Television drama matured in the early 1960s with gritty often controversial series shot on location including “The Naked City” and most notably “The Defenders,” which aired on CBS from 1961-65, winning 13 Emmys during its run including three consecutive Best Drama Series awards.
The legal drama starring E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son attorneys picked up its first four prizes at the 14th Primetime Emmy Awards on May 22, 1962. It also won for Marshall; helmer Franklin J. Schaffner (who went to pick up an Oscar for directing 1970 Best Picture Oscar champ “Patton); and Reginald Rose for writing.
Rose of “12 Angry Men” fame based the series on his two-part 1957 “Studio One” drama “The Defender” with Ralph Bellamy and William Shatner as the father-son attorneys and Steve McQueen as the defendant. For Rose, “The law is the subject of our programs, not crime, not mystery, not the courtroom for its own sake.
The legal drama starring E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son attorneys picked up its first four prizes at the 14th Primetime Emmy Awards on May 22, 1962. It also won for Marshall; helmer Franklin J. Schaffner (who went to pick up an Oscar for directing 1970 Best Picture Oscar champ “Patton); and Reginald Rose for writing.
Rose of “12 Angry Men” fame based the series on his two-part 1957 “Studio One” drama “The Defender” with Ralph Bellamy and William Shatner as the father-son attorneys and Steve McQueen as the defendant. For Rose, “The law is the subject of our programs, not crime, not mystery, not the courtroom for its own sake.
- 5/4/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
We told you. Remember the rules. You didn’t listen. Now we’re Back with an all new batch of guest recommendations featuring Blake Masters, Julien Nitzberg, Floyd Norman, Tuppence Middleton and Blaire Bercy.
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Wild Angels (1966)
Spirits of the Dead (1966)
The Trip (1967)
Mooch Goes To Hollywood (1971)
Stalker (1979)
The Candidate (1972)
The Parallax View (1974)
Network (1976)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Ace In The Hole (1951)
Margin Call (2011)
Death Wish (1974)
Death Wish (2018)
Seconds (1966)
Soylent Green (1973)
Rage (1972)
Assault on Wall Street (2013)
Repo Man (1984)
Elmer Gantry (1960)
The Train (1965)
Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
Strange Brew (1983)
To Have And Have Not (1944)
Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
Easter Parade (1948)
The Band Wagon (1953)
Guys And Dolls (1955)
On The Town (1949)
Casablanca (1942)
The Dirt Gang (1972)
Back To The Future (1985)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949)
My Man Godfrey...
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Wild Angels (1966)
Spirits of the Dead (1966)
The Trip (1967)
Mooch Goes To Hollywood (1971)
Stalker (1979)
The Candidate (1972)
The Parallax View (1974)
Network (1976)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Ace In The Hole (1951)
Margin Call (2011)
Death Wish (1974)
Death Wish (2018)
Seconds (1966)
Soylent Green (1973)
Rage (1972)
Assault on Wall Street (2013)
Repo Man (1984)
Elmer Gantry (1960)
The Train (1965)
Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
Strange Brew (1983)
To Have And Have Not (1944)
Singin’ In The Rain (1952)
Easter Parade (1948)
The Band Wagon (1953)
Guys And Dolls (1955)
On The Town (1949)
Casablanca (1942)
The Dirt Gang (1972)
Back To The Future (1985)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949)
My Man Godfrey...
- 8/14/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Growing up among his native Brooklyn’s brick-and-fire-escape facades in the 1930’s, production designer-to-be Albert Brenner often dreamed of the wide open spaces depicted in his favorite Saturday-matinee Westerns. At 16, he landed his first “art job”: dressing windows for a New York City department store.
Two years later, Brenner swapped mannequins for military service and flew in B-24 bombers until World War II ended in 1945. On the G.I. Bill, he attended Yale University, graduating with skills in drafting, and went into summer stock theater under designer Samuel Leve, toiling away on plays like “The Fifth Season” and gaining a union card in the process.
He developed his designer chops in New York on TV shows like “The Phil Silvers Show,” “Car 54, Where Are You?” “Captain Kangaroo” and “Playhouse 90.” His first day on the Silvers show, where he eventually earned $250 a week, was nearly his last, when he...
Two years later, Brenner swapped mannequins for military service and flew in B-24 bombers until World War II ended in 1945. On the G.I. Bill, he attended Yale University, graduating with skills in drafting, and went into summer stock theater under designer Samuel Leve, toiling away on plays like “The Fifth Season” and gaining a union card in the process.
He developed his designer chops in New York on TV shows like “The Phil Silvers Show,” “Car 54, Where Are You?” “Captain Kangaroo” and “Playhouse 90.” His first day on the Silvers show, where he eventually earned $250 a week, was nearly his last, when he...
