This week, we continue our latest “round” of all-star listings for teams in the ATVN area in the Lehigh Valley by honoring the outstanding student-athletes in girls field hockey and in boys and girls soccer.

PLEASE NOTE: the Colonial League decided as an organization a few years ago to NOT identify individual standout performers for certain sports and no longer produce “all league” teams. That is the schools’ decision and therefore, that is why teams from that league are not represented below.

2021 EPC Boys Soccer All Stars 1st Team

2021 EPC Boys Soccer All Stars 2nd Team

2021 EPC Boys Soccer All Stars 3rd Team

2021 EPC Girls Soccer All Stars 1st Team

2021 EPC Girls Soccer All Stars 2nd Team

2021 EPC Girls Soccer All Stars 3rd Team

We welcome anyone to share more postseason accolades and accomplishments to us to share here at The Shop and on our “SportsTalk” program on ATVN. Please email those honors to me.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Before we continue our latest “round” of all-star listings for teams in the ATVN area in the Lehigh Valley, just a quick word for our high school sports fans about the past week of sports programming, as I have gotten quite a few inquiries about our schedule last week.
As our audience knows COVID-19 has affected all aspects of life, and our winter schedule has not been immune. ATVN has a commitment to Lafayette College to broadcast a specific number of events. A number of previously scheduled games from November and December were moved to January, only to have many of them postponed again for a later date.
Several of those postponed events were all made up last week, with five Leopards’ games in six days. As a result, we only had three scholastic events, but all were good ones!
On Tuesday, we featured the high-flying Hawks from Bethlehem Catholic–they haven’t lost a league game since December–played their city rivals from Liberty, who had scored a few exciting upset wins this year.
On Friday, we had two of the top District XI 6A schools in the area. Parkland, a team that just knocked off the state champions from Central Catholic, took on the biggest positive surprise team in our coverage area this winter, Emmaus, on Friday night.
On Saturday, we featured the top wrestlers in the nation as ATVN brought you the District XI 3A Wrestling Team Championships.
It was a hectic week of sports programming–one we hoped you enjoyed (and Astound customers can watch again for free On-Demand)!
And…we’ll be resuming a full slate of high school broadcasts starting with the EPC basketball semifinals. Make sure you tune in and bookmark the new Astound TV Network schedule for updates on our sports programming!

Now, it’s time to honor the outstanding student-athletes in girls tennis & volleyball in the Eastern Pennsylvania conference for girls tennis and volleyball.

First Team:

Second Team:

Third Team:

For Doubles:

First Team:

Second Team:

Third Team:

And for volleyball: 

EPC Girls Volleyball First Team All-Conference:

EPC Most Valuable Player: Brynn Dreisbach, Parkland

EPC Second Team All-Conference:

EPC Third Team All-Conference:

We will also have some exciting news concerning our local sports coverage at ATVN…you’ll have to check back to The SportsTalk Shop next week to find out what it is!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

