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| This is a
collection of old news and obituaries from the Morty's TV
News page. Dates, where shown, represent the date the
story was originally posted on the web site. Because
these are old stories, links within the stories may no
longer be active. For current news and schedules, click
here. |
You Can Browse Old
News By Month...
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Re-Live
the 80's on VH1 |
| [March 26, 2003] Re-live the
1980's on VH1 April 1st from noon to 10:00PM. VH1 will
dedicate an hour to each year starting with 1980 at
Noon. The series of one hour specials will include
music, TV, and pop culture. Do you remember 1980?
1980 gave birth to Post-It Notes®,
CNN and Christina Aguilera while its movie fare included "Caddyshack,''
"Airplane'' and "Blue Lagoon.'' Although
I barley remember a time where there were no Post-It Notes®,
other years of the decade, such as 1986 "Ferris
Bueller's Day Off," and ALF landing on TV, seem
like yesterday. See the April 1st on the Viewer's
Guide for a complete schedule. |
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More
Child Stars |
 [March
22, 2003] [Update: Pavan sent me
the following: The "Child Stars, Then and Now"
special on NBC is on hold. They have scheduled episodes of
their Thursday comedies (8:00PM: "Friends,"
8:30PM: "Scrubs," 9:00PM: "Will &
Grace," 9:30PM: "Good Morning, Miami"
) on this Tuesday in case anything happens in the war.
]
We remember the characters, but whatever became of the
young actors who made them famous? Malcolm-Jamal Warner (“The
Cosby Show”) narrates “Child Stars, Then and Now,”
a special one-hour look at 15 of America’s most beloved
child stars. “Child Stars, Then and Now” will be
telecast on Tuesday, March 25 8:00PM on NBC.
 There
is life after stardom, and these actors prove it. “Child
Stars, Then and Now” shows us the many different and
often surprising life paths of 15 former young stars. The
special features interviews with the stars and chronicles the
rise to fame and current whereabouts of Lisa Loring and Ken
Weatherwax (Wednesday and Pugsley Addams, “The Addams
Family”); Cary Guffey (Barry Guiler, “Close
Encounters of the Third Kind”); Larry Mathews (Richard
‘Richie’ Petrie, “The Dick Van Dyke Show”);
Willie Aames (Tommy Bradford, “Eight Is Enough”);
Candace Cameron (Donna Jo ‘D.J.’ Tanner, “Full House”);
Angela Cartwright and Bill Mumy (Penny and Will Robinson, “Lost
In Space”); Jill Whelan (Vicki Stubing, “The Love
Boat”); Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster, “The Munsters”);
Emmanuel Lewis (Webster Long, “Webster”); Haywood
Nelson (Dwayne Nelson, “What’s Happening!!”);
Danielle Spencer (Dee Thomas, “What’s Happening!!”);
Peter Ostrum (Charlie Bucket, “Willy Wonka & the
Chocolate Factory”), and Jason Hervey (Wayne Arnold, “The
Wonder Years”). The special also contains private
footage and photos of the stars then and now.
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A
TV Land 'Future Classic' on DVD |
 [March
22, 2003] In 1999 TV Land named "Sports
Night" as a Future Classic, it won two Emmys, TV
Guide named it "One of the Best Shows you're not
watching," and then it was canceled by ABC in May 2000
after just a two-season run.
Many viewers never even sampled the show because the word
"sports'' in the title convinced them they wouldn't be
interested. Others did tune in, but found the dialogue hard to
follow and the characters self-absorbed. "Sports
Night" didn't use a laugh-track, maybe no one knew
where to laugh. ABC started to move it around the
schedule and pre-empted episodes at the last minute, it was
doomed.
"Sports Night'' is about a cable TV sports
show, like ESPN's "Sports Center.'' The
anchors are best friends Dan Rydell (Josh Charles) and Casey
McCall (Peter Krause). Their boss is producer Dana Whitaker
(Felicity Huffman), who reports to executive producer Isaac
Jaffe (Robert Guillaume). Dana also has an assistant, Natalie
(Sabrina Lloyd), whose boyfriend is the show's new statistics
expert, Jeremy Goodwin (Joshua Malina).
The six-disc boxed set (which lists for $59.99) is now
available for $44.99 and includes all 45 episodes of the show,
the first TV series from Aaron Sorkin, then best known as the
author of "A Few Good Men,'' and now the
creator "West Wing." Click
Here to order.
