April 20: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on April 20. Discuss or comment as you please……

1912: Fenway Park opens in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest of all current Major League Baseball stadiums, and one of only two of the “classic” venues (along with Wrigley Field in Chicago) still in use.

1937: Actor George Takei (Star Trek) is born in Los Angeles.

1948: Actor Gregory Itzin (24) is born in Washington, D.C.

1954: Another early UHF casualty: DuMont affiliate WKLO-TV (channel 21) in Louisville, Kentucky leaves the air after a short and unsuccessful six months on the air. Two years later, WKLO would attempt to have the FCC reassign VHF channel 7 (allocated to nearby Evansville, Indiana) to Louisville, but this request was denied. The transmitter site and tower would eventually be used for WKLO-FM, and channel 21 would remain vacant in Louisville until 1985 when WBNA signed on

1959: Actor (and frequent recipient of brother Ron’s nepotism in movie casting) Clint Howard (Gentle Ben) is born in Burbank, California.

1963: The final original episode of Have Gun – Will Travel airs on CBS.

1964: BBC2 starts broadcasting in the UK (625 line UHF); the existing BBC network (405 line VHF) is renamed BBC1. A power failure prevents the opening night schedule from coming off as planned. An extant 2” videotape of the abortive first broadcast would be discovered almost 39 years later when an employee cleaned out a small archive. (Read all about it here.)

1966: WDCA-TV (channel 20) begins broadcasting in Washington, D.C. It is the third independent station to sign on in the Nation’s Capital.

1976: Actor Joey Lawrence (Gimme a Break, Blossom) is born (as Joseph Lawrence Mignogna, Jr.) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1981: The much-loved (by viewers) and much-maligned (by moralists and religious groups) ABC sitcom Soap ends its run rather unsatisfactorily, the final episode containing several cliffhangers that are never resolved.

1983: The license and allocation of WOR-TV (channel 9, now WWOR) is moved from New York City to Seacaucus, New Jersey. It would be almost three more years before WOR would finally establish a physical presence (studio) in the state.

1983: Frank Reynolds anchors what would be his last ABC World News Tonight, intending to take a medical leave of absence for treatment of his cancer. Sadly, he would never return to the air, dying of hepatitis-induced liver failure three months later.

1985: WZDX (channel 54) signs on in Huntsville, Alabama. It is the first independent station in northern Alabama, and the first new station overall in almost 20 years. When the Fox network launched the following year, WZDX would decline to affiliate, unlike most singleton independent stations in smaller markets. However, they would air occasional Fox specials, such as the Emmy Awards.

1999: Ventriloquist Wenceslao Moreno a/k/a “Señor Wences” dies in New York City, aged 103. A native of Salamanca, Spain, he of course became best-known to TV audiences in the U.S. for his frequent appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. (”S’awright?” “S’AWRIGHT!”)

(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…..)

 

[daryll]

I believe that the final episode of Match Game '79 on CBS aired on this date in '79. It would continue in syndication until 1982.

 

[RicoGregg]

1912: Fenway Park opens in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest of all current Major League Baseball stadiums, and one of only two of the “classic” venues (along with Wrigley Field in Chicago) still in use.

....and this despite numerous threats by both ballparks to move from their respective cities unless better teams were built.

1981: The much-loved (by viewers) and much-maligned (by moralists and religious groups) ABC sitcom Soap ends its run rather unsatisfactorily, the final episode containing several cliffhangers that are never resolved.

Jerry Falwell smugly took credit for the cancellation of Soap. He had stated that many other shows' demises would soon follow, and that television would be cleaned up, thanks to his organization, the Moral Majority.

Later in his book, Blinded by the Light, Moral Majority co-founder Cal Thomas stated that the MM often inflated membership numbers, and exaggerated its national influence. He admitted that shows on the group's target list were never cancelled because of them, but that the group went ahead and lied about that. He admitted flatly that the Moral Majority was never any kind of a majority.

1999: Ventriloquist Wenceslao Moreno a/k/a “Señor Wences” dies in New York City, aged 103. A native of Salamanca, Spain, he of course became best-known to TV audiences in the U.S. for his frequent appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. (”S’awright?” “S’AWRIGHT!”)

One of the precious few entertainers that I've seen over the years that NO ONE ever tried to copy. He was truly one of a kind. His Easy Off oven cleaner commercial with the talking oven was an all-time classic.

