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Going Dutch is a comedy series created by Joel Church-Cooper. The Fox series follows Colonel Patrick Quinn, an arrogant and narcissistic man who is reassigned to the “least important Army base in the world” after an offensive rant. When he gets there, he discovers that his estranged daughter is already there. Going Dutch stars Denis Leary, Taylor Misiak, Danny Pudi, Lacy Mosley, and Hal Cumpston. So, if you loved the military humor, hilarious comedy, and compelling characters in Going Dutch, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Enlisted (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Fox

Enlisted is a military fiction comedy series created by Kevin Biegel. The Fox series revolves around three brothers who are soldiers in the US Army as they serve their nation by taking care of those who are left behind after the soldiers deploy.

The TV shows based on World War II offered a variety of genres, from light-hearted sitcoms to intense dramas, captivating audiences worldwide. McHale's Navy, Catch-22, Hogan's Heroes - each unique in its portrayal of the war, resonated with viewers and left lasting impacts on television history. The Man in the High Castle, Das Boot, Band of Brothers - these powerful series provided alternate perspectives on WWII, shedding light on untold stories.

The Second World War was one of the most significant conflicts that the world has ever seen and has been depicted on screen countless times in many acclaimed television series. With so many different countries caught up in this global conflict that involved all the great powers of the world, World War II has acted as the setting for dramas, sitcoms, and even alternative histories that represented the themes and ideas that war conjured up. A devastating conflict full of unspeakable tragedy,...

Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the most universally acclaimed film in the Dark Knight’s legendary cinematic history when the newly-remastered animated movie Batman: Mask of the Phantasm comes to 4K Ultra HD for the very first time on September 12, 2023, Bloody Disgusting has learned.

The release will also include an all-new featurette Kevin Conroy: I Am The Knight, which takes a look at the legacy of Kevin Conroy, who voiced Batman for 30 years in film, television, video games and more.

Rooted in DC’s acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series and released theatrically on Christmas Day 1993, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm has not only been ranked by Time magazine as one of the 10 best Super Hero movies ever, but is also arguably the core fans’ all-time favorite Batman film. The movie has been rated at the top of the Dark Knight film franchise by such popular entertainment media as Empire,...

Raquel Welch, the almond-eyed sex symbol who turned a doeskin bikini into one of the most iconic cinematic images of the 1960s, has died. She was 82.

Welch’s management company told The Hollywood Reporter that she died Wednesday morning following a brief illness. Her son, Damon Welch, confirmed that she died Wednesday at her home in Los Angeles.

Her success in Hollywood was due partly to talent, partly to perseverance, but mostly to hitting the genetic jackpot. Although she turned in several respectable performances — as a scientist’s assistant in Fantastic Voyage (1966), as Lilian Lust in Bedazzled (1967), as a transgender revolutionary in Myra Breckinridge (1970) — it was her strikingly photogenic features and voluptuous figure that catapulted her to international stardom.

“The indelible image of a woman as queen of nature,” is how cultural critic Camille Paglia once described Welch’s onscreen appeal. The actress herself put it more succinctly. “I became,...

Legendary actress and iconic 1960s sex symbol Raquel Welch has died at the age of 82.

Welch’s family tells TMZ that the Golden Globe winner died following a brief, undisclosed illness.

Her TV career kicked off in the mid-1960s with guest spots on shows such as The Virginian, McHale’s Navy and Bewitched. That led to one of her first film roles,...

Yoshio Yoda, who portrayed Fuji Kobiaji, the lovable Japanese prisoner of war who becomes a valued member of the Pt-73 crew led by Ernest Borgnine on the 1960s ABC comedy McHale’s Navy, died Jan. 13 in Fullerton, California, it was announced. He was 88.

Yoda appeared on every one of the 138 episodes of McHale’s Navy during the Universal Television show’s 1962-66 run, plus two movies.

His character deserted from the Imperial Japanese Navy and becomes a Seaman 3rd Class, gladly “serving time” cooking and working for Borgnine’s Lt. Commander Quinton McHale and his crew on the fictional Pacific island base of Taratupa.

Fuji’s presence and identity is meant to be kept a secret from Joe Flynn’s Captain Binghamton, so whenever the boss arrives unannounced, he’s told to “head for the hills!” in a popular running gag.

Born in Tokyo on March 31, 1934, Yoda was studying law at Keio University...