- 9/28/2018
- by James C. Udel
- Variety Film + TV
The Wasteland:
Television is a gold goose that lays scrambled eggs;
and it is futile and probably fatal to beat it for not laying caviar.
Lee Loevinger
When people argue over the quality of television programming, both sides — it’s addictive crap v. underappreciated populist art — seem to forget one of the essentials about commercial TV. By definition, it is not a public service. It is not commercial TV’s job to enlighten, inform, educate, elevate, inspire, or offer insight. Frankly, it’s not even commercial TV’s job to entertain. Bottom line: its purpose is simply to deliver as many sets of eyes to advertisers as possible. As it happens, it tends to do this by offering various forms of entertainment, and occasionally by offering content that does enlighten, inform, etc., but a cynic would make the point that if TV could do the same job televising fish aimlessly swimming around an aquarium,...
Television is a gold goose that lays scrambled eggs;
and it is futile and probably fatal to beat it for not laying caviar.
Lee Loevinger
When people argue over the quality of television programming, both sides — it’s addictive crap v. underappreciated populist art — seem to forget one of the essentials about commercial TV. By definition, it is not a public service. It is not commercial TV’s job to enlighten, inform, educate, elevate, inspire, or offer insight. Frankly, it’s not even commercial TV’s job to entertain. Bottom line: its purpose is simply to deliver as many sets of eyes to advertisers as possible. As it happens, it tends to do this by offering various forms of entertainment, and occasionally by offering content that does enlighten, inform, etc., but a cynic would make the point that if TV could do the same job televising fish aimlessly swimming around an aquarium,...
- 7/22/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Fred Weekend Shopping Guide - your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)
After the massive success of Sgt. Bilko, creator Nat Hiken moved on to birth another of my absolute favorite comedies, Car 54, Where Are You? (Shanachie, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 Srp). It’s been one of those shows whose arrival on DVD I’ve long wished for, and the wait was worth it, as the first season has been mastered from the original 35mm prints, and looks better than it’s ever been.
(Please support Fred by using the links below to make any impulse purchases - it helps to keep us going…)
After the massive success of Sgt. Bilko, creator Nat Hiken moved on to birth another of my absolute favorite comedies, Car 54, Where Are You? (Shanachie, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 Srp). It’s been one of those shows whose arrival on DVD I’ve long wished for, and the wait was worth it, as the first season has been mastered from the original 35mm prints, and looks better than it’s ever been.
- 4/15/2011
- by UncaScroogeMcD
The elevation of TV writers and producers to auteur status is a fairly recent phenomenon, but savvy sorts have long known the name of Nat Hiken. A writer for Fred Allen and Milton Berle during their radio days, Hiken moved to TV as a writer on Four Star Revue and The Martha Raye Show before co-creating the Sgt. Bilko character with Phil Silvers. Then Hiken created his masterpiece: the cop sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? Set in the Bronx, Car 54 starred Joe E. Ross as a squat, dim-witted patrolman and Fred Gwynne as his lanky, book-smart partner. The ...
- 4/13/2011
- avclub.com
In honor of the 50th anniversary of what has been called one of the funniest television shows of all times, all 30 episodes of ‘Car 54, Where Are You’s first season are being released on a four-disc DVD. The multi-disc package will hit stores on April 12, 2011 by Shanachie Entertainment for $39.98. One of the bonus features of the DVD is a conversation between Bronx comedian Robert Klein and two of ‘Car 54’s regular cast members, Charlotte Rae, who played Sylvia Schnauser, and Hank Garrett, who portrayed Officer Ed Nicholson. Rae and Garrett share behind-the-scenes stories and anecdotes with Klein, who is a fan of Nat Hiken, the show’s writer, [...]...
- 4/8/2011
- by karen
- ShockYa
Phil Silvers perfected his fast-talking, scheming promoter character during his years on the vaudeville circuit and polished it in a variety of feature films so that by the time he debuted on his own television series, it was pitch perfect. His Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko became a template for comedy roles imitated by others across the pop culture spectrum. For example, the Baby Boomers grew up with the Bilko persona imprinted on Hanna-Barbera’s Top Cat. Silvers rarely varied from the character, using it to good effect in subsequent films and even the Broadway play A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
The series was originally called You'll Never Get Rich but in less than two months after its September 20, 1955 premiere, it was renamed The Phil Silvers Show and was subsequently syndicated as Sgt. Bilko. It won the Emmy Award for best comedy three seasons running with...
The series was originally called You'll Never Get Rich but in less than two months after its September 20, 1955 premiere, it was renamed The Phil Silvers Show and was subsequently syndicated as Sgt. Bilko. It won the Emmy Award for best comedy three seasons running with...
- 7/26/2010
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
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