 

[Stanislav]

1999: Ventriloquist Wenceslao Moreno a/k/a “Señor Wences” dies in New York City, aged 103. A native of Salamanca, Spain, he of course became best-known to TV audiences in the U.S. for his frequent appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. (”S’awright?” “S’AWRIGHT!”)

One of the precious few entertainers that I've seen over the years that NO ONE ever tried to copy. He was truly one of a kind. His Easy Off oven cleaner commercial with the talking oven was an all-time classic.

I am in no wise a fan of ventriloquists in general. At best, I am mildly amused -- usually, I'm bored. But show me an old Señor Wences bit, and I'm crying from laughing so hard. The perfect, rapid-fire timing; the fact that he generally eschewed stereotypical dummies for more unusual props (the head in the box, his fist with the face painted on, etc.); and all in that classic Castillan accent -- well, he was one of a kind.

 

[RicoGregg]

April 20, 1999- On the same day of Senor Wences' passing, the campus of Columbine High School in Littleton, Co. is under siege and mass panic as two students with automatic weapons start shooting randomly. 12 students and one teacher are killed before the shooters turn their weapons on themselves. The nation and much of the world are held spellbound as this tragic story unfolds on live television.

 

[WMC2006]

I believe that the final episode of Match Game '79 on CBS aired on this date in '79. It would continue in syndication until 1982.

According to Wikipedia, you are correct, sir:

1978 changes and cancellation
In Summer 1978, CBS rebuilt the Match Game set from the original bright orange to a new set with blue and white colors, as well as revamping the logo from the curved letters to a straight-line lettering it would use for the rest of the run. This was mainly for convenience; with a new Match Game set and sign, a whole new sign no longer had to be built each year as had been done previously. Instead an attachment, designating the year, was simply taken off the end of the revamped Match Game '78 sign and replaced with a new one numbered 79 on New Year's Eve 1978 (aired January 2, 1979) became Match Game '79. (An alternate attachment was used for Match Game PM.) The rules were also slightly changed at this time, with the abandonment of the "pick a star" for the Head-to-Head Match and the adoption of the "Star Wheel".

While the show's top prize nearly doubled (partially to counter the high inflation of the era) and the new feature allowed more celebrities the chance to participate in the end game, it also eliminated what effectively was Richard Dawson's "spotlight" feature. Dawson, increasingly unhappy with his role on Match Game and more strongly committed to Family Feud by that time, left the show in Summer 1978, a few short weeks after the revamp.

After significant ratings drops in the "death slot" (falling behind Feud, Price and NBC's Wheel of Fortune to fall out of the top three game shows in 1979 for the first time in the CBS run), CBS aired its 1445th and final episode on April 20, 1979 – however, the last few weeks of shows were culled together from various taping sessions, leaving several episodes (including two full weeks of shows) unaired.

 

[Kurt Toy]

Also; Pittsburgh's Channel 11, WIIC, changes its call letters to WPXI, "Pittsburgh's 11".

 

[mleach]

Jerry Falwell smugly took credit for the cancellation of Soap. He had stated that many other shows' demises would soon follow, and that television would be cleaned up, thanks to his organization, the Moral Majority.

Later in his book, Blinded by the Light, Moral Majority co-founder Cal Thomas stated that the MM often inflated membership numbers, and exaggerated its national influence. He admitted that shows on the group's target list were never cancelled because of them, but that the group went ahead and lied about that. He admitted flatly that the Moral Majority was never any kind of a majority.

Back in the early 80s my parents actually met Jerry Falwell at the funeral of a little boy who was killed in a car accident. They said he was a nice guy but...well strange.

Doesnt surprise me at all that the Maroal Majority really wasn't a "majority". However even though I didnt agree with his "protests" but I do say at least Farwell and his group when they did protest..it was over a variety of issues. I believe MM protested one show about abortion and another because they were "pro-gay" and I seem to recall hearing that Falwell wasn't a fan of The Jeffersons because that show featured an inter-racial married couple. Unlike today when the closet we have to the MM is Focus On The Family and pretty much the only protesting they do is gay related as if anything else doesn't matter anymore.

Today on the radio I was checking out John Boy & Billy and they brought up the new Courtney Cox TV show that may be coming to ABC this Fall called "Cougar Town". They were mentioning that one scene of that show that was filmed has a 40 year old single woman who has the hots for a ...15 year old boy. Flashing her naked body to the boy and even giving him a "rub down". For the record I went online to read more about this episode and turned up nothing so I wonder where that radio show got their info but anyway where is Focus On The Family on this? In the past groups like them and others have protested over "rumors". No they are still stuck protesting that lesbian wedding on All My Children. I guess in the minds of Focus/Family..40 year old WOMAN..15 year old young MAN..that is hetrosexual...and "Normal" so to them I guess "it's OK" nevermind the age difference and such an act being illegal.