Throughout 2021, we have been updating our “In Memoriam” photo gallery (view above). Scroll through to remember 33 entertainers from film, television, theater and music. Many were winners at the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and/or Tonys. Here is a closer look at just a few of those we celebrate in our gallery:

Legendary composer Stephen Sondheim died on November 26 at age 91. He was a seven-time Tony Award winner for “Company,” “Follies,” “A Little Night Music,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Into the Woods” and “Passion.” He received a lifetime achievement Tony in 2008. He was an Oscar winner for “Dick Tracy” and a seven-time Grammy winner. Other well-known shows were “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “Pacific Overtures,” Merrily We Roll Along,” “Sunday in the Park with George” and “Assassins” plus “West Side Story” and “Gypsy” as a lyricist. He was also a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Kennedy Center Honors.

“The Addams Family,” the big-screen adaptation of Charles Addams’ comic stories of an aristocratic family with a taste for the macabre, became a box office sensation when it opened in theaters in 1991. The film, which had built-in interest thanks to the popularity of the 1960s television show that was also spawned by Addams’ cartoons, defied the odds to become one of the year’s biggest commercial hits.

A lot of things could have gone wrong or proved fatal before it got to that point. Orion, the studio that had greenlighted the picture and entrusted first-time filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld to strike the right darkly silly tone, went bankrupt, and Paramount, which bought the project from the failing studio, had its own internal power shift. Plus, the track record of turning TV properties into watchable films is spotty at best. For every “The Fugitive” or “Mission: Impossible,” there are scores of duds like “Baywatch,...

Actress Jean Hale Coleman, who had over 60 appearances in films and on TV staples of the ’60s and ’70s, passed away on August 3 in Santa Monica, according to family. She was 82.

For decades, Hale worked steadily on some of network TV’s biggest series including Bonanza, Hawaii Five-o, McHale’s Navy, My Favorite Martian, The Perry Mason Show, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Hogan’s Heroes, Cannon, The Wild Wild West and many others.

She also memorably played the Mad Hatter’s fetching paramour Polly, the hatcheck girl, in two episodes of the ABC’s iconic Batman series starring Adam West.

Hale was born December 27, 1938 in Salt Lake City to Doris Norrell and Stanton G. Hale. Her father was a major corporate leader of Mormon heritage and her great grandfather, Soloman Hale, owned a ranch with Brigham Young. She was raised in Darien, Connecticut.

Hale was educated...

Joel Rapp, who had writing or co-writing credits on 16 feature films and more than 250 classic sitcoms, died Wednesday at home. He was 87 and no cause of death was given by his family.

Born on May 22, 1934 in New York City, Rapp grew up Beverly Hills in a family considered part of Hollywood royalty. His father, Philip Rapp, created radio series The Bickersons and Baby Snooks. His godmother was actress and singer Fanny Brice, and his godfather was actor-singer Eddie Cantor.

Joel Rapp went on to work with director Roger Corman on many films and wrote for such television hits as Gilligan’s Island, The Lucy Show, McHale’s Navy, My Favorite Martian, The Patty Duke Show, The Joey Bishop Show and The Donna Reed Show.

Later, he became VP Comedy Development at Universal Pictures. But in a departure, he left that position in 1969 to pursue two different passions: indoor gardening and cooking.

Jane Powell...

Joel Rapp, who wrote for sitcoms including The Donna Reed Show, McHale’s Navy and Gilligan’s Island, died Wednesday in his Beverly Hills home, a publicist announced. He was 87.

In collaboration with Roger Corman, Rapp directed the features High School Big Shot (1959) and Battle of Blood Island (1960) and produced the Fabian-starring The Wild Racers (1968). He also worked in comedy development in the ’60s as a vice president for Universal Pictures.

Known as “Mr. Mother Earth, Plant Man to the Stars,” Rapp spent 11 years with Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford as the gardener on their morning TV ...

Gavin MacLeod was a versatile and dependable actor who was a good friend to his co-stars during the seven-season run of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” Ed Asner told Variety in paying tribute to the TV veteran who died Saturday at the age of 90.

MacLeod was an ally to his co-stars in any scene, recalled Asner, who played the voluble Wjm-tv news director Lou Grant on the groundbreaking comedy that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977.

“He made everything easy,” Asner said.

Off the set, MacLeod was also generous. In the years after the “Mary Tyler Moore Show,” Asner and his wife were having marital troubles. MacLeod and his wife, actor Patti Kendig, made a point of reaching out to the couple out of friendship and concern.

“I realized that whenever I was tense, (MacLeod) was there to relieve it,” Asner recalled. “I treasured his friendship.”

MacLeod himself was a lot...