Fun Facts: Other recipients of TV Land
"Future Classics" award include "Scrubs,"
"Malcolm in the Middle," and "The
Sopranos" Robert Guillaume (who was slowed by a
stroke during the run of "Sports Night,''
which was written into the show) recently guest starred on "8
Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter,'' and has
also published his autobiography, "Guillaume:
A Life.'' |
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Two
Shows for TV Fans On E! |
  [March
20, 2003] E! will premiere a new episode of "True
Hollywood Story" on Sunday March 30, 8:00PM on "Hollywood
Squares" and Paul Lynde. He may have controlled
the center square, but off-screen, Paul Lynde often played to
lose.
 Tonight
at 9:00PM, on March 23rd at 11:00PM, and March 29th at
1:00PM & 2:00PM, E! will air "More Child
Stars of the 80's" E! talks to the success
stories: New Kids on the Block's Donnie Wahlberg, who
transformed himself from a boy-band bad boy into a respected
actor; "The Wonder Years'" Danica McKellar,
who went to college to study mathematics before returning to
TV on "The West Wing;" Josh Brolin, who
transformed himself from a young castmember of "The
Goonies" into the title character on NBC's "Mister
Sterling;" and many more. Plus, they catch up with
some favorites making waves behind the scenes.
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Norman
Lear is goin' down to 'South Park' |
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South Park, Cartman and
an alien disguised as a taco will be part of Norman
Lear's world this season.
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[March 18, 2003] Norman Lear, 80, isn't
resting on his Emmys or his reputation for "All in the
Family," "The Jeffersons" and other classic
TV fare. Lear will work on several coming episodes of Comedy
Central's animated series, "South Park,"
which begins its seventh season Wednesday, March 19. He says
he became a fan of the show after watching it with his
14-year-old son, Ben.
Norman Lear who owns one of the few surviving original
copies of the Declaration of Independence is bringing the 1776
document to "South Park."
In one of the South Park episodes, look for Cartman - who
else? - to go back in time and meet the Founding Fathers as
they create, in Lear's words, "the people's
document." (Oh my God, they killed the Founding Fathers!)
[LOS ANGELES By ANTHONY BREZNICAN, AP
Entertainment Writer] Among the subjects he hopes to
mock on the show are the U.S. push for war in Iraq (news - web
sites), reality TV shows and immigration. 
Full Details |
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Passings |
| [March 14,
2003] Harold Ayer, British-born character actor
died of a stroke at age 86.. Ayer appeared in dozens of
TV shows and films in the U.S. including “Murder, She
Wrote”, “Green Acres”, “The Rockford
Files” and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and
films like “The Sting” and “The Third Man.”
Ayer died March 6 in Los Angeles.
Steve Carlin, television and children’s
record producer died February 4 in New York of Alzheimer’s
disease at age 84. Best known for creating TV’s “The
$64,000 Question” in the 1950’s, who later created and
produced the Emmy-nominated “Science All Stars” and
TV kids how “Rootie Kazootie”, .
Walter Scharf, noted composer and arranger died
February 24 of heart failure in Brentwood, CA at age 92.
Scharf scored the music for about 250 movies and TV programs
including the TV shows “Hawaii Five-0” and “Mission:
Impossible” and the films “Funny Girl”, “White
Christmas,” “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate
Factory” and earned 10 Oscar nominations for his
efforts Scharf also wrote the song hit “Ben”
for Michael Jackson, ,
Eugene Troobnick, charter member of the Second City
comedy troupe died February 19 in Seattle at age 75.
Troobnick was a character actor that appeared on such shows as
"The Bob Newhart Show" (as Roger Dixon). and "Hawaii
Five-O" playing Arnie Price. He was seen
in the films: “All that Jazz”, “Funny
Lady” and “Deconstructing Harry.”
Titos Vandis, actor died February 23 of cancer in
Thessaloniki, Greece at age 86. Vandis
is best known as a film actor in both in his native Greece as
well as the U.S. for films like “Never on Sunday”, “Topkapi”,
Woody Allen’s “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About
Sex” and “The Exorcist” (as Father
Karras’s uncle). He made dozens of guest appearances
on TV in such shows as "M*A*S*H"
playing Col. Andropolis, "Mary Tyler Moore
Show" playing "Laszlo" and "The
Bob Newhart Show" playing "Gene the
Janitor"
 George
Miller, standup comedian died March 5 of leukemia in
Los Angeles at age 61. Miller made 56 appearances
on "The Late Show with David Letterman" and
over 50 appearances on "The Tonight Show"
and , who has been a fixture on the comedy club circuit and a
headliner in Las Vegas. Miller last appeared on Letterman last
September.
