TV Personalities – Now I've Heard Everything

Hulk Hogan: Behind the Persona in His Own Words

August 23, 2025Bill Thompson

Many people would say that when Hulk Hogan died last week he took a big piece of American culture with him.

Widely regarded as the world’s most recognized wrestling star, Hogan’s interest in wrestling blossomed when he was a teenager.

He first wrestled professionally in 1977 at age 24. But it was when he joined the World Wrestling Federation, then known as the WWF, that he became a star.

And it wasn’t just his proficiency as a wrestler that made him a star, it was his showmanship. Soon entire shows were built around Hulk.

And wouldn’t you know it, his showmanship also became a profession – Hulk Hogan became an actor.

But to those closest to him, Hulk Hogan was also Terry Bollea, the husband and family man.

In 2002 Hogan published his autobiography, a book called Hollywood Hulk Hogan. His publisher told me he was too busy for a traditional book tour, so I got a phone interview instead.

So here now, from 2002, Hulk Hogan.

Hulk Hogan passed away just days before his 72nd birthday.

Behind the Lens of Laughter: Peter Funt on “Candid Camera” and His Father’s Enduring Legacy

July 24, 2025Bill Thompson

Long before “Punk’d” or “America’s Funniest Home Videos” there was “Candid Camera.” The premise was simple and popular: catch ordinary folks in funny and unusual situations, benign practical jokes as it were.

The show’s creator was a genial, soft-spoken man named Allen Funt.

His son Peter began visiting the set of the show at a very early age. And when his father suffered a major stroke in the early 1990s, Peter Funt stepped in and assumed the leadership role, hosting “Candid Camera” for several more years.

Peter Funt is also a thoughtful and respected essayist and columnist. And in 2013 he published a collection of his essays, a book he called Cautiously Optimistic. He and I talked one day that spring about his essays, and about” “Candid Camera.”

So here now, from 2013, Peter Funt.

Peter Funt is 78 now. He lives in California, and still writes a weekly newspaper column and is a popular public speaker.

John Stossel: The Iconoclastic “Give Me a Break” Journalist

June 23, 2025Bill Thompson

John Stossel didn’t set out to be a TV news reporter. He kind of stumbled into it after college, When a friend got him an entry-level job at a TV station in Portland, Oregon.

After making his mark there, despite stage fright and a stutter, Stossel was hired away by WCBS-TV in New York where he further built his journalism reputation. Later he joined ABC News, where he co-anchored “20/20,” and
and after that Fox News.

And along the way he won 19 Emmys, not bad for a kid who hadn’t planned to be a journalist.

As an iconic reporter with a libertarian bent, Stossel’s signature phrase was “Give me a break!” You may remember his TV specials by that name.

So that’s what he also called his first book, published in 2004. I talked with them shortly after the book came out.

So here now, from 2004, John Stossel.

John Stossel is 78. He now runs Stossel TV.

Yyou May Not Be a Lawyer, But It Can Pay To Tthink Like One: TV’s Lis Iwehl

June 18, 2025Bill Thompson

Remember what Professor kingsfield said in the movie The Ppaper Chase?

Can thinking like a lawyer help you in everyday life and everyday situations

Well, thinking like a lawyer is precisely what noted trial attorney and cable TV legal analyst Lis Wiehl recommended in her 2004 debut book called Winning Every Time.

Trying to convince your boss to give you a raise? Having a disagreement with your spouse over whether to buy that expensive car? Trying to convince your teenager that it’s wise to stay in school?

All things can be accomplished if you use the skills of a lawyer, Wiehl says.

I had a chance to talk with her when her book came out in the summer of 2004.

So here now, from 2004 Lis Wiehl.

Lis Wiehl will be 64 later this summer. She lectures and regularly appears on TV and radio as a legal analyst.

Sports, Marriage & Parenthood: The Life of ESPN’s Mike Greenberg

May 14, 2025Bill Thompson

In the popular TV sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond” the character Ray Barone was a popular and very successful sports writer. But at home his wife thought he was an idiot.

Now let’s turn the channel back to real life. Mike Greenberg is a popular and very successful sportscaster on ESPN and ABC. But according to his 2006 book his wife thinks he’s an idiot.

Actually his book was called Why My Wife Thinks I’m An Idiot. It was his first book, and one of his most popular, Perhaps because it is not only about sports, buts about the challenges of being a spouse and a parent.

