Los Angeles
Bob Crane
April 05, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Most of us know Bob Crane as the actor who played Colonel Robert Hogan in Hogan’s Heroes, a kind of Mission: Impossible set in a POW camp in Germany during World War II.
Some of us know Bob Crane as a darker figure in his private life. The 2002 movie Auto Focus explores this area.
Bob Crane began his career as a disc jockey. He made his way to the West Coast where he starred in his own radio show in morning drive time on KNX in Los Angeles. Crane branched out into television. His resume includes guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Twilight Zone.
He increased his exposure with a regular role on The Donna Reed Show.
And in 1965, Crane got his big break when he was cast as the lead role in Hogan’s Heroes.
During the run of Hogan’s Heroes, Crane met John Henry Carpenter, a video expert from Sony. Fascinated by the new technology of the VCR only available to the elite in the 1960’s, Crane formed a friendship with Carpenter. The video salesman introduced the television star to a world of underground sex. Crane frequently photographed and videotaped his bedmates.
The Murder of Bob Crane by Robert Graysmith details Crane’s biography and his murder that took place on June 29, 1978 in Scottsdale, Arizone where Crane was performing in a dinner theatre production of Beginner’s Luck.
Paul Schrader directed Auto Focus based on Graysmith’s book.
In Auto Focus Greg Kinnear plays Bob Crane. Kinnear’s dramatic portrayal of a television icon reveals a private side of Bob Crane that the public never knew about when he was alive.
Crane was bludgeoned to death in his sleep. Allegedly, on the night that he was killed, Crane told Carpenter that he wanted a new life. No more parties or anonymous women. The friendship was over.
DNA testing did not exist in 1978. But Carpenter was arrested and indicted on murder charges in 1992. He was acquitted in 1994. He died in 1998.
The murder of Bob Crane remains an unsolved case.
Bob Crane’s story is one of a gradual but inevitable rise to television icon status that he could never recapture after Hogan’s Heroes ended.
But it is also a story of sadness.
david@davidkrell.com
Most of us know Bob Crane as the actor who played Colonel Robert Hogan in Hogan’s Heroes, a kind of Mission: Impossible set in a POW camp in Germany during World War II.
Some of us know Bob Crane as a darker figure in his private life. The 2002 movie Auto Focus explores this area.
Bob Crane began his career as a disc jockey. He made his way to the West Coast where he starred in his own radio show in morning drive time on KNX in Los Angeles. Crane branched out into television. His resume includes guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Twilight Zone.
He increased his exposure with a regular role on The Donna Reed Show.
And in 1965, Crane got his big break when he was cast as the lead role in Hogan’s Heroes.
During the run of Hogan’s Heroes, Crane met John Henry Carpenter, a video expert from Sony. Fascinated by the new technology of the VCR only available to the elite in the 1960’s, Crane formed a friendship with Carpenter. The video salesman introduced the television star to a world of underground sex. Crane frequently photographed and videotaped his bedmates.
The Murder of Bob Crane by Robert Graysmith details Crane’s biography and his murder that took place on June 29, 1978 in Scottsdale, Arizone where Crane was performing in a dinner theatre production of Beginner’s Luck.
Paul Schrader directed Auto Focus based on Graysmith’s book.
In Auto Focus Greg Kinnear plays Bob Crane. Kinnear’s dramatic portrayal of a television icon reveals a private side of Bob Crane that the public never knew about when he was alive.
Crane was bludgeoned to death in his sleep. Allegedly, on the night that he was killed, Crane told Carpenter that he wanted a new life. No more parties or anonymous women. The friendship was over.
DNA testing did not exist in 1978. But Carpenter was arrested and indicted on murder charges in 1992. He was acquitted in 1994. He died in 1998.
The murder of Bob Crane remains an unsolved case.
Bob Crane’s story is one of a gradual but inevitable rise to television icon status that he could never recapture after Hogan’s Heroes ended.
But it is also a story of sadness.
