December 13: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on December 13. Discuss or comment as you please……

1914: Producer/director Fred Coe is born in Alligator, Mississippi. He produced many of the now classic TV dramas of the 1950s, including “Marty” and “The Trip to Bountiful” for Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, “Peter Pan” for Producers Showcase, and “Days of Wine and Roses” for Playhouse 90.

1925: Actor Dick Van Slang-term-for-lesbian-that-always-gets-censored-on-radio-info.com (The Dick Van Slang-term-for-lesbian-that-always-gets-censored-on-radio-info.com Show, Diagnosis: Murder) is born in West Plains, Missouri. (Yeah, I could have just replaced the “e” in his last name with a schwa like I’ve done before. This is more fun...)

1941: Singer/actor/game show host John Davidson (That's Incredible!, Hollywood Squares) is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1945: Actress Kathy Garver (Family Affair) is born in Long Beach, California. She shares a birthday with one of her former castmates (see below).

1953: KOAM-TV (channel 7) signs on in Pittsburg, Kansas.

1959: Actor Johnny Whitaker (Family Affair) is born in Van Nuys, California.

1967: Actor/musician/comedian Jamie Foxx (In Living Color, The Jamie Foxx Show) is born (as Eric Marlon Bishop) in Terrell, Texas.

1982: Vanna White replaces Susan Stafford as co-host on Wheel of Fortune.

(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…..)

 

[Ultimajock]

...hunh? I've never had the name "Dick Van Dyke" censored in any of my posts...

...BTW, on the Tonight Show of 2 February 1959 in which Jack Paar conducted an interview with Fidel Castro on film from Havana, Paar's pinch-hit host in New York was Dick Van Dyke...

 

[LKellerIII]

...hunh? I've never had the name "Dick Van Dyke" censored in any of my posts...

...BTW, on the Tonight Show of 2 February 1959 in which Jack Paar conducted an interview with Fidel Castro on film from Havana, Paar's pinch-hit host in New York was Dick Van Dyke...

Radio Info's censorship software used to automatically censor Dyke. The software was adjusted a year or two ago to accept the word - not because of posts regarding Laura Petrie's TV husband, but posts regarding veteran Top 40 DJ Charlie Van Dyke.

The silliest use of internet censorship software I have heard was a story told by Sam Donaldson. Apparently the ABC network news department's internet access was filtered by software to prevent employees from accessing porn websites. Unfortunately, it prevented news reporters from doing internet research on a number of issues like breast cancer....because the software always assumed the word "breast" would be attached to a uh...salacious inquiry.

 

[Stanislav]

Radio Info's censorship software used to automatically censor Dyke. The software was adjusted a year or two ago to accept the word...

Really? I've been doing TDITVH for only maybe 6 or 7 months, and I know I started playing around (using a schwa to replace the "e" and so forth) because I noticed it was censored in one of my posts. They must have changed it shortly after that and I didn't get the memo.

 

[RicoGregg]

That's getting to the breast of the situation. :

 

[bk77]

...hunh? I've never had the name "Dick Van Dyke" censored in any of my posts...

...BTW, on the Tonight Show of 2 February 1959 in which Jack Paar conducted an interview with Fidel Castro on film from Havana, Paar's pinch-hit host in New York was Dick Van Dyke...

Radio Info's censorship software used to automatically censor Dyke. The software was adjusted a year or two ago to accept the word - not because of posts regarding Laura Petrie's TV husband, but posts regarding veteran Top 40 DJ Charlie Van Dyke.

The silliest use of internet censorship software I have heard was a story told by Sam Donaldson. Apparently the ABC network news department's internet access was filtered by software to prevent employees from accessing porn websites. Unfortunately, it prevented news reporters from doing internet research on a number of issues like breast cancer....because the software always assumed the word "breast" would be attached to a uh...salacious inquiry.

I think I can even top that....

My sister works in retail and her store censors the words "bear" and "cub" on their computers since those words are slang for hairy, fat, gay men who are into kinky sex. Oddly among the items her store sells...teddy bears !!!!!!

