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Forty years ago, reruns became cool. Before that, they were just considered filler for when TV networks couldn’t afford to run anything else.

But then, on July 1, 1985, Nickelodeon launched their overnight programming block — which ran from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. the next day — and became the first network to present reruns as more than just time killers. They called it Nick-at-Nite. They ran good, classic television shows that were worth revisiting, offering adults comfortable familiarity as they drifted off to sleep or battled insomnia. It was “Good TV for the TV Generation” as one of their slogans put it. And it was a smash hit that made Nick-at-Nite the largest cable network during primetime.

The initial lineup wasn’t even anything all that exciting either: the live-action Dennis the Menace from the 1950s and 1960s, The Donna Reed Show, which ran during the same era, and the 1960s drama Route 66.

Mathematically, it would take nearly 10 days for someone to binge-watch all 15 seasons of Supernatural. That’s 327 episodes—a number that’s almost an urban legend in itself on anyone’s watchlist. Besides, Eric Kripke’s fantasy drama, which was sadly discontinued in 2020, still stands today as the longest-running US TV show in its genre.

Getting that kind of success, especially before the streaming explosion, speaks volumes about the immense hype that Supernatural generated back in its day. Now, most fans point to the undeniable chemistry of the Winchester brothers (Jensen Ackles & Jared Padalecki) for making the show a mainstay on TV for 15 straight years.

Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and their ’67 Impala in a still from Supernatural | Credits: The CW

But from the 2007/08 Writers Guild strike to the entire WB/CW network rebrand, Supernatural survived way too many storms to keep itself relevant for so long. Yet, none of it would...

If there are a select number of pillars upholding the Hollywood complex as we know it, Ron Howard is no doubt one of them. He's been an prominent actor, director and producer for over the past six decades and clearly shows no signs of stopping, with his latest film "Eden" set for release next month. Howard's presence as an industry fixture is so prolific each stage of his career is a story unto itself. Long before he became an Academy Award-winning filmmaker ("A Beautiful Mind") or one of the co-founders of Image Entertainment, Howard made a considerable name for himself in the world of television.

In the same vein as Jodie Foster, Howard was thrust into the industry at such a young age and built his legacy on its foundation. Although "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Happy Days" are considered the two landmarks of his television career, you would likely...

Bruce Glover has sadly died.

The actor, known for roles in productions like Chinatown and Diamonds Are Forever, has passed away at 92.

A rep for his son, Crispin Glover, said Bruce died of natural causes on March 12, via People.

“Bruce Herbert Glover May 2, 1932 – March 12, 2025,” Crispin wrote on social media.

Keep reading to find out more…

Bruce was best known for his roles as Duffy in Chinatown, and James Bond villain Mr Wint in Diamonds Are Forever.

He appeared in the Walking Tall series and Hard Times, as well as the shows Route 66, The Six Million Dollar Man, Chips, and The Streets of San Francisco.

Bruce is survived by his son Crispin Glover. Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this difficult time. Rip. We have sadly lost many stars in 2025.

Bruce Glover, the actor best known for his memorable role in the 1971 James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever” and as the father of Crispin Glover, died March 12, 2025. He was 91.

His son announced the news on Instagram on Saturday, March 29. A cause of death as not given.

A prolific character actor, Glover appeared as Deputy Grady Coker in 1973’s “Walking Tall” and in the film’s later sequels, as well as “Bless the Beasts and Children’ and Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown.” Having started his acting career on television in the 1960s, he was also notable for numerous TV guest roles throughout his career.

In a 2019 interview with The Original Van Gogh’s Ear Anthology, Glover said his first-ever job was delivering groceries at the age of 6. “I guess this woman had a store. She thought it was cute and decided to offer me a job. Ten cents a day delivering groceries...

Bruce Glover, the unorthodox actor who portrayed Mr. Wint, the assassin with the distinctive aftershave who partnered with Putter Smith’s Mr. Kidd in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, has died. He was 92.

His son, Back to the Future actor Crispin Glover, shared on Instagram that he died March 12. No other details of his death were immediately available.

Glover played Deputy Grady Coker alongside Joe Don Baker as Sheriff Buford Pusser in the unexpected box-office hit Walking Tall (1973), then returned for the 1975 and ’77 sequels that had Bo Svenson as the lead.

The Chicago native also portrayed a redneck thug in Stanley Kramer’s Bless the Beasts and Children (1971); Duffy, an associate of Jack Nicholson’s J.J. Gittes, in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974); and a brutish debt collector leaning on a hustler (James Coburn) in Walter Hill’s Hard Times (1975).

Glover performed in hundreds of plays, appearing on...

Quick ViewDavid Hasselhoff’s statementPamela Bach and David Hasselhoff’s story

And just like that, the world lost a star. Gone too soon, but lived long enough to have a legacy that will endure for ages.

