steve.robinson

A Revealing Look at Music's Highwaymen

The men themselves would have scoffed at such a title, but when Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson recorded and toured together as the Highwaymen, what better example of a supergroup? Tonight at 8 pm/ET, CMT premieres American Revolutions: The Highwaymen, filmed by music producer Don Was, a revealing insider's look at the four complex individuals as they recorded what turned out to be their final album, The Road Goes on Forever, in 1994. (Jennings died in February of 2002; Cash in September 2003). TVGuide.com found Kristoffer

Fri, Oct 14, 2005

Curb Star Teaches the Art of Comedy

Shelley Berman can claim the titles of author, actor, comedian and playwright, not to mention professor (he's now in his 21st year of teaching a master's humor-writing class at USC). This Sunday (at 10 pm/ET), he returns to HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm as Larry David's TV father, Nat, who inadvertently launches Larry on a quest to learn whether he's adopted. TVGuide.com shared a few minutes with the 79-year-old whirlwind just after he returned from a week-long stand-up gig in Las Vegas. TVGuide.com: How was Vegas?Shelley Berman: It was marvelous. I broke in some new stuff. You're always a bit on tenterhooks, wondering if you can get away with it. And I not only got away with it, but boy, it splashed. A whole new opening monologue, that was the bas

Fri, Sep 23, 2005

Beach Boys Salute the Fourth Flag

Synonymous with the concepts behind "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Good Vibrations" and "California Girls," the Beach Boys have made an indelible mark on the musical landscape. In various incarnations, they've entertained audiences for more than 40 years and have long been considered "America's Band." So they're a natural fit for PBS' A Capitol Fourth, the annual Independence Day concert from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, which marks its 25th anniversary on Monday.Quite unnatural was what happened in 1983, when they were scheduled for the concert, only to be banned by then Secretary of the Interior James Watt, who decreed that rock bands "attract the wrong element" (Wayne Newton replaced them). The public outcry included the voices of some very powerful people. Mike Love, the only original member still performing under the group name, recalls how he found out. "We were on tour, and I was awakened one morning by a radio station asking

Fri, Jul 1, 2005

Randy Quaid Shares Elvis' Secret Woes

Long before joining TV Guide, this reporter was working at the Sahara-Tahoe Hotel Casino in 1971 when Elvis Presley made his "northern Nevada debut." The casino was festooned with placards proclaiming "Elvis Summer Festival." And every front-of-the-house employee, from the craps dealers to the house-maids, was issued an Elvis Summer Festival Styrofoam faux straw hat. Failure to wear the hat while on shift meant termination — on orders from "Colonel" Tom Parker."That sounds right," says Randy Quaid, who's winning critical raves as the King's almost equally legendary manager in CBS' two-part Elvis miniseries. (Tonight's conclusion airs at 8 pm/ET.) "That's carnival time, with the straw hats and the banners. [Parker's] PR came from the tricks he learned when he promoted carnivals. He was the advance man, and he would go into the town a couple of weeks before the carnival arrived, put up all the poster displays, make deals with the grocer and v

Wed, May 11, 2005

Stacy Keach Hits Daily Double

Versatility defines Stacy Keach. Though perhaps best known for his two TV-series portrayals of private eye Mike Hammer (a DVD box set of 1997's syndicated Mike Hammer, Private Eye comes out in July), Keach has played memorable roles on stage, screen and TV since the '60s, from Richard III to Ernest Hemingway to crazy Ken Titus. Next, he'll star in the upcoming Fox show Prison Break. But before that, the actor does two TV guest spots tonight: First, he's on ABC's George Lopez Show at 8:30 pm/ET. An hour later, he pops up on NBC's Will &amp; Grace. Here, TVGuide.com catches up with him via telephone in... Poland?TVGuide.com: Why are you in Poland?Stacy Keach: My wife is Polish, my kids are half Polish and we have a little house right outside of Warsaw in a place called Magdalenka, which is right on the edge of the oldest forest in Eastern Europe. My kids are going to the American School over here. I've got

Tue, May 10, 2005

James Woods Shows His Poker Face

Warning: The following may be hazardous to what you now consider your free time. James Woods tells TVGuide.com he didn't start playing poker "totally seriously" until "a year and a half ago — Aug. 1, exactly." His enthusiasm for chance and chips has led to his involvement (with his partner, TV poker commentator Vince Van Patten) in HollywoodPoker.com, which offers games for both real and play money. The real-money games often feature celebrity participants. Mimi Rogers and Mena Suvari are among the frequent — and, says Woods, better — celeb players. For those not ready to stare down over real dough, Woods and Van Patten are launching a second site, HollywoodPoker.net, specifically geared to the novice. "No one has ever taken advantage of the idea that a lot of people just never want to play for money," Woods declares. "They just want to learn, have a good time and be a part of the poker explosion without

Fri, Apr 29, 2005