Actor and comedian Paul Dooley will join us this weekend, plus we’ll play Part 2 of our conversation with actress Lee Purcell and welcome longtime Hollywood publicist Peter Berk. All this, and more, on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Jan. 20-23 at the following times and venues:
WBRT 97.1 FM and 1320 AM (Bardstown, KY) Fri 9am ET 6am PT
KSAV: Share-a-Vision Radio (San Francisco Bay Area) Fri 7pm ET and PT
RadioSlot (San Francisco, CA) Fri 10pm ET 7pm PT and Sat/Sun 11pm ET, 8pm PT
Third Eye Radio (Bainbridge, GA) Sat 5am ET 2am PT and Wed 7pm ET 4pm PT
WTCA AM 1050 and FM 106.1 (South Bend/Plymouth, IN) Sat 6am ET, 3am PT
WKXO AM 1500 and FM 103.5 (Lexington-Fayette/Richmond/Berea, KY) Sat 8am ET, 5am PT
Indiana Talks (Huntington, IN) Sat and Sun 10am ET, 7am PT and 8pm ET, 5pm PT
KZFX HD-3 93.7 FM (Ridgecrest/California City, CA) Sat Noon ET 9am PT
WHBL AM 1330 and FM 101.5 (Sheboygan/Milwaukee/Green Bay, WI) Sat 2pm CT Noon PT
KSCJ AM 1360 and FM 94.9 (Sioux City, IA) Sat 4pm CT, 2pm PT and Sun 6pm CT, 4pm PT
America One Radio (Atlanta, GA) Sat 7pm ET, 4pm PT
Biz Talk Radio AM/FM (Paducah, KY) Sat 8pm CT, 6pm PT
KFMO AM 1240 (Park Hills/Farmington/St. Louis, MO) Sat 9pm CT, 7pm PT
920 WON The Apple (Brooklyn, NY) Sat 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Bull 99.1 FM and KIKO AM 1340 (Apache Junction/Mesa/Phoenix, AZ) Sat 8pm MT, Sun 7pm MT
WLAD AM 800 and FM 94.1 (Danbury, CT) Sun 5am ET, 2am PT
STP Radio (Fort Wayne, IN) Sun 6am ET, 3am PT
KSCO AM 1080 and FM 104.1 (San Jose/Santa Cruz/Salinas, CA) Sun 9am ET, 6am PT
KOMY AM 1340 (La Selva Beach/Watsonville, CA) Sun 9am ET, 6am PT
Stay Tuned America (Dodge Center, MN) Sun 5pm CT, 3pm PT
CROC Radio (Kimberley, BC, Canada) Sun 7pm ET, 4pm PT
KLTF AM 960 (St. Cloud/Little Falls, MN) Sun 8pm CT, 6pm PT
KPLT AM 1490 and FM 96.3 (Paris, TX) Sun 8pm CT, 6pm PT
WDIG AM 1450 (Dothan, AL) Sun 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Rattler 97.3 FM and KBSZ AM 1260 (Apache Junction/Mesa/Phoenix, AZ) Sun 8pm MT 7pm PT
KHMB AM 1710 / KHMV-LP 100.9 FM (Half Moon Bay, CA) Sun 9pm PT, Mon Mid ET
United as 1 Radio (Bakersfield, CA) Mon 11am ET, 8am PT
Paul Dooley photo by Christina House courtesy Los Angeles Times
Most of you probably know Paul Dooley best as the dad in Breaking Away, Sixteen Candles, Robert Altman’s A Wedding, and countless other movies and TV shows. What you may not know is that he also starred on Broadway in The Odd Couple; performed as a stand-up comedian several times on both The Jack Paar Tonight Show (including a routine written by a pre-M*A*S*H Alan Alda) and in New York nightclubs throughout the 1960s; starred in and wrote many popular commercials for TV and radio; performed with the cutting-edge improv company Second City; and co-created the groundbreaking children’s series The Electric Company, writing every episode of that show’s first season while also creating such memorable characters as Easy Rider, J. Arthur Crank, and Fargo North, Decoder.
Ironically, while Paul was carving a niche for himself as a dad onscreen, he was living through a real-life nightmare involving his ex-wife and his first two children. Paul discusses that, and more, in his new memoir, Movie Dad: Finding Myself and My Family, On Screen and Off, which we’ll talk about when Paul Dooley joins us in our second hour.
