Face - One of four soldiers-of-fortunes on the adventure THE A-TEAM/NBC/1983-87 on the run from the US Army for a crime they did not commit. Dirk Benedict starred as Lt. Templeton Peck (a.k.a. "Face" - short for "Faceman"), a handsome con-artist who could talk his way out of just about any situation. According to his fellow AWOL buddies "Who couldn't believe that face." 

Face, The - Occasionally during episodes of the private detective drama THE NEW MIKE HAMMER/CBS/1984-87, gumshoe Mike Hammer (Stacy Keach) would gaze across a crowded room or a busy street and see a seductive brunette female known only as "The Face" who popped into frame and just as quickly popped out again, much to the chagrin of Mike Hammer who was dying to meet her. The general public was also kept in the dark as to her identity until her credit line appeared on an episode of ABC's PERFECT STRANGERS. It revealed that "The Face" was model actress Donna Denton. Finally after three years of just glimpses Mike Hammer got to meet the mysterious woman in the spring 1987 episode entitled "A Face in the Dark." It turned out that "The Face" was a writer named Laura who penned a series of successful detective novels published by Bartlett Publishers. Her primary character Nick Steele was based on Mike Hammer. Each time she had eluded Mike Hammer, she had been doing research on her character. When Mike finally caught up with this vision of loveliness, more than just words passed between the two of them. But as quickly as Laura came into Mike's life, she just as quickly disappeared through a pair of French doors, leaving Mike to wander the streets and wonder if he'd ever see her again. When THE NEW ADVENTURES OF MIKE HAMMER/SYN/1996-97 debuted actress Rebecca Chaney continued the role of  The Face. TRIVIA NOTE: Anita Colby, the nation's first Supermodel was also known as the "Face." She was the first model to make $100 an hour and appeared on the cover of Time and 14 other magazines in one month in 1945. She was the hostess of PEPSI-COLA PLAYHOUSE in 1954. Colby died on March 27, 1992 of lung disease at her home in Oyster Bay, NY at the age of 77. "The Face" was also the name of a Edwardian criminal (Peter Ducrow) now living in modern London (via suspended animation) who battled his nemesis Adam Llewellyn de Vere Adamant (Gerald Harper) on the British series ADAM ADAMANT LIVES!/BBC/1966-67. 

Falcon, The - Charles McGraw starred as Mike Waring, an American espionage agent whose code name was "The Falcon" on the spy drama THE FALCON/SYN/1954-55. The series was based on Michael Arlen's book Gay Falcon (1940), featuring the dashing hero Gay Stanhope Falcon, whose real identity was Gay Lawrence. The Falcon also used the names Spenser Pott, and Colonel Rock. Movie adaptations of The Falcon character included The Gay Falcon (1941), A Date with the Falcon (1941), The Falcon Takes Over (1942), The Falcon's Brother (1942), The Falcon Strikes Back (1943), The Falcon's Adventure (1946); The Devil's Cargo (1948), Appointment with Murder (1948), and Search for Danger (1949). Movie actors to portray the role of The Falcon include George Sanders, Tom Conway and John Calvert. On radio The Falcon was played by actors Les Damon, Berry Kroeger, James Megham, George Petrie, and Les  Tremayne. 

Fast Gun From Texas, The - The legendary nickname of lawman Dan Troop (John Russell), the former marshal of Abilene who moved to the frontier town of Laramie, Wyoming to rid it of outlaws on the western adventure THE LAWMAN/ABC/1958-62. He was assisted by deputy Johnny McKay (Peter Brown). 

Fat Albert - Oversized black youth who lived in the poor section of a metropolitan city on the animated cartoon series FAT ALBERT AND THE COSBY KIDS/CBS/1972-79. Fat Albert (his favorite saying was "Hey, Hey, Hey") was one of many black youths created from the childhood memories of actor Bill Cosby who grew up in North Philadelphia. TRIVIA NOTE: The Boeing 737 airliner was nicknamed "Fat Albert." 

Father of Television, The - In 1923 US physicist and inventor Vladimir Kosma Zworykin of Wilkinsburg, PA (actually born in Russia) designed the "iconoscope," the photocell "eye" of the early TV camera. His device was the first element necessary in the development of an all electronic television system. For his contribution he was dubbed "The Father of Television." His patent application (No. 2,141,059) was filed December 29, 1923.

Comedian Johnny Carson once said of him: "If it weren't for Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television, we'd still be eating frozen radio dinners." A statue of Philo T. Farnsworth stands outside the old Beaver County Courthouse in Beaver, Utah. 

Philo's wife, Elma G. "Pem" Farnsworth  was the first person to appear on Television. She was called the "Mother of Television".  She was on Philo's technical team in San Francisco when he demonstrated his invention in San Francisco on September 7, 1927. Elma died Thursday, April 27 in Bountiful, UT at age 98.