Gavin MacLeod, who was the Love Boat captain and played Murray on the Mary Tyler Moore Show, two of the top television shows of the 1970s and 1980s, died today at his home in Palm Desert, Calif. MacLeod was 90 and his death was confirmed by his nephew, Mark See.

No cause of death was revealed, but MacLeod had been in ill health over the last few months.

The affable actor played head writer Murray Slaughter on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and appeared in all 168 episodes over seven years, ending in 1977. He then pulled off a rarity, moving from one long-running hit show to another.

As Captain Stubing on The Love Boat, he appeared in 249 episodes, and later returned in the role for the TV movie The Love Boat: A Valentine Voyage in 1990 and for the “Reunion” episode of the rebooted series Love Boat: The Next Wave in 1998.

MacLeod was...

Veteran actor Gavin MacLeod, who starred in lead roles in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Love Boat, has passed away. He was 90.

MacLeod died early Saturday morning in the company of his loved ones and caretakers, his nephew Mark See told TMZ. The actor had been in and out of the hospital for months with varying illnesses, but an official cause of death has not been reported.

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Gavin MacLeod, a sitcom veteran who played seaman “Happy” Haines on “McHale’s Navy,” Murray on “Mary Tyler Moore” and the very different, vaguely patrician Captain Stubing on “The Love Boat,” has died. He was 90.

MacLeod’s nephew, Mark See, confirmed his death to Variety. MacLeod died in the early morning on May 29. No cause of death was given, but MacLeod’s health had declined in recent months.

MacLeod played a relatively minor character on ABC hit “McHale’s Navy,” starring Ernest Borgnine, but as newswriter Murray Slaughter, he was certainly one of the stars of “Mary Tyler Moore,” appearing in every one of the classic comedy’s 168 episodes during its 1970-77 run on CBS. Murray was married to Marie (Joyce Bulifant) but was in love with Moore’s Mary Richards. His desk was right next to Mary’s in the Wjm newsroom, so MacLeod was frequently in the shot during the sitcom,...

Gavin MacLeod, the good-guy actor who played news writer Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat, has died. He was 90.

MacLeod, a familiar presence in America’s living rooms from 1970 until 1987 thanks to those high-rated shows, died Saturday in his Palm Desert home, relatives said.

Evidently quite comfortable at sea, MacLeod also played Seaman Joseph “Happy” Haines on the 1960s ABC sitcom McHale’s Navy (though he was miserable on that show) and was a supporting player on two notable nautical-themed films — Operation Petticoat (1959), with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis, and Robert Wise’s ...

Gavin MacLeod, the good-guy actor who played news writer Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat, has died. He was 90.

MacLeod, a familiar presence in America’s living rooms from 1970 until 1987 thanks to those high-rated shows, died Saturday in his Palm Desert home, relatives said.

Evidently quite comfortable at sea, MacLeod also played Seaman Joseph “Happy” Haines on the 1960s ABC sitcom McHale’s Navy (though he was miserable on that show) and was a supporting player on two notable nautical-themed films — Operation Petticoat (1959), with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis, and Robert Wise’s ...

Ramin Bahrani, Oscar-nominated writer/director of The White Tiger, discusses a few of his favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The White Tiger (2021)

Man Push Cart (2005)

Chop Shop (2007)

99 Homes (2015)

The Boys From Fengkuei (1983)

The Time To Live And The Time To Die (1985)

The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (1976)

Bicycle Thieves (1948)

La Terra Trema (1948)

Umberto D (1952)

Where Is The Friend’s Home? (1987)

Nomadland (2020)

The Runner (1984)

Bashu, the Little Stranger (1989)

A Moment Of Innocence a.k.a. Bread And Flower Pot (1996)

The House Is Black (1963)

The Conversation (1974)

Mean Streets (1973)

Nashville (1975)

Aguirre, The Wrath Of God (1972)

The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser (1974)

Paris, Texas (1984)

Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

Vagabond (1985)

Luzzu (2021)

Bait (2019)

Sweet Sixteen (2002)

Abigail’s Party (1977)

Meantime (1983)

Fish Tank (2009)

Do The Right Thing (1989)

Malcolm X (1992)

Nothing But A Man (1964)

Goodbye Solo (2008)

The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973)

Dekalog (1989)

The Double Life Of Veronique...

In the very earliest days of television in the 1940s and early 1950s, our country was still reeling from World War II. As time has marched on, we have waged wars in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East. Throughout these years, our small screens have brought us many different types of military men and women who have represented the heroes of these and other battles.

