Remembering Robert Sterling of 'Topper'; Benson TV Land Weekend

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Remembering Robert Sterling of 'Topper'; Benson TV Land Weekend

Robert Sterling was best known for the 1953-1956 TV series Topper, based on the Thorne Smith novel, and the 1937 film starring Cary Grant and Constance Bennett. He appeared with his wife Anne Jeffreys in the television series. He died this past Tuesday of natural causes at his home in the Brentwood area of L.A. Sterling and Jeffreys played George and Marion Kirby, a fun-loving couple killed in an accident but returned as ghosts to haunt the new occupant of their home, a banker named Cosmo Topper. Sterling appeared as a guest star in series such as Love American Style, Nanny & the Professor, Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Murder She Wrote, Hotel, Simon & Simon, and Fantasy Island. He will be missed greatly. Topper is a rare TV series these days. I remember it aired on WABC here in the NYC market a few years back once a week like at 4 a.m. Too bad I never caught it. Mr. Sterling was 88.

I hope you are all watching Benson this weekend on TV Land. I know I am! I'm enjoying every minute of it. Finally a TV series that has not been aired much in recent years. The show is not even on DVD, so no one can complain that this is another series that is everywhere. I do hope however that Benson gets on DVD very soon. Benson is a spin-off of Soap...now only if TV Land would air that, too. I'm glad that is on DVD already, though. Watch Benson all this weekend and weeknights at 11 p.m. ET/PT starting Monday on TV Land! Well, I better get back to Benson before someone else dies or is dying!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, August 27

Ghosts - "Polar Opposites" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When a Hollywood producer comes to scout Woodstone as a filming location, Sam is prompted to take a creative leap that draws unexpected support from the ghosts. Meanwhile, changing roles among the ghosts spark a heartfelt effort to honor someone special.

Adults - "The Scrub" (FX and FXX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The housemates uncover Paul Baker's long-kept secret.

Adults - "Fake ID" (FX and FXX, 9:34PM ET/PT)
Billie befriends the 20-year-old who inherited her fake ID. Written by Ananya Hegde; Directed by Jonathan Krisel.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 24)

Thursday, August 27

Bert Kreischer (Free Bert) - Catch Bert on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Josh Gad (Wolf Like Me/Avenue 5/The Comedians/1600 Penn/Back to You) and Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) - Josh and Andrew are guests on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
The cast of Adults - Jack Innanen, Malik Elassal, Lucy Freyer and Owen Thiele are guests on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Leanne Morgan (Leanne) - NBC's Today catches up with Leanne in the 9am hour.
Hugh Jackman (Human Resources) - Hugh talks about Sheep Detectives on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
D'Arcy Carden (Barry/The Good Place) - D'Arcy can be heard on the Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.