Fat Man - The celebrity nickname of British radio/TV personality Tom Vernon who starred in a series of travelogues sponsored by PBS and Britain's Channel 4 Television wherein he biked about the world in search of Epicurean delights (Food y'all). In 1987's "Fat Man Goes Norse" he visited towns in Norway and ate smoked reindeer. In 1990s "Fat Man Goes Gaucho," the blimpy Brit bicycled a thousand miles and feasted on the Argentinean cowboy delicacy, fried bull's testicles...Gulp! And in a 1991 installment, "The Fat Man Goes Cajun," Mr. Vernon experienced the Cajun culture and chowed down on Louisiana sausage, crayfish and alligator. With all of his bicycling bravado, he still weighed in at 250-295 pounds. Another popular TV Fat Man appeared on the detective drama JAKE AND THE FAT MAN/CBS/1987-91 which starred the portly William Conrad as Jason Lockinvar McCabe, (a.k.a. the "Fat Man" and "Buster), a prosecuting District Attorney who chased down criminals in Los Angeles and later Honolulu with the assistance of his partner, Jake Styles (Joe Penny). And, finally, J. Scott as Brad Runyon was the star of the radio series "The Fat Man" created by Dashiell Hammett and based on his magazine detective "The Continental Op." TRIVIA NOTE: In military terms "Fat Man" was the name bestowed on the Atomic Bomb (11 feet long by 5 feet in diameter) dropped onto the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9th 1945. Reportedly, it was nicknamed after the British politician, Winston Churchill. 

FBI's Most Unwanted, The  See - "Spooky Mulder"

Fearless Fife See - "Crazy Gun Barney"

Feather - The stylish nickname of beautiful Los Angeles attorney Toni "Feather" Danton (Stefanie Powers) on the crime drama THE FEATHER AND FATHER GANG/ABC/1977. Together with her con artist father, Harry (Harold Gould) and his group of bunco artist friends, they set out to "out con the cons." 

Ferg-face - What 14-year-old Clarissa Darling (Melissa Joan Hart) called her scheming dweeb of a younger brother, Ferguson W. Darling (Jason Zimbler) on the sitcom CLARISSA EXPLAINS IT ALL/NIK/1991-94. Clarissa said Ferguson was a "burr on my butt since I was born" and referred to Ferg-Face as a "dork-headed creep they should grind up for puppy puke." 

Fernwood Flasher - The nickname of Grandfather Raymond Larkin (Victor Kilian) on the soap opera satire MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN/SYN/1976-77. Grandpa Larkin earned the moniker "The Fernwood Flasher" for his habit of running around the small Midwest town of Fernwood, Ohio and exposing his aging naughty bits to an unsuspecting public. TRIVIA NOTE: In 1979 Raymond Larkin was clubbed to death while watching TV in his Hollywood apartment. 

Ferret-face - The insulting but quite appropriate nickname for Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville), a weasel of an army surgeon on the military comedy M*A*S*H/CBS/1972-83. Frank was married but that didn't keep him from fooling around with nurse Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit) who was stationed at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Frank always quoted chapter and verse from the Army manual and questioned everyone's patriotism when they didn't do things by the book. When Margaret Houlihan got married later in the series, Frank went bonkers with jealousy, as well as AWOL. While drunk in Seoul, he accosted a General and his wife in a bathhouse and was placed on psychiatric observation. Back at the 4077th, Captain Hawkeye Pierce toasted his departure with a simple "Goodbye, Ferret Face." Frank was also called the "Lipless Wonder."  See also -"Hot Lips" 

First Lady of Television, The - The nickname of Faye Emerson in the 1950's. Emerson was a beautiful, smart woman with wholesome, natural charm who hosted a variety of programs in the golden age of television such as PARIS CAVALCADE OF FASHION/NBC/1948, THE FAYE EMERSON SHOW/CBS/1950-51), FAYE EMERSON'S WONDERFUL TOWN/CBS/1951-52, AUTHOR MEETS THE CRITICS/DUM/1952,  FAYE AND SKITCH/NBC/1953-54,  and OF ALL THINGS/CBS/1956. She also appeared as a panelist on WHAT'S IN A WORD/CBS/1954, I'VE GOT A SECRET/CBS/1952-58, MASQUERADE PARTY/NBC/CBS/1952-1960 and as a guest panelist on TO TELL THE TRUTH/CBS/1961.

Beside being able to hold her own in conversation on many topics, the 5' 4" Emerson wore stylish gowns designed by Ceil Chapman which revealed varying degrees of cleavage. Cartoons of the time joked at just how much Emerson was showing with characters arguing 'It's too high (men) and "it's too low" (women). Emerson was called both a "Blonde Bombshell and "The Smartest in Television."