One of the earliest successful television series was the Emmy-winning sitcom “You’ll Never Get Rich,” later retitled “The Phil Silvers Show,” which brought us the iconic Sgt. Bilko. Other successful comedies have followed, including “McHale’s Navy,” “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.,” “Major Dad” and the most successful and longest-running “M*A*S*H,” which gifted us a number of memorable characters from the 4077th.

SEEAlan Alda Interview: ‘Marriage Story’

Military series offered one of television’s first ventures into the action genre, with shows such as “The Rat Patrol.

In the very earliest days of television in the 1940s and early 1950s, our country was still reeling from World War II. As time has marched on, we have waged wars in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East. Throughout these years, our small screens have brought us many different types of military men and women who have represented the heroes of these and other battles.

One of the earliest successful television series was the Emmy-winning sitcom “You’ll Never Get Rich,” later retitled “The Phil Silvers Show,” which brought us the iconic Sgt. Bilko. Other successful comedies have followed, including “McHale’s Navy,” “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.,” “Major Dad” and the most successful and longest-running “M*A*S*H,” which gifted us a number of memorable characters from the 4077th.

Military series offered one of television’s first ventures into the action genre, with shows such as “The Rat Patrol.” A few years later,...

Ernest Borgnine would’ve celebrated his 103rd birthday on January 24, 2020. The Oscar-winning actor kept working up until his death in 2012 at the age of 95, racking up over 200 credits across film and television. But how many of those titles are classics? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 12 of Borgnine’s greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1917, Borgnine turned to acting after a stint in the Navy. Though he was often cast as a supporting player, he is perhaps best remembered for his leading role in “Marty” (1955), a small-scale drama about a middle-aged butcher who finds romance with a spinster school teacher (Betsy Blair). Shot on a modest budget in just 16 days, the film was a box office smash, winning four Oscars including Best Actor for Borgnine, Best Picture, Best Director for Delbert Mann, and Best Screenplay for Paddy Chayefsky (who adapted the script...

Tony Sokol May 14, 2019

Tim Conway's approach to comedy was so off-kilter his Carol Burnett Show acting partners couldn't keep straight faces.

It always appeared there were two jokes going on when Tim Conway took a turn on stage on The Carol Burnett Show. He was acting for the audience, but he was also trying to break up his co-performers. This gave the audience a view into an inside joke being tossed around by the troupe, and sometimes it looked like he was pulling a gag on his fellow performers. Tim Conway had a genius for making almost every line appear to be off-script and improvised. The quintessential in-the-moment comic performer died at 8:45 a.m. on May 14, in the Los Angeles area, according to Variety.

Conway was first noticed as Ernest Borgnine's sidekick on the 1960s sitcom McHale's Navy, an honor he continued when the pair reunited for SpongeBob SquarePants,...

Tim Conway, a legend of American comedy, has passed away at age 85. Conway soared to fame as the bungling Ensign Parker on the hit 1960s TV series "McHale's Navy". He later enjoyed great success as a regular player on Carol Burnett's variety show series. Conway also appeared in numerous feature films including Disney's "Apple Dumpling Gang" films. His final years were marred by serious health issues and family strife regarding who would represent his interests. For more, click here.

Tim Conway, the five-time Emmy winner who reveled in cracking up straight man Harvey Korman on The Carol Burnett Show and flummoxed Ernest Borgnine on McHale’s Navy, died today in Los Angeles. He was 85. He had been rendered mute since undergoing brain surgery last year.

More To Come…...

Tim Conway, the Emmy-winning comedian and actor who memorably starred in “McHale’s Navy” in the 1960s and “The Carol Burnett Show” in the ’70s, has died. He was 85.

Conway died around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday morning at a Los Angeles-area hospital after dealing with complications from Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, according to family representative Howard Bragman.

The comedian, who also voiced Barnacle Boy on the animated hit “SpongeBob SquarePants,” won two of his six Emmys for guest appearances on the ’90s sitcom “Coach” and a second season episode of “30 Rock” in 2008.

Also Read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2018 (Photos)

But he is best remembered for his outrageous work on “The Carol Burnett Show,” including characters such as the Oldest Man and Mr. Tudball, a badly toupéed businessman who becomes increasingly frustrated by Burnett’s dimwitted secretary Mrs. Wiggins.

Conway earned four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his performance...

Tim Conway is battling dementia.

The 84-year-old Carol Burnett Show star’s daughter Kelly is asking to be appointed conservator of her father and be in charge of his medical treatments, according to court documents obtained by People and first reported by The Blast.

