This week Executive Producer Dean Lorey announced that the full cast of Arrested Development is back for season four! Creator Mitch Hurwitz, writer Jim Valley, and Lorey are hard at work writing the episodes now. The series enjoyed three seasons on FOX before it was cancelled in 2006, but next year Netflix will stream season four online to subscribers.
In his 2006 Archive interview, Executive Producer (and narrator) Ron Howard discussed how Arrested Development arose from attempting to do a sitcom that would utilize the visual language of reality television and internet programming – fitting considering the program’s new home:
The new season is set to stream sometime in 2013.
Visit our Arrested Development show page for behind-the-scenes stories of the sitcom.
For more on the current season in production, click here.
After 30 years of not speaking, Three’s Company actresses Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt reunited on Somers’ web series, “Suzanne Somers Breaking Through.” The two had not spoken since Somers left the sitcom after a salary dispute, but one of Somers’ web series producers approached DeWitt about coming on the program and she agreed. According to Somers, it was a tearful reunion that brought back memories of co-star John Ritter, who passed away in 2003.
In her 2009 Archive interview, Somers describes her Three’s Company contract dispute:
And recalls her fall out with Joyce DeWitt and her other Three’s Company castmates:
You can watch the Three’s Company reunion with Chrissy and Janet here.
Tonight David Letterman marks 30 years in late night television. His first late night talk show, Late Night with David Letterman, premiered February 2, 1982 on NBC, replacing Tomorrow with Tom Snyder. On August 30, 1993, Letterman moved to CBS with the program Late Show with David Letterman, which he’s hosted ever since.
Paul Shaffer on getting the gig as bandleader on Late Night with David Letterman:
In celebration of entering his fourth decade on late night, Letterman will have Howard Stern as the guest on his show this evening. It will be Stern’s 21st appearance on the program, and musical guests will be the Airborne Toxic Event. You can catch The Late Show with Dave Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
She played one of America’s all-time favorite neighbors. As “Trixie Norton” on The Honeymooners, Joyce Randolph was that pal that you wished lived upstairs. She was friend to Audrey Meadows’ “Alice Kramden,” other half to Art Carney’s “Ed Norton,” and along with Jackie Gleason, made up one of the funniest foursomes in television history. In her Archive of American Television interview from 1999, Randolph speaks in detail about her time as “Trixie,” sharing what it was like to do the show with very little rehearsal, since Jackie Gleason preferred it that way, and recalling her memories of the “Classic 39″ episodes.
She shares how she won the role:
Describes her co-star Audrey Meadows:
And gushes about the talents of her on-screen husband, Art Carney:
Learn more about Randolph’s time on The Honeymooners, and about her early stage and television work by watching her full Archive interview.
About this interview:
In her two hour Archive Interview, Joyce Randolph discusses her early years as an actress on the stage and speaks of her first appearance on television in 1946 — on experimental station WRGB in Scenectady, NY. She outlines her roles in early television on the Dumont network, on shows Martin Kane, Private Eye; The Plainclothesman; and The Famous Jury Trials. She describes her first appearance on The Cavalcade of Stars in a dramatic role, before landing the part of “Trixie Norton” in the show’s “Honeymooners” sketches, opposite Art Carney’s “Ed Norton.” Randolph then details her appearances in the “Classic 39” episodes of TheHoneymooners, when the sketches were launched as a 30-minute sitcom series for the 1955-56 season, and shares what it was like to work with Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows. She chronicles her continued appearances as “Trixie” on The Jackie Gleason Show (which ran through 1959) and her return to the role for an episode of the 1991 television series, Hi Honey, I’m Home. Michael Rosen conducted the interview on October 27, 1999 in New York, NY.