 

[Stanislav]

However even though I didnt agree with his "protests" but I do say at least Farwell and his group when they did protest..it was over a variety of issues. I believe MM protested one show about abortion and another because they were "pro-gay" and I seem to recall hearing that Falwell wasn't a fan of The Jeffersons because that show featured an inter-racial married couple.

As much as I was NOT a supporter of Falwell (quite the polar opposite), giving the devil his due, I'd find that last statement to probably be spurious. I don't recall any racism on the part of Falwell -- in fact, IIRC, I believe he had already integrated Thomas Road Baptist Church in the latter half of the 50's, well before his fellow Southerners were dragged kicking and screaming into it through laws and court orders.

(Of course, there couple well have been a huge difference in his eyes between integrating a church pew vs. integrating a marriage bed!)

 

[RicoGregg]

However even though I didnt agree with his "protests" but I do say at least Farwell and his group when they did protest..it was over a variety of issues. I believe MM protested one show about abortion and another because they were "pro-gay" and I seem to recall hearing that Falwell wasn't a fan of The Jeffersons because that show featured an inter-racial married couple.

As much as I was NOT a supporter of Falwell (quite the polar opposite), giving the devil his due, I'd find that last statement to probably be spurious. I don't recall any racism on the part of Falwell -- in fact, IIRC, I believe he had already integrated Thomas Road Baptist Church in the latter half of the 50's, well before his fellow Southerners were dragged kicking and screaming into it through laws and court orders.

(Of course, there couple well have been a huge difference in his eyes between integrating a church pew vs. integrating a marriage bed!)

Can't find any racism on the part of Falwell? ???

I did. It's all right here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_falwell

His "racism" closet had many skeletons.

 

[LKellerIII]

George Wallace wasn't a racist in his final years, either. In fact, I believe Wallace openly repudiated his racist past, and actually apologized. Falwell may have integrated his church in the 70s, but he never repudiated his past - including support for segregation in the south during the early civil rights movement, and support for apartheid in South Africa in the 70s and 80s.

In his final years, he famously denounced the Teletubbies because Tinky Winky was designed to be a gay role model.

After 9/11, he stated that God failed to put his shield of protection around America because of gays, abortionists and pagans.

As far as I'm concerned, he was a pig.

 

[mleach]

However even though I didnt agree with his "protests" but I do say at least Farwell and his group when they did protest..it was over a variety of issues. I believe MM protested one show about abortion and another because they were "pro-gay" and I seem to recall hearing that Falwell wasn't a fan of The Jeffersons because that show featured an inter-racial married couple.

As much as I was NOT a supporter of Falwell (quite the polar opposite), giving the devil his due, I'd find that last statement to probably be spurious. I don't recall any racism on the part of Falwell -- in fact, IIRC, I believe he had already integrated Thomas Road Baptist Church in the latter half of the 50's, well before his fellow Southerners were dragged kicking and screaming into it through laws and court orders.

(Of course, there couple well have been a huge difference in his eyes between integrating a church pew vs. integrating a marriage bed!)

Actually I can recall Falwell telling my parents that he was against inter-racial marriages and the Jeffersons TV show for allowing such a couple to be on the air. At least that is what my parents told me over the years. However by the time he told my parents that ( 1982 )..inter-recial marriages were totally legal ..even in Virginia and The Jeffersons were on TV for many years though not yet in syndication. At that point there was very little Falwell could do and no amount of protesting would chage a thing.

Also in the early 1980s I seem to remember Jerry Falwell wanted to get everyone who was on the air in Virginia to be under a "morals clause" to "protect" the listeners and viewers of Virginia media and that included even the rock music radio stations and all TV. That never happened because in Virginia employers ( including newspapers, radio & TV stations ) already had/have the right to fire anyone at anytime for any reason. It is called "employment at will". In other words Falwell wanted something that was already in place in Virginia.

 

[wbhist]

1963: The final original episode of Have Gun – Will Travel airs on CBS.