Pamela Bach in Baywatch | Credit: NBC

Pamela Bach, the acclaimed actress from the cult classic Baywatch, is no more. According to a BBC report, Bach was found dead inside her residence in the Hollywood Hills on March 5th, 2025.

Related10 Baywatch Stars Who Are No Longer With Us Including Pamela Bach

The cause of death was ruled to be a suicide, a fact confirmed by the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s office. She passed away at the age of 62 due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. She is survived by her two daughters, Hayley and Taylor Ann.

David Hasselhoff’s statement Ego as David Hasselhoff in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | Image...

As fans celebrated the film mastery of the late Gene Hackman over the past week, some pondered the sliding-door moment that could have changed his acting career forever. After all, if sitcom producer Sherwood Schwartz had his way, the unknown Broadway actor would have been cast as Mike Brady, patriarch of The Brady Bunch.

Hackman was Schwartz’s first choice for the role, but ABC executives rejected the idea. Who had heard of Gene Hackman? They wanted someone with more experience like Robert Reed, who TV viewers knew well from several seasons starring in ‘60s legal drama The Defenders. Hackman, on the other hand, only had one-shot appearances on shows like I Spy, The FBI and Route 66. Ironically, he also guested twice on The Defenders.

Lucky for everyone, Hackman didn’t get the part, clearing the way for an Academy Award just a couple of years later for The French Connection.

Supernatural certainly raised its stakes over the years. Starting the series off with a mere demon being the main antagonist, this drastically changes around the final seasons, with God, the Darkness, and a secret elite order of hunters called the Men of Letters. Considering how smooth the progression has been, fans cannot help but adore how far the Winchester brothers came from hunting a yellow-eyed demon.

A still from Supernatural | Credit: Warner Bros.

However, one of the most iconic and beloved jumps that the series took when it came to stakes was when Castiel was introduced. Going from a pessimistic setting to suddenly finding out that angels were real and very socially awkward certainly did wonders for the brothers and the story itself.

With this, one cannot help but wonder where showrunner Eric Kripke got this idea from. During an interview, he confessed that the roots were, in fact, in the Star Wars franchise.

Eric Kripke created Supernatural, one of the longest-running fantasy drama shows. The series gained immense popularity for its inventive concept, which revolved around two estranged brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, who travel across America, fighting monsters while trying to solve mysteries related to their past.

Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke (Credit: Warner Bros).

However, this ingenious premise almost did not exist as Kripke’s original idea for the series was entirely different. Moreover, the original idea was more in line with another popular series exploring urban legends and conspiracy series in the form of The X-Files. Thankfully, Kripke was forced to change this approach, and here is what you need to know about it.

Eric Kripke’s Original Idea For Supernatural Revolved Around Two Journalists

Supernatural tells the story of brothers Sam and Dean Winchester and gained popularity for its paranormal exploration from the perspective of its main characters.

John Lasell, a character actor known for roles on Dark Shadows and The Twilight Zone, has died. He was 95.

Lasell, of Los Angeles, died Oct. 4, according to a family notice.

Lasell appeared regularly on the 1960s camp horror soap Dark Shadows. He played Dr. Peter Guthrie, a vampire hunter. Jonathan Frid played vampire Barnabus Collins in the show that over the course of its four-year run developed a cult teenage following.

Lasell also played John Wilkes Booth in a 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone. He also held roles in two 1961 episodes of Wagon Train, and an episode of Hazel that same year. He appeared in a 1962 episode of Route 66, a 1964 episode of Flipper, and 1966 episodes of As the World Turns and Perry Mason. In 1972, he appeared in the television Mission: Impossible series, as well as an episode of Night Gallery and Mannix. He also showed up in an episode...

Criminal Minds has had some truly strange and bizarre episodes over its 17 seasons, with disturbing unsubs and unsettling cases. Some of the best Criminal Minds episodes are also some of the strangest, highlighting the shows originality, which helps keep the series fresh and viewers tuning in almost 20 years after it first premiered. This has also created Criminal Minds unsubs that stick with the viewers and the characters.

As a police procedural drama about serial killers, Criminal Minds has been allowed to dive into some incredibly weird storylines. Though some can be too much to handle, others are just strange enough to keep viewers on their toes while still entertaining them. Many Criminal Minds stories are based on real-life cases, which only makes the bizarre episodes even odder.

Route 66 Season 9, Episode 5

Most of the bizarre Criminal Minds episodes are considered to be this way because of the cases they revolve around.

One of the most famous restaurants in Hollywood is on the market.

Yamashiro and its surrounding 7.3 acre property are asking $100 million. Such films as Kill Bill, Gone in 60 Seconds, and Teahouse of the August Moon used the location, as have TV shows I Spy, Perry Mason, Route 66, and My Three Sons.