The Archive is sad to report that director John Rich passed away yesterday at the age of 86. Rich was one of the most respected and prolific directors in all of television, directing numerous episodes of The Colgate Comedy Hour, Our Miss Brooks, Gunsmoke, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gilligan’s Island, and All in the Family (including the “Sammy’s Visit” episode), and was instrumental in merging the Screen Directors Guild with the Radio and Television Directors Guild to create the current Directors Guild of America. Here are some selections from Rich’s seven hour interview:
On how he became the main director for The Dick Van Dyke Show:
It came about because of my service to the Guild, oddly enough. I had been doing westerns – I did five years of westerns and that was the hot stuff. But I had been on the Director’s Guild Board of Directors all that time. Sheldon Leonard was on the Board. He walked by me one day, he said, “hey, how would you like to come in out of all the dust?” I said, “and do what?” He said, “I got a new show with an actor named Dick Van Dyke and Carl Reiner.” I said, “Carl Reiner?” That got my attention. Van Dyke I had never heard of. I said, “oh, I don’t know, what do you think?” He said, “I think you can do a nice job. I’d like you to come in and meet Carl Reiner and Van Dyke and see if you get along.” Fine. So I was asked to come to Carl Reiner’s house and it very pleasant, and I loved his work on Sid Ceasar’s show. I told him so. And when I met him, I was introduced to Van Dyke and I said, “I thought you were wonderful in ‘Vintage ‘60.’” And he said, “no, that was Dick –” some other actor. My introduction to Dick Van Dyke was to compliment him on a play he was not in. First faux pas, you know. Then I was going to do the show and I did it and God, it was wonderful.
On directing the opening sequence of The Dick Van Dyke Show:
On being asked to direct new series All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show on the same day:
It was a curious thing, one of those rare days in the life of a freelance director. I had a call from Mary Tyler Moore saying she’s doing a new show, would I read her script. Jim Brooks and Alan Bergman had written it. The same day Norman Lear sent me All In the Family. I read both of them. I thought, God, and I called Mary– as a matter of fact, I met with Jim Brooks and Alan. I said, “you know, having worked with Mary on Dick Van Dyke, I thought this would be a very good show, but it kind of had some overtones of reminiscence. It just feels okay, like another comedy that might be good, but this other thing is outrageous.” It was 1970, and the dialogue that was written then, just blew me away. I called Norman, I said, “you aren’t going to make this, are you?” He said, “yeah.” I said, “is anybody going to put it on?” He said, “they say they will.” Well, I told Mary, I said, “you know, I really got to do that show even if it’s an exercise.” I don’t know if it’s going to get on, but I was committed to the first 6 shows, whatever it was.
On directing the Emmy-winning “Sammy’s Visit” episode of All in the Family:
Phil Rosenthal wanted to be an actor. He and several friends in New York wrote a show called “Tony and Tina’s Wedding”, in which he acted, and an agent saw his work and told him to come to LA to pursue acting. Rosenthal did, and instead wound up meeting up with high school friend Alan Kirschenbaum, writing a screenplay, and falling in love with writing.
After several years as a staff writer with writing partner Oliver Goldstick on A Family for Joe, Baby Talk, Down the Shore, and Coach, Rosenthal branched out on his own and created the popular sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. In the following clip, he shares how he came up with the show’s title:
Everybody Loves Raymond ran for nine years on CBS, and lives on in syndication. Below Rosenthal describes his vision for what the series finale would be:
To learn more about Phil Rosenthal, and to see his tips for sitcom writing, watch his full interview here.
Ernest Borgnine turns the big 9-5 today! One of the most prolific, well-respected character actors of all time, Borgnine has appeared in over 200 films. He’s starred in/been an ensemble player in several television series, and thanks to a voiceover role on SpongeBob SquarePants, he’s recently acquired a whole new generation of fans. At 95, Ernest Borgnine is still going strong.
Born Ermes Effron Borgnino on January 24, 1917 in Hamden, Connecticut, Borgnine never thought he’d be an actor. It was at the urging of his mother (“Have you ever thought of becoming an actor? You always like to make a darn fool of yourself in front of people. Why don’t you give it a try?”) that he entered the field. We’re so grateful that he did!
