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Felicia Minei Behr, a multiple Daytime Emmy-winning producer of ABC’s All My Children and Ryan’s Hope and a major force in that network’s powerhouse position in the soap opera universe of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, died Sunday, March 2, following a five-year battle with brain cancer. She was 82.

Her death was announced by daughters Kristina Behr Miller and Francesca Behr, who wrote on Facebook that their mother was surrounded by loved ones at the time of her death.

Born on September 21, 1942, on Long Island, NY, Behr began her TV career in 1960 as a secretary at CBS. In the following years she would move up the industry ladder with positions on The Jackie Gleason Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Garry Moore Show and ABC’s One Life to Live.

Eventually she would rise to SVP of ABC Daytime Programming from 2000-04.

When Agnes Nixon created ABC’s groundbreaking...

Felicia Minei Behr, a producer on All My Children, Ryan’s Hope and As the World Turns who also served as a top executive at ABC Daytime, died Sunday after a five-year battle with brain cancer, her family announced. She was 82.

As an associate producer, Behr helped launch All My Children, created by Agnes Nixon, in 1970. She stayed until 1975, then produced and exec produced another ABC daytime drama, Ryan’s Hope, from 1981 until its conclusion in 1989.

She made it back to Pine Valley in 1989 and guided the Susan Lucci-starring All My Children to stellar ratings before exiting in 1996 to become executive producer of the CBS soap As the World Turns through 1999.

Recruited to halt eroding daytime ratings, she returned to ABC in 2000 as senior vp programming of ABC Daytime. Through 2004, she oversaw the network’s slate of soaps, which also included General Hospital, One Life to Live and Port Charles, as...

Diana Baffa-Brill, a dancer and choreographer who assisted the legendary Mame choreographer Onna White and later re-staged scores of productions of that classic musical, died in Los Angeles on Sunday, October 13, following a long illness. She was 81.

Her death was announced by her family.

With television appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show as part of the Bob DeVoy Trio and on The Jackie Gleason Show as a June Taylor Dancer, Baffa-Brill made her Broadway debut at 18 in 1961 (as Diana Baffa) in 13 Daughters, returning to Broadway in Do I Hear a Waltz? and La Grosse Valise (both 1965).

The following year would bring her longest-lasting association, when in 1966 she became both a performer and the dance captain in Broadway’s Mame starring Angela Lansbury, choreographed by White.

Seventeen years later, in 1983, she would return to Broadway with Lansbury in a Mame revival, this time serving to recreate White’s original choreography.

The Emmy Awards grew up on March 7, 1955. For the first time, the ceremony was broadcast nationally on NBC. Steve Allen, the star of “The Tonight Show,” was the host of the 7th annual awards honoring the best of 1954 programming which was telecast from the Moulin Rouge nightclub on Sunset Boulevard.

One of the seminal live dramas of the 1950’s, Reginald Rose’s searing “12 Angry Men,” which aired on CBS “Studio One,” earned the most Emmys that evening winning with three. The taut drama about a jury of a dozen men decided the fate of a young man accused of murder starred Robert Cummings, Franchot Tone, Edward Arnold and Walter Abel. For years, only an incomplete kinescope of the show, which was adapted into the Oscar-nominated 1957 film, existed.

Finally, a complete copy of the show was discovered in 2003. Rose told me in a 1997 L.A. Times interview that he came up...

With the announcement for the 76th Primetime Emmys set for July 17th, let’s travel back 70 years and revisit the winners of the 6th Emmy Awards held Feb. 11, 1954 at the venerable Hollywood Palladium and telecast on Khj. New categories introduced that year included best new program and supporting actor and actress in a TV series. Prior to 1954, performers were nominated as individuals, but this year the program for which they were nominated was also included. NBC was nominated for 36 Emmys, while CBS placed second with 30 and ABC trailing far behind with just three.

CBS’s cherished “I Love Lucy’ won its second Emmy for best comedy series, while Vivian Vance took home her only Emmy for the show for her supporting role as Ethel Mertz. The other nominees for comedy series were CBS’ “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show,” NBC’s “Mr. Peepers,” CBS’ “Our Miss Brooks,” and CBS “Topper.

If there had never been “The Tracey Ullman Show,” there likely would never have been “The Simpsons.” Too, without “Happy Days,” then “Laverne and Shirley” and “Mork and Mindy” would never have seen the light of primetime. Television series spinoffs have been a thing going back to some the earliest days of the medium itself, when “The Honeymooners” premiered in 1955 after beginning life as a series of sketches on “The Jackie Gleason Show” a few years earlier. Thus was born the concept of introducing a character or characters on a show that prove so popular it’s decided they deserve their own series.

