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Michael Preece, the script supervisor turned director who called the shots on multiple episodes of series including Hunter, Dallas and Walker, Texas Ranger, died Thursday. He was 88.

Preece died of heart failure at his Brentwood home in Los Angeles, his daughter, Gretchen Preece-Newman — wife of two-time Oscar-winning singer-songwriter Randy Newman — told The Hollywood Reporter.

Preece directed 19 episodes of NBC’s Hunter from 1984-90 during the show’s first six seasons; 62 installments of CBS’ Dallas from 1981-91 (seasons four through 14), plus the 1997 reunion telefilm War of the Ewings; and 70 episodes of CBS’ Walker, Texas Ranger during its nine-season, 1993-2001 run.

Preece also worked on The Bionic Woman, Barnaby Jones, Fantasy Island, Flamingo Road, T.J. Hooker, The New Mike Hammer, Riptide, Knots Landing, Falcon Crest, MacGyver, 7th Heaven and many other series before calling it a career in 2007.

Michael Conway Preece was born in Los Angeles on Sept. 15, 1936. His mother, Thelma, founded...

On Saturday February 15 2025, NBC broadcasts Harlem Globetrotters: Play It Forward!

On the Waterfront Season 3 Episode 14 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Harlem Globetrotters: Play It Forward,” titled “On the Waterfront,” promises to be an exciting adventure for fans. Set to air on NBC, this episode features Bulldog teaming up with Jet and his daughter to explore the important topic of marine conservation at Hampton Beach. Viewers can expect to see how the team learns about protecting the ocean and its wildlife while enjoying the beautiful scenery of the beach.

In another part of the episode, TNT joins Jet and his daughter at Sebago Lake. This segment focuses on appreciating the simple joys of life by the water. As they engage in fun activities, they discover the beauty of nature and the importance of cherishing these moments. This heartwarming experience highlights the value of family and friendship while enjoying the great outdoors.

Jan Shepard, who acted opposite Elvis Presley in 1958’s King Creole and 1966’s Paradise, Hawaiian Style, and appeared in more than 30 TV Westerns, died Jan. 17 at a hospital in Burbank, Calif. of pneumonia brought on by respiratory failure. She was 96.

In King Creole, noted as Presley’s favorite of his films, she portrayed his on-screen sister Mimi. Eight years later, Shepard played Presley’s business partner’s wife in the ’60s buddy musical comedy. In an interview from last year, Shepard said she wasn’t a fan of Presley’s ahead of working with him, but “once I met him, I just adored him.”

Per an official obituary, Presley and Shepard got on well and went to off-set lunches (where Marlon Brando once made a chance appearance). Describing him as a “big teddy bear,” Shepard once recalled that he gave her a pair of 10-cent earrings as a joke before...

Jan Shepard, who guest-starred on Rawhide, The Virginian, Gunsmoke and two dozen other TV Westerns and played opposite Elvis Presley in movies eight years apart, has died. She was 96.

Shepard died Jan. 17 at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank of pneumonia brought on by respiratory failure, her son, Hollywood prop master, Brandon Boyle, told The Hollywood Reporter. “She was a good one and will be dearly missed,” he said.

Shepard portrayed Mimi, the sister of Presley’s Danny Fisher, in the Michael Curtiz-directed King Creole (1958) and the wife of Danny Kohana (James Shigeta), who partners with Presley’s Rick Richards in a helicopter business, in Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966).

“The first time, I found him to be just the cutest kid around, a big teddy bear, a lot of fun,” she said in an interview for Boyd Magers and Michael G. Fitzgerald’s 1999 book, Westerns Women. But on their next movie,...

‘The Road Trip’ Teaser On The Road At Paramount+

First-look images (above) and a teaser trailer have been released for The Road Trip, the Paramount+ rom-com launching on the streamer in the UK, Canada and Australia. December 26 has been pencilled in for a debut in those countries. The rom-com series about a camper van ride in Spain stars Emma Appleton, Laurie Davidson, David Jonsson, Isabella Laughland and Angus Imrie, and explores whether someone can be the right person but at the wrong time. The trailer reveals the love affair between Addie (Appleton) and Dylan (Davidson), which began two years before as a holiday romance before ending. Paramount claims the show has “all the fun of Planes, Trains and Automobiles and the romantic yearning of One Day.” Ryan O’Sullivan and Matilda Wnek wrote and created the show, with Miriam Brent, Eleanor Moran and Rory Aitken the executive producers. 42 is making The Road Trip...

From 2020 to 2022, Bruce Willis cranked out a huge number of movies, most of them low-budget sci-fi/action films that all went straight-to-video, and usually playing brief, supporting roles. The many films were, by and large, panned by critics and mocked by baffled fans, all of whom wondered by Willis didn't appear to have much on-camera dialogue, or why he wasn't the lead character. In three years, he appeared in 22 movies. 

In March of 2022, it was announced that Willis had been diagnosed with aphasia, a brain condition that affected his ability to speak and comprehend language. Many of the above fans expressed their deepest apologies, and even the Razzies, in a rare show of good taste, retraced Willis' Worst Actor nominations. Willis retired from acting because of his condition. In February 2023, Willis, now 69, was also diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, and he remains in the care of his family. 

Willis, of course,...

Maria Bello is settling in on Kevin Williamson’s Waterfront.

The actress — whose credits include Beef, NCIS and ER — has joined Netflix’s forthcoming family drama from the Vampire Diaries exec producer.

More from TVLine2024 Democratic National Convention: Watch VP Nominee Tim Walz, Nancy Pelosi, Pete Buttigieg Speak on Day 32024 Democratic National Convention: Watch Speeches by President Obama, Michelle Obama and Doug Emhoff on Day 2The Irrational Among Fall TV Premieres Delayed by Vice Presidential Debate

Inspired by true events, The Waterfront “dives into the flawed Buckley family as their attempts to retain control of their crumbling North Carolina fishing...

