Bruce Bilson

Bruce Bilson was interviewed for four hours in Studio City, CA.  Bilson talked about his early experiences as an assistant editor on such notable now-classic television shows as You Bet Your Life and The Liberace Show.  He talked about his tenure at Desilu Studios where he served as an assistant director on the lot’s many sitcoms.  He spoke fondly about his work as an A.D. on The Andy Griffith Show, commenting on the show’s production and ensemble and identifying regular director Bob Sweeney as his mentor.  He described his work on other series, notably the syndicated adventure program Whirlybirds, commenting on the show’s stunt work.  He spoke about his transition to full-fledged director and his first assignments in episodic television, including the series The Patty Duke Show.  He talked about directing the ensemble of the satirical series Get Smart and commented on winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in Comedy in 1968.  He then related his experiences on dozens of series he directed over the subsequent three decades representing nearly four hundred hours of television.  Among the series he discussed were: The Doris Day Show; Love, American Style; Bonanza; The Odd Couple; The Mary Tyler Moore Show; M*A*S*H; The Brady Bunch; Hawaii Five-0, Wonder Woman; The Love Boat; Dallas; Hotel; Life With Lucy; Dinosaurs; and Touched By An Angel.  He talked about working with his son Danny, who followed in his footsteps (with such shows as The Flash and The Sentinel) and related the advice he gave granddaughter and The O.C. star Rachel Bilson.  B-roll consisted of photos from such series as: The Andy Griffith Show, Get Smart, The Odd Couple, Life with Lucy, and Dinosaurs.  The interview was conducted by Stephen Abramson on August 19, 2008.