SEEHappy 30th anniversary! 30 greatest ‘Frasier’ episodes, ranked worst to best [Photos]

Sometimes, the strategy hasn’t worked out so brilliantly, such as when “Cheers” gave birth to “The Tortellis,” “M*A*S*H” to “AfterMASH” and “The Brady Bunch” to “The Brady Brides” (we’ll save the rest...

Joyce Randolph, the last of the surviving cast members of The Honeymooners, has died. Her son confirmed her death, of natural causes, at her Manhattan home on Saturday night to the Associated Press. She was 99.

From 1955 to 1956, over what is known as The Honeymooners’ “Classic 39” episodes, Randolph starred as Trixie Norton, the patient, supportive wife to doltish sewer worker Ed Norton, played by Art Carney. Together as the Nortons, they were the upstairs neighbors and de facto best friends to loudmouthed bus driver Ralph Kramden and his long-suffering wife Alice,...

Joyce Randolph, who played Trixie Norton on the classic sitcom “The Honeymooners,” and was the last surviving member of the cast, died Saturday in New York City. She was 99.

Randolph was in hospice care at the time of her death and died of natural causes, her son, Randy, told TMZ.

Randolph’s character was married to Art Carney’s Ed Norton on “The Honeymooners.” They were the neighbors of Ralph and Alice Kramden, played by Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows.

Born Joyce Sirola to a Finnish American family in Detroit, she got her start in show business when she joined a touring production of “Stage Door” while working at a department store, then moved to New York where she acted in theater and on television in shows such as “Buck Rogers.”

Gleason noticed her in a commercial and cast her in “The Honeymooners” in 1951. It first appeared as a sketch...

Joyce Randolph, who played Trixie Norton on the television classic The Honeymooners, died Saturday at her home in New York City, according to multiple reports. She was in hospice care at the time of her death, which was from natural causes.

Randolph played the wife of sewer worker Ed Norton, played by Art Carney. The couple were the best friends and neighbors of Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason), and Alice Kramden (Audrey Meadows).

Randolph was tabbed for the role after Gleason saw her on a chewing gum commercial.

Trixie was married to a sewer worker, and I guess she considered herself a little better than the character of Ed Norton,” Randolph said in a 1999 interview with the Television Academy Foundation. “But she was just a housewife — she and Alice didn’t have jobs. They stayed home all the time, which was kind of amazing, but the husbands didn’t want them to work.

Joyce Randolph, who played Trixie, the wife of Art Carney’s goofy sewer worker Ed Norton, on the classic sitcom The Honeymooners, has died. She was 99.

Randolph, the last surviving member of the famous foursome that also included the stars Jackie Gleason (as Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden) and Audrey Meadows (as Ralph’s level-headed wife, Alice), died Saturday at her home in New York, her son, Randy, told TMZ.

Gleason spotted Randolph doing a commercial for Clorets and hired her to play Trixie on his DuMont network variety show Cavalcade of Stars, which premiered in 1951 and featured the Kramdens and the Nortons — neighbors in a rundown Bensonhurst apartment building — in a recurring skit.

Randolph continued on CBS’ The Jackie Gleason Show and then on The Honeymooners when it was spun off in 1955-56 as a half-hour sitcom recorded in front of a live audience. That season is known for...

Joyce Randolph has sadly passed away.

The last surviving cast member of The Honeymooners died Saturday (January 13) at the age of 99 at her home in New York City due to natural causes, her son confirmed to TMZ on Sunday (January 14).

She famously played the role of Trixie Norton, the wife of Art Carney’s Ed Norton. The sitcom ran from 1955 to 1956 on CBS, following Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) and his wife Alice (Audrey Meadows), and Trixie and Ed.

Keep reading to find out more…

The character originated on The Jackie Gleason Show in 1952, which she appeared on until 1957.

The sitcom also got a 2005 film adaptation starring Cedric the Entertainer, Gabrielle Union, Mike Epps and Regina Hall. Just recently in 2022, CBS announced it was developing a female-driven “reimagining” of the comedy series, via TVLine.

She would also appear on shows like The Ed Sullivan Show, The Plainclothesman, The Doctors and the Nurses...

Classic television star Joyce Randolph of The Honeymooners has passed away.

Per TMZ, Randolph reportedly died on Saturday at her New York City home. She was in hospice care at the time with her declining health leaving her unable to walk. Randolph is also said to have passed peacefully in her sleep. She was 99 years old.

Randolph is best known for her main role in the 1950s sitcom The Honeymooners. She played Trixie Norton, the wife of Art Carney's Ed Norton; the two were the neighbors and best friends of Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) and his wife, Alice (Audrey Meadows). Randolph was the last surviving main star of the show, as Gleason died in 1987, Meadows died in 1996, and Carney died in 2003.

The Honeymooners only aired for one season with less than 40 total episodes, but it has nevertheless endured, still considered to be among the most memorable sitcoms of all time.

Joyce Randolph, the last surviving cast member of The Honeymooners, has died. She was 99.