In honor of Women’s History Month, the Showplace will feature prominent female-driven classic programs and women who “changed the game” and made a lasting impact in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Probably the most successful and famous female comedian in the first half of the 20th century was NOT Lucille Ball.
Who was possibly even better than the Queen of Comedy herself before 1951? 
Answer: Gracie Allen.
The “better” half (according to her husband) of the famous comedy duo Burns and Allen was born Grace Ethel Cecile Rosaline Allen.
She was born in the year 1895, 1896, 1902 and 1906 – just one of the many zany, continuous gags that spanned her entire performing career.
Gracie began performing Irish folk dances with her sisters before becoming a vaudeville performer in 1909. A decade later she met and later married George Burns as they formed a partnership as a comedic team.
As hard as it is to believe now, Allen was actually the straight man…er, straight woman, in the early years of this legendary duo.
In “Gracie: A Love Story,” one of several books Burns wrote about his beloved wife, he stated that he was originally the one to deliver the punchlines. Yet it was Allen who was delivering the straight set-ups who, with her humorous delivery, was getting more laughs than the jokes themselves.
Burns’ decision to switch roles nearly instantly made them one of the most requested comedy acts on the vaudeville tours, which also included W. C. Fields, Buster Keaton, May West, the Marx brothers, Jimmy Durante, Fanny Brice, Eddie Cantor, Georgie Jessel, Al Jolson and George’s best friend, Jack Benny.
As vaudeville began to fade and many stars transitioned to radio in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the husband and wife team immediately captured their own radio program. Unfortunately, their jokes–frequently revolving around humorous situations involving newlyweds–were not getting the laughs that they once did on the vaudeville circuit.
In the book, “Sunday Nights at 7:00”, Burns confided in Benny that he was struggling to write funny material for his radio show and, if ratings didn’t improve, Burns and Allen would be out of work. Benny pointed out that, since the couples were no longer newlyweds and now middle-aged, that their old jokes weren’t working and advised that the comedy should revolve around family issues suited to their ages and also focus on Allen’s faux-hair brained ideas.
The suggestion not only paved the way for radio and television success in the 1930s, 40s and 50s but also for some of the most elaborate ploys of the 20th century.
But heartbreak was also on the horizon for this famous duo. We’ll have more on the story of Gracie Allen next week here at the Showplace.
In the meantime, you can see the “better half” on the Burns and Allen Show at 11:30am every Sunday morning on ATVN.
To view the complete rundown of classic programming on ATVN, check out the weekly listings here on our website.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Last week, we changed things up a bit on ATVN.
For the first time to the best of my recollection, we opened up our coverage of the District XI playoffs with four of our first five games featuring the girls basketball teams in our viewing area.
I appreciated quite a few positive responses I received from parents about us featuring the girls programs last week, including many young ladies playing on television for the first time in their lives.
There were quite a few noteworthy accomplishments in the games we broadcast. Liberty was making its first playoff appearance in six years and Executive Charter was playing in its first ever post-season contest. We also showcased Notre Dame for the first time in a few years and the Emmaus girls team made its first appearance on our network in eight winter basketball seasons.
We will have a bunch of both boys and girls high school playoff games coming up over the next several weeks on ATVN. Make sure you bookmark our scholastic sports broadcast schedule and check out all the playoff action coming up over the next several weeks.
Also, we are working very hard on an expansion of our girls high school sports coverage on ATVN. We will have some exciting news for you about this, but you’ll have to wait a few weeks for the official details. Keep checking back to the SportsTalk Shop to find out more.
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Now, it’s time to honor the outstanding student-athletes in girls tennis & volleyball in the Eastern Pennsylvania conference for girls tennis and volleyball.

Singles/First Team
Paras Briegel, Stroudsburg
Erin Joo, Parkland
Sabrina Yurconic, Allentown Central Catholic
Ellyana Jacobs, Easton

Second Team
Cara Magliochetti, Bethlehem Catholic
Jocelyn Chow, Emmaus
Leah Zolotareva, Parkland

Third Team
Isabella Szmodis, Freedom
Shelby Carter, Emmaus
Taylor Adams, Bethlehem Catholic
Gigi Leonzi, Parkland

Doubles/First Team
Anshika Gupta/Kaila Miles, Parkland
Indira Tatikola/Teya Gougoustamos, Emmaus
Alison Willis/Katie Hoske, Stroudsburg

Second Team
Patty Superka/Grace Hartman, Bethlehem Catholic
Elise Kney/Hermani Patel, Liberty
Julia Ressler/Samantha Wallitsch, Easton

Third Team
Kara Wang/Catherine Grub, Allentown Central Catholic
Emma Ricci/Mackenzie Shoup, Nazareth
Payton McGlory/Liza Puerholz, Emmaus

EPC Girls Volleyball First Team
Brynn Dreisbach, PARKLAND
Alaina Roman, FREEDOM
MacKenzy Ruggiero, BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC
Samantha Simmers, FREEDOM
Elena Pursell, PARKLAND
Ava Holden, EMMAUS
Scarlett Jago, PARKLAND

Second Team All-Conference
Elizabeth Barnes, FREEDOM
Sydney Houchens, LIBERTY
Emily Harclerode, NAZARETH
Maren McGuire,ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC
Maggie Smith, PARKLAND
Brylee Tereska, LIBERTY
Courtney Shire, LIBERTY

Third Team All-Conference
Mia Pickering, EMMAUS
Sydney Esquieres, PARKLAND
Abigail Schweitzer, EMMAUS
Megan Holland, NAZARETH
Kyla Rodriguez, BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC
Alexa Crum, WHITEHALL