Also in our second hour: We’ll play Part 2 of a conversation that began last week with Lee Purcell (Big Wednesday, Valley Girl, Mr. Majestyk, Stir Crazy, Carol of the Bells). Lee is one of the driving forces behind the Hollywood Radio Players, a troupe of actors who perform re-enactments of classic radio plays, via Zoom, to help raise money for the Motion Picture and Television Fund. The two most recent productions of The Hollywood Radio Players are the Christmas episode of the Father Know Best radio show, which originally aired on NBC radio on Dec. 24, 1953, and “The Magic Christmas Tree,” a holiday-themed episode of the Our Miss Brooks radio series that originally aired on Dec. 24, 1950, and which features Lee Purcell as schoolteacher Connie Brooks, the iconic role originated by Eve Arden.
Besides appearing in some of these classic radio re-enactments, Lee has produced and directed many productions of the Hollywood Radio Players. In showbiz terms, that makes Lee a “hyphenate,” a description that has also characterized much of her film and television career. We’ll talk about that, and more, when Lee Purcell joins us in our second hour.
Each production of The Hollywood Radio Players is available for viewing on demand, for free, on the Hollywood Radio Players YouTube channel; however, donations of any amount to the Motion Picture and Television Fund are encouraged. For more information, go to MPTF.com/donate
Also joining us this week will be Peter Berk, longtime Hollywood publicist and the son of the late Howard Berk. Howard Berk wrote for many top network TV shows of the 1970s and ‘80s, including Mission: Impossible, McMillan & Wife, The Fall Guy, The New Mike Hammer, “Counter Gambit,” one of the best episodes of The Rockford Files, and “By Dawn’s Early Light,” the episode of the original Columbo for which Patrick McGoohan won the first of his two Emmy Awards.
Peter recently adapted a screenplay that he and his dad wrote together into Time Lock, a sci-fi action novel that depicts a futuristic world with a highly controversial genetic acceleration prison program that instantly ages prison inmates by the number of years of their sentence. Time Lock has elements that will remind you of both Logan’s Run and The Fugitive. We’ll ask Peter about that, plus he’ll share some stories about his dad’s screenwriting career, including his collaboration with Peter Falk and Patrick McGoohan on “By Dawn’s Early Light.” Peter Berk will join us in our first hour.
TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Fri 9am ET, 6am PT on WBRT AM 1320/FM 97.1 (Bardstown, KY)
Fri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org and CX Radio Brazil
Fri 10pm ET, 7pm PT, Sat/Sun 11pm ET, 8pm PT on RadioSlot (San Francisco, CA)
Sat 5am ET, 2am PT and Wed 7pm ET, 4pm PT on Third Eye Radio Network (Bainbridge, GA)
Sat 6am ET, 3am PT on WTCA 1050 AM and 106.1 FM (South Bend/Plymouth, IN)
Sat 8am ET, 5am PT on WKXO 1500 AM and 103.5 FM (Lexington-Fayette/Richmond/Berea, KY)
Sat and Sun 10am ET, 7am PT and 8pm ET, 5pm PT on Indiana Talks (Huntington, IN)
Sat Noon ET, 9am PT on KZFX FM (Ridgecrest/California City, CA)
Sat 2pm CT, Noon PT on WHBL AM 1330 and FM 101.5 (Sheboygan/Milwaukee/Green Bay, WI)
Sat 4pm CT, 2pm PT and Sun 6pm CT, 4pm PT on KSCJ 1360 AM and 94.9 FM (Sioux City, IA)
Sat 7pm ET, 4pm PT on America One Radio (Atlanta, GA)
Sat 9pm CT, 7pm pm PT on KFMO-AM 1240 (Park Hills/Farmington/St. Louis, MO)
Sat 10pm ET, 7pm PT on 920 WON The Apple (Brooklyn, NY)
Sat 8pm MT 7pm PT and Sun 6pm MT 5pm PT on Bull 99.1 FM and KIKO AM 1340 (Apache Junction/Mesa/Phoenix, AZ)
Sun 5am ET, 2am PT on WLAD-AM 800 and FM 94.1 (Danbury, CT)
Sun 6am ET, 3am PT on WSTP Radio (Fort Wayne, IN)
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT on KSCO-AM 1080 (San Jose/Santa Cruz/Salinas, CA)
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT on KOMY-AM 1340 (La Selva Beach/Watsonville, CA)
Sun 8pm MT 7pm PT on Rattler 97.3 FM and KBSZ AM 1260 (Apache Junction/Mesa/Phoenix, AZ)
Sun 5pm CT, 3pm PT on Stay Tuned America (Dodge Center, MN)
Sun 7pm ET, 4pm PT on CROC Radio (British Columbia, Canada)
Sun 8pm CT, 6pm PT on KLTF-AM 960 (St. Cloud/Little Falls, MN)
Sun 8pm CT, 6pm PT on KPLT AM and FM (Paris, TX)
Sun 10pm ET, 7pm PT on WDIG AM (Dothan, AL)
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Mid ET on KHMB-AM and FM (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Mon 11am ET, 8am PT on United as 1 Radio (Bakersfield, CA)
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