Randolph passed away Saturday at her New York City of natural causes, Randolph’s son confirmed to TMZ Sunday.

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On The Honeymooners, Randolph played Trixie Norton, the wife of Art Carney’s Ed Norton. The sitcom, which ran from 1955 to 1956 on CBS, followed the day-to-day life...

Herman Rush, a veteran television producer best known for licensing Till Death Us Do Part, the UK sitcom that Norman Lear turned into All in the Family, died Dec. 12 at 94 of natural causes in Los Angeles, according to several news reports.

Rush began his career in 1951, working in sales for Official Film. He later purchased Flamingo Films, a television syndication firm, growing it into a major independent syndication company.

Up into the 1970s, Rush was with Creative Management Associates as the president of the television division, playing a role in the agency’s entry into television packaging. Some of the shows he was placed on networks included The Perry Como Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Kraft Music Hall and The Hollywood Palace.

H also represented producer Irwin Allen for TV hits Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost In Space, The Time Tunnel, and Land of the Giants.

Herman Rush, who produced several television shows and was the former president of Columbia Pictures Television, has died. He was 94.

Rush died on Dec. 12 of natural causes in Los Angeles, his daughter Mandie told The Hollywood Reporter.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1929, Rush grew up in a show-business family, with his uncle Manie Sacks being Frank Sinatra’s first manager.

In 1951, Rush began his career in television, working first as a salesman for Official Film before moving up to several different leadership positions. He later purchased Flamingo Films, a television syndication firm, in 1957 and turned it into a major independent syndication company.

Throughout the ’60s and early ’70s, he was with Creative Management Associates as the president of the television division. He also worked for CMA’s predecessor organization, General Artists Corporation, now known as International Creative Management, and played a huge role in the agency’s entry into television packaging.

In the new Hulu comedy-drama “Quiz Lady,” the shy Anne (Awkwafina) has found solace since childhood from her irresponsible mother, Mia father and her boring job watching a “Jeopardy”-esque game show every weeknight. And she even envisions the host (Will Ferrell) as a father figure. Though game show fans don’t usually have such high drama in their lives, most of the contestants on “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” are literally lifelong aficionados. But not every quiz or game show is a “Jeopardy!” “Wheel of Fortune” or even a “Family Feud.”

There have been a lot of quiz and game show series that were offbeat, short-lived or downright hideous, like CBS’ “You’re in the Picture,” which premiered Jan. 20, 1961, the same night as President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. The show was hosted by none other than Jackie Gleason, who was one of the biggest stars on the Tiffany...

Robbin Bain, who was known as the “Today Girl” handling fashion and beauty segments on the NBC-TV morning show, died Oct. 21 in Southampton, N.Y., on Long Island. She was 87 and had breast cancer, according to her daughter.

Her public career began in 1959, when she was named as Miss Rheingold, then the most popular beer in the New York region. For her win, she received $50,000 and spent the next year making appearances in the United States and Europe.

She turned to modeling, appearing in ads for Helena Rubinstein and Revlon. She was also one of four women, called “Portrettes,” who introduced Jackie Gleason on his television variety show, The Jackie Gleason Show, in 1956 and 1957.

Early in her career, she changed her first name to Robbin to avoid confusion with the actress Barbara Bain.

In late August 1961, Bain joined NBC as the “Today Girl,” working alongside the host John Chancellor...

Ellen Burstyn returns as Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist: Believer after 50 years, reflecting on acting and ageism in a recent interview. Burstyn has had a successful career spanning nearly 70 years, and doesn't understand why ageism hasn't affected her. Burstyn is a Triple Crown Acting Winner, having won an Oscar, Emmy, and Tony throughout her career.

Ellen Burstyn returns as Chris MacNeil to battle the forces of evil in The Exorcist: Believer. The award-winning actress is stepping back into a role that she hasn’t played in 50 years, not since The Exorcist in 1973. But director David Gordon Green lured the talented thespian back into the realm of horror after Burstyn had turned down numerous opportunities to reprise the role of MacNeil in Exorcist sequels over the years. And in a sit-down with Interview Magazine prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, she reflected on acting and ageism. Burstyn said:

This is so bizarre.

If there had never been “The Tracey Ullman Show,” there likely would never have been “The Simpsons.” Too, without “Happy Days,” then “Laverne and Shirley” and “Mork and Mindy” would never have seen the light of primetime. Television series spinoffs have been a thing going back to some the earliest days of the medium itself, when “The Honeymooners” premiered in 1955 after beginning life as a series of sketches on “The Jackie Gleason Show” a few years earlier. Thus was born the concept of introducing a character or characters on a show that prove so popular it’s decided they deserve their own series.