The Japanese restaurant is currently owned by producer and nightlife impresario Elie Samaha. 

The property is on National Register of Historic Places. As such, the 20,432-square-foot building will be protected, and the restaurant is likely to continue.

Leo Chaloukian, a multi-Emmy Award-winning sound designer and former chair of the Television Academy, died July 18. He was 97.

During his 60-year career in sound, Chaloukian won four national Emmys and two regional Emmys —working at Ryder Sound Service, a company he’d eventually become the sole owner of for most of his career.

He worked on sound for National Geographic specials, David Wolper Productions documentaries and classic television shows like “Lassie,” “Death Valley Days,” “Sea Hunt,” “Maverick,” “Route 66,” “Gunsmoke” and Jacques Cousteau specials.

Chaloukian also oversaw the sound design for the 1967 film “The Graduate” and, with his staff of audio engineers, created the sound design for 1969’s “Easy Rider.”

The company also contributed to the recording, rerecording and mixing for “Love Story,” “The Godfather,” “Chinatown,” “Saturday Night Fever” and the first Star Trek movies, as well as “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Tootsie” and “The Killing Fields.”

Chaloukian led...

Leo Chaloukian, the Emmy- and Oscar-winning sound designer and former chair of the Television Academy, has died. He was 97.

The Television Academy said Chaloukian died Thursday after working in sound design well into his 80s. He first worked at Ryder Sound Service in 1954, becoming an award-winning rerecording mixer and eventually the company’s owner in 1976.

Chaloukian and his staff at Ryder Sound earned four Emmys, including one in 1986 for best achievement in sound for the TV movie Cross of Fire. They worked on National Geographic specials, David Wolper Productions documentaries and classic TV shows like Lassie, Death Valley Days, Sea Hunt, Maverick, Route 66, Gunsmoke and Jacques Cousteau underwater diving specials.

On the movie front, Ryder handled recording, rerecording and mixing for Steve McQueen’s 1968 action thriller Bullitt, and Chaloukian personally oversaw sound design for The Graduate. With his staff of audio engineers, he also created the sound design for Easy Rider.

Leo Chaloukian, the multiple Emmy- and Oscar-winning sound designer, sound executive and former chair of the Television Academy, died July 18, the Academy announced Wednesday. He was 97.

Active professionally into his 80s, Chaloukian began his sound career at Ryder Sound Service in 1954, becoming an award-winning re-recording mixer and eventually the sole owner in 1976. He sold the company to the Soundelux Entertainment Group in 1997 and became the company’s SVP.

In 2000, Liberty Media Group acquired Soundelux, which became Ascent Media Group, Creative Sound Services, and later a division of Discovery Communications known as Css Studios LLC. Chaloukian continued as the company’s VP Business Development, representing its divisions for features and TV and retiring shortly after the company’s 2014 spinoff to become Todd Soundelux.

During his 60-year career in sound, Chaloukian and his staff at Ryder Sound won four national Emmys and two regional Emmys. He also was honored with the Syd...

Elizabeth MacRae, who played girlfriends of Gomer Pyle and Festus Haggen on television and a woman who seduces Gene Hackman’s surveillance expert in The Conversation, has died. She was 88.

MacRae died Monday in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where she was raised, her family announced.

MacRae showed up as Lou-Ann Poovie on 15 episodes of the CBS comedy Gomer Pyle: Usmc during its final three seasons (1966-69). She was signed to work just one episode, “Love’s Old Sweet Song,” on the Jim Nabors starrer but impressed producers enough to stick around for more.

Earlier, she portrayed April Clomley, the girlfriend of deputy marshal Festus (Ken Curtis), on CBS’ Gunsmoke on four installments from 1962-64.

In The Conversation (1974), written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, MacRae played Meredith, who dances with Hackman’s Harry Caul in his apartment, sleeps with him and then swipes one of his audiotapes. The actress was among...

Elizabeth MacRae, known for her recurring roles in General Hospital and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., has died. She was 88.

MacRae died on May 27 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where she grew up.

After graduating, MacRae pursued a career in acting and auditioned for Otto Preminger’s production of Saint Joan in 1956. Although she didn’t land a role, she continued to pursue acting. She moved to New York City where she studied with Uta Hagen at the Herbert Berghof Studio and gained experience in off-Broadway productions.

MacRae landed her first television role playing a witness in the courtroom series The Verdict Is Yours. Over a career that spanned 25 years, MacRae would be featured in television shows like Route 66, Surfside 6, Rendezvous, The Fugitive, Judd for the Defense, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, I Dream of Jeannie, The Andy Griffith Show, and many more.

One of her most prominent roles was in Gomer Pyle,...

