Mark Dawidziak, television critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, will join us on a brand new edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, Friday on 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org.
Though much has been made about the high level of quality in the current era of dramatic television, there have always been examples of TV dramas—going back to the very beginning of television—that not only elevate the form, but transcend it by having something to say about politics, social issues and the human condition. One of the first television writers to do that, of course, was Emmy Award winner Rod Serling, the man behind The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, Patterns, Requiem for a Heavyweight and many other classic dramas from the Golden Age of Television. In the case of The Twilight Zone, more often than not each episode was a morality play that ended with a life lesson.
A new book, Everything I Need to Know I Learned in The Twilight Zone, takes all of the various life lessons, ground rules, inspirational thoughts and musings of the series and basically says “We would all be better people if we lived our life by what The Twilight Zone teaches us.” Written by Mark Dawidziak, television critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and author of several other books on film and television (including The Columbo Phile and The Night Stalker Companion), Everything I Need to Know I Learned in The Twilight Zone not only lists more four dozen life lessons found in The Twilight Zone, but includes examples of where those lessons apply in various episodes. The book also includes ”Guest Lessons” submitted by such esteemed Twilight Zone alumni as Richard Matheson, Harlan Ellison, George Clayton Johnson, Donna Douglas, James Best, Robert Redford and Jack Klugman, as well as also such noted fans of the series as Dick Van Dyke, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and Joseph Dougherty. Mark Dawidziak will join us in our second hour.
This week’s program will include a tribute to Mr. Warmth, Don Rickles, the iconic comedian who passed away on Thursday, April 6. Though widely known to three generations of fans for his singular brand of insult humor, not to mention his numerous appearances on The Dean Martin Hour Celebrity Roasts and late night talk shows (including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson), Rickles was also an accomplished dramatic actor in film and television, particularly throughout the 1960s. We will pay tribute to the television career of Don Rickles during our first hour.
TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Fri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org and CX Radio Brazil
Sat 8pm ET, 5pm PT and Sun 6pm ET, 3pm PT on Indiana Talks (Marion, IN)
Sat 10pm ET, 7pm PT on WON 920 The Apple (Brooklyn, NY)
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT KSCO-AM 1080 (San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA)
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT KOMY-AM 1340 (La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA)
Sun 1pm ET, 10am PT CROC Radio (British Columbia, Canada)
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Mid ET on KHMB-AM and FM (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Mon 10pm ET, 7pm PT on The Radio Slot Network (San Francisco, CA)
Replays various times throughout the week on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork
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