Jeremy Stabile, television producer and writer died
February 13 in Los Angeles. Stabile worked on
shows like “The Leeza Gibbons Show” and “The
Donny and Marie Show”, and was currently a producer of “The
Dr. Phil Show”, Stabile died after collapsing on
the way to dinner with friends of a suspected heart ailment
(autopsy pending). He was 28.
 Fred
Freiberger, television writer and producer died
March 3 in Bel Air, CA at age 88. Freiberger worked on
such series as "Star Trek", "Ben
Casey", "The Wild, Wild, West", "The
Six Million Dollar Man", “All In the Family”,
“Beverly Hillbillies” and dozens more, .
Bill Carruthers TV director, producer
and consultant died March 2 of heart failure and stroke
complications at age 72. Carruthers started on the “Soupy
Sales Show” in the 50’s and went on to direct "The
Steve Allen Show", "The Ernie Kovaks
Show", the original “Dating Game” and “Newlywed
Game” shows. Carruthers directed the “Emmy
Awards” and who consulted on media matters for
four presidents (from Nixon to Bush, Sr.), .
 Horst
Buchholz, German actor died March 3 in Berlin from
complications of a broken hip at age 69. I've been
trying to think of a way to connect Buchholtz to classic TV
because I am a big fan, but the truth is he is best known for
his roles in the late 1950’s playing rebellious teens, in
films. He scored his first U.S. hit in 1960 as one of “The
Magnificent Seven” followed by Billy Wilder’s
1961 movie “One, Two, Three.”
Addendum: I include these
obituaries as my tribute to those who entertained us.
Occasionally I'll receive an email from a family member or
friend of someone that has passed away thanking me for
remembering. Sometimes I just hear from someone that was
touched by an actor's craft. Here is one such email:
"Dear Morty,
I read your article on the passing of actor Horst Buchholz. He
appeared in the TV movie "Return to Fantasy
Island" as well as three episodes of the long running
series "How The West Was Won." He was also in
an American movie called "The Killer Bees."
He also starred in "Fanny" with Leslie Carone,
Maurice Chevalier and Charles Boyer. He was in a TV movie
called "Berlin Tunnel 21" with John Thomas.
As you can guess, I was an avid fan of his.
He once responded to a letter I sent him. He was married to
one woman, Myriam Bru, and had two children; one actor
Christopher Buchholz. I'd say he and his family are a class
act. Thank you for mentioning his passing in your article.
For your own info you can go to website IMdb
to confirm the above info. As you might be aware, the internet
is full of info on this great man.
Again, thank you for the article you
published.
Brenda D." |
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The
District's Lynne Thigpen Died Suddenly |
 [March
14, 2003] Lynne Thigpen, who played the tough-talking
Ella Farmer on the D.C. crime drama, died suddenly Wednesday
night at her home in Los Angeles, CBS announced in a
statement. She was 54. Thigpen had been in good health and the
cause of death was not immediately known. Thigpen was
one of the show's lead actresses, playing a statistics clerk
brought in by Nelson's police chief character to run the
briefing room where he meets with cops.
The cast and crew had been working on the 20th of 22 episodes.
Producers have not yet decided how to address Thigpen's
death.
A stage and screen vet with credits dating back to the
1970s, Thigpen won a Tony Award for the drama An American
Daughter and scored another nomination for Tintypes.
Her stage work also earned her two Obie Awards for the
off-Broadway productions Jar the Floor and Boesman and Lena
and an L.A. Drama Critics Award for August Wilson's Fences.
She also appeared in such films as Tootsie, Bob Roberts,
The Insider, Bicentennial Man and the 2000 remake of Shaft.
One of her final film roles is as the judge who sentences Adam
Sandler to live with Jack Nicholson in Anger Management,
due out April 11.
Thigpen also proved a durable TV presence. She had recurring
roles in Gimme a Break!, thirtysomething, L.A. Law and Law
& Order, and had stints as two different characters on
All My Children, playing Flora Baxter in the 1983
season and then returning as Grace Keefer from 1993 to 2000,
when she landed her District gig. She was the Chief on PBS'
two Carmen Sandiego series and popped up in several
made-for-TV flicks, including The Boys Next Door, A
Mother's Instinct, Chance of a Lifetime and Night Ride
Home. |
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Three's
Company Movie Date Set for May |
 [March
11, 2003] NBC will broadcast its insider's peek behind
one of television's most popular sitcoms in "Behind
the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company'"
on Monday, May 12, 2003 (9-11 p.m. ET), a television movie
event featuring original cast member Joyce DeWitt -- who
portrayed Janet Wood on "Three's Company" and
now shares her observations on a side of comedic success on
network television few people see.
