Just a few random TV related events that happened on August 18. Discuss or comment as you please……
1900: The word "television" is allegedly coined by Constantin Perskyi on August 18 at the First International Electricity Congress in Paris, France. However, research shows that it is more likely that German experimenters first coined the word Fernsehen, which the Russians then translated to televisija, which Perskyi then merely translated from Russian into French as télévision. This was immediately reported in U.S. magazines as “television.”
1935: Actress Gail Fisher (Mannix) is born in Orange, New Jersey.
1943: Actor Martin Mull (Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, Fernwood 2-Night) is born in Chicago.
1969: CBS throws Merv Griffin to the wolves, pitting his talk show against Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show on NBC. The formidable competition, along with sour relations twixt star and network (CBS objected to some of Merv’s more “liberal” guests, such as Abbie Hoffman) doom the show to failure. But Merv gets noticed by Metromedia, who soon sign him to a contract for a new syndicated national talk show that would last until 1986.
1969: WJJY-TV, channel 14, begins broadcasting in Jacksonville, Illinois. As most TV history geeks know, WJJY is one of the most interesting UHF stories of years gone by. As I could not possibly summarize that story in a list of blurbs like this, I refer you to this very excellent website, authored by a former WJJY engineer. (Who, for all I know, may be lurking on this board under some odd nickname…..)
1970: Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show, Malcolm & Eddie) is born in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1978: Non-commercial KCOS begins serving El Paso, Texas on channel 7. At the time, El Paso had been the largest city in the U.S. without a PBS affiliate. (They were nominally served by KRWG-TV Las Cruces, N.M., but not all areas of the market could receive an adequate signal.) Three years later, they would swap channels with KVIA-TV, moving to channel 13.
1999: Announcer Bill Wendell’s voice is heard for the final time on Late Show with David Letterman, as the longtime NBC voice man retires after a career lasting more than half a century, including work with such stars as Ernie Kovacs, Jack Benny, and Bob Hope. Wendell was one of five network voiceover artists (along with Don Pardo, Wayne Howell, Fred Facey, and Howard Reig) who held lifetime contracts.
(Just a little featurette I hope to do as time permits…..don’t expect it every single day. 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…..)
1900: The word "television" is allegedly coined by Constantin Perskyi on August 18 at the First International Electricity Congress in Paris, France. However, research shows that it is more likely that German experimenters first coined the word Fernsehen, which the Russians then translated to televisija, which Perskyi then merely translated from Russian into French as télévision. This was immediately reported in U.S. magazines as “television.”
1935: Actress Gail Fisher (Mannix) is born in Orange, New Jersey.
1943: Actor Martin Mull (Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, Fernwood 2-Night) is born in Chicago.
1969: CBS throws Merv Griffin to the wolves, pitting his talk show against Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show on NBC. The formidable competition, along with sour relations twixt star and network (CBS objected to some of Merv’s more “liberal” guests, such as Abbie Hoffman) doom the show to failure. But Merv gets noticed by Metromedia, who soon sign him to a contract for a new syndicated national talk show that would last until 1986.
1969: WJJY-TV, channel 14, begins broadcasting in Jacksonville, Illinois. As most TV history geeks know, WJJY is one of the most interesting UHF stories of years gone by. As I could not possibly summarize that story in a list of blurbs like this, I refer you to this very excellent website, authored by a former WJJY engineer. (Who, for all I know, may be lurking on this board under some odd nickname…..)
1970: Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show, Malcolm & Eddie) is born in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1978: Non-commercial KCOS begins serving El Paso, Texas on channel 7. At the time, El Paso had been the largest city in the U.S. without a PBS affiliate. (They were nominally served by KRWG-TV Las Cruces, N.M., but not all areas of the market could receive an adequate signal.) Three years later, they would swap channels with KVIA-TV, moving to channel 13.
1999: Announcer Bill Wendell’s voice is heard for the final time on Late Show with David Letterman, as the longtime NBC voice man retires after a career lasting more than half a century, including work with such stars as Ernie Kovacs, Jack Benny, and Bob Hope. Wendell was one of five network voiceover artists (along with Don Pardo, Wayne Howell, Fred Facey, and Howard Reig) who held lifetime contracts.
(Just a little featurette I hope to do as time permits…..don’t expect it every single day. 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…..)