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

One of my goals as sports director is to have as much balance as possible in our coverage of scholastic games on ATVN. It’s always a difficult concept to be fair and have an equal amount of schools represented while also bringing our audience quality games night in and night out. It’s a challenge I have enjoyed when scheduling guests for the last 18 years on our SportsTalk program.
Another objective this season was to showcase more Colonial League teams, as there were times in the past in which we only featured a couple of those schools the entire calendar year.
Unfortunately, this past year was probably the most challenging year — by far — in trying to achieve balance. It became impossible to have a “normal” schedule with constant and, at times, daily changes, altering what might have been some well-thought out plans.
Nevertheless it continues to be a goal of mine for this year and all seasons going forward to work around whatever hurdles may be thrown at us, achieving as balanced a broadcast schedule as possible.
To that end, I want to hold myself accountable and consistently reflect on how many teams we were able to feature while simultaneously giving our general audiences the best games of the night every time our production trucks roll out.
Before we take a look at the numbers heading into the winter postseason, a few notes…
Many schools had just plain bad luck in scheduling games this season and that spilled over to our coverage schedule. For some schools multiple games (and broadcasts) were canceled. We tried very hard to reschedule them on at a future date, if it was possible.
Also, there are always schools that actually prefer not to be on television in a given year. Most programs go through some sort of rebuilding or retooling process and, in the best interest of the students, we may not broadcast a team when / if they’re going through a rough patch or facing other issues that they don’t want enhanced by having their games broadcast.
A few other factors…
Many schools over the last year and a half now choose to play teams outside of our viewing area in various sports. This not only reduces our opportunity to feature teams by half (instead of featuring two teams at once, we can only spotlight one team in our coverage area). Also, exactly half of these games are played a significant distance away from our area, which further complicates scheduling.
Additionally, teams that have great success in a given year will be featured more times than others – due to their playing other competitive schools in our viewing area (m). The fact that playoff-bound teams’ seasons may extend by as much as seven weeks longer than other schools gives them more opportunities to have their games broadcast. To support that point, eight of the first nine schools listed below all qualified for the postseason in football, basketball AND wrestling.
There are numerous other factors that affect and alter our schedule which we won’t mention for now. Instead, let’s add up the numbers for the top eleven schools most often featured in our coverage and see where we are currently heading into the playoffs…with a few months left to go in the scholastic sports year.

Freedom – 10
Nazareth – 10
Parkland – 9
Northampton – 8
Easton – 8
Emmaus – 8
Central Catholic – 8
Bethlehem Catholic – 8
Liberty – 7
Whitehall – 6
William Allen – 5

Additionally, we have been able to broadcast no less than 15 Colonial League football/wrestling/basketball teams so far this year (the reason for the odd number is because Northern Lehigh played a state playoff game against a squad outside our viewing area). We’ll be adding two more of these schools to this category later this week (see the “coming up” listing of district playoff schedules here on our website).
While the numbers are not perfect and we will continue to be as fair to all schools as possible, I do think we did our best balancing competitive games (and constant scheduling changes) with trying to showcase as many teams as we can.
My thanks to the entire Astound TV Network sports staff for not only outstanding quality work but also showing an amazing amount of flexibility in trying to feature as many teams in our coverage area as we possibly could.
Now, it’s time to start our extra busy season with the winter sports district playoffs commencing this week (five high school basketball games, plus the District XI wrestling championships and Lehigh/Lafayette college basketball over the next few days alone!)
Be sure to bookmark and check back to our website for our schedule of winter postseason action over the next month and a half.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