Kelly, 56, filed the documents in Los Angeles on Friday, claiming Conway’s wife Charlene is “planning to move him out of the excellent skilled nursing facility he is currently at” and place him in one that won’t give him access to “registered nurses at all times and his 24-hour caregiver and speech therapist (to help...

Former child actor Teddy Rooney has died. He was 66. Rooney's sister, Kelly, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that her brother died on Saturday in a convalescent home in Southern California after a long illness. Teddy was one of late actor Mickey Rooney's nine children. His mother was model and actress Martha Vickers, who was married to Mickey from 1949 - 1951 as his third of eight wives. Rooney acted alongside his mother on an episode of Playhouse 90 in 1957. In addition, he was featured in his father's film Andy Hardy Comes Home in 1958 and General Electric Theater in 1960. Among Rooney's most...

Actress Yvonne Craig, best known for her role as Batgirl in the 60s Batman TV series, died this past Monday at age 78 from cancer. She originally trained to be a ballet dancer before finding success in TV shows like The Man From U.N.C.L.E, McHale's Navy, and of course, Batman. That, coupled with her later role on Star Trek as the infamous green slave girl who wanted to kill Captain Kirk, permanently etched her in... Read More...

Bob Hastings, known to McHale's Navy fans as Lt. Elroy Carpenter, died Monday, June 30, of prostate cancer. He was 89. His granddaughter Allison Knowles confirmed his death to the Associated Press on July 2, noting that he was at home in Burbank, Calif., at the time of his passing. Hastings' role in the 1960s sitcom McHale's Navy was his most famous, but he also appeared on Dennis The Menace, The Munsters, Green Acres, and All in the Family (as bar owner Kelsey). In the 1980s, he had [...]...

Beloved character actor Bob Hastings passed away yesterday at the age of 89. He died at his Burbank home from pancreatic cancer, his third fight with cancer in 15 years.

Robert "Bob" Francis Hastings, Sr. began his career in radio at the age of 11. Followng a stint in the Air Force, he became the voice of Archie Andrews on radio. He moved into television where he appeared on numerous shows and voiced many, many cartoon characters.

He was perhaps best known for playing Lieutenant Elroy Carpenter on McHale's Navy, bartender Tommy Kelsey in All in the Family, Superboy in the 1960s Superboy cartoons, and Comissioner Gordon in various Batman series and projects starting in the 1990s.

What do you think? Did you enjoy Bob Hastings' work? Have any favorite memories?...

Bob Hastings, who voiced Commissioner Gordon on Batman: The Animated Series, as well as Clark Kent and Superboy in The Superman/Batman Hour and Superboy in the 1960's, has passed away. According to The Burbank Leader, Hastings died of pancreatic cancer, which he had been battling for the last 15 years.  People like Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill get a lot of credit for voicing Batman and the Joker, respectively, but Hastings put his own iconic stamp on the character of Commissioner Gordon, which undoubtedly influenced the live action versions we've seen in various Batman films.  Hastings lent his voice to a variety of voicework for decades. His credits include Batman: The Mystery of the Batwoman, Batman: The Rise of Sin Tzu videogame, Static Shock, Gotham Girls, Jak and Daxter, The New Batman Adventures, Superman, Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Challenge of the SuperFriends, The Munsters,...

Stocky supporting actor who won an Oscar when he was cast against type as a lonely butcher in Marty

With his coarsely podgy features, bug eyes, gap-toothed grin and stocky build, Ernest Borgnine, who has died aged 95 of renal failure, seemed destined to remain one of nature's supporting actors in a string of sadistic and menacing parts. Instead he won an Oscar for a role which was the antithesis of all his previous characters.

In 1955, the producer Harold Hecht wanted to transfer Paddy Chayefsky's teleplay Marty to the big screen, with Rod Steiger in the title role, which he had created. But Steiger was filming Oklahoma! so was unavailable. Borgnine was offered the role after a female guest at a Hollywood reception quite disinterestedly remarked to Hecht that, ugly as he was, Borgnine possessed an oddly tender quality which made her yearn to mother him. "That," Hecht said later,...

Actor who won an Oscar for his role as Marty in the 1955 film of the same name had a 60-year career in film and television

Ernest Borgnine, the Italian-American actor who carved out a distinctive screen presence in a range of pugnacious character roles over a 60-year career, has died at the age of 95.

