Media Path Podcast

Family And Other Inspirations & A Creative Female Force In Hollywood with Renee Taylor

The word 'Queen' gets thrown around a lot but actress, comedian, director, writer Renée Taylor is legitimate show biz royalty! This month she turns 93 (or is it 39?) and in honor of the occasion, she is gifting us with a performance of her extraordinary one-woman show, My Life on a Diet, on March 18th in Palm Springs. Renée joins us to talk about her remarkable career, her devoted marriage to Joe Bologna and her resolution to no longer measure her worth by way of her dress size. Renée traces her sense of humor back to her childhood, where by the age of four she knew she would grow up to write about the outrageously nutty character that was her mother. And she has! She tells us how her mother’s belief in destiny shaped her path. Named after silent screen star, Renée Adorée (the poor child had to learn how to type to two acute accents into her name!) She was also, strategically conceived to be astrologically positioned to become an actress! Family would become creative fuel throughout her career. Renée and her late husband and writing partner Joe Bologna drew constant inspiration from their colorful Jewish and Italian families, weaving their relatives into scripts, characters, and stories.  Their collaboration produced beloved and award-winning works, including Lovers and Other Strangers and Made For Each Other. Renée speaks movingly about her romantic and artistic bond with Joe, which is ongoing, beyond his passing. She does hear from him and she has honored him in a play which tells their unique story called, Dying Is No Excuse. Renée also reflects on being among the first wave of women writers who broke into the business, and she tells us about her formative friendship with Elaine May, who encouraged her early efforts (even when her first ideas arrived as scribbled thoughts on scraps of paper bags.) Elaine’s advice? “You’re a writer, get some pens and a notebook.” From stage to screen, her stories span entertainment history: She recalls Barbra Streisand opening for her during her early stand-up days and she shares how she landed the role of Eva Braun in The Producers. Mel Brooks says she was an audition standout because she delivered her German lines with a Bronx accent. Of course, we dive into her unforgettable role on The Nanny, where she based her character partly on her own aunt while borrowing nuance from Fran Drescher’s real mother.  Renée shares hilarious behind-the-scenes stories, including how a costume designer’s insistence on a girdle helped shape her character’s physicality, what it was like working with Steve Lawrence as her husband Morty and with her own husband Joe as her secret paramour, and why Elizabeth Taylor charged her for a photo together. We also talk about her book and now solo show, My Life on a Diet, as Renée reflects on body image, Hollywood and humor in the face of heartache, and a round of IMDB Roulette that takes us from Black and White cinema to Bob's Burgers! In current recommendations -- Lisa: Netflix documentary, Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model Weezy: Movie Eleanor the Great, now streaming Path Points of Interest Renee Taylor on Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9e_Taylor] Renee Taylor on IMDB [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0853041/] Renee Taylor on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/OfficialReneeTaylor/] Renee Taylor on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/official_renee_taylor/] Renee Taylor on TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@renee_taylor_official] My Life On A Diet  [https://mylifeonadietplay.com] Renée's March 18th Show at The Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, CA [https://www.palmspringsplazatheatre.com/events/detail/renee-taylor-my-life-on-a-diet] Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model [https://www.netflix.com/title/81928842] Eleanor The Great [https://eleanorthegreat.com]

The Evolution Of Entertainment & A Man For Every Imaginable Medium with Sam McMurray!

Character actor Sam McMurray's media path winds through connections, coincidences and many, MANY contacts with industry legends (and assorted relations.) Sam carves a path through the backroads of Friends, The Golden Girls, Freaks & Geeks, Raising Arizona, The King Of Queens and beyond while we scramble to keep up! Raised in New York by actor parents, his dad was on The Edge Of Night. His mom graced Broadway and Off Broadway stages and Sam, an athlete, nursed a high school broken heart by running straight for what felt like home, the school theater. He’s been an actor ever since. His Hollywood career began when he and his wife headed west in 1986. He was quickly cast in The Jeffersons, The Ropers and Hill Street Blues. He was on his way to becoming one of the most recognizable faces on the screen. Sam shares insights from inside a career defined by a wide range of memorable appearances. He tells the  story of meeting a 17 year old Matthew Perry while working on The Tracey Ullman Show. It would not be until ten years later that Sam’s stage directions, on Friends, instructed him to smack Matt in the butt.  Sam shares his thoughts and concerns about the migration of Hollywood production to other states and countries and how the audition process has become so much less personal via Zoom calls and self-tapes.  We discuss the McCarthy era as Sam’s parents were both under fire and even skipped town for Florida when they got wind that a subpoena for his mom to appear before HUAC was heading their way. The red scare and its impact on creative voices has informed the course of his life. We also explore the wide variety of mediums in which he has worked. From television and film to web series, like Then We Got Help! Sam also returned to the stage after many years away. How did he salvage the night when he went up on his lines playing a gravedigger in the 2019 play, Buzz, about groundbreaking British theater director Buzz Goodbody? His story will delight you. He also shares personal anecdotes about legends Jerry Stiller, Anne Meara, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, Kevin James, Steve Martin, and Tom Hanks.   And, with refreshing honesty, Sam admits that not every role, in a long career, receives the same level of focus. Some projects demand everything an actor has to breathe life into the part, and he’ll wonder if there was more he could have given. While others, like The Sopranos, are so brilliantly written that embodying the character is a joy. By the time we made our way to IMDB Roulette we knew that this was an interview to be studied and interpreted by future entertainment historians, as Sam guides us through the threads and relationships which become the fabric of our entertainment.  In current recommendations -- Lisa: Author & Content Creator Derrick Downey Jr. on Instagram Weezy: The Traitors on Peacock Path Points of Interest: Sam McMurray.com [http://www.sammcmurray.com] Sam McMurray on Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_McMurray] Sam MacMurray on IMDB [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0573481/] Sam McMurray on Cameo [https://www.cameo.com/sam_mcmurray?] Derrick Downey Jr. on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/derrickdowneyjr?] The Traitors [https://www.thetraitors.tv/]

