interviews

Last year, Brett mentioned that Turner Classic Movies would be showing a retrospective on the life and career of actor Marlon Brando. Well, it's finally here, and you can check out the first part of Brando on TCM tomorrow night at 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and the conclusion on Wednesday night at the same times.

The documentary features interviews with Al Pacino, John Turturro, John Travolta, Martin Scorsese and Cloris Leachman, among others about what it was like to work with a man many considered both a genius and one of the most difficult men in Hollywood to work with.

If you can find it, I also recommend Hearts of Darkness, a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now that also shows a glimpse as to what Brando could be like on set. Of course, by the end of filming on that movie I think everyone had pretty much lost their marbles.

The Hollywood Reporter has a review of the doc here.

On May 6 at 9:00 p.m., NBC will air Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation. The special, as evidenced in the title, will look at the late night mainstay and the actors who called the show "home" during the '90s. Having gone to high school and college throughout the '90s, this is the era that sticks in my memory the most, when folks like Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Norm MacDonald, Phil Hartman, David Spade, Chris Farley and Dana Carvey were just funny guys no one had ever heard of before.

The special will include interviews with former cast members, insight from repeat hosts Alec Baldwin and John Goodman, plus interviews with writers Tim Herlihy and Adam McKay, who went on to successful careers as film writers. If you're a fan of Saturday Night Live, it's probably worth checking out, but especially if you happen to be around my age and these episodes were the ones you quoted and discussed with your friends the next day in school.

Over on NBC's site for SNL, there's a new (I'm pretty sure it's new*) section called Saturday Night Live Backstage. The section includes backstage videos (natch) and an interactive feature called "Star in Weekend Update" that allows registered users to edited together clips from the "Weekend Update" segment into an annoying, confusing mess that's not even remotely amusing.

Oldies 1510 WRNJ in Hackettstown, New Jersey broadcasts a show called "Time Travel," hosted by Dan Hollis and Jeff O'Boyle. The program focuses on pop culture of the past, television included. If you're like me and don't live in "Joyzee" you can now download and listen to some of the interviews from the show's archives through a new Web site that could really use a redesign.

The archives include interviews with a bunch of folks associated with the golden age of animation, not to mention other great TV from the past, including voice actress June Foray, Noel Blanc (son of Mel), Joan Benny (daughter of Jack), Lee Mendelson and Marty Krofft. If you dig all that old timey stuff, this is definitely worth checking out. As you can see from the archives, many of the greats from the past have long since gone on to that great TV in the sky, but hearing their own children talk about them is the next best thing.

[via Cartoon Brew]

Airing intermittently on MTV and VH1 since the 1980s, Weird Al Yankovic's AL TV is basically a showcase for Weird Al's offbeat sense of humor, typically coinciding with the release of a new album. Weird Al's parodies and original songs was the first music I really got into, not counting "Pac-Man Fever," and more or less defined my sense of humor as a youngster. I lost interest in him as I got older, but still maintained an admiration for the poofy-headed one, because he's actually an extremely talented musician and composer, a fact often eclipsed by his penchant for writing silly songs about food and penning lyrics like, "you make me wanna staple bagels to my face, and remove them with a pitchfork."

My favorite part of AL TV was his "interviews" with different musical artists, and after the jump you can watch ol' Weird Al in action. Clearly, he's the Mike Wallace of nearsighted Hawaiian shirt-wearing freaks. Click on and enjoy:

ABC recently announced it will be offering news specials from its archives for purchase on iTunes. Customers will be able to pick from the library of ABC News Specials which include a ride-along with gang patrol cops in LA, a behind-the-scenes look at Grey's Anatomy, and a special on UFOs. The first two might be worth checking out, but I'll save all of you $1.99 right now by telling you UFOs aren't real. Don't bother to thank me, I do this out of love. There's also an archive of celebrity interviews, and another selection called "The Day It Happened," which looks at major events in history. It should also be pointed out that ABC does offer free news content through iTunes as well.

Several years back, long before TV Squad or most other TV-related web sites, there was a terrific magazine called Television Chronicles. It was basically the ultimate publication for the serious TV fan, and I was really hoping to write for it at some point. But after a few years it ceased publication, but now I'm happy to report that it's back in online form (God bless the internets)!

Publisher Bill Groves and editor Ed Robertson are back at the helm, and their first issue (August) has a lot of great stuff, including a long feature on the 70s adventure drama The Magician, with Bill Bixby (a favorite of mine when I was a kid) and the short-lived 80s series Sable (I had completely forgotten that Rene Russo costarred in that!). Plus they have other features, including an audio hello from Larry Cohen (The Invaders, Coronet Blue, Branded), and podcasts.

Welcome back, Television Chronicles.

[via Lee Goldberg]