Just a few random TV related events that happened on December 14. Discuss or comment as you please……
1908: Actor/comedian Morey Amsterdam (The Dick Van Dyke Show) is born in Chicago.
1918: Former CBS network president (1959-1965) James T. Aubrey, Jr. is born in La Salle, Illinois. Despite his being responsible for introducing many now classic TV shows to the CBS schedule, his tenure was marred by his alleged acceptance of kickbacks and elaborate gifts (including a chauffeured car and a Manhattan apartment) from producers. (His frequent, and often public contempt for boss William S. Paley and News Chief Fred Friendly, among others, didn’t help.)
1922: Producer Don Hewitt (60 Minutes) is born in New York City.
1952: El Paso, Texas gets its first TV station: KROD-TV (channel 4, now KDBC-TV).
1942: CNN Commentator Jack Cafferty is born in Chicago. New York viewers also remember him from his earlier stints at WNBC-TV and WNEW-TV.
1946: Actress Patty Duke (The Patty Duke Show) is born (as Anna Marie Duke) in Elmhurst, New York.
1954: WOAY-TV (channel 4) signs on in Oak Hill, West Virginia. DYK: The calls were intended to be WOAK, but the handwritten application was misread by the FCC.
1963: Actress Cynthia Gibb (Search for Tomorrow, Fame) is born in Bennington, Vermont. She is also known for having portrayed Karen Carpenter in the 1989 TV-Movie "The Karen Carpenter Story." Contrary to popular belief, she is not related to the Bee Gees.
1972: The last live television transmission from the Moon takes place as viewers watch the Apollo 17 Lunar Module Challenger lift-off from the surface (courtesy of the remotely-operated camera mounted on the Lunar Rover).
1976: One of the most famous (and funniest) incidents on The Tonight Show takes place as Johnny Carson bursts in onto the set of CPO Sharkey to berate Don Rickles for having broken his cigarette box while guesting on Tonight the previous day. Rickles is clearly surprised (and for once, practically speechless), but the seemingly spontaneous bit had to have been be carefully planned for a variety of reasons (you didn’t just go shoving those huge 70’s studio cameras around the halls on the spur of the moment). Mark Evanier has commented on other reasons why the incident was clearly not a spur of the moment Carson lark on his blog (and there’s also a link to the clip on YouTube).
1990: Charles in Charge airs its final first-run episode in syndication.
1997: Late this evening, the studios of KBJR-TV (Superior. Wisconsin/Duluth, Minnesota) are destroyed in a fire. The station manages to return to the air the next morning from a makeshift workspace at its transmitter building.
1998: Actor Norman Fell (Three’s Company, The Ropers) dies of cancer in Los Angeles, aged 74.
2006: Actor Mike Evans (All in the Family, The Jeffersons) dies of throat cancer in Twentynine Palms, California, aged 57.
(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…..)
1908: Actor/comedian Morey Amsterdam (The Dick Van Dyke Show) is born in Chicago.
1918: Former CBS network president (1959-1965) James T. Aubrey, Jr. is born in La Salle, Illinois. Despite his being responsible for introducing many now classic TV shows to the CBS schedule, his tenure was marred by his alleged acceptance of kickbacks and elaborate gifts (including a chauffeured car and a Manhattan apartment) from producers. (His frequent, and often public contempt for boss William S. Paley and News Chief Fred Friendly, among others, didn’t help.)
1922: Producer Don Hewitt (60 Minutes) is born in New York City.
1952: El Paso, Texas gets its first TV station: KROD-TV (channel 4, now KDBC-TV).
1942: CNN Commentator Jack Cafferty is born in Chicago. New York viewers also remember him from his earlier stints at WNBC-TV and WNEW-TV.
1946: Actress Patty Duke (The Patty Duke Show) is born (as Anna Marie Duke) in Elmhurst, New York.
1954: WOAY-TV (channel 4) signs on in Oak Hill, West Virginia. DYK: The calls were intended to be WOAK, but the handwritten application was misread by the FCC.
1963: Actress Cynthia Gibb (Search for Tomorrow, Fame) is born in Bennington, Vermont. She is also known for having portrayed Karen Carpenter in the 1989 TV-Movie "The Karen Carpenter Story." Contrary to popular belief, she is not related to the Bee Gees.
1972: The last live television transmission from the Moon takes place as viewers watch the Apollo 17 Lunar Module Challenger lift-off from the surface (courtesy of the remotely-operated camera mounted on the Lunar Rover).
1976: One of the most famous (and funniest) incidents on The Tonight Show takes place as Johnny Carson bursts in onto the set of CPO Sharkey to berate Don Rickles for having broken his cigarette box while guesting on Tonight the previous day. Rickles is clearly surprised (and for once, practically speechless), but the seemingly spontaneous bit had to have been be carefully planned for a variety of reasons (you didn’t just go shoving those huge 70’s studio cameras around the halls on the spur of the moment). Mark Evanier has commented on other reasons why the incident was clearly not a spur of the moment Carson lark on his blog (and there’s also a link to the clip on YouTube).
1990: Charles in Charge airs its final first-run episode in syndication.
1997: Late this evening, the studios of KBJR-TV (Superior. Wisconsin/Duluth, Minnesota) are destroyed in a fire. The station manages to return to the air the next morning from a makeshift workspace at its transmitter building.
1998: Actor Norman Fell (Three’s Company, The Ropers) dies of cancer in Los Angeles, aged 74.
2006: Actor Mike Evans (All in the Family, The Jeffersons) dies of throat cancer in Twentynine Palms, California, aged 57.
(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…..)