New York Herald Tribune columnist John Crosby once wrote, "Miss Emerson, I'd be the first to admit, fills a ten-inch screen very
adequately, Very adequately." He continued to say, That THE FAYE EMERSON SHOW, I assume, is aimed primarily at women, but I know men, including this one, who are helplessly fascinated by it for reasons which never occurred to CBS." Emerson's pioneered TV for women and lead the way for other female celebrities as Dinah Shore and Arlene Dahl.

When Emerson appeared on the quiz chow circuits such as WHAT'S MY LINE, reporters commented on her beauty and smarts with headlines like "New Kind of Glamour Girl Classed as TV Show
Brain" and "It isn't everyday that you see a high IQ in a low-cut
gown."

Unfortunately, the bias of the time against an intelligent women reared its ugly head when a letter to Faye's comments on The Korean Conflict inspired one viewer to write "Better stick to the plunging necklines Faye, Politics is not for little girls,"

Emerson shared her personal views on a five minute segment called "The Women's Touch" which aired as part of TV program NEWSBEAT featuring Mike Wallace. Over time, however, Emerson's shining star began to dim as the 1960s approached due in part to her unfettered opinions on politics, feminism and sex education. Thoughts which were just too liberal for the times.

The other reason for her lose of popularity was her image. As TV STAR wrote in 1956, "Someone should call a meeting about her figure --the lady is really getting to be a plump dumpling." Such remarks also helped "put her in her place" and consequently dismissed her political rhetoric.

Emerson, the former wife (1944-1950) of Elliot Roosevelt, the son of president Franklin D. Roosevelt, eventually left America.

Faye Emerson died in Devya, Spain of stomach cancer on March 9, 1983.  She was born July 8, 1917 in Elizabeth, Louisiana. ACcroding to many publiched repsorts. Faye Emerson was the inspiration for the name of the "Emmy" Awards.

Fishface  See - "Muffin"

Fishlips  See - "Chinzo"

Five Fingers - Code name of American agent Victor Sebastian (David  Hedison) who posed as a Communist agent in the European theater for US Counterintelligence on the espionage drama FIVE FINGERS/NBC/1959-60. His cover assignment was a theatrical booking agent. The only person to know the real identity of "Five Fingers" was his American contact, Robertson (Paul Burke). The series was based on the movie Five Fingers (1952) which starred James Mason and Danielle Darrieux. 

Five O'clock Charlie - Bumbling North Korean pilot who frequently tried to bomb the ammo dump near the 4077th and strafe or drop leaflets on the medical personnel of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital everyday at 5’O’Clock on the military comedy M*A*S*H/CBS/1972-83.  Luckily, he never seriously wounded anyone. Commenting on Charlie's aerobatic inability's Doctor Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce (Alan Alda) said "He couldn't hit the side of a war!" Later in the series a visiting General Crandell Clayton gave the 4077th an anti-aircraft gun to shoot down 5 O’Clock Charlie. Five O'Clock Charlie appeared on episode No. 26 "Five O'Clock Charlie" broadcast 9/22/1973. See also - "Washing Machine Charlie" 

Flash, The - The sci-fi adventure THE FLASH/CBS/1990-91 starred John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen, a police chemist living in Central City who was in reality the Flash, the fastest man in the world. The Flash character was born when a lightning bolt from a freak electrical storm zapped his police lab. The resulting explosion and exposure to a combination of exotic chemicals enabled Barry Allen to run at the speed of sound (620 mph). With the assistance of scientist Tina McGee (Amanda Pays) who helped design the red pressure suit worn by the Flash, Barry Allen fought the sinister forces that roamed the streets of his hometown. His costume consisted of a red body suit, cowl with small wings on either side, yellow boots, lightning streaks on his wrists and waist and white circle with yellow streak on his chest. The Flash originally debuted in the October 1956 Showcase No. 4 DC comic book. A few years earlier, police scientist Jay Garrick of Keystone City was also known as the Flash. His character appeared in the 1940 comic book Flash Comics No. 1 also published by DC Comics. 

 

Flip Wilson - The showbiz name of black comedian Flip Wilson who starred in his own comedy variety show THE FLIP WILSON SHOW/NBC/1970-74. When Flip Wilson was a guest on the NBC's THE TONIGHT SHOW guest hosted by Jan Leno (10/3/89) he told the origin of why he's called "Flip." It seems he was dubbed "Flip" by his barracks mates during a four year hitch in the US Air Force (1950-54) when someone said "He has flippeth his lid." Born in New Jersey on December 8, 1933, Flip's real name is Clerow Wilson. In 1985 Flip Wilson starred in the sitcom CHARLIE AND COMPANY/CBS/1985-86.  He died of liver cancer on November, 25 1998. 