By now you’ve noticed many changes to our company’s name and television network, but our evolution is continuing to grow with our on-air staff additions!
A few months back we introduced Megan Kane — one of four new broadcasters added to our sports team this past fall — to do color commentary for the high school basketball season. An accomplished scholastic and collegiate coach, Megan made history when she became the first female broadcaster to announce a boys’ basketball game in the Lehigh Valley this winter.
As a coach, she had the reputation of having one of the most prepared teams for each game among any schools in the Eastern Pennsylvania region. In working with her over the last few weeks preparing for the upcoming high school season and broadcasting our first few games, I can tell you she has been just as diligent in doing her homework and getting ready for our broadcasts on ATVN this winter.
Also last fall, we introduced Meagan Caffrey as the first female football sideline reporter in our network’s history, who continued to do work for the Lafayette Sports Network this winter.
But Megan and Meagan are not the only new announcers handling the ATVN microphones going forward, as we have now added additional three commentators to our on-air sports team.
Brittany Thomas was one of three one-thousand point scorers in one of the greatest basketball dynasties in the rich history of Catasauqua High School athletics. Her teams reached the state playoffs all four of her years with the Rough Riders. After playing in college at East Stroudsburg, she returned to coach at her alma mater, before accepting an assistant coaching position with Muhlenberg College.
I’ve had the honor to interview her at different stops over her tremendous career and always agreed when her coaches described her as having a high basketball IQ. Now, our ATVN audience can experience her wisdom on our broadcasts. Thomas will be making her debut this week as we will have no less than eight high school basketball games coming your way!
Last year, Erik Schmitt was announced as the new baseball coach at Whitehall High School and, in doing so, became the first minority to coach one of the four “major” sports in their school district.
In my 17 years as the station’s “SportsTalk” show host, very few people brought the passion and love of the game more than Eric has in his multiple appearances on the program. Eric will take the reins as the primary color analyst for our Blue Mountain League baseball “game of the week” this year. I look forward to Eric’s valuable insights as a former BML coach and player with the league and his thoughts on the current, local baseball players.
He had an excellent run as a player for the Martin’s Creek baseball team and became the youngest manager in the league, reaching the finals several times before he stepped away from the BML last year to devote more time to coaching at the high school level.
Last but not least, former Major League Baseball player Matt McBride will be joining us for our high school baseball broadcasts this spring.
McBride was drafted by the Cleveland Indians and played for the Colorado Rockies and Oakland Athletics. After several seasons, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies organization and played for their Triple-A affiliate for three years before retiring. Always a great interviewee, Matt was excited for the opportunity to share his unique baseball background and experiences with us on our broadcasts and is looking forward to joining our ATVN sports family.

Please join me in welcoming these new voices to ATVN. I know our audience will appreciate their experience, wisdom with their respective sports experiences and unique insights when they tune into our broadcasts.
We are also hoping to add even more new on-air announcers over the next several months, along with a new internship position featuring someone looking to be in front of the camera.
We have always had crew positions available for internships in both the spring and fall semesters. However, I am hoping we can add to our work in the community by adding an “on camera” reporting and announcing position to help young people get a foot in the door of the communications field and bridge the gap into this wonderful industry.
I have spent the last several months reaching out to colleges both inside and outside of our viewing areas but am always looking to expand our program and contact as many schools as possible.
If you are interested or know of colleges or trade schools which participate in broadcasting internship programs, feel free to email me their contact information.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation. Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

As part of ATVN’s celebration of Black History Month, here at the “Showplace” we are putting the spotlight on African American actors who excelled not just on the big and small screens but who also inspired change with their courage and perseverance.
For over 20 years, Earth Kitt had traveled the globe and found success as a singer, actress in film, television and theater and had become an active voice in speaking out against social injustice and as a proponent of peace.
In 1966, she established the Kittsville Youth Foundation, a chartered and non-profit organization for underprivileged youths in the Watts area of Los Angeles. She was also involved with a group of youths in the area of Anacostia in Washington, D.C., who called themselves “Rebels with a Cause”. Kitt supported the groups’ efforts to clean up streets and establish recreation areas in an effort to keep them out of trouble by testifying with them before the House General Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Education and Labor.
In her May 1967 testimony, Kitt stated that the Rebels’ “achievements and accomplishments should certainly make the adult ‘do-gooders’ realize that these young men and women have performed in one short year – with limited finances – that which was not achieved by the same people who might object to turning over some of the duties of planning, rehabilitation, and prevention of juvenile delinquents and juvenile delinquency to those who understand it and are living it”. She added that “the Rebels could act as a model for all urban areas throughout the United States with similar problems.”
“Rebels with a Cause” subsequently received the needed funding. Kitt was also a member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; her criticism of the Vietnam War and its connection to poverty and racial unrest in 1968 can be seen as part of a larger commitment to peace activism.
Her career cooled for the first time following a 1968 invitation from Lyndon Johnson to the White House where she made anti-war statements about the American involvement in the Vietnam War.
Except for a few appearances in theatrical productions overseas, her career was nearly frozen for almost ten years before her job opportunities began to resurface.
Kitt made a successful return to United States audiences in a 1978 Broadway production of Timbuktu! Following that performance, she continued a busy schedule performing in film and theater, singing, doing voiceover work and activism. In her later years she expanded her support for social equality and became an advocate for LGBTQ rights and was a frequent speaker at fundraisers.
In the year leading up to her death, she performed live at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival and did animation voiceover work for the films, My Life as a Teenage Robot and The Emperor’s New Groove, and for a guest starring spot on the television show, The Simpsons.
Kitt died of colon cancer at her home in Connecticut on December 25, 2008. She was 82.