SEEHappy 30th anniversary! 30 greatest ‘Frasier’ episodes, ranked worst to best [Photos]

Sometimes, the strategy hasn’t worked out so brilliantly, such as when “Cheers” gave birth to “The Tortellis,” “M*A*S*H” to “AfterMASH” and “The Brady Bunch” to “The Brady Brides” (we’ll save the rest...

The '80s were a different time; shoulder pads were in, Reaganomics was taking over the country, and in 1984, a hyper-stylish show called "Miami Vice" was about to become all the rage. Before the Florida-set cop series ever premiered on NBC, though, it had already inspired another series, one that seemed to have very little in common with the Michael Mann-produced action show.

That series was "The Golden Girls," the popular and gut-bustingly funny sitcom about women of a certain age that has only become more beloved in the decades since it ended. "The Golden Girls" is remembered for its positive and honest conversations about aging and its characters' penchant for savage, hilarious quips. It also bolstered the fame of its already-famous stars, Bea Arthur ("Maude"), Betty White ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show"), Rue McClanahan (also "Maude"), and Estelle Getty ("Mask"). Put together around a kitchen table, the four...

It was 1989, and “Night Court” was still riding high as part of NBC’s “Must See TV” lineup on Thursday nights, the one that featured “The Cosby Show,” “Family Ties” and “Cheers” along with “L.A. Law.” It had the kind of ratings no one could even dream of now, since cable (much less streaming) had yet to become a major prime time force. John Larroquette was the toast of TV portraying “Night Court’s” assistant Da Dan Fielding. He was snappy. He was overbearing. He was a shameless womanizer. He was hilarious. And voting members of the TV academy agreed, bestowing four straight Emmy Awards on Larroquette for supporting actor in a comedy. Not nominations. Wins. He took home Emmys for four consecutive years and was favored to make it five in a row when the actor did something no one could have predicted.

He decided he was done and withdrew his name from consideration.

Pat Cooper, the famously fast-talking and angry stand-up comedian who often appeared on Ed Sullivan and Howard Stern’s shows, died Tuesday in Las Vegas. He was 93.

Cooper appeared on “Seinfeld” in the Friars Club episode, playing himself. He also appeared with Robert DeNiro in the 1999 film “Analyze This” as Salvatore Masiello and reprised his role in “Analyze That.”

He was a frequent guest host on the Mike Douglas Show in the 1970s, and appeared many times on the Howard Stern show throughout the 1990s and 2000s, where he was known for his cranky persona.

Born Pasquale Caputo to an Italian family in Brooklyn, he started out playing local New York clubs. In 1963, he landed a spot on “The Jackie Gleason Show,” and then began performing at the Copacabana, where he opened for acts including the Four Seasons and Jimmy Roselli.

Cooper went on to perform at clubs across the country,...

(Welcome to Did They Get It Right?, a series where we look at an Oscars category from yesteryear and examine whether the Academy's winner stands the test of time.)

As someone who frequently peruses the past years of the Academy Awards, more often than not the results just wash over me. Rarely are the winners the most exciting options, but I generally understand how and why a given person or film walked away with a trophy, even if they wouldn't have gotten my vote. People like to grouse about the results of the Oscars, but their whiffing on a massive scale actually doesn't happen as often as people claim it does.

Of course, there are those "What were they thinking?" moments, like "Crash" winning Best Picture and "That Thing You Do!" losing Best Song. Few make me scratch my head harder than Best Actor at the 1975 Oscars. It's a slate...

Back in the 1980s, John Larroquette dominated Best Comedy Supporting Actor at the Emmys. He won the category four times in a row (1985-88) for playing Dan Fielding on the NBC sitcom “Night Court.” Now, 35 years after his last win for the show and this time in Best Comedy Actor, he’s seeking to join an even more exclusive club of actors who have won five Emmys for playing the same character.

If Larroquette were to claim a fifth Emmy for playing Fielding, he would join three other performers who have also won that amount. Don Knotts won five times in Best Comedy Supporting Actor for his role as Deputy Sherrif Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show” in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1967 and 1968. Ed Asner won three Emmys in Best Comedy Supporting Actor for playing Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and then two for Best Drama Actor for the same character on the spin-off show,...

Roy Kent is here, there and every-f—ing-where, and Brett Goldstein can be all over the Emmy annals soon. The “Ted Lasso” star is gunning for a rare three-peat in Best Comedy Supporting Actor, which has not been accomplished since Jeremy Piven did it 15 years ago.

With 5/1 odds, Goldstein is currently in second place behind “Abbott Elementary’s” Tyler James Williams (9/2), who’s coming off of a Golden Globe win in January. The only time the pair had ever faced off was at last year’s Emmys, which saw Goldstein pick up his second straight statuette.

But don’t be surprised if Goldstein starts inching upward as the third season of “Ted Lasso,” which premiered March 15, rolls out. Roy has been a fan favorite from the jump and Goldstein, who overcame a four-way vote-split in 2021, already has had lots of material to work with as Roy deals with his and Keeley’s (Juno Temple) breakup.

