Just a few random TV related events that happened on April 14. Discuss or comment as you please……
1955: WBRZ-TV (channel 2) signs on in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. DYK: The calls were originally intended to be WBRA (for Baton Rouge Advocate, the newspaper of the owners), but it was felt that the word “bra” in the call letters would be, at the very least, controversial and embarrassing, so it was decided to go to the opposite end of the alphabet for the last letter.
1956: At the annual NARTB (now NAB) convention in Chicago, Ampex gives the first public demonstration of their 2” Quadraplex recorder, the first practical commercial videotape system. The main “clincher” of the demonstration involves taping some of the presentation, then immediately playing it back on a large monitor. The demonstration wins enthusiastic applause from the audience, and Ampex is besieged with a flurry of orders for the new machine right on the spot.
1960: Actor/comedian Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond) is born (as Bradley H. Gerstenfeld) in Woodland Hills, California.
1963: The Italian puppet Topo Gigio makes his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
1969: The special 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee airs on NBC. The first of three proposed Monkees specials on the network, the show suffers from a poor time slot (airing opposite the live annual Oscars broadcast) and botched continuity (an NBC engineer accidentally airs some of the segments out of order). The two remaining proposed specials would be canceled, and 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee would prove to be the final performance of the band as a foursome (with Peter Tork quitting the group immediately after the special) for 17 years.
1977: Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar (Swans Crossing, All My Children, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is born in New York City.
1979: Comedian Milton Berle is the guest host on Saturday Night Live, an appearance that the show’s cast and producers charitably characterize as a train wreck. Uncle Miltie spends the production week trying to take charge of things, belittling the cast, and unceremoniously dismissing most of the writers’ ideas. Berle then semi-sabotages the live broadcast: upstaging the regular cast, mugging and inserting ad-libbed old comedy bits into sketches, and finally ending the show with a maudlin rendition of “September Song,” at the conclusion of which occurs a pre-planned attempt at inducing a standing ovation (led by several of Berle’s friends, planted in the audience). The entire experience leads the show to ban Berle from any future appearances.
1990: After spending 25 years on NBC, Major League Baseball’s Game of the Week moves to CBS.
1999: Longtime NBC staff announcer Bill Wendell (Late Night with David Letterman) dies in Boca Raton, Florida of complications from cancer.
1999: Actress Ellen Corby (The Waltons) dies in Woodland Hills, California, aged 87.
(Just a little featurette I hope to do as time permits. It’s an entirely random selection based on a quick Net search, and is not meant to be comprehensive. So, don’t post nasty messages about “you forgot THIS” or “how could you not mention THAT?” Do so, and I’ll just take my keyboard and go home…..)
1955: WBRZ-TV (channel 2) signs on in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. DYK: The calls were originally intended to be WBRA (for Baton Rouge Advocate, the newspaper of the owners), but it was felt that the word “bra” in the call letters would be, at the very least, controversial and embarrassing, so it was decided to go to the opposite end of the alphabet for the last letter.
1956: At the annual NARTB (now NAB) convention in Chicago, Ampex gives the first public demonstration of their 2” Quadraplex recorder, the first practical commercial videotape system. The main “clincher” of the demonstration involves taping some of the presentation, then immediately playing it back on a large monitor. The demonstration wins enthusiastic applause from the audience, and Ampex is besieged with a flurry of orders for the new machine right on the spot.
1960: Actor/comedian Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond) is born (as Bradley H. Gerstenfeld) in Woodland Hills, California.
1963: The Italian puppet Topo Gigio makes his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
1969: The special 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee airs on NBC. The first of three proposed Monkees specials on the network, the show suffers from a poor time slot (airing opposite the live annual Oscars broadcast) and botched continuity (an NBC engineer accidentally airs some of the segments out of order). The two remaining proposed specials would be canceled, and 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee would prove to be the final performance of the band as a foursome (with Peter Tork quitting the group immediately after the special) for 17 years.
1977: Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar (Swans Crossing, All My Children, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is born in New York City.
1979: Comedian Milton Berle is the guest host on Saturday Night Live, an appearance that the show’s cast and producers charitably characterize as a train wreck. Uncle Miltie spends the production week trying to take charge of things, belittling the cast, and unceremoniously dismissing most of the writers’ ideas. Berle then semi-sabotages the live broadcast: upstaging the regular cast, mugging and inserting ad-libbed old comedy bits into sketches, and finally ending the show with a maudlin rendition of “September Song,” at the conclusion of which occurs a pre-planned attempt at inducing a standing ovation (led by several of Berle’s friends, planted in the audience). The entire experience leads the show to ban Berle from any future appearances.
1990: After spending 25 years on NBC, Major League Baseball’s Game of the Week moves to CBS.
1999: Longtime NBC staff announcer Bill Wendell (Late Night with David Letterman) dies in Boca Raton, Florida of complications from cancer.
1999: Actress Ellen Corby (The Waltons) dies in Woodland Hills, California, aged 87.
(Just a little featurette I hope to do as time permits. It’s an entirely random selection based on a quick Net search, and is not meant to be comprehensive. So, don’t post nasty messages about “you forgot THIS” or “how could you not mention THAT?” Do so, and I’ll just take my keyboard and go home…..)