Floyd R. Turbo - Opinionated super-patriot first seen in 1977 during skits on the late night talk variety show THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JOHNNY CARSON/NBC/1962-92. Floyd R. Turbo (played by Johnny Carson) was an "everyman" type who taped editorial messages for television, (a la Gilda Radner's befuddled Emily Litella character). Billed as "Mr. Silent Majority," Floyd R. Turbo dressed in a plaid hunting jacket and hat, and stood nervously in front of a TV camera as he delivered his opinions on gun control, war, women's lib, and hunting ("If God didn't want us to hunt, He wouldn't have given up plaid shirts; I only kill in self defense-what would you do if a rabbit pulled a knife on you?"). Johnny Carson told Rolling Stone reporter Timothy White "He's (Turbo) the epitome of the redneck ignoramus. I find the things (characteristics) each week when I go out to do...his gestures at the wrong time, his not knowing where he's supposed to be, his feeble attempts at humor, his talks about things he doesn't quite understand." Here's an example of Turbo's wisdom on nuclear reactors. "And what's all this fuss about plutonium: How can something named after a Disney character be dangerous? So what if an atomic plant blows up? The people who say that, they are afraid to die. I'm not afraid to die because all my life I have lived by the Good Book, the American Legion magazine...They say atomic radiation can hurt your reproductive organs. My answer is, so can a hockey stick, but we don't stop building them....Sure, nuclear leaks will affect the forest animals. So what if a deer grows up with two rear ends? They're easier to shoot...So in my simple way, I' m asking that you support nuclear energy. Remember being an American means being powerful, proud and pushy, and in conclusion let me finish by ending...Thank You." And on the draft Turbo offered this opinion "This station wants no draft. They want to deprive a boy of the Army. The Army is educational. The Army teaches you how to do dental work-with the butt of a rifle....how to tell what time it is by making a sundial out of a dead person...how to make beer out of bird droppings and also how to make a rubber girl out of an inner tube...In conclusion, I say we should not end the draft. We should increase it. We have a moral obligation to give Bob Hope soldiers to entertain. Fellow Americans, it is a honor to be drafted and to serve your country. Thank you, bye-bye, and buy bonds." 

Fly Girls, The  See - DANCE & DANCING

Flying Fisherman, The - Known to millions of his fans as "The Flying Fisherman," Roscoe Vernon "Gadabout" Gaddis was the star of OUTDOORS WITH LIBERTY MUTUAL, a weekly half-hour syndicated fishing program that debuted nationwide in 1965. Roscoe Gaddis finally made it big in the 1960s when Winston Mergot, an executive of Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (a fishing buff himself) saw one of Gaddis' adventure films and immediately decided to sponsor him in over 108 television stations across the country. Gaddis caught his first fish (catfish) at the age of 7 on the Okaw River and was literally "hooked for life." He got his nicknames in the following manner: "Gadabout" from his boss who could never find him (he worked as a traveling salesman for a fishing tackle company); and "The Flying Fisherman" because he flew on every assignment in his own Piper Cherokee (he had won his Army Air Corp wings at Kelly Field during WWI). Some of his first fishing trips which he filmed were broadcast in 1939 and later in 1944 when the FCC authorized a General Electric experimental station (W2XAD) in Schenectady, New York. His early adventures were sponsored by Hub Sporting Goods Store. Roscoe Gaddis was born in Mattoon, Illinois and died at a nursing home in Bingham, Maine on October 21, 1986 at the age of 90 years. 

Flying Squad, The - Nickname of group of police detectives on the British syndicated series THE SWEENEY/SYN/1974-78. Based at New Scotland Yard in London, "The Flying Squad" was an elite team of trained police detectives consisting of John Thaw as Inspector Jack Regan, Dennis Waterman as Sgt. George Carter and Garfield Morgan as Chief Inspector Haskins. The term "Flying Squad" was Cockney rhyming slang for the murderous Sweeney Todd, a notorious British serial killer. 

Fonz, The - The nickname of Arthur Fonzarelli (Henry Winkler) a former gang member (The Falcons) turned mechanic on the sitcom HAPPY DAYS/ABC/1974-84. "The Fonz" or "Fonzie" wore a leather jacket and was so cool, he just needed to snap his fingers and girls would come running. However, he did have his Achilles heels. He couldn't say the phrase "I'm wrong" or "I'm sorry" without difficulty, and he freaked-out at the sight of liver. The name of "Arthur Fonzarelli" was suggested to producer Gary Marshall by writer Bob Brunner. In an article in TV Guide Marshall told how he fashioned the Fonzie character after "the only guy in my old neighborhood who had a motorcycle. This guy was cool...he very rarely spoke; he just kind of hovered. He'd nod a lot and he'd make guttural sounds-and everybody would get out of his way." See also - "Skippy"

Frogman, The  See - "The Potato Man"  

Frugal Gourmet, The -  See - "Cooks & Cookbooks"