Redefining The Sitcom Family & True Tales Of Old Hollywood with Stanley Livingston

On My Three Sons, Stanley Livingston grew up, with the boomer generation and with television itself. By the time we came to know Stan as Chip Douglas he had logged over ten credits, performing with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Doris Day, Ozzie & Harriet Nelson, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Debbie Reynolds and Gregory Peck! Stan takes us back to his first gig, as a stunt double for Jon Provost on Lassie. Jon couldn’t swim yet. Stan got stuck in a muddy pond and turned in a tremendously vivid performance as a kid attempting not to drown. His parents met in Baltimore, where his father ran a burlesque theater and his mom put some vahs in her dance voom. In search of reinvention, they moved to California where Stan and his brother Barry were born and raised. With an ample dose of show biz in his blood, Stan felt at home from the first moment he stepped onto a set. He shares the story of his big break at just six years old on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Stan was working as a neighborhood kid extra when Ozzie threw him a line and he delivered. Stan appeared on ten episodes of the show, until he landed My Three Sons and his brother Barry took over. (Then following him to MTS!) At age 13, Stan was cast in the epic, star-studded adventure, How the West Was Won under the legendary (and notoriously hot-tempered) direction of Henry Hathaway. He recounts Hathaway’s explosive on-set tirades (and how Debbie Reynolds was the only cast member bold enough to take him on and yell back!)  The experience taught him an invaluable lesson: never take what happens on set personally. Stan speaks warmly of William Frawley, who played Bub on My Three Sons. Stan never knew his grandfathers and Bill did not have kids. They adopted each other and truly cherished their bond, on and off screen. And so, it was difficult for Stan to accept William Demarest who came in as Uncle Charley when William Frawley’s faltering health made it impossible to get him insured. But Stan did eventually warm to the new Bill who came with his own set of charms. We hear behind-the-scenes stories from the MTS set, including a memorable location shoot aboard a jet at LAX, and how producers enticed movie star Fred MacMurray to television by structuring a schedule that allowed him to shoot all of his scenes for the season in just a few months. We enjoy a warm, insightful look at growing up in classic television and celebrate the mentors who helped shape one of America’s most beloved sitcom families. Plus IMDB Roulette spins us back to Old Hollywood and a 'My Three Sons Guest Star Roulette' lightning round!  In recommendations -- Lisa: The Chair Company on HBO Weezy: Neighbors on HBO Path Points of Interest: Stanley Livingston [https://stanleylivingston.com] Stanley Livingston on Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Livingston] Stanley Livingston on IMDB [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0515301/] Stanley Livingston on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/stanleylivingston] Golden Age Hollywood Show March 28, 2026 [https://www.tickettailor.com/events/mimigibsonproductions/1980660] The Chair Company on HBO [https://www.hbomax.com/shows/chair-company/eada90f0-b5b6-4fc4-aeeb-a350a9ceb46c] Neighbors on HBO [https://www.hbomax.com/shows/neighbors/b422f6c6-351f-4a27-be69-ba7e6b89b3c8]