The year before, a parody of the show was made as a cartoon in the Tom & Jerry series by American-born, Czech-based director Gene Deitch: Tall in the Trap. It bears some hallmarks of "Looney Tunes" humor (i.e. the saloon names and slogans, plus a "staircase gag"), perhaps due to one of the writers being longtime Warners' cartoon scribe Tedd Pierce.

1983: The license and allocation of WOR-TV (channel 9, now WWOR) is moved from New York City to Seacaucus, New Jersey. It would be almost three more years before WOR would finally establish a physical presence (studio) in the state.

By then, the station only had two announcers: Phil Tonken and Ted Mallie. The year before, the announcing staff was reduced, with radio-era veterans Russ Dunbar and Frank McCarthy retiring, relative newcomer Jesse Elin Browne (the only full-time female staff announcer on Channel 9) being "bought out," and two other voices - Ray Marlin, who was also heard on (I.I.N.M.) WTNH-TV in New Haven, CT; and Barbara Korsen, a sub-announcer who went on to become an ABC staff announcer and (since 1990) the announcer for World News (now America) This Morning* - likewise disappearing from the WOR-TV airwaves.
* There was a bit of irony to this, since Ms. Korsen replaced longtime ABC announcer Bill Owen as the voice of ...This Morning - and after leaving ABC, Mr. Owen became a WWOR-TV announcer for a couple of years.

1983: Frank Reynolds anchors what would be his last ABC World News Tonight, intending to take a medical leave of absence for treatment of his cancer. Sadly, he would never return to the air, dying of hepatitis-induced liver failure three months later.

Sounds almost similar to Peter Jennings' poignant sign-off more than two decades later, where he said he hoped to return after treatment for lung cancer - but just a few months afterward, succumbed to the disease.

 

[Stanislav]

George Wallace wasn't a racist in his final years, either. In fact, I believe Wallace openly repudiated his racist past, and actually apologized.

Wallace is a fascinating character. In his pre-Governor days, as a judge, he was by the standards of the time and culture unusually progressive in his relations with African-Americans. For example, in his courtroom, he insisted that black witnesses be addressed with their title and surname -- "Mr. Jones, Mrs. Smith" -- instead of the usual Deep South demeaning practice of addressing them by their first name, regardless of status, age, or profession, even in formal situations. It seems like a small gesture, but in that time and place was quite radical, and produced much chagrin and grumbling among white attorneys who were forced to abide by Judge Wallace's instructions.

Later, in his gubernatorial and Presidential campaigns, he was an opportunist, tapping the public sentiment to his advantage. That meant taking a much harder-line stance against integration in the South, and tailoring his national message to more subtly invoke voters' racist sentiments in an unspoken "subtext" in discussing jobs, economy, education, etc. That is what enabled Wallace to gain a surprising amount of support from Northern industrial blue-collar constituencies in 1968 and 1972.

Those that knew him personally claim that he was never as rabidly racist as his public persona -- that the George Wallace of the fiery speeches, bombastic rhetoric, and "standing in the schoolhouse door" was a political construct intended to tap into the fears of voters for electoral gain. And after being partially paralyzed in an assassination attempt (leading to lifelong discomfort and pain), he mellowed and truly regretted his earlier actions and statements. It's hard not to marvel at the later widely-disseminated wirephoto of a smiling Wallace crowning the first black homecoming queen at the University of Alabama -- an image that would have been unthinkable for the Wallace of the 60's and 70's.

 

[LKellerIII]

George Wallace wasn't a racist in his final years, either. In fact, I believe Wallace openly repudiated his racist past, and actually apologized.

Wallace is a fascinating character. In his pre-Governor days, as a judge, he was by the standards of the time and culture unusually progressive in his relations with African-Americans. For example, in his courtroom, he insisted that black witnesses be addressed with their title and surname -- "Mr. Jones, Mrs. Smith" -- instead of the usual Deep South demeaning practice of addressing them by their first name, regardless of status, age, or profession, even in formal situations. It seems like a small gesture, but in that time and place was quite radical, and produced much chagrin and grumbling among white attorneys who were forced to abide by Judge Wallace's instructions.

Later, in his gubernatorial and Presidential campaigns, he was an opportunist, tapping the public sentiment to his advantage. That meant taking a much harder-line stance against integration in the South, and tailoring his national message to more subtly invoke voters' racist sentiments in an unspoken "subtext" in discussing jobs, economy, education, etc. That is what enabled Wallace to gain a surprising amount of support from Northern industrial blue-collar constituencies in 1968 and 1972.