 

[bigbrotherfan4ever]

Re: December 13: This Day in TV History

Even though Dick Van Dyke was born in West Plains MO that isnt his hometown. He spent most of his childhood in a small city along the IL/IN border named Danville which is where I spent most of my teenage years. At one point I got within a few feet of him when he came to work with our drama team on Bye Bye Birdie.

 

[Ultimajock]

...hunh? I've never had the name "Dick Van Dyke" censored in any of my posts...

...BTW, on the Tonight Show of 2 February 1959 in which Jack Paar conducted an interview with Fidel Castro on film from Havana, Paar's pinch-hit host in New York was Dick Van Dyke...

Radio Info's censorship software used to automatically censor Dyke. The software was adjusted a year or two ago to accept the word - not because of posts regarding Laura Petrie's TV husband, but posts regarding veteran Top 40 DJ Charlie Van Dyke.

The silliest use of internet censorship software I have heard was a story told by Sam Donaldson. Apparently the ABC network news department's internet access was filtered by software to prevent employees from accessing porn websites. Unfortunately, it prevented news reporters from doing internet research on a number of issues like breast cancer....because the software always assumed the word "breast" would be attached to a uh...salacious inquiry.

I think I can even top that....

My sister works in retail and her store censors the words "bear" and "cub" on their computers since those words are slang for hairy, fat, gay men who are into kinky sex. Oddly among the items her store sells...teddy bears !!!!!!

...these kinda sound like a situation I was told about by a former staffer at CKY-TV/7 in Winnipeg when I briefly worked there in '86. He claimed that in the early '80s, the CRTC (Canada's equivalent to the Federal Communications Corruption here in the States) required some stations to fax them the text of locally-produced commercials so that they can review their suitability for broadcast. In the case of one seafood restaurant that bought a schedule of spots, the CRTC kicked back the warning that New England Clam Chowder could only be called "new" for one year ;-) ...

 

[mleach]

...hunh? I've never had the name "Dick Van Dyke" censored in any of my posts...

...BTW, on the Tonight Show of 2 February 1959 in which Jack Paar conducted an interview with Fidel Castro on film from Havana, Paar's pinch-hit host in New York was Dick Van Dyke...

Radio Info's censorship software used to automatically censor Dyke. The software was adjusted a year or two ago to accept the word - not because of posts regarding Laura Petrie's TV husband, but posts regarding veteran Top 40 DJ Charlie Van Dyke.

The silliest use of internet censorship software I have heard was a story told by Sam Donaldson. Apparently the ABC network news department's internet access was filtered by software to prevent employees from accessing porn websites. Unfortunately, it prevented news reporters from doing internet research on a number of issues like breast cancer....because the software always assumed the word "breast" would be attached to a uh...salacious inquiry.

I think I can even top that....

My sister works in retail and her store censors the words "bear" and "cub" on their computers since those words are slang for hairy, fat, gay men who are into kinky sex. Oddly among the items her store sells...teddy bears !!!!!!

...these kinda sound like a situation I was told about by a former staffer at CKY-TV/7 in Winnipeg when I briefly worked there in '86. He claimed that in the early '80s, the CRTC (Canada's equivalent to the Federal Communications Corruption here in the States) required some stations to fax them the text of locally-produced commercials so that they can review their suitability for broadcast. In the case of one seafood restaurant that bought a schedule of spots, the CRTC kicked back the warning that New England Clam Chowder could only be called "new" for one year ;-) ...

Back in the 70's CBS had a problem with the name "Bruce" as in ""Bruce" means gay. Enough so that the main character in The Incredible Hulk was changed from "Bruce" Banner to "David Banner" and I belive there were a few other CBS shows back then which was forced to change the name of a character because CBS had the issue with "Bruce".

