ARIZONA BLACK MARIA Original Airdate: October 9, 1960 Synopsis. While camping in the Arizona desert, Bart finds himself the target of a determined Indian named Redfeather, who needs to collect one scalp in order to be named chief. Two gunmen rescue Maverick in the nick of time, but they steal his water as payment and leave him to die of thirst.

THE ASSASSIN Original Air Date: Oct. 9, 1966 Synopsis. The Bureau learns that Anton Christopher, an American expatriate who is also a notorious Communist operative, has been hired to assassinate Bishop John Atwood, a missionary and envoy who is attempting to broker peace talks between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Erskine must prevent the killing, but faces two challenges: (1) Because Christopher has never been photographed or printed, he literally could be anyone, and (2) Atwood refuses to believe that he is in danger and insists on delivering an important speech at Soldiers Field in Chicago.

THE FRANKLIN PAPERS Original Air Date: Oct. 8, 1972 Synopsis. Latent fingerprints found in a getaway vehicle put Erskine and Colby on the trail of Alice Hobbs, a notorious interstate grifter and convicted forger who also suffers from a heart condition. After fleecing an Arizona rancher out of an $85,000 jewelry collection, Alice wants to lay low and rest for a while, but her partner in crime, convicted forger Harry Cando, prods her into pulling off one last con—this time involving a set of letters and drawings dated 1776 that were allegedly written by Benjamin Franklin.

BLOOD VERDICT Original Air Date: Oct. 8, 1967 Synopsis. In Cougar City, Oregon, Erskine poses as a newspaper reporter while investigating the death of a jury member on the night before the start of the trial of a man accused of murdering a federal game warden. LEARN MORE about this episode in THE FBI DOSSIER, everything you wanted to know—and more— about the long-running ABC-TV series produced by Quinn Martin and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. THE FBI DOSSIER is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

THE GOLDEN FLEECING Original Airdate: October 8, 1961 Synopsis. Bart enters the stock market when he oversees the investment of a mining company owned by the Albrights, a family of Quakers who rescued Maverick from drowning in the Sacramento River. Maverick must then protect the Albrights’ interests when a greedy industrialist and his equally covetous daughter plot to take over the company…

THE FAMILY HOUR Original Air Date: October 8, 1976 Synopsis. Jim and Rocky’s fishing trip to Baja is interrupted when they discover nine-year-old Marin Rose Gaily sitting outside Jim’s trailer. While Rocky takes care of Marin, Jim searches for her father Stu, a convicted drug smuggler on the run from Al Jollett, a crooked DEA agent. Although Jollett claims that Stu stole $100,000 in government front money, Rockford discovers Jollett had been using Stu and another convict named Marty Goss to plant evidence for a series of drug busts that Jollett had rigged to pad his arrest record.

BREAK-IN Original Air Date: Oct. 7, 1973 Synopsis. Latent fingerprints found on an abandoned prison truck put Erskine in pursuit of Harlan Slade, a convicted burglar who assaulted a federal prison guard after breaking out of the state pen. The investigation takes the inspector to Witchita, Kansas, where Slade plots the biggest score of his career: an elaborate bank robbery in the upscale suburb of Scottsdale, Arizona that could net him more than three million dollars.

Podcast Episode · TV Confidential with Ed Robertson · 10/06/2025 · 7m

Howard Smith, author of My Friend Johnny Original Airdates: Oct. 3-6, 2025 TVC 708.6: Ed welcomes Howard Smith, a retired tech mogul who not only found himself living four doors down the street from Johnny Carson in 1985, but became tennis buddies and, later, best friends with the legendary King of Late Night for the next twenty years.

TV Confidential Remembers Robert Redford Original Airdates: Oct. 3-6, 2025 TVC 708.5: TV Confidential pays tribute to Academy Award winner Robert Redford by playing highlights from conservations we’ve had with actors who either co-starred with Redford or were directed by him, including Hank Garrett (Three Days of the Condor), Basil Hoffman (The Electric Horseman, Ordinary People, All the President’s Men, The Milagro Beanfield War…

First World Series Game Telecast in Color Original Airdates: Oct. 3-6, 2025 TVC 708.2: From October 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed look back to Game 1 of the 1955 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, the first time that a World Series game was broadcast in color. Mel Allen and Vin Scully covered the game for NBC.

How TV Covered the Death of Rock Hudson Original Airdates: Oct. 3-6, 2024 TVC 708.4: From October 2015: Tony, Donna, and Ed look back at how the print and television media covered the death of Rock Hudson. The legendary actor and screen heartthrob died from complications on Oct. 2, 1985.