Check back next week here at “The Showplace” for more stories of inspiration and achievement both in the entertainment industry and in the ongoing search for equality and social justice.
To view the complete rundown of classic programming on ATVN, check out the weekly listings on our website.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Last week we started honoring the student-athletes who were named to “all-star” teams for either league, district or state-wide honors.
This week, we will feature the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference all-league members for golf, as well as boys and girls cross-country teams.
PLEASE NOTE: the Colonial League decided as an organization a few years ago to NOT identify individual standout performers for certain sports and no longer produce “all league” teams. That is the schools’ decision and therefore, that is why teams from that league are not represented below.

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2021 EPC Cross Country All-Stars

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For boys and girls golf…

EPC Most Valuable Player (Male): Matt Vital, Liberty
EPC Most Valuable Player (Female): Everlyn Wong, Emmaus

EPC Golf First Team All-Conference:

EPC Golf Second Team All-Conference:

EPC Golf Third Team All-Conference:

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As always, we welcome anyone to share postseason accolades and accomplishments to us to share here at The Shop and on our “SportsTalk” program on ATVN.
Also, special thanks to our marketing team for taking the time to post these honors during one of the busiest times of the year!

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.

Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

As part of ATVN’s celebration of Black History Month, here at the “Showplace” we are putting the spotlight on African American actors who excelled not just on the big and small screens but those who also inspired change with their courage and perseverance.

Few entertainers have influenced the world for as many decades…and in as many ways…as Eartha Kitt.
Born Eartha Mae Keith on January 17th, 1927 in a small town of North, South Carolina, Eartha’s birth and early years are shrouded in a bit of a mystery. She did not know who her father was, and the person she believed to be her mother died at an early age. Her step-father refused her because he believed her skin was too light and she was sent to live with a relative named Mamie Kitt–who may have been her actual biological mother.
Kitt began her entertaining career in 1942 by joining the Katherine Dunham Company. The Chicago based company was the first professional-based organization in America to prominently feature African-American singers, dancers, musicians and entertainers.
While with the group, she recorded a number of songs that registered on national charts, including “Let’s Do It”, “Champagne Taste”, “Just an Old Fashioned Girl”, “Je cherche un homme”, “Love for Sale” and “I’d Rather Be Burned as a Witch.”
In 1945 she earned her first appearance on Broadway in the 1945 original theater production of the musical Carib Song. She left the company in 1948 but her success continued in the early 1950s, hitting charts in both the United States and overseas. She had six US Top 30 hits, including “Uska Dara” and “I Want to Be Evil”. Her other notable recordings include the UK Top 10 hit “Under the Bridges of Paris” and “Just an Old Fashioned Girl.”
Also in 1950, she secured her first starring role when Orson Wells spotted her, reportedly referring to her as the most exciting woman in the world. Wells cast her as Helen of Troy in the picture, Dr. Faustus. Two years later, she was cast in the revue New Faces of 1952, introducing “Monotonous” and “Bal, Petit Bal”, two songs with which she is still identified. In 1954, 20th Century Fox distributed an independently filmed version of the revue entitled New Faces, in which she performed “Monotonous”, “Uska Dara” and “C’est si bon,” as well as the now annual Christmas favorite, the original “Santa Baby.”
Throughout the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s, she recorded; worked in film, television, and nightclubs; and returned to the Broadway stage, in Mrs. Patterson (during the 1954–1955 season), in 1957’s Shinbone Alley, and the 1959 production of Jolly’s Progress. In 1964, Kitt helped open the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California. In the late 1960s, Batman featured Kitt as Catwoman after Julie Newmar had left the show in 1967. Also in 1967, Kitt guest-starred on the popular spy-thrilling television show, Mission: Impossible, in an episode called “The Traitor,” portraying a contortionist.
Eartha was also very active in a number of major civil rights movements throughout the 1950s and 1960 and was just beginning to make her voice heard internationally fighting for civil rights and social justice. But in 1968 an event occurred that would attempt to silence her voice–both professionally and personally.
We’ll examine that event and feature many more hurdles Kitt had to overcome as well as many more glorious accomplishments that she would achieve, next week here at “The Showplace”.
In the meantime, be on the lookout for Eartha’s starring performance in Mark of the Hawk this month on ATVN.