All roads lead back to Kentucky for Jack Harlow in the first official trailer for No Place Like Home: A VR Concert. The concert and documentary special will premiere on Jan. 4 at 5 p.m. Pst via Meta Horizon Worlds featuring footage captured on the rapper’s third annual run of hometown shows.

In the trailer, Harlow stands in front of a thousands-deep audience while soaking in the love of his greatest champions. His stage production is simple, with few frills decorating the stage or distracting from the performance. At its core,...

Elliot Silverstein, known for directing films such as “Cat Ballou” and “A Man Called Horse,” died on Nov. 24 in Los Angeles, his family confirmed via Legacy. He was 96.

After working on episodes of TV series like “The Twilight Zone,” “Naked City” and “Route 66,” Silverstein made his feature directorial debut in 1965 with “Cat Ballou,” which starred Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin. Silverstein suggested Marvin play Kid Shelleen when Kirk Douglas turned down the role in the Western comedy. When a producer wanted to replace Marvin with José Ferrer, Silverstein threatened to quit. Marvin ended up winning an Oscar for his role in the film.

Silverstein went on to direct the Anthony Quinn-led “The Happening,” “A Man Called Horse,” starring Richard Harris, and the cult classic “The Car” with James Brolin. He was also integral in forming the Bill of Creative Rights for directors.

While working on his “Twilight Zone” episode “The Obsolete Man,...

Update, with DGA statement: Elliot Silverstein, who directed Jane Fonda and, in an Oscar-winning performance, Lee Marvin in the 1965 comedy-Western Cat Ballou, died Nov. 24 in Los Angeles. He was 96.

His death was announced by family members.

Born August 3, 1927, in Boson, Silverstein launched his directing career during television’s 1950s on such programs as Omnibus and the Alfred Hitchcock-produced mystery series Suspicion, Silverstein stayed busy with episodic series throughout the 1960s. Among his credits from the era: Route 66, Have Gun – Will Travel, Naked City, Dr. Kildare, The Defenders and four episodes of The Twilight Zone, including the fan-favorite, Rod Serling-penned 1961 installment titled The Passersby, a mournful ghost story set at the end of the American Civil War.

Lee Marvin in ‘Cat Ballou’

Silverstein’s TV career would continue, sporadically, through the 1990s when he directed four episodes of Tales From The Crypt and an episode of Picket Fences,...

Elliot Silverstein, who helmed episodes of such acclaimed TV shows as Naked City, The Twilight Zone and Route 66 before guiding Lee Marvin to a best actor Oscar in Cat Ballou, his feature directorial debut, died Friday in Los Angeles, his family announced. He was 96.

The Boston native also helmed A Man Called Horse (1970), which starred Richard Harris in the title role as an English aristocrat who eventually becomes the leader of the Native tribe that had captured and tortured him. The action movie spawned a couple of sequels.

Most importantly, Silverman was instrumental in the formation of the milestone Bill of Creative Rights for directors.

“Every director today owes a debt of gratitude to Elliot Silverstein,” DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter said in a statement. “No one ever worked harder or was more passionate about protecting artists from having their work and vision altered than Elliot.”

It was Silverstein...

Nat King Cole was a legendary American jazz pianist and vocalist who helped define an era. Born in 1919, Cole’s distinctive baritone voice and stylish, melodic jazz piano brought him widespread fame and success. His hits like “Unforgettable,” “Mona Lisa,” and “The Christmas Song” have become timeless classics. However, Cole’s musical accomplishments were achieved despite facing immense racial barriers and discrimination throughout his career due to the color of his skin. Yet through talent, perseverance, and an unflappable charm, Cole broke through and earned the respect of audiences and fellow musicians alike. Though his life was cut tragically short by lung cancer in 1965 at the age of 45, Cole’s musical legacy lives on. His unparalleled style and soulful interpretations of jazz, pop, and ballads made him an unforgettable icon of American music.

Nat King Cole: An Unforgettable Life Nat King Cole, Paramount Theater, New York City, November 1946

Nat King...

Barry Newman, best known for starring in the action-thriller “Vanishing Point”, has died. He was 92.

Newman’s wife, Angela, confirmed the news of Newman’s death to The Hollywood Reporter on Sunday. The actor died of natural causes on May 11 at the NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Newman had a number of smaller screen roles and performed on Broadway until he was cast in the 1971 car chase classic “Vanishing Point”, by director Richard C. Sarafian. He starred as a former race car driver named Kowalski who drives a Dodge Challenger across the US while avoiding cops and getting entangled in a deadly criminal conspiracy.

The film went on to be a cult classic and genre-defining epic that went on to be revered for its action set-pieces and proved to be influential on the next generation of blockbuster filmmakers.

Newman later went on to play defence lawyer Anthony J. Petrocelli...

