What’s Bertie Watching? Hollywood Treasure

I will cast aside my puzzlement at the strange rebranding of the SciFi network as SyFy presumably to include wrestling in their line-up, to talk about what Bertie is watching. On his list of top five programs is a new offering from SyFy entitled Hollywood Treasure. This will serve as a nice distraction from a distinct lack of Project Runway.

Hollywood Treasure follows the adventures of the team from Profiles in History, a company which claims to be the nation’s leading dealer of autographs and ephemera as well as Hollywood memorabilia ranging from the Golden Age of Hollywood to television and present-day film. Profiles in History was founded by the extremely driven, but likeable, Joseph Maddalena who has been collecting and dealing in artifacts since his childhood. Hollywood Treasure follows Maddalena and his team as they ferret out the most interesting Hollywood film and television props, costumes, set pieces, artwork, photographs and lobby merchandise. On one episode, for example, Maddalena managed to convince the owner of one of the original hats worn by Margaret Hamilton as The Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz to part with her beloved treasure. Not to worry, the people who sell their items do receive a large percentage of the money raised at auction.



Hat from The Wizard of Oz
Profiles in History



 Aside from the charm of Maddalena and his team, the appeal of the show is getting a glimpse at the items which remain from classic Hollywood. We got a glance at one of Barbara Eden’s original Jeannie costumes, and—most exciting—Endora’s costume from Bewitched. Maddalena clearly knows his business and neatly explains the importance and value of each piece as he endeavors to get their owners to let him auction their treasures.

Syfy Network

It’s too soon to tell if Hollywood Treasure will be a wild hit, but the show is handsomely produced with a likeable group of people and, most importantly, offers opportunities to see iconic items which we would never have a chance to see. I also support the program because by doing what he’s doing, Maddalena and his team are preserving items which were often considered rubbish when a show or film wrapped production. Props, costumes and sets are art unto themselves and should be preserved as the important pieces of history that they are.

Hollywood Treasure airs Wednesday’s at 10/9c and 10:30/9:30 c PM on SyFy.