The movie takes an unflinching glimpse behind the scenes of
that troubled, turbulent and sexy 1970s series that titillated
audiences as it instantly bounced to the top of the television
ratings.
 The
principal "Three's Company" cast members are
portrayed by Melanie Deanne Moore as Joyce DeWitt, Bret
Anthony ("Seinfeld") as John Ritter and Jud
Tylor as Suzanne Somers. The supporting "Three's
Company" cast members Don Knotts, Norman Fell and
Audra Lindley are portrayed by Gregg Brinkley, Terence Kelly
and Barbara Gordon, respectively.
Joyce DeWitt, who portrayed Janet Wood in the classic 1970s
comedy series "Three's Company," gives an
insider's perspective as she narrates the story of how three
unknown actors reached overnight stardom and how it affected
their lives.
Joyce DeWitt contributed to the movie allowing the story to
be told from a fresh perspective. The conscious decision of
the producers to cast relative unknowns in the roles of John
Ritter, Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers allows the viewer to
focus on the quality of the movie instead of paying attention
to the actor portraying the characters. NBC
Entertainment President Jeff Zucker said at January's Press
Tour that this is "the single best television movie that
we have."
Related
Story |
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More
Road Trips on Travel Channel |
 [March
11, 2003] Last April The Travel Channel ran a special
entitled "TV Road Trip." Host John Ritter
took us on a guided tour down television's
memory lane, with the stars from some of America's most-loved
television series as they visited the cities and sites where
their shows were filmed. The special was a hit, and now
The Travel Channel has made it a series.
Christopher Knight (“Peter” from "The Brady
Bunch"), who was a reporter in the original special,
will travel from the past to the present for a look at classic
TV settings with some of the cast members who brought them to
life. Viewers can check out who really sleeps with the fishes
with a tour of "Sopranos" mob hangouts in
Northern, New Jersey and in Little Italy in NYC, get bowled
over in the real “Stuckeyville” (Northvale, New Jersey)
with "Ed" cast members Tom Cavanaugh and
Michael Ian Black, and step back in time to Plum Creek,
Minnesota and Simi Valley, California with "Little
House on the Prairie’s" Alison Arngrim “Nellie
Oleson” and Dean Butler “Almanzo Wilder.”
TV Road Trip Episode 4 Premieres on Sunday, March 30 from
10-11 PM ("Sopranos," "Homicide,"
"Twin Peaks," "Saturday Night Live"
and more.) TV Road Trip Episode 5 Premieres Thursday, April 10
from 10-11 PM ("Ed," "Love Boat,"
"Dawson’s Creek," "Little House on the
Prairie," "Gunsmoke.").
The "TV Road Trips" are just part of the
new series of Road Trips that will include: "Haunted
Road Trip;" Premieres Thursday, April 17 from
10-11PM, "Sports Fan’s Road Trip;"
premieres Thursday, May 1 from 10-11 PM "Theme Park
Road Trip;" premieres on Thursday, May 29 from 10-11
PM, "Magic Road Trip;" premieres Thursday,
June 19 from 10-11 PM. The other Road Trips will be
hosted by celebrities related to the theme of the show.
Later in the year, Travel Channel will unveil new episodes of "TV
Road Trip," "Sports Fan’s Road Trip" as
well as new topics such as "Fireworks Road Trip,"
"Casino Road Trip," and "Celebrity Homes
Road Trip." |
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Congressman
Presses CBS to Abandon TV Show |
[March 6,
2003] [Associated Press] A Kentucky congressman has
joined the chorus of people calling for CBS to abandon plans
for a reality TV show that would move a poor, rural family
into a Beverly Hills mansion.
Rep. Hal Rogers said in a letter Wednesday to CBS President
Leslie Moonves that "The Real Beverly
Hillbillies" is an attempt to "earn cheap laughs
and big bucks at the expense of rural
Americans."
Full Details |
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Carl
Reiner Announces Dick Van Dyke Show Update |
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Carl Reiner and Dick
Van Dyke at the TV Land Awards |
[March 6, 2003] [By Greg Braxton Los Angeles
Times] The characters of the "The Dick Van Dyke
Show" may soon be back in New Rochelle, N.Y., for the
first time in almost 40 years.
Carl Reiner, the creator and co-star of the classic 1960s
comedy, is working on a script that places the characters in a
modern setting.
Full Details |
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Schedule
Notes |
| [March 4,
2003] The rough draft of the Nick at Nick schedule for
April has been posted. It's still all "twice as
nice" and all that other stuff you complain about.
Maybe you shouldn't look, it'll just make you mad.