Borgnine won an Oscar for his role as Marty in the 1955 film of the same name, and was a star of the small screen during the 1960s as the scheming Navy officer in the comedy McHale's Navy. In the 80s, he came to the attention of a new generation of TV viewers as Dominic Santini in the hit series Airwolf.

In other roles, particularly during the earlier years of his career, his stocky build and bulldog appearance made him a natural choice to play the classic Hollywood 'heavy' and he was memorable as the sergeant who...

Ernest Borgnine has died at the age of 95. We look back over his career in clips

Borgnine's first screen credit was, somewhat improbably, as a Chinese gambling-den operator called Hu Chang in a studio thriller called China Corsair. After more bit parts as racketeers, heavies and gun-toting villains, Borgnine put himself on the map with the memorably-named nasty Fatso Judson in From Here to Eternity. The aggressive, loutish Judson, quick with a switchblade, is the guard sergeant in the stockade, where he eventually does for the mercurial Angelo Maggio (played by Frank Sinatra).

Borgnine progressed to a string of more visible henchman roles – in Johnny Guitar, Vera Cruz, The Bounty Hunter – but probably his best from this period is another fight-picking bruiser from Bad Day at Black Rock – "I'm half horse, half alligator. You mess with me and I'll kick a lung outta' ya'."

Bad Day at Black Rock was...

Ernest Borgnine, the rugged, stocky actor with a brassy voice and the face of the local butcher, died today in Los Angeles at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of renal failure. He was 95.

Borgnine was known for playing characters both brutal and gentle. On the brutal side was the cruel Sgt. "Fatso" Judson in From Here to Eternity, Coley Trimble, the right-hand goon in Bad Day at Black Rock, Dutch Engstrom, in the enduring classic The Wild Bunch and Shack, the train bull after Lee Marvin in Emperor of the North. On the gentle side he was known as the love-lorn Marty in the 1955 film of the same name (for which he earned an Oscar for Best Actor), Lt. Commander Quinton McHale from "McHale's Navy," Rogo, the cop with the prostitute-wife in The Poseidon Adventure and, to a whole new generation, as the voice of the starfish-donning, geriatric Mermaid Man on "SpongeBob SquarePants."

A first generation American Ernest Borgnine was born Ermes Effron Borgnino on January 24, 1917, in Hamden, Connecticut. His father was Camillo (later Charles) Borgnino of Ottiglio, in northern Italy and his mother was Anna Bosselli, from Capri, Italy.

Borgnine showed no real interest in acting until well after a ten-year stint in the Navy. He was 32 when his mother suggested that he become an actor, observing "you like to make a fool of yourself in front of other people" so Ernie enrolled in the Randall School of Drama in Hartford and then moved to Abingdon, Virginia for Robert Porterfield's famous Barter Theatre.

Times were lean for Borgnine. He had married for the first time and moved from the Barter to New York, quickly getting noticed for his role as a male nurse in a Broadway production of "Harvey" but he soon moved back to the Barter school again. He then returned to New York but the nascent medium of television, not the stage, sustained him for a while. Borgnine prided himself on not being picky. His original TV work included a stint in the action serial "Captain Video and His Video Rangers." He was noticed by Delbert Mann, himself a budding director, who encouraged Borgnine and gave him small roles.

Borgnine's true break came when he moved to Los Angeles and landed the role of Sergeant "Fatso" Judson in Eternity, a smash hit that, in addition to launching Borgnine's helped reinvigorate numerous careers including Frank Sinatra's and Deborah Kerr's. He played the bad guy again, though one of the goons this time, in Johnny Guitar. Borgnine then parlayed his new-found notoriety with the lead in a screenplay written by Paddy Chayefsky, that of Marty, in the film of the same name, slated to be directed by his mentor, Delbert Mann. The story was about an underdog named Marty, a self-avowed ugly man, who has to evolve beyond his dedication to his overbearing mother and his bonds with his best friend, when he falls in love with Clara, a woman who is also unpopular and unattractive, played by Betsy Blair.

Marty was a surprise hit, was nominated for eight Oscars (including Best Picture and Best Director for Mann) and won four, including Borgnine's unexpected win over a very crowded field which included his co-star in Bad Day at Black Rock,Spencer Tracy, and a posthumous nod to James Dean (who had died the previous September in a car crash) for his role in East of Eden.

The Oscar helped keep the actor in the game and the next seven years included a mix of TV and film work including A Catered Affair, Jubal, The Vikings and various "Playhouse" appearances on the small screen.

