Skip to Navigation
TV Video Library: Interviews and Video Clips – Archive of American Television
  • Emmys.com
  • Emmysfoundation.org
  • Press
  • Academy Member Sign-in

Capturing Television History, One Voice At A Time

Home › People

Robert Butler

Director

About This Interview

Robert Butler was interviewed for five hours in Los Angeles, CA.  Butler described his early years breaking into the business as an usher at CBS.  He described his experiences in various behind-the-scenes capacities on such classic “live” anthology series as Climax! and Playhouse 90.   He described his first break in television directing on the comedy/drama series Hennesey.   He detailed his many and varied assignments in series television in the 1960s on such series as The Detectives, Bonanza, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Dr. Kildare, Gunsmoke, The Defenders, The Fugitive, Hogan’s Heroes, The Twilight Zone, Batman , and Star Trek .  Butler described his work in the 1970s on television movies (such as Columbo MOWs and James Dean ) and feature films.  He extensively described his groundbreaking work on the look of Hill Street Blues , for which he directed several of the initial episodes (including the pilot).  He talked about his later work on such series as Remington Steele, Moonlighting (the telefilm pilot), Out on a Limb, Midnight Caller (which he also executive-produced), Sisters, and Lois & Clark.   The interview was conducted by Stephen J. Abramson on January 14, 2004.

Related To This Video

  • Shows
  • People
  • Topics
  • Genres

Shows

  • Batman
  • Ben Casey
  • Blue Knight, The
  • Bonanza
  • Climax!
  • Columbo
  • Defenders, The
  • Dick Powell Show, The
  • Dr. Kildare
  • Fugitive, The
  • Gunsmoke
  • Hill Street Blues
  • I Spy
  • Invaders, The
  • Ironside
  • James Dean
  • Kung Fu
  • Mission: Impossible
  • Moonlighting
  • Playhouse 90
  • Remington Steele
  • Richard Boone Show, The
  • Shane
  • Star Trek
  • Stoney Burke
  • Twilight Zone, The
  • Waltons, The
  • Wonderful World of Disney, The aka Magical World of Disney, The

People

  • James Arness
  • Barbara Barrie
  • Robert Blake
  • Herbert Brodkin
  • Raymond Burr
  • Jack Cassidy
  • David Dortort
  • Peter Falk
  • Glenn Gordon Caron
  • William Holden
  • Martin Landau
  • Quinn Martin
  • Raymond Massey
  • Gene Roddenberry
  • Reginald Rose
  • Cybill Shepherd
  • Grant Tinker
  • Bruce Willis

Topics

  • Pop Culture
  • Television Industry

Genres

  • Legal Dramas
You need Flash player 8+ and JavaScript enabled to view this video.

Interview Chapters

  • Chapter 1
  • Chapter 2
  • Chapter 3
  • Chapter 4
  • Chapter 5
  • Chapter 6
  • Chapter 7
  • Chapter 8
  • Chapter 9

Watch By Chapter

  • Chapter 1
  • Full Chapter One
  • Chapter 2
  • Full Chapter Two
  • Chapter 3
  • Full Chapter Three [on directing episodes of Bonanza, Shane, Dr. Kildare, Stoney Burke, Ben Casey, The Richard Boone Show, The Defenders, The Fugitive]
  • Chapter 4
  • Full Chapter Four
  • Chapter 5
  • Full Chapter Five
  • Chapter 6
  • Full Chapter Six [on directing the original Star Trek pilot, The Invaders, Ironside, I Spy, Mission: Impossible; Kung Fu, and The Waltons]
  • Chapter 7
  • On directing Columbo 
  • On directing Wonderful World of Disney shows including Kilroy
  • On directing television movies-of-the-week and their lack of specificity compared to series television
  • On directing the miniseries The Blue Knight (1975) starring William Holden
  • On directing Strange New World 
  • On directing the TV movie James Dean (1976)
  • On becoming involved in directing Hill Street Blues
  • Chapter 8
  • On the casting, development and directing of Hill Street Blues

Discussed In This Interview

  • shows
  • people
  • topics
  • genres

shows

  • Batman
    • Clip 1
  • Ben Casey
    • Clip 1
  • Blue Knight, The
    • Clip 1
  • Bonanza
    • Clip 1
  • Climax!
    • Clip 1
  • Columbo
    • Clip 1
  • Defenders, The
    • Clip 1
    • Clip 2
  • Dick Powell Show, The
    • Clip 1
  • Dr. Kildare
    • Clip 1
  • Fugitive, The
    • Clip 1
  • Gunsmoke
    • Clip 1
  • Hill Street Blues
    • Clip 1
    • Clip 2
  • I Spy
    • Clip 1
  • Invaders, The
    • Clip 1
  • Ironside
    • Clip 1
  • James Dean
    • Clip 1
  • Kung Fu
    • Clip 1
  • Mission: Impossible
    • Clip 1
  • Moonlighting
    • Clip 1
    • Clip 2
    • Clip 3
    • Clip 4
    • Clip 5
    • Clip 6
  • Playhouse 90
    • Clip 1
  • Remington Steele
    • Clip 1
  • Richard Boone Show, The
    • Clip 1
  • Shane
    • Clip 1
  • Star Trek
    • Clip 1
  • Stoney Burke
    • Clip 1
  • Twilight Zone, The
    • Clip 1
  • Waltons, The
    • Clip 1
  • Wonderful World of Disney, The aka Magical World of Disney, The
    • Clip 1

people

  • James Arness
  • Barbara Barrie
  • Robert Blake
  • Herbert Brodkin
  • Raymond Burr
  • Jack Cassidy
  • David Dortort
  • Peter Falk
  • Glenn Gordon Caron
  • William Holden
  • Martin Landau
  • Quinn Martin
  • Raymond Massey
  • Gene Roddenberry
  • Reginald Rose
  • Cybill Shepherd
  • Grant TInker
  • Bruce Willis

topics

  • Hollywood Blacklist (ca. 1950s)
  • Characters & Catchphrases

genres

  • Legal Dramas
  • Adventure/Espionage Series
  • Cop/Detective/Mystery Series
  • TV Movies/Miniseries/Dramatic Specials
  • Home
  • Interviews
    • People
    • Shows
    • Topics
    • Professions
  • Resources
  • About The Archive
  • Advanced Search

Bookmark and Share

Follow Us

twitter facebook Follow Us

Academy of American Television

Academy of American Television
  • Home
  • The Interviews
  • Resources
  • Advanced Search
  • Blog
  • License Our Clips
  • Terms of Service
  • Transcripts
  • Copyright Policy
  • Emmys.tv
  • Emmysfoundation.org
  • About The Archive
© 1995-2010 Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation All Rights Reserved Emmy and The Emmy Statuette are the trademark property of ATAS/NATAS