Then there's the "Wings" marathon-- It's
still on, but starts at 10:00PM, instead of 9:00PM. "All
in the Family" isn't scheduled. I would think
it's moving to TV Land, but it's not scheduled there
yet.
Meanwhile, over at Hallmark: "The Big Valley"
will air weekdays starting March 10 at 9:00AM. "The
Beverly Hillbillies" will still air at
9:30AM. Effective March 8th,
Saturdays 6:00 and 6:30AM "Bewitched" will be
replacing "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." Correction:
"The Big Valley" is an hour long long show
so it will air weekdays at 9am starting the 10th.
"Beverly Hillbillies" will air only Saturdays 9
and 9:30am now. |
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TV
Land Awards |
| [March 3,
2003] The first The TV Land Awards: A Celebration of
Classic TV bestowed special tribute awards tonight
to some of television's most-celebrated series at the
network's inaugural awards show, last night.
Full
Details |
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Robert
Blake Coverage |
| [March 2,
2003] Robert Blake's hearing started last week.
There's so much info, and once the trial starts, it'll be
overwhelming. Rather than trying to cover the
story myself, I've provided a page with links to the daily
news stories regarding the case. I've provided some of
my own background material that answers the questions
you ask the most. I also posted the Barbara Walters interview
in case you missed it. If you intend to follow the
trial, I hope you'll find this page useful. The links
will be updated daily, or as needed. CLICK
HERE |
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More
History on Game Show Network |
 [March
1, 2003] Watch "BIG BUCKS: The Press Your Luck
Scandal" Sunday, March 16th at
9:00PM. Michael Larson, an unemployed ice
cream truck driver from Ohio, memorized the sequence of
flashing screens and awaited the dreaded “Whammy” on “Press
Your Luck’s” game board to become the show’s all
time money winner, racking up $110,237 in cash and prizes with
his two-episode appearance. The documentary will feature both
the original episodes of Larson’s game play and exclusive
interviews from sources close to the show and Larson,
including host Peter Tomarken, co-contestants, Larson’s
family and network executives
 Larson,
who had watched “Press Your Luck” since it
premiered on September 19, 1983, tried out to become a
contestant in the spring of 1984 after fervent study of the
show’s game board. The “Press Your Luck” game
board was comprised of flashing TV screens which featured
money in dollar amounts, prizes and the cartoon character “Whammy.”
Contestants stopped the flashing sequence and “landed” on
a screen by pressing a control button on his or her podium.
Landing a “Whammy” would wipe out a contestant’s
winnings. After researching the pattern of the flashing
screens, Larson deduced that there were only “six”
different sequences and upon memorizing each pattern he would
theoretically be able to control the board any way that he
wished as a contestant.
With this insight, Larson flew to LA with only enough money in
this pocket to try out to be a contestant. The executive
producer and head contestant consultant disagreed over his
acceptability as a contestant, however, ultimately he got his
chance. Larson was ready to take on the board.
As a contestant, Larson played it safe on his first spin by
hitting a whammy, but on the following two spins he garnered
the top dollar amount, $1250. Larson began to really heat
things up in round two when he earned seven spins. He
pinpointed two screens which he wanted to continuously hit to
earn money and additional spins. He immediately started to
raise his prize winnings from $14,000 to $18,000 to $28,000.
As Larson kept rolling, the show ran out of time and had to
cut the show at his 15th consecutive spin and record earnings
of $36,851. Prior to Larson’s experience, “Press Your
Luck” never had to resume a show that wasn’t completed
in the allotted 22 minute time frame.
Spinning on and on, Larson increased his earnings to $70,000
before he began to struggle with the synchronization between
the timing of the buzzer and the flashing of the board.
When he hit the $102,000 mark after 40 consecutive spins,
Larson relinquished his remaining spins to the other
contestants. In the end, Larson won the game and left with
$110,237, with over $100,000 of it in cash.
As a result of his outsmarting the board, the producers added
sixteen more patterns and the network set a $75, 000 cap on
winnings. What did he do with his money? Larson spent his
entire earnings in less than two years. Larson, who was later
interviewed by the FBI for his alleged involvement with
unsecured securities dealings, died in 1999 of cancer in
Florida while on the run from the SEC.
 On
Tuesday (March 4th), at 7:00PM, the Game Show Network has
pulled from it's vault, the unaired pilot of "Let's
Make A Deal." This event kicks off the
original "Let's Make A Deal"
addition to the GSN line-up. On Tuesday at 8:00PM, the
new "Let's Make A Deal" premieres on
NBC with host Billy Bush.
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