Of course whenever a scene called for a gay joke...then CBS had no problem with "Bruce". Wonder if that is how Bruce Springsteen got his nickname "The Boss"? Becasue radio announcers across the country had the same issue with "Bruce" as CBS did?

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Re: December 13: This Day in TV History

Even though Dick Van Dyke was born in West Plains MO that isnt his hometown. He spent most of his childhood in a small city along the IL/IN border named Danville which is where I spent most of my teenage years. At one point I got within a few feet of him when he came to work with our drama team on Bye Bye Birdie.

This portion of an extensive history of WICD-TV 15 (ABC) in Champaign, IL--whose origins date back to one of the UHF "bleached bones," the old WDAN-TV 24 in Danville, IL (broadcasting from 1953-60) mentions that "before he was a star" Dick Van Dyke was a radio personality on WDAN-AM in Danville (but before the sister TV station was built). It also indicates another Danville, IL native son, Gene Hackman, started his "show business" career as a WDAN-TV camera operator.

http://www.dougquick.com/wicdchampaign2.html

Interestingly, speaking of Gene Hackman, while looking at the map of the WDAN-TV viewing area on that site, it appears that the easternmost fringe of its signal reached the area around New Richmond, IN (northwest of Crawfordsville)--where most of Hackman's 1986 classic, "Hoosiers" was filmed (but the game/"Hoosiers Gym" scenes were filmed about 40 miles east of Indy in Knightstown, IN).

 

[Ultimajock]

Back in the 70's CBS had a problem with the name "Bruce" as in ""Bruce" means gay. Enough so that the main character in The Incredible Hulk was changed from "Bruce" Banner to "David Banner" and I belive there were a few other CBS shows back then which was forced to change the name of a character because CBS had the issue with "Bruce".

Of course whenever a scene called for a gay joke...then CBS had no problem with "Bruce". Wonder if that is how Bruce Springsteen got his nickname "The Boss"? Becasue radio announcers across the country had the same issue with "Bruce" as CBS did?

...if that was the case, it would be highly ironic -- Springsteen's label, Columbia Records, was then owned by CBS...

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1974: Actress Christie Clark ("Days of our Lives") is born in Orange County, CA.

 

[RyanHoward]

1989: Country diva Taylor Swift is born in Wyomissing, PA.

 

[LKellerIII]

Back in the 70's CBS had a problem with the name "Bruce" as in ""Bruce" means gay. Enough so that the main character in The Incredible Hulk was changed from "Bruce" Banner to "David Banner" and I belive there were a few other CBS shows back then which was forced to change the name of a character because CBS had the issue with "Bruce".

Of course whenever a scene called for a gay joke...then CBS had no problem with "Bruce". Wonder if that is how Bruce Springsteen got his nickname "The Boss"? Becasue radio announcers across the country had the same issue with "Bruce" as CBS did?

...if that was the case, it would be highly ironic -- Springsteen's label, Columbia Records, was then owned by CBS...

I would think that by the time Springsteen got popular in the 70s, it was unpopular to make fun of gay people, as well as politically incorrect.

I do recall that in the late 60s, Bob Dayton on KRLA would start talking in what would be considered a sterotypical "gay" speech pattern any time he back announced Marvin Gaye songs. And it was stupid then.

 

[mleach]

I would think that by the time Springsteen got popular in the 70s, it was unpopular to make fun of gay people, as well as politically incorrect.

I do recall that in the late 60s, Bob Dayton on KRLA would start talking in what would be considered a sterotypical "gay" speech pattern any time he back announced Marvin Gaye songs. And it was stupid then.

Today for the most part to make fun of anyone for any reason is more/less politically incorrect. Last year on www.city-data.com a woman had started a post about how she didn't care that much of the current fad among 20 something boys of sporting a goatee, shaved head, tribal tattoos and the cigar/cigarette behind the ear. The replies..a good many took it as to say that if one doesn't like shaved heads and goatees on guys that also "means" that the same people don't like cancer patients either who had lost their hair through chemo...despite the fact that one doesn't have anything to do with the other.