TV Doctors
October 09, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
A medical situation forces you to seek the insight of a doctor.
In the televerse, you have many choices.
For a heart problem, you might go to St. Eligius Hospital in Boston and meet with Dr. Mark Craig. Egotist. Patrician. And an expert cardiac surgeon who even developed his own version of an artificial heart.
Perhaps you will go to San Francisco Memorial Hospital and seek the advice of Trapper John, M.D. John McIntrye has been battle tested in surgery, in a matter of speaking. He operated on Korean War soliders at the M*A*S*H 4077th.
If it’s a kind father figure with a good bedside manner you seek, then Marcus Welby is your man. I you think the exterior to his home and office looks a lot like the exterior of the home of Wally and Beaver Cleaver, you’d be right. They’re identical because the houses are one and the same.
You may want a doctor’s practice with a one-stop-shopping approach.
Look no further than the Oceanside Wellness Center in Santa Monica.
Formerly of Seattle Grace Hospital, Addison Montgomery is an OB/GYN and a neo-natal surgeon.
You’ll also find an alternative medicine specialist who used to work in the Doctors Without Borders program, a fertility specialist, an internal medicine specialist, a psychiatrist, and a pediatrician.
The aforementioned Seattle Grace Hospital is home base for one of the country’s leading neurosurgeons -- Dr. Derek Shepherd. By the way, his paramour is Dr. Meredith Grey. Dr. Grey’s mother was a groundbreaking doctor.
If you are in south Florida and you need a children’s doctor, you may want to visit Dr. Harry Weston, pediatrician and neighbor of Blanche, Rose, Sophia, and Dorothy, a.k.a. the Golden Girls.
In an emergency situation, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better team than the one at Rampart Hospital in Los Angeles.
Starting with paramedics Roy DeSoto and John Gage of Engine 51, the team consistently shows how to perform successfully in pressure situations. Engine 51’s Rampart Hospital counterparts consist of Dr. Joe Early, Dr. Kelly Brackett, and the incomparable, beautiful, and inspiring Dixie McCall, nurse extraordinaire.
Also in southern California are young Dr. Joe Gannon and his mentor, Dr. Paul Lochner. They work at a university hospital. We just say they work at Medical Center.
You will find the young doctor / senior doctor paradigm a constant in the televerse. Trapper John and Gonzo Gates at San Francisco Memorial Hospital. Dr. Ben Casey and Dr. David Zorba at County General. Dr. James Kildare and Dr. Leonard Gillespie at yet another large metropolitan hospital.
Dr. Perry Cox leads a team of dedicated, sometimes goofy doctors at Sacred Heart Hospital in an unnamed metropolis.
But don’t let Dr. Cox’s crass treatment of the younger doctors throw you off balance. He treats them with toughness because he wants them to be as good as he is, if that’s possible. So he rides them hard.
For the extremely intricate diagnosis, you will want to visit Dr. Gregory House at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and his team of younger doctors.
Dr. House specializes in the seemingly impossible diagnosis, though his all-around blunt, sometimes caustic manner may throw off patients and doctors alike, even those who are his friends.
But his commitment to treating the patient and defeating the condition, illness, or disease is unparalleled.
In Chicago, you can visit a group of talented, unappreciated, and undervalued emergency room doctors at Cook County General Hospital -- Dr. Peter Benton, Dr. John Carter, Dr. Doug Ross, Dr. Mark Greene, Dr. Kerry Weaver.
Also in Chicago, you can visit the smaller ER staffed by Dr. Howard Sheinfeld and Dr. Eve Sheridan at Clark Street Hospital or the glossier Chicago Hope Hospital.
No matter what your ailment, you will find doctors throughout the televerse.
They are experts.
They are dedicated.
And they might even tell you that laughter is the best medicine.
david@davidkrell.com
A medical situation forces you to seek the insight of a doctor.
In the televerse, you have many choices.
For a heart problem, you might go to St. Eligius Hospital in Boston and meet with Dr. Mark Craig. Egotist. Patrician. And an expert cardiac surgeon who even developed his own version of an artificial heart.