NBC’s landmark “Your Show of Shows” won its second consecutive best variety program statuette at the primetime Emmy Awards held Feb. 5, 1953 at the old Hotel Statler hosted by Art Linkletter. The 90-minute live program had strong competition- “Arthur Godfrey and His Friends” (CBS); “The Colgate Comedy Hour” (NBC); “The Jackie Gleason Show” (CBS) and “The Toast of the Town” (CBS).

Other winners that evening included another landmark series, CBS’ “I Love Lucy” which was named best situation comedy with NBC’s “Robert Montgomery Presents” receiving best dramatic program honors. CBS’ “What’s My Line? claimed the title of best audience participation, quiz or panel show. NBC’s “Dragnet” was the recipient of the best mystery, action or adventure program. Ktla’s “Time for Beany” won best children’s program, while Edward R. Murrow’s “See It Now” (CBS) received the Emmy for public affairs program.

On the acting front, Oscar-winners...

Mark Miller, the prolific actor and screenwriter writer best known for Please Don’t Eat The Daisies and Guestward, Ho! has died. His daughter, actress Penelope Ann Miller, confirmed the news on Twitter. He was 97.

Miller portrayed college professor Jim Nash on Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, which ran from 1965-1967 and then in syndication. The NBC-MGM sitcom, which ran for 58 half-hour episodes, was loosely based on the theatrical film of the same name starring Doris Day and David Niven. The series did well initially, but its ratings took a hit in Season 2 when it was moved opposite The Jackie Gleason Show.

Miller had substantial runs on other big shows, most notably Desilu’s Guestward Ho! on ABC in 1960. He played one half of a New York City couple, the Hootens, who relocate to a dude ranch in New Mexico. Guestward Ho! ran for one season alongside The Donna Reed Show on Thursday evenings.

When “Saturday Night Live” premiered in 1975, its initial cast consisted of seven “Not Ready for Prime Time Players”: Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner. Five of these performers, whose average age was 28, were nominated for acting Emmys during their original tenures on the sketch show, and Chase and Radner pulled off one win each. Belushi was a double nominee on his first of three outings and went home with a writing award, which he shared with Aykroyd and 11 others.

Belushi earned his first of two acting nominations for SNL when he was 28 years old. He was recognized in the Best Variety/Music Supporting Actor category, which no longer exists and has essentially been absorbed by the Best Comedy Supporting Actor one. Compared to the men who had been nominated across both categories at the time, he was the third youngest of all.

When “Saturday Night Live” premiered in 1975, its initial cast consisted of seven “Not Ready for Prime Time Players”: Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Gilda Radner. Five of these performers, whose average age was 28, were nominated for acting Emmys during their original tenures on the sketch show, and Chase and Radner pulled off one win each. Belushi was a double nominee on his first of three outings and went home with a writing award, which he shared with Aykroyd and 11 others.

Belushi earned his first of two acting nominations for SNL when he was 28 years old. He was recognized in the Best Variety/Music Supporting Actor category, which no longer exists and has essentially been absorbed by the Best Comedy Supporting Actor one. Compared to the men who had been nominated across both categories at the time, he was the third youngest of all.

Rip Torn was honored with nine Primetime Emmy nominations throughout his six-decade acting career, two-thirds of which came for his comedic supporting performance as Artie on “The Larry Sanders Show.” He was recognized for the role every year from 1993 to 1998, winning once in 1996. In addition to bringing him a higher degree of fame, playing the part of the titular fictional talk show’s producer helped Torn establish his late-career specialty for embodying hilariously intimidating blowhards.

Torn’s victory at 65 made him the Best Comedy Supporting Actor category’s second oldest winner at the time (now fourth), and his final bid for the role two years later put him in fifth place on the corresponding nominees list. He is now 10th in the latter ranking, with four of the men who rank ahead of him having joined the group after 2017 and one being the category’s only octogenarian contender.

The television...

Rip Torn was honored with nine Primetime Emmy nominations throughout his six-decade acting career, two-thirds of which came for his comedic supporting performance as Artie on “The Larry Sanders Show.” He was recognized for the role every year from 1993 to 1998, winning once in 1996. In addition to bringing him a higher degree of fame, playing the part of the titular fictional talk show’s producer helped Torn establish his late-career specialty for embodying hilariously intimidating blowhards.

Torn’s victory at 65 made him the Best Comedy Supporting Actor category’s second oldest winner at the time (now fourth), and his final bid for the role two years later put him in fifth place on the corresponding nominees list. He is now 10th in the latter ranking, with four of the men who rank ahead of him having joined the group after 2017 and one being the category’s only octogenarian contender.

The television...

