit will target men, airing a fully-loaded schedule of western, war and action movies. Both Escape and Grit have already cleared deals with stations reaching over 50% of the country.
- A pair of classic TV contributors passed away recently. Veteran TV writer Rick Mittleman worked on such classic shows as Bewitched, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Flintstones, Gomer Pyle USMC, The Odd Couple, The Red Skelton Hour, Sanford & Son and You Asked for It. Animator David Weidman did background art on classic cartoons like Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, Mr. Magoo, Popeye and Wacky Races. His artwork has most recently been featured on the AMC drama series Mad Men.
Tuned In: Bewitched 50th Anniversary Marathon, Here’s Lucy Returns
- National classic TV diginet Antenna TV will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bewitched (1964-72) with a 50 episode marathon this September. The 25-hour marathon will be hosted by Erin Murphy, who played daughter Tabitha Stephens on the hit ABC sitcom. The marathon starts Saturday September 12 at 1PM Eastern. For more info and a list of episodes, click here.
- Great news for Lucy fans! Lucille Ball’s third and final CBS sitcom Here’s Lucy is coming to national digital network Cozi TV. Cozi will air back-to-back episodes of the 1968-74 comedy weekdays from 4-5PM Eastern. It replaces Make Room for Daddy, which moves to 6-7PM. The Real McCoys is leaving the schedule.
- A new version of classic hidden camera show Candid Camera is launching on cable network TV Land. Allen Funt was the creator and host of Candid Camera, which debuted way back in 1948. Allen’s son Peter will host the new incarnation, which starts August 11. He’ll be joined by co-host Mayim Bialik (Blossom, The Big Bang Theory).
- Another TV classic may be returning to the airwaves. FremantleMedia (Let’s Make A Deal, The Price Is Right) is reportedly shopping a primetime revival of the celebrity panel game show To Tell The Truth to the broadcast networks. The original TTTT debuted in 1956.
- Veteran television writer-producer Wilton Schiller has died. Schiller worked on such TV classics as The Adventures of Superman, Ben Casey, The Fugitive, Mannix and The Six Million Dollar Man. The 95-year-old Schiller died July 27 in California.
Obit: James Shigeta
TV and movie character actor James Shigeta has passed away.
Shigeta appeared in numerous television classic series, including Ben Casey, Hawaii Five-0, Medical Center, Naked City, The Outer Limits and Perry Mason. Perhaps his best-known role was in the Bruce Willis movie Die Hard, where he played executive Joseph Takagi.
The Hawaiian-born Shigeta died Monday in Los Angeles. He was 81 years old.
Obit: James Garner
Veteran television and film star James Garner has died.
Garner’s first major starring role was as Bret Maverick on the classic TV western Maverick, which originally aired on ABC from 1957 to 1962. He reprised the role in the early 1980s revival series Bret Maverick on NBC.
An early 1970s western series Nichols lasted just one season, but Garner’s next role was probably his best-known. He played private investigator Jim Rockford in NBC’s The Rockford Files. The show aired from 1974 to 1980 and was later followed by a number of made-for-TV movies in the 1990s.
Garner also starred in over 50 films, including The Children’s Hour, The Great Escape, Support Your Local Sheriff! and The Thrill of It All. Some of his later credits included the TV series 8 Simple Rules and in the romance drama The Notebook.
James Garner died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 86 years old.
Obit: Bob Hastings
Veteran television character actor and voice artist Bob Hastings has died.
Hastings was the voice of comic book character Archie Andrews on radio, later joining the cast of 1960s TV sitcom McHale’s Navy. He guested on numerous classic shows of the 1960s and 70s, including Dennis the Menace, Green Acres, I Dream of Jeannie, Ironside and The Munsters.
In the 1970s, Bob Hastings was one of two actors to play the recurring role of bar owner Tommy Kelsey on All in the Family. He also did extensive voice work on cartoons, including roles on CB Bears, Challenge of the Superfriends, Clue Club and Fred Flintstone and Friends. Hastings voiced the character of Commissioner Gordon on several animated versions of Batman.
Hastings passed away Monday in California. He was 89 years old.