television

Magazine writer and biographer, Bill Zehme had been on the Johnny Carson beat for decades. He was a fan and looked at Carson as the great American Sphinx. Finally, he landed a prized interview for Esquire Magazine in 2002 - a decade after Johnny left the airwaves. When Carson died in 2005, Zehme signed a contract to do an expansive biography on the "King of Late Night.He worked on the book for more than a decade and then a cancer diagnosis and ongoing treatments halted his progress. Zehme died in 2023. The New York Times called it "one of the great unfinished biographies." Enter: Mike Thomas, Zehme's former research assistant, who took the notes and the finished chapters and completed the project which became the book "Carson: The Magnificent."

In January 2022, television writer and New Yorker cartoonist Bruce Eric Kaplan found himself confused and upset by the state of the world and the state of his life in Los Angeles. He started a journal to keep from going mad, which eventually became "They Went Another Way: A Hollywood Memoir."

Phil Donahue as died at the age of 88. The longtime host of "Donahue," Phil Donahue established the modern daytime talk show format with his focus on audience participation and hot-button social issues. In 1967 he began hosting "The Phil Donahue Show."

John Hodgman is a writer, actor, and comedian who has forged what seems to be - or at least we hope is - a comfortable niche in the entertainment world. He is the host of the Judge John Hodgman podcast on the Maximum Fun network, the co-creator with David Rees of the animated series, DICKTOWN on FX/Hulu, and the author of the books: “The Areas of my Expertise,” “More Information than you Require,” “That is All”, “Vacationland,” and “Medallion Status.”For every Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA since the second Wilco curated wonder-weekend in 2011, Hodgman has curated the comedy portion of the festival and he joins us with a preview.

Already a well-regarded producer of television specials and variety shows by 1967, George Schlatter pitched to NBC an idea that was a radical departure: a comedy special inspired by the hippie counter-culture, one which would take the idea of sit-ins, love-ins, and be-ins, and manifest that politicized, sexualized, consciousness-raising energy into comedic sketches. The special, Laugh-in, was so successful it became a regular television series, running from January 1968 to March 1973 and eventually becoming the #1 show on TV.Schlatter new book, "Still Laughing," features never-before-told backstories from the creation of one of the most beloved shows in television history.

Beloved actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr. shares hilarious and poignant stories of his improbable life in his memoir "To the Temple of Tranquility...And Step On It!." The book focusses on his relationship with his legendary father, adventures with Hollywood icons, the origins of his environmental activism, addiction and recovery, and his lifelong search for wisdom and common ground.

Bestselling author of "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and Down and Dirty Pictures," cultural critic Peter Biskind turns his eye toward the new golden age of television in "Pandora’s Box: How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV." There will be a Book Release Celebration for Peter Biskind at Spencertown Academy on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Mrs. Sidhu is not Miss Marple and Max Arnold is not Endeavour Morse. The unique personalities of current TV detectives keep viewers intrigued. No spoilers.

Joe Donahue speaks with Apple TV+'s "Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock" producer Matt Fusfeld, and stars John Tartaglia (Gobo) and Dave Goelz (Boober).

This month, HBO celebrates its 50th anniversary. The new book, "It's Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution and Future of HBO" by veteran media reporters Felix Gillette and John Koblin is the inside story of the start-up that reinvented television. Now synonymous with quality and prestige, HBO pushed the envelope of how stories could be told on TV. But HBO’s own story is as compelling and complex as any drama it put on the air, with a dynamic cast of characters who drove innovation in unprecedented ways. John Koblin is a media reporter for The New York Times, covering the television industry.