One year after losing the Best Comedy Supporting Actress Emmy to her “Ted Lasso” castmate Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple has now earned an immediate second shot at the gold. If she triumphs this time, “Ted Lasso” will become the fifth series to produce multiple winners in the category after “Caesar’s Hour” (Nanette Fabray and Pat Carroll), “Bewitched” (Alice Pearce and Marion Lorne), “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Cheers” (Rhea Perlman and Bebe Neuwirth).

Temple has played model-turned-pr consultant Keeley Jones since “Ted Lasso” first premiered in August 2020. Her episode submission, “Midnight Train to Royston,” serves as the penultimate chapter of the Apple TV+ show’s sophomore season. In the installment, Keeley prepares for a Vanity Fair photoshoot by shopping for new outfits with Nate Shelley (Nick Mohammed). Partway through the errand, she graciously rebuffs an impulsive kiss from Nate, who harbors feelings for her despite the fact that she is dating his coworker,...

Prepare to shake your head as steadily reading this as I am while typing it.

CBS is (once again) developing a “reimagining” of The Honeymooners, the classic TV comedy that in October 1955 was spun off from The Jackie Gleason Show and starred Gleason, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney and Joyce Randolph.

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Executive-produced by Damon Wayans Jr. and Kameron Tarlow (through their...

Exclusive: A classic blue-collar comedy title from the CBS library is plotting a return. The network is developing The Honeymooners, a reimagining of the 1950s sitcom created by and starring Jackie Gleason. The multi-camera project with a feminist twist hails from Damon Wayans Jr. and Kameron Tarlow’s Two Shakes Entertainment and CBS Studios where the company has been based.

Written by Lindsey Shockley (Mixed-ish) and to be directed by Kelly Park (Country Comfort), The Honeymooners is described as a bold, female-driven reboot of the iconic working-class comedy centered around new wife Ruth and her husband Alex who are determined to have a marriage where they are true equals in every way. But what happens when a marriage has two heads of the household? Are they co-heads? Or no head at all?

Shockley and Park executive produce with Two Shakes Entertainment’s Wayans Jr. and Tarlow.

The original Honeymooners was...

Like everyone else, we love Lucy and celebrate the anniversary of Lucille Ball‘s landmark laffer “I Love Lucy,” which debuted on CBS exactly 70 years ago today on Oct. 15, 1951. The show won the Emmy for Best Situation Comedy twice and Ball claimed two trophies as well.

Ball went on to win two more Emmys for the last two seasons of her second series, “The Lucy Show”. In 1967, she edged out “Bewitched” stars Elizabeth Montgomery and Agnes Moorehead and “That Girl’s” Marlo Thomas. By the way, Montgomery never won an Emmy, despite nine nods, including five for her work as that witch with a twitch. The following year, in what was to be her final Emmy race, Ball prevailed yet again. Her competition: Montgomery and Thomas, as well as Barbara Feldon (“Get Smart”) and Paula Prentiss (“He and She”).

Watch that moment from the 1967 Emmycast when Ball wins. As her...

Peter Palmer, who originated the title character in Broadway’s 1956 musical Li’l Abner and then reprised the role for the 1959 film adaptation, died Tuesday. He was 90.

His death was announced on Facebook by his son Steven Palmer, who noted that the actor died one day after his 90th birthday. No cause was given.

“As a family we knew this was coming and that’s why we had such a wonderful celebration of his birthday this weekend,” Steven Palmer wrote. “He enjoyed being celebrated by his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and friends and extended family. Gonna miss you, Pops.”

Palmer, who majored in music while playing football in the early 1950s for the Big Ten champs University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and routinely performed the National Anthem at games, was cast as Broadway’s naïve, muscle-bound hero of Dogpatch after producers saw him sing on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The Li’l Abner musical,...

After “The Andy Griffith Show” got its start in the form of a backdoor pilot on “The Danny Thomas Show,” Griffith’s Sheriff Andy Taylor and his son, Opie (Ron Howard), were the only two characters who moved on to the actual series. Frances Bavier became Taylor’s Aunt Bee after initially playing a townsperson, and Don Knotts signed on as bumbling deputy Barney Fife. With just five previous TV roles under his belt, Knotts quickly became a fan favorite and his Fife was firmly established as straight man Taylor’s main comic foil.

At the end of its first season, “The Andy Griffith Show” ranked fourth in the Nielsen ratings and would go on to place no lower than seventh throughout its eight-year run. At 36, Knotts took home the Best Comedy Supporting Actor Emmy for his work during that first year and became the third youngest man to nab the award.

Until “Saturday Night Live” surpassed it in 2020, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” stood above all other TV programs in that it boasted the most Primetime Emmy wins for acting. A total of 15 trophies were handed out to six of its cast members, with the 1973 and 1976 Best Comedy Supporting Actor awards going to Ted Knight for his portrayal of dim-witted news anchor Ted Baxter.