1962 brought "McHale's Navy," with Borgnine assaying the role of Lt. Commander Quinton McHale, the put-upon chief of PT boat 73. The cast included Joe Flynn and Tim Conway (Conway would, 35 years later, team up again with Borgnine as the voice of Mermaid Man's sidekick, Barnacle Boy, on "SpongeBob SquarePants"). "McHale's" had a healthy following for four years.

Borgnine had a mid-life Renaissance in the late '60s and early '70s. He played a small but pivotal role in The Dirty Dozen, was Boris Vaslov in Ice Station Zebra and was Dutch Engstrom, the taciturn but decisive bandit throwing in with Sam Peckinpah's Wild Bunch. He also joined the capsized cast of The Poseidon Adventure, played Shack, the train bull in The Emperor of the North Pole and was the simple-minded but helpful Cabbie in Escape from New York.

Borgnine was married five times. His second marriage was to the fiery actress Katy Jurado. It began in 1959 but was over four years later. Reports differ on when he met his third wife, Ethel Merman. She claimed it was in November of 1963, the same month that he was finalizing his divorce to Jurado. He insisted it wasn't until the next spring. Regardless they were married on June 24th, the following year. It lasted less than a month. In her autobiography entitled "Merman," the actress intimated that Borgnine was abusive stating, "I just feel lucky to have been able to 'walk' away from the marriage." She devoted an entire chapter to their union, entitled "My Marriage to Ernest Borgnine"--it consisted of one blank page.

His last marriage, to Tova Traesnaes, lasted over 35 years and until his death. Borgnine had four children: Gina Kemins-Borgnine, the child from his first marriage to Rhoda Kemins, and three from his fourth wife, Donna Rancourt, named Diana Rancourt-Borgnine (born December 29th 1970), Sharon (born 1965) and Cristofer (born 1969). Oddly, in his autobiography, "Ernie" Bornine only acknowledged the first three children, dropping Diana out entirely.

A veteran character actor passes, Hugh Laurie's still unsure about the future of House, The Addams Family musical has been revamped, The Smurfs is ineligible for an Oscar, The Lone Ranger movie gets a True Blood bad guy, and notable dates in TV history.

Dan Frazer

The actor best known for playing Police Captain Frank McNeil in the Kojak TV series has died at the age of 90. He passed away in New York on December 16th from cardiac arrest. Frazer appeared on numerous TV shows since the 1950s, including McHale's Navy, The Untouchables, The Phil Silvers Show, My Favorite Martian, Barney Miller, and The Waltons. He appeared in three versions of Law & Order and recurred on As the World Turns as Lt. McCloskey from 1986-96. He played McNeil on Kojak for all five seasons and reprised the role for the 1983 reunion movie, Kojak: The...

Sam Denoff, the Emmy-winning writer who wrote for shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show, has died at the age of 83 in Los Angeles. He passed away on Friday from Alzheimer's disease at the age of 83.

With his writing partner Bill Persky, Denoff wrote for Steve Allen, Andy Williams, and McHale's Navy before being hired for The Dick Van Dyke Show. They worked on more than 70 episodes, including such classics as the one in which Rob thinks they brought home the wrong baby, when Laura accidentally tells the world that Alan Brady is bald, the Western dream episode, and the series finale.

Series creator Carl Reiner told the La Times, "When they came upon the scene, they saved my life... These two guys made my life possible after that."

Denoff and Persky went on to create several other...

Novelist, screenwriter and biographer whose subjects included his father, Groucho

Arthur Marx, who has died aged 89, grew up in the shadow of his father, Groucho, and was steeped in the controlled chaos of the Marx Brothers. Torn between trying to distance himself from a demanding father, yet also prove worthy of his genius, he enjoyed a long career as a writer of screen and stage comedies, novels and biographies. Not surprisingly, however, his most successful work capitalised on the public's interest in his father and his uncles, Chico, Harpo, Gummo and Zeppo.

Marx wrote several works about Groucho, the first of which, Life With Groucho (1954), published at the height of his father's television popularity, was a warts-and-all portrait punctuated by Groucho's own annotations. (Marx wrote that he would like to correct the impression that his father was a miser; Groucho's footnote read: "You'd better or I'll cut you off without a nickle.

The Writers Guild just announced that 4-time Emmy-winning TV comedy writer Allan Manings, a former Wgaw VP and Board of Directors member and co-creator of the long-running sitcom One Day At A Time, died of a heart attack last Wednesday in Beverly Hills after recently undergoing cancer surgery. He was 86. From McHale's Navy to Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, to Good Times, to One Day At A Time, Manings showed he could please all audiences. In 1997, he received the Wgaw’s prestigious Morgan Cox Award for longtime service to the Guild, presented to members “whose vital ideas, continuing efforts, and [...]...