Perhaps you will go to San Francisco Memorial Hospital and seek the advice of Trapper John, M.D. John McIntrye has been battle tested in surgery, in a matter of speaking. He operated on Korean War soliders at the M*A*S*H 4077th.
If it’s a kind father figure with a good bedside manner you seek, then Marcus Welby is your man. I you think the exterior to his home and office looks a lot like the exterior of the home of Wally and Beaver Cleaver, you’d be right. They’re identical because the houses are one and the same.
You may want a doctor’s practice with a one-stop-shopping approach.
Look no further than the Oceanside Wellness Center in Santa Monica.
Formerly of Seattle Grace Hospital, Addison Montgomery is an OB/GYN and a neo-natal surgeon.
You’ll also find an alternative medicine specialist who used to work in the Doctors Without Borders program, a fertility specialist, an internal medicine specialist, a psychiatrist, and a pediatrician.
The aforementioned Seattle Grace Hospital is home base for one of the country’s leading neurosurgeons -- Dr. Derek Shepherd. By the way, his paramour is Dr. Meredith Grey. Dr. Grey’s mother was a groundbreaking doctor.
If you are in south Florida and you need a children’s doctor, you may want to visit Dr. Harry Weston, pediatrician and neighbor of Blanche, Rose, Sophia, and Dorothy, a.k.a. the Golden Girls.
In an emergency situation, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better team than the one at Rampart Hospital in Los Angeles.
Starting with paramedics Roy DeSoto and John Gage of Engine 51, the team consistently shows how to perform successfully in pressure situations. Engine 51’s Rampart Hospital counterparts consist of Dr. Joe Early, Dr. Kelly Brackett, and the incomparable, beautiful, and inspiring Dixie McCall, nurse extraordinaire.
Also in southern California are young Dr. Joe Gannon and his mentor, Dr. Paul Lochner. They work at a university hospital. We just say they work at Medical Center.
You will find the young doctor / senior doctor paradigm a constant in the televerse. Trapper John and Gonzo Gates at San Francisco Memorial Hospital. Dr. Ben Casey and Dr. David Zorba at County General. Dr. James Kildare and Dr. Leonard Gillespie at yet another large metropolitan hospital.
Dr. Perry Cox leads a team of dedicated, sometimes goofy doctors at Sacred Heart Hospital in an unnamed metropolis.
But don’t let Dr. Cox’s crass treatment of the younger doctors throw you off balance. He treats them with toughness because he wants them to be as good as he is, if that’s possible. So he rides them hard.
For the extremely intricate diagnosis, you will want to visit Dr. Gregory House at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and his team of younger doctors.
Dr. House specializes in the seemingly impossible diagnosis, though his all-around blunt, sometimes caustic manner may throw off patients and doctors alike, even those who are his friends.
But his commitment to treating the patient and defeating the condition, illness, or disease is unparalleled.
In Chicago, you can visit a group of talented, unappreciated, and undervalued emergency room doctors at Cook County General Hospital -- Dr. Peter Benton, Dr. John Carter, Dr. Doug Ross, Dr. Mark Greene, Dr. Kerry Weaver.
Also in Chicago, you can visit the smaller ER staffed by Dr. Howard Sheinfeld and Dr. Eve Sheridan at Clark Street Hospital or the glossier Chicago Hope Hospital.
No matter what your ailment, you will find doctors throughout the televerse.
They are experts.
They are dedicated.
And they might even tell you that laughter is the best medicine.
Herman the Rookie
June 02, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Baseball season prompts a look back at guest stars from the national pastime who give a little oomph to a favorite television program.
Don Drysdale on The Brady Bunch.
Henry Aaron on Happy Days.
Willie Mays on The Donna Reed Show.
In 1965, The Munsters used the baseball theme and player-turned-manager-turned-Los Angeles Dodgers executive Leo Durocher for that oomph.