Knight earned his second win for the penultimate season episode “Ted’s Wedding,” in which Baxter is strong-armed into finally tying the knot with his longtime girlfriend, Georgette (Best Comedy Supporting Actress nominee Georgia Engel). At the time, the 52-year-old was the oldest man to ever triumph in his category, beating out 49-year-old Art Carney. Nine older men have since outpaced Knight, including five in their 60s and one in his 70s.

Since 1954, a total of 43 actors have won Emmys for their supporting roles on continuing comedy programs,...

Dawn Wells, best known for playing the girl-next-door castaway Mary Ann on the iconic CBS comedy series Gilligan’s Island, died Wednesday morning in Los Angeles of complications due to Covid-19. She was 82.

Wells, who was Miss Nevada in the 1959 Miss America pageant, beat out 350 actresses for the role of Mary Ann Summers. She also appeared in more 150 series and several movies during her career as well as on Broadway.

Wells’ naive country character on Gilligan’s Island was juxtaposed with that of Tina Louise’s Ginger, a sultry movie star. The rather-stereotyped dueling characters fueled a debate that continues among fans today: Mary Ann or Ginger. They and three other passengers set sail on a “three-hour tour” on the USS Minnow, captained by the Skipper (Alan Hale) with his First Mate Gilligan (Bob Denver). But the weather started getting rough, and the seven became...

Like everyone else, we love Lucy and celebrate the anniversary of Lucille Ball‘s landmark laffer “I Love Lucy,” which debuted on CBS exactly 69 years ago today on Oct. 15, 1951. The show won the Emmy for Best Situation Comedy twice and Ball claimed two trophies as well.

Ball went on to win two more Emmys for the last two seasons of her second series, “The Lucy Show”. In 1967, she edged out “Bewitched” stars Elizabeth Montgomery and Agnes Moorehead and “That Girl’s” Marlo Thomas. By the way, Montgomery never won an Emmy, despite nine nods, including five for her work as that witch with a twitch. The following year, in what was to be her final Emmy race, Ball prevailed yet again. Her competition: Montgomery and Thomas, as well as Barbara Feldon (“Get Smart”) and Paula Prentiss (“He and She”).

Watch that moment from the 1967 Emmycast when Ball wins. As her...

Gerald Slater, who helped build PBS as one of its founding employees and later moved to Weta-tv, has died of coronavirus. He was 86.

Slater died April 24 at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. He had been residing at a nearby assisted-living facility and also was battling bone cancer. His son, David Slater, announced the news on Facebook.

Slater began his TV career in 1961 as the head usher for The Jackie Gleason Show on CBS and rose through the ranks to become head of production for CBS News. In that role, he often could be seen sitting behind Walter Cronkite as he anchored CBS Evening News.

While at PBS in 1974, the Bronx native was key in the its move to air the Senate Watergate hearings in primetime, helping to build the pubcaster’s national profile. He would continue helping to drive PBS’ development while working for Weta/Washington from 1975-...

“I Love Lucy” is the subject of a heartfelt tribute from “Will & Grace” on April 9. In “We Love Lucy,” Grace (Debra Messing), Jack (Sean Hayes) and Karen (Megan Mullally) each imagine themselves as Lucy Ricardo opposite Will (Eric McCormack) as her hubby Ricky. Part of the fun is seeing this trio of talent also play Fred and Ethel in various combinations.

“Will & Grace” and “I Love Lucy” both won Best Comedy Series at the Emmys. The former did it in 2000; Hayes and Mullally won that year as well. McCormack prevailed in 2001 and Messing in 2003. “Will and Grace” is only the third TV series in Emmy history in which all four of the main cast won awards, following “All in the Family” and “The Golden Girls.”

Of the quartet of talent on “I Love Lucy,” it was only the women — Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance — who won over the TV academy voters.

William F. Brown, whose libretto for Broadway’s The Wiz earned him a Tony Award nomination, died yesterday in Westport, Ct, according to his wife and collaborator Tina Tippit. Brown was 91.

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey on April 16, 1928, Brown attended Princeton University, wrote for Look Magazine, served a year in the U.S. Army, and, from 1952-54 was a TV producer for the advertising agency Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborne (Bbdo), all before launching the freelance writing career that would include contributing comedy sketches and lyrics to nine of cabaret producer Julius Monk’s revues in New York and Chicago through the 1950s and ’60s.

Brown’s Broadway debut came when his play The Girl in the Freudian Slip opened at the Booth Theatre on May 18, 1967. The contemporary comedy about a married psychiatrist who finds himself attracted to a patient ran only four performances but is remembered as the first...

Last Year’s Winner: Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”

Still Eligible: Yes.