Ms Jacky Oh! has died. The former Wild ‘N Out star, whose real name is Jacklyn Smith, has died, according to a post on the show’s Instagram page. She was 32.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jacklyn Smith, known to the world as Jacky Oh, a talented Wild ‘N Out family member whose impact will be forever treasured and missed,” a BET Media Group spokesperson wrote. “Jacky Oh was a loving friend and beloved colleague of the Wild ‘N Out cast throughout five seasons. More importantly, she was a tremendous mother to three beautiful children.”

“The BET Media Group extends our sincere condolences to the Smith family, DC Young Fly, B Simone, Nick Cannon, and all friends who loved and cared for Jacky Oh during this difficult time,” the post concluded.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Wild 'N Out (@mtvwildnout)

Sources told TMZ,...

Sergio Calderón, best known for his work on “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”, “Men In Black” and “The Ruins” and more has died. He was 77.

A rep for Calderón confirmed the sad news Wednesday, telling Et, that the actor was surrounded by family at the time.

“We can confirm that Sergio passed away this morning,” his rep shared. “He was in the hospital previously with a bout of pneumonia, not sure that was the cause. He was surrounded by family at the time.”

Calderón played Pirate lord, Captain Eduardo Villanueva of the Adriatic Sea, in 2007’s “At World’s End”, the third instalment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. He also lent his voice to the “At World’s End” video game, where he again starred as the Pirate lord.

The late actor shared several shots from his time on set via social media, including photos of...

My father, Howard Rodman Sr., worked in one-hour episodic network drama in the 1960s, notably on Route 66 and Naked City. There were no writers rooms then in one-hour drama. Only two people, called “story editors,” and a pool of freelancers. That was it. The two of them — my father and Stirling Silliphant — wrote or rewrote every single episode.

You can only imagine — meaning you can’t imagine — the pressure they were under. In those days, a season of television was 32-39 weeks. For comparison: picture having to write and film four seasons of Succession in a span of ten months. (And then, after the shortest of breaks, doing it all again.)

They wrote pages in Los Angeles that were put on airplanes in hopes that they could be shot the next morning in New York. They used every prescription drug available to keep up the pace.

During the course of...

John Beasley, the actor best known for his work in the TV shows “The Soul Man” and “Everwood”, as well as a long string of memorable film roles, has died. He was 79.

The veteran character actor’s son, Mike Beasley, confirmed the news on Tuesday with a heartbreaking post on Facebook, paying tribute to his late father.

“Man…you know this is a part of life…but that doesn’t make it any easier,” Mike wrote. “I lost my best friend today. They say you shouldn’t ever meet your heroes because they don’t turn out to be who you thought they were. That is so wrong. My hero was my father.”

“Thank you for everything. I hope I made you proud. Love you more,” he added, alongside a photo of himself with his arm around his smiling father’s shoulders.

John’s other son Tyrone told The Hollywood Reporter...

George Maharis, star of the 1960s CBS drama series “Route 66,” died this past May 24 at the age of 94, his friend Marc Bahan announced in a Facebook post.

No cause of death has been announced.

A graduate of the Actors Studio in New York, Maharis got his start in acting in off-Broadway productions before getting his first television role in 1958. Among the shows he would appear in over the next two years include “Exodus” and “Naked City,” the latter of which led Maharis to get the nod from series creator Stirling Silliphant on his next show, “Route 66.”

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“Route 66” starred Maharis alongside Martin Milner (“Adam 12”) as a pair of young, restless men who travel across the United States in search of odd jobs and personal discovery. Maharis played Buz Murdock,...

George Maharis, a big TV star in the sixties but probably best known to JoBlo readers from his role in Albert Pyun’s The Sword and the Sorcerer, is dead at 94. According to social media posts via the actor’s caretaker, he actually passed away on Wednesday, with the cause of death not revealed. Maharis was a pretty trendy leading man in his day, with him having starred in the hip TV series Route 66, in which he co-starred with Martin Milner as two young men driving across the United States, getting involved in adventures. Taking a page from Jack Kerouac, the show made Maharis a star, but he left it prematurely due to being diagnosed with hepatitis. In 1965 he starred in a pretty good spy thriller called The Satan Bug, which came from the director of The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape, John Sturges, in which he played...

Veteran actor George Maharis, known for roles in “Route 66” and “Fantasy Island”, has died at 94 years old.

Maharis’ longtime friend and caretaker, Marc Bahan, took to Facebook to announce his death, revealing the actor died on Wednesday, May 25.

“George Maharis passed away on Wednesday, May 25. George is well known for his stardom in route 66, stage productions, singing, artist, and above all a great guy would do anything for anyone. My dear friend, you’ll be terribly missed,” Bahan wrote.

In the 1960s drama series, “Route 66”, Mararis played the role of Buz Murdock. He starred in the production for its first three seasons and earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Series.