To view the complete rundown of classic programming on ATVN, check out the weekly listings on our website.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.
Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on ATVN with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.

This week, on what would have been his 105th birthday, we continue our salute to the talented career of Ernest Borgnine.
Borgnine swept the award circuit with his 1955 portrayal of the titular character in the Academy Award winning film, Marty, but his career was far from over.
While not known for making an abundance of pictures, Ernest had very few films that were not successful in xterms of financial and commercial success. Furthermore, he was frequently praised for the depth and diversity of his work–both as an individual and in the genres of movies in which he worked.
Some of his highlights over the following three decades included the 1965 survival drama The Flight Of The Phoenix, the 1969 western classic The Wild Bunch, 1972’s epic disaster blockbuster The Poseidon Adventure, the 1973 action adventure movie The Emperor Of The North, the 1978 road adventure film Convoy and the 1979 Walt Disney sci-fi flick The Black Hole.
His performance in Poseidon was especially touching as he was one of the leaders of a small band of survivors fighting for their lives aboard a doomed, overturned luxury liner…only to (SPOILER ALERT)…lose the love of his life just before the film’s dramatic climax.
But one of his longest and most endearing roles was that of Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale on McHale’s Navy. People may not remember that this popular situation-comedy starring Borgnine that ran from 1962 to 1966 actually started as a serious hour-long program called Seven Against The Sea.
The show was quickly reworked for laughs and added TV veteran Joe Flynn and a relative newcomer to television, Tim Conway, playing McHale’s sidekick/ensign.
Borgnine and Conway formed an instant friendship and the chemistry between the two was evident from the earliest episodes of the program. In more than one interview, Conway would recall what a gregarious individual Ernest was to everyone on the Universal set. Recalls Conway: “It was the beginning of the trams going through Universal. Ernie was probably one of the few people at Universal who would stop the trams and say, ‘Hello, how are you?’ He would talk to everybody on the trams.”

The two remained close friends for over 40 years.
Borgnine would star in the 1980s adventure show, Airwolf. He also gave some of the most memorable guest-starring performances on some of television’s longest running shows including Little House On The Prairie, The Love Boat, Magnum P.I., Murder, She Wrote, Walker, Texas Ranger, Touched By An Angel, Highway To Heaven and others.
His appearance on “Little House,” not only earned him an Emmy but the two-part episode he guest-starred in was later featured prominently in a retrospective look back at the show’s most special moments.
He also continued performing live action roles well up into his mid-90s. Among them was his fourth and final appearance on the series finale of ER, a guest role as a husband who’s lost his wife. Borgnine earned another Emmy award for this performance.
On October 2, 2010, Borgnine appeared as himself in a sketch with Morgan Freeman on Saturday Night Live. On October 15, 2010, he appeared in Red, which was filmed earlier that year. In late 2011, Borgnine completed what would be his last film, playing Rex Page in The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez.
His voice also became synonymous with a popular character on one of the longest running cartoons of all time, SpongeBob Square Pants. Borgnine voiced the Batman-esque “superhero,” Mermaid Man, from the start of the series in the 1990s until his death in 2012. Mermaid Man’s trusty sidekick on the program? His old pal from his McHale’s Navy days–Tim Conway.
Borgnine died of lung cancer (he was a heavy smoker for many years) on July 29, 2012. He was 95.
Be sure to look for classic television and film performances from Ernest Borgnine on ATVN. To view the complete rundown of classic programming on ATVN, check out the weekly listings here on our website.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.