Hot Streak: In bad news for Peter Dinklage, the TV Academy really doesn’t like to hand out back-to-back honors for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series — not that Dinklage hasn’t already noticed. His three wins have come in 2011, 2015, and 2018, breaking up the only other repeat winner of the decade’s would-be hot streaks; Aaron Paul, who won for “Breaking Bad” in 2010, 2012, and 2014. Oddly enough, they’re two of just four supporting actors to win three trophies, and the other two — Art Carney (“The Jackie Gleason Show”) and Don Knotts (“The Andy Griffith Show”) — racked up all their wins in three consecutive years. Still, the last actor to win back-to-back in this category was Ray Walston for “Picket Fences” in 1995 and 1996.

Fun Fact: With the above in mind, perhaps the best evidence of Emmy voters spreading...

Penny Marshall, the influential actress who became a trailblazing filmmaker, died Monday night at her home in California. A rep confirmed the entertainer’s death to Rolling Stone, adding that her death was due to complications from diabetes. She was 75.

“Our family is heartbroken over the passing of Penny Marshall,” Marshall’s family said in a statement. “She was a comedic natural with a photographic memory and an instinct for slapstick. Penny was a girl from the Bronx, who came out West, put a cursive ‘L’ on her sweater and...

In celebration of Ellen Burstyn’s 86th birthday on December 7, 2018, let’s take a look back at the film career of the accomplished actress. She is one of the few actors to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, meaning she has won the Oscar, the Tony and the Emmy, all three of acting’s highest honors.

See Who Needs a Grammy to Reach Egot?

She won her Oscar as Best Actress for 1974’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” a change of pace type of film from Martin Scorsese’s usual milieu which depicts a young widow’s cross-country journey with her young son. Her Tony came shortly after for 1975’s Broadway play “Same Time, Next Year” which chronicled a long-term extramarital affair held over the course of 24 years. She won two Emmys in recent years one for a guest appearance on “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” in 2009 and...

In celebration of Ellen Burstyn’s 86th birthday on December 7, 2018, let’s take a look back at the film career of the accomplished actress. She is one of the few actors to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, meaning she has won the Oscar, the Tony and the Emmy, all three of acting’s highest honors.

She won her Oscar as Best Actress for 1974’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” a change of pace type of film from Martin Scorsese’s usual milieu which depicts a young widow’s cross-country journey with her young son. Her Tony came shortly after for 1975’s Broadway play “Same Time, Next Year” which chronicled a long-term extramarital affair held over the course of 24 years. She won two Emmys in recent years one for a guest appearance on “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” in 2009 and a second for a supporting role in the mini-series “Political Animals.

Some of the most legendary actors in Hollywood history won their Oscars in the 1970s. The Best Actor category of this decade was stacked with some of the biggest stars of the time, many of which have lived on for generations. But which Best Actor Oscar winner of the 1970s is your absolute favorite? Take a trip down memory lane and vote in our poll below.

George C. Scott, “Patton” (1970) — Scott took home the Best Actor prize for “Patton,” which also won Best Picture. In the film he plays the titular George S. Patton, the famous hot-tempered U.S. army general who led troops during World War II. He had previously been nominated for “Anatomy of a Murder” (1959), “The Hustler” (1961), and later for “The Hospital” (1971). Scott notably declined his nomination and win for “Patton.”

SEERobert De Niro (‘Raging Bull’) knocks out all contenders to be your top Best Actor Oscar winner of 1980s [Poll Results]

Gene Hackman,...

Tony Hale won’t win a third Best Comedy Supporting Actor Emmy for “Veep” this year, since the series is sitting out the season, but he could take home a third career statuette for his other Emmy-winning comedy, “Arrested Development.” If Hale does manage to pull it off, he’d join Art Carney as the only multiple winners of the category for two different shows.

While the early years of the Emmys didn’t have genre-specific acting categories, Carney won the first three supporting actor awards: two for “The Jackie Gleason Show” and one for “The Honeymooners.” Since the latter sitcom was based on the popular recurring sketch of the same name on “The Jackie Gleason Show” and Carney played Gleason’s sidekick Ed Norton on both, along with other sketch characters on the variety show, Hale would be the first multiple winner for playing two different characters on two different,...

Back in 1955, Jackie Gleason turned his popular "The Honeymooners" sketch, which originated on his variety show, into a regular 30-minute sitcom called, you guessed it, The Honeymooners. The idea was that he and co-stars Art Carney, Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph would shoot 78 episodes in the first two seasons, with an option for a third season of 39 more. But following that first year, Jackie took the unexpected — and pretty much unprecedented at the time — move to cancel his own show. Believing that those episodes, collectively known now as "The Classic 39," was as good as the show could be, he decided to return to his variety show format, folding Ralph Kramden, Ed Norton and their wives back into it. "Jackie really marched to his own beat," offers his stepson, Craig Horwich, who serves as the head of Jackie Gleason Enterprises in an exclusive interview. "Not in any sense of ignorance or...