“Route 66” – Martin Milner, George Maharis/Everett Collection

The actor, born and raised in Astoria, Queens, served 18 months with the U.S. Marines before pursuing a career in entertainment.

Actor George Maharis has passed away. THR reports that the Route 66 star died at his Beverly Hills home on Wednesday, according to his friend and caregiver Marc Bahan. Additional details about Maharis' passing were not revealed. The television star was 94 years old.

Maharis was best known for his role in the classic television show Route 66, which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964. The series starred Martin Milner alongside Maharis as a pair of pals traveling through the United States in a convertible. Partway through the series, Maharis contracted hepatitis, and because of this diagnosis, he wound up leaving the show during its third season. His final episode appearing in the show was in 1963, and Glenn Corbett came in as his successor to portray a new companion to Milner. The show was canceled the following year.

In 2007, Maharis revisited Route 66 when the show was re-released on DVD. At the time,...

Route 66 actor George Maharis has died. He was 94 years old.

The news of his passing was confirmed in a Facebook post by his friend, Marc Bahan. “My dear friend, you’ll be terribly missed,” he wrote. Bahan called Maharis a “great guy” who would “do anything for anyone.”

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A cause of death was not disclosed.

Maharis is best known for playing Buz Murdock...

Route 66 star George Maharis, who played Buz Murdock on the 1960s CBS drama, has died at age 94. The actor died on Wednesday, May 24, at home in Beverly Hills, as longtime friend and caregiver Marc Bahan told The Hollywood Reporter. Premiering in 1960, Route 66 followed two young men taking a Chevrolet Corvette convertible across America and searching for adventure, with Maharis’ Buz Murdock joining Martin Milner’s Tod Stiles for the cross-country journey. Maharis, Milner, and the rest of Route 66’s cast and crew shot the TV show on location at waypoints from coast to coast. “Nobody else ever did that, to my knowledge,” Maharis said in a 2007 interview with Route 66 News. “We worked six days a week, sometimes seven, because we were always behind schedule. You got up at 5 in the morning, and you get back to your motel at 7 or 9 at night, sometimes even later.” Everett Collection...

George Maharis, the star of “Route 66” who went on to appear on “Fantasy Island” and other shows, died Wednesday in Beverly Hills.

His friend and caretaker Marc Bahan announced his death on Facebook, writing that he was “above all a great guy who would do anything for anyone. My dear friend, you will be terribly missed.”

Maharis co-starred with Martin Milner in the early 1960s series “Route 66,” and received an Emmy nomination for his role as Buz, a handsome beatnik-adjacent working class man. Shot on location across the U.S., the adventure series portrayed two young men who travel around in a Corvette, looking for work and adventure as they struggle to find themselves. Part way through the third season, Maharis left the show after being hospitalized for hepatitis. He asserted later in an interview that his departure wasn’t because he wanted a higher salary or wanted to get into movies,...

George Maharis, the Route 66 actor that left the series during the height of its popularity, died on Wednesday, May 24. He was 94.

“George is well known for his stardom in Route 66, stage productions, singing, artist, and above all a great guy would do anything for anyone. My dear friend, you’ll be terribly missed,” Maharis’ friend Marc Bahan shared in a Facebook post.

Maharis was born on September 1, 1928, in Astoria, New York. He studied at the Actors Studio and got his start working in off-Broadway productions.

His first television role came in 1958 with The Mugger. Maharis would go on to land other TV credits in shows like Naked City, Exodus and Search for Tomorrow. It would be until 1960 that he would land the role of Buz Murdock on Route 66, an indirect spinoff of Naked City that shared its same creator Stirling Silliphant. Maharis would be forced to leave the...

There's a confusing narrative surrounding 1982's "First Blood." Amid the mayhem of its bloody blockbuster sequels, the film either gets misremembered as a straightforward action flick, or is claimed to be a deep exploration of the psychological effects of war on returning soldiers. But the adaptation of David Morrell's 1972 novel is both.

As his franchise took off, Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo would evolve (or devolve?) into a more stereotypical action hero, cutting down entire armies with belt-fed machine guns over the course of four sequels. Stallone even thinks "Rambo 4" is his best action film. But in "First Blood" the character is more multi-faceted. A Vietnam vet who finds himself at odds with the society he believed he was fighting for, John Rambo doesn't directly kill anyone once he runs afoul of a hard-hearted small-town Sheriff and his deputies. Instead, he flees into the Washington State wilderness and...

You know Kurt Russell from "Big Trouble in Little China," "Tombstone," "Stargate," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," and the 1979 TV movie "Elvis." But did you know that he actually got to work with Elvis? He was 10 years old at the time, and the film was 1963's "It Happened at the World's Fair," as we learn in a 2016 interview with GQ. The film had Elvis Presley as a crop-dusting pilot who ends up at the World's Fair. Elvis's character Mike likes a nurse (Joan O'Brien) who isn't interested. He pays Russell's character a little spare change to kick him in the shins, so he has a reason to visit this nurse. Of course, later on, the boy blows Mike's cover by asking if he'd pay to have the kid do it again.