After graduating high school, Borgnine joined the Navy in 1935, ended his service in 1941, and went right back in again when World War II broke out. Once he set his sights upon acting, he first attended Yale University, but then moved on to the Randall School of Drama in Hartford, CT to concentrate solely on the dramatic arts. After significant stage work at the Barter Theater in Virginia and time on Broadway in “Harvey”, Borgnine appeared as the evil “Nargola” on the popular 1951 children’s television show, Captain Video and his Video Rangers. In 1953 he played “Sgt. ‘Fatso’ Judson” in From Here to Eternity, but the role with which Borgnine would forever be associated came in 1955. Based on Paddy Chayefsky’s television play of the same name, Borgnine auditioned for, and won the part – and the Best Actor Oscar that year – for playing the title role in Marty:
A big screen star, Borgnine soon conquered the small screen as well. In 1963 he made his first of many appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and was asked to play the lead in a dramatic show called Seven Men Against the Sea, which as Borgnine explains in the following clip, eventually became the 1964 comedy McHale’s Navy:
Borgnine began his run occupying center square on the popular game show Hollywood Squares in 1966, starred in the film The Poseidon Adventure in 1972, and appeared in the short-lived series Future Cop in 1976-77. In ‘77 he played “The Centurion” in Franco Zeffirelli’s TV miniseries Jesus of Nazareth, and from 1984-86 he was back starring in a TV series again, this time as “Dominic Santini” in the action-adventure show Airwolf:
After playing “Manny the Doorman” on the mid-’90s show The Single Guy and voicing “Carface” on the animated TV series All Dogs Go To Heaven, in 1999 Borgnine began lending his voice to SpongeBob SquarePants‘ “Mermaid Man”, thrilling girl scouts and adults alike with his maniacal catch phrase, “EVIIIIIIL”:
Continuing to stay active in both film and television, Ernest Borgnine shows no signs of slowing down. You can next see him as “Rex Page” in the film The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez, due out later this year.
Happy birthday, Ernest!! Here’s to many, many more!
John Frankenheimer (1930-2002) directed some of television’s most acclaimed productions on Playhouse 90, Climax! and Danger. In his interview from 2000, Frankenheimer speaks in detail about his craft, techniques, and some of his favorite people to direct. He shares tales of working with Edward R. Murrow and in the clip below, describes the valuable lessons he learned from the legendary David O’ Selznick:
John Frankenheimer (1930-2002) was interviewed for six hours (in two sessions) in Century City, CA. Frankenheimer gives a vivid description of his early television work as an assistant director on You Are There, Danger and Edward R. Murrow’s Person to Person. He speaks about his first directorial assignments on You Are There and Danger and recalls making a name for himself directing live anthology dramas (“The Comedian” and “Days of Wine and Roses”) on Climax! and Playhouse 90. He discusses his feature film work and his return to television to direct the acclaimed programs Andersonville for TNT and George Wallace for HBO. Michael Rosen conducted the two-part interview on March 21 and April 13, 2000.
Wishing a very happy birthday to actress Jean Stapleton!! The New York City native is best known for playing “Edith Bunker” on the ’70s sitcom All in the Family, but has also appeared on Broadway and guest-starred on many TV shows, from Dr. Kildare to The Defenders (on which she first met Carroll O’Connor).
Enjoy some selections from our 2000 Interview with Jean Stapleton:
Watch Stapleton as “Edith Bunker” in this clip of one of her favorite All in the Family episodes – The Thanksgiving Show:
This week Executive Producer Dean Lorey announced that the full cast of Arrested Development is back for season four! Creator Mitch Hurwitz, writer Jim Valley, and Lorey are hard at work writing the episodes now. The series enjoyed three seasons on FOX before it was cancelled in 2006, but next year Netflix will stream season four online to subscribers.