Those that knew him personally claim that he was never as rabidly racist as his public persona -- that the George Wallace of the fiery speeches, bombastic rhetoric, and "standing in the schoolhouse door" was a political construct intended to tap into the fears of voters for electoral gain. And after being partially paralyzed in an assassination attempt (leading to lifelong discomfort and pain), he mellowed and truly regretted his earlier actions and statements. It's hard not to marvel at the later widely-disseminated wirephoto of a smiling Wallace crowning the first black homecoming queen at the University of Alabama -- an image that would have been unthinkable for the Wallace of the 60's and 70's.

So Wallace's rabble-rousing racism was partially an act? Gee - that certainly makes me like him better. ???

Actually I knew that - but what forgives (at least partially) his racist past was his later apology, which I've heard was a result of being "born again."

Many of Falwell's political enemies actually found him friendly, accessible, and giving on a personal level. I've heard Rush Limbaugh has liberal, and even gay friends in his private life. Hitler was probably nice to puppies and non-Jewish children.
For me, none of that excuses what they have done in their public lives.

And before somebody jumps on me - no, I don't really equate Hitler with Limbaugh or Falwell, but for me, they all exist on a continuum of sorts - from merely bad people on one end to pure evil on the other.

 

[Stanislav]

I've heard Rush Limbaugh has liberal, and even gay friends in his private life.

Limbaugh, like most rabble-rousing Righties, is a big fat phony.

People who knew him in college and young adulthood will tell you he was as liberal as they come. He tried, unsuccessfully, to get into radio on conventional gigs, convinced that he had the talent to make the big bucks. Then, he discovered the lunatic right, and figured they were a virgin audience just waiting for a radio messiah. (Hard as it seems to believe now, liberal and progressive voices dominated talk radio shows once upon a time.) So, he created the Rush "persona," and laughed all the way to the bank.

I honestly believe this is true of all the conservatoid radio and TV stars. IMHO, they do what they think is best for their shows' ratings and for their bank accounts -- personal ideology has nothing to do with it. The only "-ism" they really believe in is Capitalism, with a vengeance. The O'Reillys, Limbaughs, Becks, Coulters, and Hannitys of the Right are way too smart to actually believe most of the over the top nutso paranoid conspiracy crapola they spew out every day. I think they are very smart, crafty and perceptive actors who have found a niche audience, and cater to both it and to the suits who write their paychecks.

 

[LKellerIII]

I've heard Rush Limbaugh has liberal, and even gay friends in his private life.

Limbaugh, like most rabble-rousing Righties, is a big fat phony.

People who knew him in college and young adulthood will tell you he was as liberal as they come. He tried, unsuccessfully, to get into radio on conventional gigs, convinced that he had the talent to make the big bucks. Then, he discovered the lunatic right, and figured they were a virgin audience just waiting for a radio messiah. (Hard as it seems to believe now, liberal and progressive voices dominated talk radio shows once upon a time.) So, he created the Rush "persona," and laughed all the way to the bank.

I honestly believe this is true of all the conservatoid radio and TV stars. IMHO, they do what they think is best for their shows' ratings and for their bank accounts -- personal ideology has nothing to do with it. The only "-ism" they really believe in is Capitalism, with a vengeance. The O'Reillys, Limbaughs, Becks, Coulters, and Hannitys of the Right are way too smart to actually believe most of the over the top nutso paranoid conspiracy crapola they spew out every day. I think they are very smart, crafty and perceptive actors who have found a niche audience, and cater to both it and to the suits who write their paychecks.

Personally, I think it's a liberal conceit that right-wing talk hosts are merely pretending to be conservative for the money. They may be acting to a certain degree, but I'm willing to believe most of them are sincere. Michael Savage originates from the Bay Area, and there are a lot of stories told about what a right-wing nut-job he is in person.

One of the best talk hosts in San Francisco was Jim Eason (never syndicated) who started out as a liberal in the 60s, but gradually turned very conservative. Interestingly, Eason hated Savage, though they largely shared the same world view.

And getting conservative as you get older isn't that unusual either. My father was a Marxist in his youth, but held some conservative views toward the end of his life.

Come to think of it though, it's curious that many of these media people make the switch from liberal to conservative, but very few go the other way. Arianna Huffington is the only one I can think of who transitioned from conservative to liberal.

Hmmm...maybe you're right.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1972: Actress Carmen Electra (Baywatch, Singled Out) is born (as Tara Leigh Patrick) in Sharonville, OH.