Russell says in the GQ article that he really wasn't familiar with Presley as a rock and roll...

Gene Levy, former V.P. of Fox Pictures and producer of over 40 films and television series, died on Oct. 15 in Las Vegas. He was 84.

Levy produced an array of films spanning over five decades, including “The Bachelor,” “Waterworld,” “Unlawful Entry,” “Streets of Fire,” “Brewster’s Millions,” “Blood Voyage,” “Hysterical,” “Judgement Night” and “Trojan War.” He also worked as the production manager on several of these films, along with “Copycat,” “48 Hrs.,” “Thief,” “Southern Comfort” and “The Long Riders.”

In 1988, he was appointed V.P. of feature production at 20th Century Fox, and would later serve as V.P. of feature production at Largo Entertainment from 1990 to 1993.

Levy began his career in accounting, earning his degree while serving in the U.S. Army Reserves until his discharge in 1962. After being introduced to writer-producer Sterling Silliphant, he worked as an accountant for the final season of the New York-based series “Naked City,” followed by another Silliphant television production,...

It’s such fun flashing back to Emmy ceremonies of yesteryear, and it’s interesting to see how they have evolved over time, and reflect on how much TV has grown and changed. In the early years, the categories were much different, with no distinction between dramatic and comedic performances; instead, there was a category for “Outstanding Continued Performance” (which came from ongoing series) and a separate one for “Outstanding Single Performance”. Going back six decades, there were only three networks competing, but some of the biggest names in the history of the medium were on the ballot, and some legendary performers presented, when Johnny Carson, Bob Newhart and David Brinkley hosted the 14th Emmy Awards on NBC on May 22, 1962. Read on for our Emmys flashback 60 years ago to 1962.

Newhart was already making a name for himself in these early days of television. His variety series “The Bob Newhart Show...

He was tough, he was sexy, and he was one of the most charismatic movies stars of the 1970s — he was James Caan, your go-to guy when you wanted someone who could be flinty yet charming, smooth yet volatile. A Bronx-born, Queens-raised actor who claimed he was the “only New York Jewish cowboy,” the former Michigan State football player got bit by the acting bug when he transferred to Hofstra University, and was already making the bit-player rounds on TV shows (Dr. Kildare, Combat!, Route 66, The Alfred Hitchcock Show) in the early ’60s.

James Olson, who starred opposite Joanne Woodward in 1968’s Rachel, Rachel, played a surgeon investigating a deadly alien organism in the 1971 sci-fi classic The Andromeda Strain and survived the notorious Broadway flop Breakfast at Tiffany’s starring Mary Tyler Moore that closed before it opened in 1966, has died. He was 91.

His April 17 death at his home in Malibu was reported by the Malibu Times.

Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery

A familiar character on television and in film for four decades before retiring in 1990, Olson received his first national exposure in the title role of Kraft Theatre‘s 1956 TV installment The Life of Mickey Mantle, following up that high-profile performance with guest appearances throughout the decade and into the 1960s among them Robert Montgomery Presents, Have Gun – Will Travel, Playhouse 90, Route 66, The Defenders and The Magical World of Disney.

His breakthrough film role came in 1968 with Rachel,...

Veteran TV actor Ed Asner, best known for playing Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and winner of a record-setting seven Emmy awards, has died at the age of 91.

The news was confirmed by Asner’s family on Twitter: “We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully. Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head – Goodnight dad. We love you.”

More from TVLineArleen Sorkin, Days of Our Lives Vet and Original Harley Quinn, Dead at 67Bob Barker, Legendary Price Is Right Host, Dead at 99Wwe Wrestler Bray Wyatt...

Bill Maher took aim at what he perceives to be the work of cancel culture during his usual Friday night “Real Time with Bill Maher” slot, sending up potentially problematic classic movies that could warrant a more contemporary content warning. Maher is riffing off Turner Classic Movies’ recent series “Reframed: Classic Films in the Rearview Mirror,” which reconsiders old movies due for a new cultural context.

“Of course in this new era, they had to reframe the classics. So they have to have a guy come on at the beginning, and give a little speech about why movies that you used to just enjoy because you understood, you understood the times change, people change and mores change it’s called evolution, but now it’s called problematic,” Maher said. Check out the clip below.

Among the films in TCM’s series are “My Fair Lady,” “Gone with the Wind,” “The Searchers,...

Robert Walker Jr., best known for a classic early Star Trek episode and as the son of Hollywood stars Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones, died Thursday in Malibu, according to family members. He was 79.