The Dodgers welcomed Durocher back into the fold after he defected to the crosstown Giants when both teams played in New York City -- the Dodgers at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field and the Giants at Manhattan's Polo Grounds.
While talking with reporter Charlie Hodges, Leo the Lip gets knocked on the head by a baseball hit from several blocks away. He discovers that Herman Munster hit the ball.
Eager for a brand-new discovery, Durocher arranges a formal tryout with the Dodgers for Herman. Undoubtedly, Herman's physical strength is the tool that will propel the Dodgers to win the National League pennant and the World Series.
By literally crushing the ball out of the park, Herman could probably single-handedly win every game.
But every asset has a consequent cost or liability. In Herman's case, his asset of strength is the liability.
Wearing #37 for his tryout, Herman takes batting practice. The force of his swing causes a ground ball to literally go under ground and destroy the infield. A home run knocks over the scoreboard.
Durocher exclaims that he doesn't know whether to sign him to the Dodgers or send him to Vietnam!
Herman's dreams of big-league status will not be realized. The Dodgers won't sign him because of financial cost. Salary is not the issue. Walter O'Malley, then the Dodgers owner, would have to spend $75,000 after each game to repair Dodger Stadium.
Baseball fans will enjoy the episode because of the tryout scenes at a practice field.
The episode has a nice tag before the credits when former Los Angeles Rams player and current Rams executive Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch discovers a football kicked from several blocks away, much farther than the length of a football field.
Upon advice from Hodges, Hirsch forgets about identifying the kicker and signing him to the Rams.
Leo Durocher also made a guest appearance on The Beverly Hillbillies where he tried to learn more about Jethro Clampett's pitching prowess. What a combination! Jethro's ability to make the ball dance in the air from the pitching mound and Herman's ability to crush the ball over the fence.
Only in television land.
david@davidkrell.com
Baseball season prompts a look back at guest stars from the national pastime who give a little oomph to a favorite television program.
Don Drysdale on The Brady Bunch.
Henry Aaron on Happy Days.
Willie Mays on The Donna Reed Show.
In 1965, The Munsters used the baseball theme and player-turned-manager-turned-Los Angeles Dodgers executive Leo Durocher for that oomph.
The Dodgers welcomed Durocher back into the fold after he defected to the crosstown Giants when both teams played in New York City -- the Dodgers at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field and the Giants at Manhattan's Polo Grounds.
While talking with reporter Charlie Hodges, Leo the Lip gets knocked on the head by a baseball hit from several blocks away. He discovers that Herman Munster hit the ball.
Eager for a brand-new discovery, Durocher arranges a formal tryout with the Dodgers for Herman. Undoubtedly, Herman's physical strength is the tool that will propel the Dodgers to win the National League pennant and the World Series.
By literally crushing the ball out of the park, Herman could probably single-handedly win every game.
But every asset has a consequent cost or liability. In Herman's case, his asset of strength is the liability.
Wearing #37 for his tryout, Herman takes batting practice. The force of his swing causes a ground ball to literally go under ground and destroy the infield. A home run knocks over the scoreboard.
Durocher exclaims that he doesn't know whether to sign him to the Dodgers or send him to Vietnam!
Herman's dreams of big-league status will not be realized. The Dodgers won't sign him because of financial cost. Salary is not the issue. Walter O'Malley, then the Dodgers owner, would have to spend $75,000 after each game to repair Dodger Stadium.
Baseball fans will enjoy the episode because of the tryout scenes at a practice field.
The episode has a nice tag before the credits when former Los Angeles Rams player and current Rams executive Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch discovers a football kicked from several blocks away, much farther than the length of a football field.
Upon advice from Hodges, Hirsch forgets about identifying the kicker and signing him to the Rams.
Leo Durocher also made a guest appearance on The Beverly Hillbillies where he tried to learn more about Jethro Clampett's pitching prowess. What a combination! Jethro's ability to make the ball dance in the air from the pitching mound and Herman's ability to crush the ball over the fence.
Only in television land.