Just as most young actors who headed to New York post World War II, Eva Marie Saint was a staple on live television. In fact, her first TV appearance was in 1947 in a production of “A Christmas Carol” starring John Carradine as Scrooge. Saint, who celebrates her 100th birthday on July 4, told me in a 2013 L.A. Times interview that she didn’t appear on screen in her first TV gig that same year on NBC’s “The Borden Show.” She was hired to simply supply applause off-camera and called her parents to tell them the good news. “After the show, they called me and mom said, ‘Honey, we just love the show, and Dad thinks he heard you applauding.”’

Doing live TV got the lithe blonde actress a lot of exposure. One time it was way too much exposure. Between 1950-52, Saint appeared as the daughter of a high-powered San...

Pluto TV, Paramount’s free streaming service, has revealed its April highlights. The Pluto TV April 2024 schedule celebrates the service’s 10th anniversary, highlights star-studded dramas, and marks the halfway point to Halloween with April Ghouls, where you’ll find spooky marathons across its channels.

Pluto TV is the leading free streaming television service, delivering hundreds of live, linear channels and thousands of titles on-demand to a global audience.

The Emmy Award-winning service curates a diverse lineup of channels in partnership with over 400 international media companies. It offers a wide array of genres, languages, and categories featuring movies, television series, sports, news, lifestyle, kids, and much more.

Pluto TV April 2024 Programming

10th Anniversary

Pluto TV is giving the gift of great TV and movies for its birthday.

April 1 at 8 p.m. Et on Action Drama: 10-Hour Seal Team marathon.

April 1 on Pluto TV Spotlight: 2014 Movie Marathon featuring Big Eyes, Noah,...

Marlon Brando's disrespectful behavior almost ruined the final movie he starred in, The Score. Frank Oz clashed with Brando over his over-the-top characterization, leading to on-set tension. Despite Brando's diva-like behavior, The Score was well-received critically and commercially.

The Score, the final movie to star Hollywood legend Marlon Brando was almost a total disaster thanks to the star's disrespectful behavior toward director Frank Oz. Considered to be the greatest screen actor of all time, it's fair to say that Brando sometimes let that reputation go to his head in later years. From On the Waterfront to Apocalypse Now, many of Marlon Brando's greatest movies are among some of the finest entries in the Hollywood canon. However, for all the impressive credits in Marlon Brando's resume, he appeared in some notoriously bad movies toward the end of his career.

Frank Oz's The Score, which also starred Robert De Niro and Edward Norton,...

Stars: Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint | Written by Budd Schulberg | Directed by Elia Kazan

The opening tells us everything. We can visualise the shipyard before we’re shown a single image. Leonard Bernstein’s horn-heavy score sounds like the song of ships. It’s almost peaceful. Then a piano strikes like military drums.

1954’s On the Waterfront is a furious, blue-collar political drama, sandwiched between A Streetcar Named Desire (also starring Marlon Brando) and East of Eden in the filmography of its director Elia Kazan. The film takes place amongst the largely Irish American community of shipyard workers in New Jersey. Manhattan can often be seen, tantalisingly, across the water, visible through prison-like iron railings, or from the rooftop where Terry Malloy (Brando) cares for a dead man’s pigeons, like a form of repentance.

The dead man is Joey Doyle (Ben Wagner), murdered by local gangsters.

The man who helmed Clint Eastwood in Hang ‘Em High and Magnum Force, the first Dirty Harry sequel, died Tuesday at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica at 95. Ted Post also directed Beneath the Planet of the Apes, but he made his mark on the small screen. The Brooklyn native helmed dozens of TV shows, including 56 episodes of Gunsmoke, 90 of Peyton Place, 54 episodes of Waterfront, 24 of Rawhide — starring a young Eastwood — and four of The Twilight Zone. Starting his career in 1950 on the CBS anthology Danger, Post racked up TV credits including Perry Mason, Combat!, The Rifleman, Thriller, Baretta, Columbo and the 1981 Cagney & Lacey pilot. He also helmed a dozen TV movies, mostly during the 1970s, and nearly as many features. A service is planned for 1 Pm Friday at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in La.

Bonanza creator David Dortort has died at the age of 93.

The Hollywood writer/producer passed away on Sunday in his Westwood, California apartment.

Dortort pitched his idea for the western adventure in 1959 and Bonanza came to life on the small screen later that year. His creation was the most-watched programme from 1964 to 1967 and ran for a total of 14 years.

Dortort produced several Bonanza spin-offs including Bonanza: The Next Generation, and he racked up writing credits for other TV series including Lassie, The Restless Gun, Climax! and Waterfront.

The three-time Emmy nominee was also president of the Producers Guild of America and served as president of the Television-Radio branch of the Writers Guild of America.

David Dortort, who created "Bonanza," the top-rated Western that aired for 14 years on NBC with family values as its centerpiece, died Sept. 5 in his apartment in Westwood. He was 93.

"Bonanza" ran from 1959-73, was the most-watched show on television from 1964-67 and maintained a place in the ratings top 10 for a decade. Dortort also created "The High Chaparral," which originally followed "Bonanza" on Sunday nights on NBC and ran for three seasons.

In 1959, Dortort pitched his show to RCA subsidiary NBC. "Bonanza" would be filmed in color in gorgeous Lake Tahoe, Nev. -- to help promote the sale of RCA's color TVs -- and feature a cast of relative unknowns (Michael Landon, Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker and Pernell Roberts) as members of the Cartwright family.

Dortort went away from the typical Western formula of focusing on lone drifters, choosing to focus on a family of three boys and a father living on the Ponderosa Ranch.