"Father Knows Best" on DVD: Stars Jane Wyatt & Elinor Donahue Interviews Online!

The classic 50s TV family sitcom "Father Knows Best" has been released on DVD!

The Archive has interviewed two of the show's stars, Elinor Donahue and Jane Wyatt, at length for our oral history collection.

Click here to access Elinor Donahue's entire 7-part interview.

Interview Description:
Elinor Donahue was interviewed in 2006. She outlines her early film career in such films as "Mister Big" and "The Unfinished Dance". She describes appearing in early experimental TV for Klaus Landsberg and speaks fondly of her appearance on "The Ray Bolger Show". She speaks in detail about her role as teenager "Betty 'Princess' Anderson" on the classic '50s sitcom "Father Knows Best". She recalls working with producer Eugene Rodney and her fictional father Robert Young, "mother" Jane Wyatt and "siblings" Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. Throughout the interview, Donahue also discusses her many guest appearances on series over the years including "The Andy Griffith Show", "The Odd Couple","Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman", "Get A Life", "The Loretta Young Show", "Star Trek", and "Ellen".

Click here to access Jane Wyatt's entire 4-part interview.

Interview description:
Jane Wyatt (1910-2006) was interviewed for two hours in Los Angeles, CA in 1999. Ms. Wyatt described her lengthy career in film, stage, and television. She talked about her feature film debut in 1934 in James Whale’s One More River and her subsequent film roles in such classics as Frank Capra’s Lost Horizon and Elia Kazan’s Gentleman’s Agreement. She discussed the McCarthy era in which she found herself on an industry blacklist, unable to work in film. She described her television debut on Robert Montgomery Presents in the title role of “Kitty Foyle” (1950) and her varied roles in “live” television. She described in detail her most memorable and enduring work for television on Father Knows Best (1954-63), in which she played the role of wife and mother Margaret Anderson, a part that won her three consecutive Emmy Awards. She talked about her appearance as Mr. Spock’s human mother on the series Star Trek (a role she repeated in the feature film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). Ms. Wyatt also described her memorable recurring role as Katherine Auschlander on the medical drama St. Elsewhere.

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"The Thorn Birds" Celebrates 25th Anniversary

"The Thorn Birds", which celebrates its 25th anniversary this week, debuted on March 27, 1983 and ran four nights. The miniseries was based on the Colleen McCullough novel that followed several decades in the lives of the Austrailian Cleary family and starred Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward. Variety called the miniseries a "fast-paced grabber" and in addition to its high ratings, it scored several Emmy nominations, with wins for actors Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Kiley, and Jean Simmons as well as wins for art direction, make-up, and editing.






WATCH THIS EXCLUSIVE CLIP of then-President of ABC Motion Pictures and Senior Vice President of ABC Entertainment Brandon Stoddard talking about the miniseries in his recent Archive of American Television Interview:

Emmy® and Oscar®-winner Abby Mann Dies at the Age of 84-- Archive Interview Online

Writer Abby Mann who won an Academy Award for the screenplay of Judgment at Nuremberg and won three Emmys for writing (The Marcus-Nelson Murders, Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesnthal Story, and Indictment: The McMartin Trial) was interviewed by the Archive in August of 2004.

Click here to access his entire six-part Archive Interview.

Interview Description:

Abby Mann was interviewed for nearly three hours in Los Angeles, CA. Mann talked about his early teleplays, written during the Golden Age of Television Drama in the 1950s. He discussed such noteworthy teleplays as “A Child Is Waiting” (for Studio One) and “Judgment at Nuremberg” (for Playhouse 90). He also talked about the feature film adaptations of these teleplays. Mann discussed his writing of the television movie The Marcus-Nelson Murders, and the creation of the subsequent series Kojak. Mann talked in detail about two other 1970s projects, the series Medical Story and the miniseries King. He spoke about his more recent endeavors as writer and executive producer of such television movies as The Atlanta Child Murders and Indicment: The McMartin Trials. Throughout the interview Mann expressed his concern about the state of the American justice system and his lifelong passion to correct injustices through the written word.

"The Price Is Right" Is On DVD; Show Creator Bob Stewart's Archive Interview Now Online

The Price Is Right has c'mon on out on DVD— 26 classic episodes. The Archive interviewed host and game show legend Bob Barker in 2000.

The Archive additionally interviewed the creator of The Price Is Right and many other classic game shows, Bob Stewart.

Click here to access Bob Stewart's entire seven-part interview.

Interview Description:
Stewart spoke about his transition from radio to television, and his first television show, Songs for Sale. Stewart looked back on his association with producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman (Goodson-Todman), which began in 1955. He talked about creating the game shows To Tell the Truth, The Price is Right and Password. He discussed the quiz show scandals and its impact on future game shows. Stewart commented on his continued success with his show The $10,000 Pyramid, which was later re-titled The $100,000 Pyramid. He discussed the importance of game show host selection, the qualities of a perfect contestant, and the key to creating a fun and successful game show.

"Love Boat" on DVD, Charles Fox Interview Online

The Love Boat has finally made it to DVD and just hearing the theme song brings back memories of Saturday nights and the Love Boat/Fantasy Island pairing.

The Archive has interviewed several of the creative team behind the series, including composer Charles Fox, who was responsible for many of TV's most memorable theme songs.




Click here to watch the entire 7-part interview with Charles Fox.

Interview description:

Fox talked about his musical education, which included studying with Nadia Boulanger in Paris from 1959-61. He spoke about breaking into composing for television, writing transition material for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as well as the bold and energetic theme song for ABC’s Wide World of Sports. He spoke in great detail about Love American Style, a series for which he wrote the theme song and scored music for the entire series run. He described other series for which he both scored the theme song and created libraries for track music. He described his work on Laverne & Shirley, including details about the pilot presentation and the creation of the theme song and main title. Additionally he talked about his work on the series: Happy Days, Wonder Woman, The Love Boat, and The Paper Chase. He also discussed his work in television movies (including Victory at Entebbe) and feature films (including The Other Side of the Mountain and Foul Play), as well as composing other popular songs. B-roll consisted of Fox performing a medley of his television theme songs as well as “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” The interview was conducted by Karen Herman on June 29, 2004.

FINALLY! "Gilligan" and "Brady" Creator Sherwood Schwartz gets a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

CONGRATULATIONS TO SHERWOOD SCHWARTZ,
WHO WILL BE HONORED WITH A STAR ON THE
HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME THIS FRIDAY.

WHO:
Sherwood Schwartz
Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, President/CEO Leron Gubler
Guest speakers: Florence Henderson and Dawn Wells

WHAT:
2,356th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

WHERE:
6541 Hollywood Boulevard

WHEN:
Friday, March 7, at 11:30 a.m.

To watch Archive interviewee Sherwood Schwartz's full 12-part (6 hour) interview, click here.

Interview description:
Aside from discussing the creation of his classics, Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, Sherwood Schwartz candidly described writing for comedic legends Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Red Skelton, and working on such series as I Married Joan and It's About Time. The 6-hour interview was conducted by Dan Pasternack on September 17, 1997.