HOLLYWOOD’S ULTIMATE SANCTUARY… BUT THE IVY COVERED A SECRET BURDEN
When you are the center of the television universe, the concept of home changes. It has to. By the mid-1970s, Alan Alda wasn’t just an actor; he was…
THAT LATE NIGHT O.R. SHOOT WAS JUST A JOB… UNTIL THE ACTING STOPPED.
It began as a reunion. They were all together again, the tall, soft-spoken actor who had played the moral, family-man surgeon, and the woman who had transformed…
THE INNOCENT BOY ON TELEVISION… BUT HIS PRIVATE REALITY WAS SURVIVAL
It started with a quiet observation about a battered prop. Two old friends were sitting in a dimly lit corner of a hotel restaurant, long after a…
THE MOST SERIOUS SCENE ON TELEVISION… RUINED BY POLKA DOT BOXER SHORTS
The tall, gentle actor leaned closer to the podcast microphone. The host had just caught him entirely off guard with a surprisingly simple question. He asked what…
TELEVISION’S MOST ARROGANT ARISTOCRAT… BUT HIS PRIVATE LIFE WAS A PRISON
When David Ogden Stiers joined the cast of the most famous military comedy on television, he was handed an incredibly difficult, almost impossible task. He had to…
THE GREAT MELTDOWN IN THE MASH OPERATING ROOM
I was sitting in a studio doing a podcast interview not too long ago, talking about the legacy of the show, when the host caught me entirely…
THEY WERE TELEVISION’S FUNNIEST CAST… UNTIL THE LAUGHTER SUDDENLY STOPPED
It started with a sudden, unscripted realization about the silence. Two old friends were sitting in a quiet corner of an empty hotel lobby, letting their tea…
THE MOST DRAMATIC SCENE ON TELEVISION… RUINED BY A SNORING EXTRA
The veteran actor, famous for playing the tall, gentle, mustache-wearing surgeon with a deeply moral center, leaned closer to the podcast microphone. The host had just caught…
THEY WERE JUST PROPS… UNTIL THE COLD METAL BROUGHT TEARS BACK
The Smithsonian archives sit deep underground in Washington, D.C., hidden far away from the noisy tourists and the bright displays of television history. In a quiet, climate-controlled storage…
THE STRONGEST WOMAN ON TELEVISION… BUT NO ONE SAW THE TEARS
It began with a quiet laugh over a cup of lukewarm hotel tea. Two women, permanently bound by a fictional war, were sitting in a nearly empty…