Early TV, and the Postal Service

The United States Postal Service has released its list of stamps which will appear in 2009. One set of twenty stamps will concern television history. "The Early TV Memories" series will be released Aug. 11th.

The television shows which will be commemorated are:

The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; The Dinah Shore Show; Dragnet; The Ed Sullivan Show; The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show; Hopalong Cassidy; The Honeymooners; Howdy Doody; I Love Lucy; Kukla, Fran and Ollie; Lassie; The Lone Ranger; Perry Mason; The Phil Silvers Show; Red Skelton; Texaco Star Theater; The Tonight Show; The Twilight Zone; and You Bet Your Life.

Here's a news story about the upcoming series of stamps:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081229/ap_on_go_ot/lucy_and_ethel_stamps

"TV Confidential," Morgan White, Jr., Mel Simons

As one who has spent much time, since the 1980s, working as a radio talk show host, it has been a great pleasure, this past year, getting to know a number of radio talk hosts, via guest appearances on their shows.

I was recently interviewed by two excellent hosts, Ed Robertson, and Frankie Montiforte; their program, “TV Confidential,” is an Internet-only broadcast, airing every other week (http://www.tvconfidential.net/ ). The show, a ninety-minute program, will in the new year become a two-hour broadcast. I’ll have more to say about the show in an upcoming post.

In previous posts I've also mentioned the hosts Jordan Rich and Morgan White, Jr., both of Boston’s WBZ-AM. I’ve been interviewed by Jordan once, several months ago, and by Morgan twice, most recently during Thanksgiving week.

Morgan appears frequently as a guest host on the station; he has done so for years. He’s also well-known in the Boston area (and beyond) as an entertainer; he presents trivia-oriented shows.

He’s also written trivia books, including So You Think You're a Bostonian, and The Black Heritage Book of Trivia. During one of his recent guest-host appearances on WBZ, he mentioned that he’s going to be bringing out a new trivia book in 2009. The publisher, I’m delighted to note, will be BearManor Media, the press that brought out The Lucky Strike Papers.

BearManor has also published several books by Boston’s Mel Simons, who has appeared for years as a regular guest on WBZ. (Mel recommended me as a guest to Morgan, which led to my first appearance on the station.) Mel’s latest book, just released, is titled Old Time Television Memories, and is made up of interviews with Milton Berle, Morey Amsterdam, Perry Como, and other TV icons.

For more information about Mel Simons’ new book, please click here: http://bearmanormedia.bizland.com/id369.html

For additional information about Morgan White, Jr., his web address is: www.morganwhitejr.com.

Martin Grams, Jr., and Jordan Rich

Martin Grams, Jr. is a prolific—and highly regarded—writer. We met recently at the Friends of Old-Time Radio Convention in Newark, New Jersey; we were both part of a panel discussion at the convention.

Martin’s many books about television and old-time radio (some of which are published by BearManor Media) include: “The Radio Adventures of Sam Spade” (OTR Publishing, 2007), “Gang Busters—The Crime Fighters of American Broadcasting” (OTR, 2004), “I Led 3 Lives” (BearManor, 2007), and “Information Please” (BearManor, 2003).

On Saturday night/Sunday morning, just after midnight, Martin will be appearing on “The Jordan Rich Show,” on Boston radio station WBZ-AM. He’ll be talking about his latest book, “The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic” (OTR, 2008). The show can be heard at http://www.wbz.com/.

Further information about Martin Grams, Jr., and his books, can be found at his web site: http://www.martingramsjr.com/

And speaking of Jordan Rich:

Jordan, a terrific host (I appeared on his WBZ program several months ago), is currently raising funds for Boston’s Children’s Hospital. With a $20 contribution, one receives a 2009 “Jordan Rich Show” calendar.

For information about donating, please click on this link:

http://jordanrich.com/chbforderform.htm

"TV Confidential"

On Tuesday night (Dec. 16th), I'll be appearing on the California-based Internet radio show "TV Confidential." The show begins at 10:30 p.m. (EST); I'll be joining the program at 11 p.m. The interview is expected to last an hour.

The hosts of "TV Confidential" are Ed Robertson and Frankie Montiforte. To find out more about the program (and its hosts), please click on the following link:

http://www.tvconfidential.net/

Virginia Rohan, "The Record"

Journalist Virginia Rohan writes for the well-known northern New Jersey newspaper “The Record.” Her column—“Boomer on Board”—focuses on topics and issues related to the baby-boom generation. This week, a very nice piece she wrote about “The Lucky Strike Papers" appeared in the paper.

The story can be found here:

http://www.northjersey.com/entertainment/books/Book_chronicles_TV_era_that_makes_boomers_feel_young.html