ACCORDING TO HOYLE Original Airdate: October 6, 1957 Synopsis. Bret loses more than $17,000 playing poker with Samantha Crawford, a con artist employed by George Cross—who once lost $50,000 to Maverick and is determined to get it back. Samantha claims that Cross is her father and that he needs to recover the money in order to get out of jail.

THE QUARRY Original Air Date: Oct. 6, 1968 Synopsis. In the town of San Sebastian, California, numbers runner Mike Riley finds himself pursued by both mob boss Frank Williams, who wants him dead for failing to deliver betting slips for his gambling operation, and Inspector Erskine, who wants Riley alive so that he can help the Bureau build its case against Williams.

THE JERSEY BOUNCE Original Air Date: October 6, 1978 Synopsis. Rocky and his neighbors have been harassed by Eugene Conigliaro and Mickey Long, a pair of lowbrow hustlers who are anxious to ingratiate themselves with mob boss Artie Nodzak. Conigliaro and Long intimidate the community with their wild parties, loud music, and overt drug dealings. Jim intercedes on behalf of his father and nearly gets into a fight with Conigliaro.

00:07:16 - We're been away for a few days, but we'll have a brand new edition of TV Confidential ready for you later this week. In the meantime, please enjoy t…

BOOMERANG Original Air Date: Oct. 5, 1969 Synopsis. In El Paso, Texas, Terry Shelton (played by Jeff Bridges) fakes his own kidnapping and arranges for his girlfriend, Melinda Collier (played by Brooke Bundy), to mail a letter to his father (Carl Betz) demanding a ransom of $200,000. What Terry doesn’t realize: Melinda has plotted with another man to abduct young Shelton for real.

ALIAS BART MAVERICK Original Airdate: October 5, 1958 Synopsis. Outside Crescent City, Bart encounters Gentleman Jack Darby (played by Richard Long), a fugitive wanted for embezzlement by the Missouri Surety Company. Although innocent of that charge (a dishonest bank clerk stole the money), Darby is no angel―in order to collect the $1,000 reward money, Darby convinces the Crescent City sheriff that Bart really is Gentleman Jack.

ESCAPE TO TERROR Original Air Date: Oct. 4, 1970 Synopsis. James Olson stars as George Breen, a certified public accountant with connections to La Cosa Nostra. Breen flees on the eve of his trial on charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. Needing Breen's testimony to establish evidence of mob infiltration in legitimate businesses in Reno, Nevada, Erskine and Colby must find the fugitive accountant before the mob does.

EXIT PRENTISS CARR Original Air Date: October 4, 1974 Synopsis. Rockford’s old flame Janet Carr hires him to tail her philandering husband Prentiss. Rockford locates Prentiss at the Bay City Motel, but he finds the man dead—an apparent murder victim. Though Rockford reports the matter to the authorities, he does not tell them that he’s already investigated the scene of the crime (a fact that could implicate Jim and his client to Prentiss’ death).

GEARJAMMERS! (Conclusion) Original Air Date: October 3, 1975 Synopsis. Rocky’s life becomes endangered after he inadvertently witnesses an illegal business transaction between his trucker friend Johnny LoSalvo and LoSalvo’s ruthless boss Hammel, who has plotted to hijack six of his own trucks as part of a master plan to steal an incoming cargo of valuable sable furs. Although Rocky has no idea what’s going on, Hammel wants the old man eliminated simply because Rocky can identify him.

YOU CAN'T BEAT THE PERCENTAGE Original Airdate: October 4, 1959 Synopsis. Bart arrives in the town of Arroyo after receiving a letter Myra (played by Karen Steele), a saloon girl whom he met long ago in Missouri. Myra tells Bart that she plans to buy the saloon from Dave Wendell (Gerald Mohr) and that she needs Bart as a business partner.

THE DEADLY GIFT Original Air Date: Oct. 3, 1971 Synopsis. Erskine must locate and apprehend Carl Ridley (played by Fritz Weaver), a convicted forger whose long list of priors includes interstate check violations.LEARN MORE about this episode in THE FBI DOSSIER, everything you wanted to know—and more— about the long-running ABC-TV series produced by Quinn Martin and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. THE FBI DOSSIER is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.

00:08:13 - Paul Myers, author of John Candy: A Life in Comedy, talks to Ed about the famous "I like me" speech that John Candy delivered as Del Griffith in Pl…

A MOUTHFUL OF DUST Original Air Date: Oct. 3, 1965 Synopsis. Alejandro Rey stars as Joe Cloud, an Apache Indian who served under Erskine during the Korean War. Cloud turns to the inspector for help when he finds himself accused of killing a man on an Arizona reservation.LEARN MORE about this episode in THE FBI DOSSIER, everything you wanted to know—and more— about the long-running ABC-TV series produced by Quinn Martin and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. THE FBI DOSSIER is available through Black Pawn Press, Amazon.com, and wherever books are sold online.