Writing TV's Iconic Women & A Front Seat In The Inner Circle with Stan Zimmerman

Co-Host Lisa Arch joins us with our guest, Stan Zimmerman. From a supportive teacher who first recognized his talent to writing some of television’s most beloved episodes, Stan Zimmerman’s journey is a testament to passion, persistence, and perfect timing. He sets it all out in his new book 'The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore,’ which draws from journals he has kept religiously since college, offering a deeply personal look at a life lived inside television history.  In a conversation both heartfelt and hilarious, Stan reflects on how he took school theater as seriously as if it were big time show biz, because to him, it was. Theater kids were his tribe, and storytelling was already his calling. That destiny led him to Hollywood, where in his early 20s, at meeting that had not gone well, on his way out the door, he pitched a Hail Mary Golden Girls story idea that launched his career. The episode he co-wrote with his writing partner, Jim Berg is titled “Blanche and the Younger Man.” It earned the team a Writers Guild nomination and carved the trailhead for a groundbreaking career path.   Working in the 1980s during the height of the AIDS crisis, Stan recalls how even in Hollywood many people were still in the closet, and that while building career relationships, on a show that would become a gay obsession, he felt pressure to hide his personal life.  We also hear stories that could only happen in show business: hanging out with Sandra Bernhard when an answering machine message from Madonna sparked the beginning of their friendship; witnessing Estelle Getty struggle with early-onset dementia on set, and later realizing that Betty White’s jokes to the studio audience, which he thought were at Estelle’s expense, may have been acts of quiet kindness, allowing Estelle space to recover her lines. Stan reflects on the enduring legacy of The Golden Girls, a show whose cultural impact he couldn’t have imagined while he was in the writers’ room. He talks about passing on season one of Roseanne because of a five-year contract commitment, only to later campaign to join the writing staff. (The story behind the “13” on his shirt traces back to that turbulent chapter of his career.)  He explains how Roseanne was never about chasing laughs, a lesson that became clear when he later helped develop a Russian adaptation where producers kept asking why it wasn’t funnier. Stan also discusses his longtime friendship with Dan and Amy Sherman-Palladino and how creative circles overlap in surprising ways that found him on the team creating episodes of The Gilmore Girls. And he shares a moving story about working on a Dreamgirls benefit show which almost derailed over stewing conflicts until Stan suggested that Sheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine and Jennifer Holiday just talk, on stage, about their shared history… Suddenly, they were singing. Stan’s stories will inspire you to problem solve, dream and achieve.  In recommendations -- Lisa: The Later Daters on Netlflix Weezy: Take That miniseries on Netflix Path Points of Interest Stan Zimmerman [https://www.zimmermanstan.com] The Girls: From Golden To Gilmore by Stan Zimmerman [https://www.amazon.com/Girls-Golden-Gilmore-Stan-Zimmerman-ebook/dp/B0CHZF3F5J/r] Stan Zimmerman on IMDB [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0956785/] Stan Zimmerman on Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Zimmerman] Stan Zimmerman on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/stan.zimmerman.5/] Stan Zimmerman on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/zimmermanstan/?hl=en] Golden Girls: The Ultimate Fan Experience [https://www.dragevents.biz/goldenultimate] Media Path Interview with Michael Fishman [https://lnk.to/1I0BoI] Later Daters [https://www.netflix.com/title/81665880] Take That  Documentary Series [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt39049745/]

Cultural Touchstones & Cult Classics with Adrienne Barbeau

From her first job right out of high school on a USO tour through Asia during the Vietnam War to Maude to screen queen classics, Adrienne Barbeau has costarred with snakes, rats, bugs, Swamp Things, a man-eating ape and Batman! Adrienne joins us to talk about iconic roles, larger than life co-stars (like Rodney and Reynolds) and how at 80, she's doing everything BUT riding into the sunset. At 19, she moved to New York City with a clear promise to herself: She would give theater her absolute all and settle for her backup plan, if need be, only at age 25. By then she was starring on Broadway as Hodel in Fiddler On The Roof with costar Bette Midler as Tzeitel. Adrienne shares firsthand stories from the birth of Grease (MUCH edgier at its inception), where she originated the role of Rizzo. She recalls the electric audience response during previews, and how, fueled by that enthusiasm, producers pushed forward despite harsh critical reviews.  From there, Adrienne was discovered by Norman Lear and offered the part of Maude’s daughter Carol in the first All In The Family Spinoff.  She found Bea Arthur to be an artist who exemplified collaborative grace,  always putting the show ahead of any individual performance. Adrienne opens up about her curious relationship with Burt Reynolds… in fact, a psychic saw her dating a man who was laying on a bearskin, even before she had met him or he had done that! She then shares stories from the chaotic set of  Cannonball Run, where she was trying to take the work seriously while many cast-mates were mostly taking alcohol.  We talk about her collaborations with John Carpenter and George A. Romero. We delve into Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (which turns out to have surprising literary roots in Heart of Darkness). We play a sizzling round of IMDB Roulette and hear about Adrienne's latest project, the short film Oddities. The episode closes on a meaningful note as we say goodbye to Fritz in his final episode as co-host, and welcome Lisa Arch, who will be joining Weezy for our next episode. In current media-- Weezy: Song Sung Blue, in theaters and streaming Fritz: Marty Supreme, in theaters and streaming Path Points of Interest: Adrienne Barbeau [https://abarbeau.com] There Are Worse Things I Could Do by Adrienne Barbeau [https://www.amazon.com/There-Are-Worse-Things-Could-ebook/dp/B073452ZY5/] Adrienne Barbeau on Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Barbeau] Adrienne Barbeau on IMDB [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000105/] Adrienne Barbeau on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/adrienne_barbeau/?hl=en] Adrienne Barbeau on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/4abarbeau/] Oddities [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35657158/] Adrienne Barbeau Amazon Author Page [https://www.amazon.com/stores/Adrienne-Barbeau/author/B001IU0P0Q?ccs_id=b6060b51-a8a4-4719-9d39-9b2acd1f7ff5] Song Sung Blue [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30343021/] Marty Supreme [https://a24films.com/films/marty-supreme]