The New York native portrayed the twitchy, callow title character in “Charlie X,” the second episode of Star Trek’s pioneering first season in 1966, and also handled the title role of the notable 1960s feature films Ensign Pulver and Young Billy Young.

For Ensign Pulver, the comedic 1964 naval drama, Walker inherited a role that had earned Jack Lemmon an Oscar for best supporting actor for Mister Roberts (1955). In the 1969 gunfighter tale Young Billy Young, Walker was the volatile outlaw who finds a mentor in Robert Mitchum in film that also featured Angie Dickinson and David Carradine. That same year Walker and his wife, Ellie Wood, appeared together in the milestone counter-culture epic Easy Rider.

Walker’s...

Trade magazine ad promoting Pollard's nomination for Best Supporting Actor Oscar in "Bonnie and Clyde".

By Lee Pfeiffer

Actor Michael J. Pollard has passed away from cardiac arrest at age 80. Pollard's unique look and acting style propelled him to fame in the 1960s. Pollard was born in New Jersey and crossed the river to study in the famed Actors Studio. He first appeared on Broadway in the smash hit production of "Bye Bye Birdie" and quickly became a familiar face on popular television programs including  "Gunsmoke", "Lost in Space", "The Andy Griffith Show", "Star Trek", "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Route 66", "I Spy", "The Fall Guy", "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.", "Crime Story", "Superboy" and "Tales from the Crypt". Pollard's trademark onscreen persona was as a lovable but dim-witted, slow moving character. The image paid off handsomely for him when was cast as C.W. Moss...

Michael J. Pollard, whose long list of acting credits stretches back to the late 1950s but likely will is best remembered for his Oscar-nominated, star-making turn as the dimwitted but lovable sidekick C.W. Moss in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde, has died. He was 80.

His death was announced on Facebook today by filmmaker Rob Zombie, who directed Pollard in 2003’s House of 1000 Corpses. A New York Times obituary cites Pollard’s friend Dawn Walker, who says the actor died Thursday of cardiac arrest at a Los Angeles hospital.

“Another member of our House of 1000 Corpses family has left us,” Zombie wrote. “The great Michael J Pollard has died. I have been a huge fan of Michael since I first saw him on the Star Trek “Miri”. He was amazing in everything from Bonnie and Clyde to Little Fauss and Big Halsy from Dirty Little Billy to The Four of the Apocalypse.

Rip Torn, who played Garry Shandling’s profane, fiercely loyal producer on HBO’s The Larry Sanders Show, co-starred in the original Men in Black films and was a major star of Broadway and Off Broadway during a seven-decade career, died today surrounded by family at his home in Lakeville, Ct. He was 88.

The prolific Torn played the unstoppable and unflappable Artie on Larry Sanders, which aired from 1992-98 and followed the behind-the-scenes and onstage antics of a successful late-night network talk show. Along with scoring a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Emmy in 1996, he was nominated for each of the show’s six seasons.

The year Torn won his Emmy, he also had been up for Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his turn on CBS’ Chicago Hope. In 2008, he earned his ninth and final Emmy nom, for his recurring role as Don Geiss on NBC’s 30 Rock.

The current Marvel Cinematic Universe of superhero blockbusters, sequels and spin-offs might not exist if not for screenwriter Alvin Sargent, who is dead from natural causes at age 92 on May 9.

The two-time Oscar winner for his scripts for 1977’s “Julia” and 1980’s “Ordinary People” was involved in the screenplays for the original “Spider-Man” trilogy that began in 2002 starring Tobey Maguire as Spidey the web-slinger that would redefine and elevate the modern superhero genre and set the standard for all the spandex-wearing crusaders who followed. I recall Oscar talk for the possibility that Sargent’s much-praised script for 2004’s “Spider-Man 2” could be nominated — an unheard-of notion back then for a film based on a comic-book.

See Celebrity Deaths 2019: In Memoriam Gallery

Sargent would also contribute to 2012’s “The Amazing Spider-Man,” the reboot of the series starring Andrew Garfield. It would be his final script, which the scribe completed when...

How many screenwriters in Hollywood can claim to have written a popular film that connects with a new generation each decade for half a century? Alvin Sargent — who passed away on May 9 at the age of 92 — began writing for television in the mid-1950s; was off to the races from his first produced feature script, 1966’s “Gambit”; and went on to deliver so many movies that have stood and will continue to endure the test of time.

Consider these titles: “Ordinary People” … Actually, to have written “Ordinary People” alone would be enough to land any living writer on a very short list of masters. But in Sargent’s case, that devastating autopsy of the middle-class American dream — an adaptation of Judith Christ’s novel addressing how the façade of domestic perfection masks the difficult work of maintaining a family and marriage — followed such already impressive credits as “The Sterile Cuckoo,...