As one review at the time noted, Greenberg’s was a book about a man tryling to grow up before his children do.

We both had a great time doing this interview in the spring of 2006.

So here now, from 2006, Mike Greenberg.

Mike Greenberg will be 58 later this summer. You can hear him on his podcast #Greeny.

True Stories From A Living Legend: CBS’s Bob Schieffer

April 21, 2025Bill Thompson

From the JFK assassination to Vietnam to the Nixon White House, longtime CBS TV correspondent Bob Schieffer has covered it all.

During a broadcast career that has now spanned six decades Schieffer has helped write the book on modern electronic journalism.

Bob Schieffer started his career in his native Texas as a newspaper reporter – that’s how he found himself in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

And it was his newspaper that sent him to Vietnam – at his own request.

After joining CBS in 1969 Schieffer covered Congress, the State Department, the Pentagon, and ultimately the White House, winning virtually every major journalism award along the way.

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And Sunday morning TV viewers will remember him as the moderator of “Face the Nation,” a position he held for 24 years.

It was during his tenure on “Face the Nation” that Schieffer wrote a journalist’s memoir, a book he called This Just In.

So here now, from 2004, Bob Schieffer.

Bob Schieffer was named a “Living Legend“ by the Library of Congress in 2008. Today at age 88 Bob Schieffer is a fellow at Harvard.

A Lifetime of Sports Memories: TVs Warner Wolf

February 24, 2025Bill Thompson

TV sportscasters, just like the athletes they covered, come and go.

But a few established themselves as stars, remaining popular for years, even decades.

Meet televisions Warner Wolf. He actually started on the radio in 1961, before moving to TV in 1965 in his hometown Washington DC.

By 1976 he had moved on to New York City, were he further cemented his reputation as a sportscasting star.

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Along the way Warner Wolf popularized two catch phrases: “Gimme a break!” and “Let’s go to the videotape.”

Eventually Wolf wrote two books, each titled after one of those catchphrases. I met him in 2000 on publication of Let’s Go To The Videotape.

Be sure and stick around for his predictions, and see how many of them actually came true.

So here now, from 2000, Warner Wolf.

Warner wolf levt TV in 2016. He’s 87 now, and can be heard weekly on New York’s WOR radio.

TV-radio Fixture Charles Osgood, On How He Practiced His Unique Journalism

February 19, 2025Bill Thompson

Most journalists can craft a pretty good straight news story, in that classic inverted pyramid style. All the facts, expertly and objectively told.

But then there are other journalists, those who have a unique talent for taking that same set of facts but putting them into a context and a perspective with such nuance and grace that it almost becomes a whole new story.

One of the great practitioners in that second category was longtime CBS radio and television personality Charles Osgood.

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His special skill was taking the mundane and turning it into something sparkling, taking some ordinary government pronouncement and turning it into something you would tell your grandchildren about.

His daily feature on CBS radio was known as “Tile Osgood File.” In 1991 Osgood published a collection of some of his best work, in a book called, of course, The Osgood Files. That was when I first met him.

So here now, from 1991, Charles Osgood.

Charles Osgood died in 2024. He was 91.

A Longtime Broadcasters Secret to Happiness: Be Thankful

January 22, 2025Bill Thompson

Have you counted your blessings today?

If you haven’t, maybe you should. It might be good for your health.

So says longtime TV journalist Deborah Norville.

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Get your copy of Deborah Norville’s book

In 2007, the “Inside Edition” anchor wrote a book about gratitude, thankfulness, and how they can actually change not just your attitude, but your very health.

So here now, from 2007, Deborah Norville.

Deborah Norville is now 66.

In March she will mark 30 yeasras anchor of “Inside Edition.”

How Does A Woman Define Success? Answers From Dr. Joyce Brothers

January 15, 2025Bill Thompson

She was America’s first “pop psychologist.”. Dr. Joyce Brothers became instantly famous in 1955, as a 28-year-old, when she won the TV quiz show ‘’The $64,000 Question” by showing off her expertise in, of all things, boxing.

Over the next five decades, Dr. Brothers offered her advice via television appearances and a magazine column.

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She was the author of many books, including her1988 book called The Successful Woman, based on interviews she had done with dozens of some of the country’s most successful women.

And, among other things, her book sought to go beyond the Superwoman archetype, the modern woman who has it all. Or at least, seems to.

So here now, from 1988, Dr. Joyce Brothers.

Dr. Joyce Brothers died in 2013 at age 85.