A Weighty Subject, Indeed

It’s a funny thing. I have been a guest on the KSAV “global radio” show Talking Television with Dave White twice this year--both times to discuss the 1970s Bill Bixby TV adventure/mystery series, The Magician--and in neither case did I ever actually talk television with Dave White. I was always interviewed by pitch-hitting hosts Ed Robertson and Frankie Montiforte. Now it sounds as if I’ll never have a chance to swap old television memories and gossip with the eponymous host.

According to TV historian Robertson, he and the equally knowledgeable and loquacious Montiforte will take over as the program’s new co-hosts beginning next Tuesday, August 12, and will immediately change the show’s name to TV Confidential. (TV Confidential will also be broadcast fortnightly, rather than weekly, as Talking Television had been.) Right out of the gate, the new co-hosts are going to discuss a performer who deserves a lot more attention than he’s received of late: William Conrad (1920-1994). Although he’s undoubtedly best remembered for his starring roles in the crime dramas Cannon (1971-1976) and Jake and the Fatman (1987-1992), the corpulent Conrad was also the voice of Marshal Matt Dillon on the longtime radio edition of Gunsmoke, and narrated both the TV cartoon series Rocky and Bullwinkle and The Fugitive.

Television writer Paul Robert Coyle, who worked on Jake and the Fatman, is scheduled to be on hand to help Robertson and Montiforte celebrate Conrad’s career. The first installment of TV Confidential will begin on April 12 at 10:30 p.m. ET, 7:30 p.m. PT. To listen in, simply log on to KSAV.org and click the “Listen Live” button. It should be a fun and informative show.