Allan Manings, who created the CBS sitcom "One Day at a Time" with his late wife, actress Whitney Blake, died May 11 of a heart attack in Beverly Hills. He was 86.

Manings, who recently underwent surgery for esophageal cancer, died after going into cardiac arrest at his oncologist's office, his stepdaughter, actress Meredith Baxter, told the Los Angeles Times.

Manings also wrote for such shows as "Leave It to Beaver," "McHale's Navy," "Petticoat Junction," "Good Times" and "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In." He won an Emmy in 1968 for his work on the latter and received the WGA's Morgan Cox Award in 1997.

Manings and Blake created "One Day at a Time" for Norman Lear's company. The sitcom ran from 1975-84 and starred Bonnie Franklin as a divorced mom and Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips as her teenage daughters.

In addition to Baxter, Manings is survived by two stepsons, Richard and Brian Baxter; his sister,...

Emmy-nominated TV writer Myles Wilder has died at the age of 77.

The son of director W. Lee Wilder and nephew of Oscar-winning writer/director Billy Wilder passed away in Temecula, California on 20 April after a battle with digestive disease diverticulitis.

Wilder began his career by developing, writing and producing 1956 series The Adventures of Marco Polo, and went on to receive two Emmy nominations for his work on 1960s show McHale's Navy.

His other writing credits include U.S. TV classics The Dukes of Hazzard, Get Smart, The Brady Bunch, The Addams Family, Welcome Back, Kotter, and Diff'rent Strokes.

Wilder retired in 1989.

He is survived by his wife, a daughter and two grandchildren.

Bravo cordially invites you to a Skinnygirl wedding this summer.

"Bethenny Getting Married?" starring the "Real Housewives of New York City's" Bethenny Frankel will premiere on Thursday, June 10 at 10 p.m. Et/Pt.

On the new docu-series, natural foods chef/author and her fiancee Jason Hoppy will prep for their wedding, parenthood and moving in together.

Besides the happy couple, viewers will also get to know Bethenny's dog Cookie, assistant Julie Plake and intern Max Meisel.

In other TV news:

 - The Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato are back with "Camp Rock 2 The Final Jam," another Disney Channel musical movie that will premiere on Friday, Sept. 3 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt. In the sequel, the Camp Rockers have returned for a reunion, and Shane (Joe Jonas), fresh from a world tour with his band Connect 3, is picking up where he left off with last summer's crush Mitchie (Demi Lovato). Not...

Character actor Carl Ballantine ahas died at age 92. He was one of the comedy industry's favorite second bananas and was also acclaimed for his stand-up act in which he played a bumbling magician. Ballantine, who received a lifetime achievement award on behalf of the magic industry in 2007, continued to perform until last year. His film credits include The Shakiest Gun in the West, Speedway and Mr. Saturday Night. He was also known for his role as the con-man Gruber on the McHale's Navy TV series. For more click here...

Carl Ballantine, who performed feats of bumbling comic magic on Vaudeville and on television, the movies and in Las Vegas, died Tuesday of natural causes at his Hollywood home. He was 92.

Perhaps Ballantine's most famous role was as confident con artist and torpedoman Lester Gruber on 1962-66 ABC comedy "McHale's Navy."

Ballantine, born Meyer Kessler on Chicago's South Side, learned magic tricks at age 9 from his barber. By 13, he was performing and supporting his family.

One night, a trick went haywire and he threw out some funny lines to cover things. The audience loved it, the club owner told him to "keep it up" -- and the Amazing Ballantine was born.

Ballantine caught the end of Vaudeville and the early days of television. He played the Palace in New York City, the Hippodrome in Baltimore and many other huge venues of the day.

On TV, he did magic on the shows of Garry Moore,...

Actor Bob Hastings is a television veteran. Yet, you are more likely to know his voice than his face. He has worked in many genres and featured in several innovative radio and television science fiction shows. His career took in the earliest days of TV entertainment and playing a regular character in acclaimed superhero cartoons from the 1990s. But it all began with a song.

"I think it was about 1935 or the beginning of 1936," Hastings said. "A teacher heard me sing in school at an assembly and he thought I sang well enough that I should be on radio. So I started singing radio shows and from there... There was a newspaper called 'The Daily Mirror' and they had a children's show on Wmca in New York and I sang on that...for maybe a couple of years. Then I went over to NBC and that was before the networks...