Television

Tom and Dick Smothers are known as the "Smothers Brothers," a musical comedy duo that began by satirizing the folk acts of their day. Their popularity in the 1960s led to a Sunday night variety show. The show, with its topical content, often clashed with censors, and in 1969, the brothers were fired. The Smothers Brothers reunited in 1980.

Phil Donahue started his eponymous television talk show in 1967 in Dayton, Ohio. Today, it is the most popular talk show on daytime t.v. The show includes celebrity interviews, but also tackles controversial social issues, and heavily involves its audience. Donahue's latest book is "The Human Animal," which surveys what experts have to say about human nature, and is a companion to a t.v. series of the same name. Donahue joins the show to discuss his career, his conversion from a chauvinist to a feminist, and being a single parent.

Dick Cavett is a television talk show host, comedian, and writer. He's had shows on ABC, public television, and cable television. He began his career writing jokes for Jack Parr and Johnny Carson. He is known for his esoteric guest and "intellectual" style.

David Marc is a television critic for The Village Voice and Atlantic magazine, and also a professor at Brandeis. Marc thinks that it is important to analyze television with more depth than is currently done. His new book , "Demographic Vistas: Television in American Culture," plays on the title of a Walt Whitman essay "Democratic Vistas." Marc views television and its demographic analysis as an "ironic" fulfillment of Whitman's call for an American art that focuses on the "average, democratic, and popular."

Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown joins the show to share backstage Hollywood stories, discuss the use of the Steadicam, and his new invention Skycam.

A collection of Roger Ebert's essays is called A Kiss is Just A Kiss. He co-hosts the television show At the Movies with fellow critic and professional rival Gene Siskel.

Fred Rogers began his popular children's program before becoming a father himself. During his lunch breaks, he attended seminary school and became an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church. Though faith is central to his personal life, he aims to make his show accessible and welcoming to children of all backgrounds.

After a shakeup in the original cast, Saturday Night Live hired Piscopo, who became known for his impressions of celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen. Now an alum of the program, he joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about the next phase of his career.

Director and producer David Attenborough has made several nature programs for the BBC, documenting animals' behavior in their natural environments.

Cinematographer Garrett Brown returns to Fresh Air to talk about his newest invention, the Skycam. He tells host Terry Gross about how his innovations changed movie directors' techniques and expectations while on set.

Sociologist Todd Gitlin interviews television writer Michael Kozoll during a live event at the Pacific Film Archives about the acclaimed talk show.

After a shakeup in the original cast, Saturday Night Live hired Piscopo, who became known for his impressions of celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen. Now an alum of the program, he joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about the next phase of his career.

Actress Theresa Saldana survived a brutal stabbing by a stalker, a crime which was was committed in broad daylight in front of her Hollywood. She plays herself in a forthcoming television movie based on the incident.

A new collection of Roger Ebert's writing, titled A Kiss is Just A Kiss, has just been published. His television program, co-hosted by fellow critic and professional rival Gene Siskel, is now syndicated on commercial stations.

British actor Jonathan Miller gave up a medical career to pursue acting. His career led him to become a television critic, director, and producer. He eventually returned to medicine, and is a practicing neurologist and medical writer.

Marchand talks about the differences between acting onstage and in television, the challenges of raising children while working, and the intersection of her celebrity and personal life.

Fred Rogers began his popular children's program before becoming a father himself. During his lunch breaks, he attended seminary school and became an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church. Though faith is central to his personal life, he aims to make his show accessible and welcoming for children of all backgrounds.

Television actor Dorian Harewood is known for roles in Roots, Strike Force, and Trauma Center. He stars in a new miniseries as groundbreaking athlete Jesse Owens. Harewood joins Fresh Air's Danny Miller to talk about the making of the program, as well as Owens' career.

Stewart Hoover is a research scholar at the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in the impact of communications technology on culture. In recent years, many have deemed religious television programming controversial. Many mainline church leaders fear the effect such programming will have on local churches. Hoover, along with George Gerbner, Larry Gross, Michael Morgan, and Nancy Signorielli, has just conducted a study on religious television programming.

Chuck Barris is the creator and producer of over a dozen television game shows, including "The Gong Show," "The Newlywed Game," and "The Dating Game." He gained his reputation as the "manic" host of "The Gong Show." Barris has written a semi-autobiographical novel "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," in which a game show host named Chuck Barris also secretly works as a C. I. A. agent. Barris claims to have had an opportunity to work for the organization, but that he turned it down.