December 18: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on December 18. Discuss or comment as you please……

1948: Louisiana’s first TV station, WDSU-TV in New Orleans, begins operating on channel 6.

1953: KMID-TV (channel 2) sings on in Midland, Texas.

1954: CKWS-TV (channel 11) begins broadcasting in Kingston, Ontario.

1956: To Tell the Truth begins its initial 12-year run on CBS.

1961: KAIL-TV (channel 53) becomes Fresno, California's first independent TV station, beating out its soon to be competitor KICU-TV (channel 43) to the air by 5 days.

1962: Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (my personal favorite holiday cartoon) is debuted on NBC.

1964: Actor and wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is born (as Steven Anderson) in Austin, Texas.

1966: CBS airs the holiday special How the Grinch Stole Christmas for the first time. Boasting the star-studded combination of Dr. Seuss’ text, Chuck Jones’ animation, and Boris Karloff’s narration, the program is destined to become a TV classic.

1968: Southwest Florida gets its second TV station as WBBH-TV begins broadcasting on channel 20, ending WINK’s (channel 11) 14-year monopoly in the market.

1978: Actress Katie Holmes (Dawson’s Creek) is born in Toledo, Ohio.

1989: A “lost episode” of I Love Lucy is broadcast on CBS for the first time since its initial 1956 airing. The show, a Christmas special, consists largely of clips from previous episodes, combined with a newly filmed holiday-themed wraparound.

1992: Game show producer Mark Goodson dies in New York City, aged 77.

1993: CBS, which had broadcast National Football League games for 38 years, loses their rights to the then fledging Fox Network. Fox had offered a then-record $1.58 billion to the NFL over four years for the rights to the NFC package, significantly more than the $290 million per year CBS was willing to pay.

1997: Actor/comedian Chris Farley (Saturday Night Live) is found dead by his younger brother in his apartment on the sixtieth floor of the John Hancock Center in Chicago. An autopsy would later reveal that Farley had overdosed on a combination of cocaine and morphine (a “speedball”), with advanced atherosclerosis cited as a "significant contributing factor."

2006: Animator/director/producer Joseph Barbera dies in Los Angeles, aged 95.

(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]

1997: Actor/comedian Chris Farley (Saturday Night Live) is found dead by his younger brother in his apartment on the sixtieth floor of the John Hancock Center in Chicago. An autopsy would later reveal that Farley had overdosed on a combination of cocaine and morphine (a “speedball”), with advanced atherosclerosis cited as a "significant contributing factor."

...of course, a "speedball" OD was also what killed John Belushi...

 

[stevezodiac]

1989: A “lost episode” of I Love Lucy is broadcast on CBS for the first time since its initial 1956 airing. The show, a Christmas special, consists largely of clips from previous episodes, combined with a newly filmed holiday-themed wraparound.

I still have that episode on VHS. Those newly filmed portions consisted of them getting ready for Christmas and were colorized in the 80's and when they reflected on the past episodes, it went back to B&W.

 

[stevezodiac]

Well, courtesy of a YouTuber, here is the above mentioned colorized Lucy. It's been edited to only show some of the color portions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBaFmehY5SY&feature=related

 

[RicoGregg]

1997: Actor/comedian Chris Farley (Saturday Night Live) is found dead by his younger brother in his apartment on the sixtieth floor of the John Hancock Center in Chicago. An autopsy would later reveal that Farley had overdosed on a combination of cocaine and morphine (a “speedball”), with advanced atherosclerosis cited as a "significant contributing factor."

...of course, a "speedball" OD was also what killed John Belushi...

It makes me sick to see these talented people, with great careers, great incomes, great futures, go and p*ss it all away like that.

Don't these people ever learn??

 

[Grindlfan]

1962: Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (my personal favorite holiday cartoon) is debuted on NBC.

Mine too! It should have been an annual network holiday TV event like Charlie Brown and Rudolph. Maybe NBC should have run Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol instead of the Rosie LIVE! special.

 

[Stanislav]

1962: Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (my personal favorite holiday cartoon) is debuted on NBC.

Mine too! It should have been an annual network holiday TV event like Charlie Brown and Rudolph. Maybe NBC should have run Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol instead of the Rosie LIVE! special.

Me, I'd rather watch paint dry than anything Rosie has done in the last several years...

It's a fascinating production. What's interesting is that, apart from the musical numbers (which are excellent, IMHO) and a few very subtle Magoo-ish eyesight gags, and the fact that the order of two of the ghosts' appearances are reversed, it's actually one of the most faithful renderings of the Dickens text ever done. For the most part, it's played straight, and I think Jim Backus' voice work here is his best effort ever. There's also the unique premise that Magoo is actually an actor essaying the role on Broadway (a context that is, alas, lost in many of the repeat broadcasts in which the opening sequence setting up the premise is shortened or eliminated altogether).

It does tend to get repeated somewhere almost every year, though often on a more obscure non-network channel and with little fanfare. I suppose because Magoo never broke through as a "major" cartoon character (and most kids today wouldn't know who he is), the special didn't achieve the same iconic status as other Christmas animation offerings.

 

[bpatrick]

The Magoo special, IIRC, led to a series, "The
Famous Adventures Of Mr. Magoo," in the 1964-65
season, and I believe it, too, cast him as an actor
playing various literary characters.

A couple of notes about "To Tell The Truth"; on
that first show, the first "central subject" was Gov.
Cecil Underwood of West Virginia, then the nation's
youngest governor. Some thirty-five years later he
served another term as governor and appeared on
"TTTT" again--this time as the nation's oldest governor.
He died just a few weeks ago.

Mike Wallace was the original choice to host the show,
at that point called "Nothing But The Truth," but the
job went to Bud Collyer. Strangely, TV Guide listed that
first broadcast as "Nothing But The Truth," but local
newspapers (including mine from Greensboro, NC) listed
it as "To Tell The Truth."

Original announcer Bern Bennett appeared as a "central
subject" on the NBC daytime version in 1991. I wish I'd
seen it, just to see if he fooled the panel.

 

[Tim L]

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol was the first hour leingth animated special on Network TV..and it was the first I remember watching. I think NBC aired it for 6 straight years from 1962-67, then pretty much dropped it..It's been on USA, Cartoon Network and Syndication infrequently since then..

 

[AH3RD]

1948: Louisiana’s first TV station, WDSU-TV in New Orleans, begins operating on channel 6.

Here's to 6 more decades of Channel 6, y'all! ;D 8) :-*

 

[Stanislav]

Appropo to this discussion, check out today's "Sally Forth" comic strip. ;D (Click today, the 20th, or the strip will change.)

 

[BlueHen]

The Magoo special, IIRC, led to a series, "The
Famous Adventures Of Mr. Magoo," in the 1964-65
season, and I believe it, too, cast him as an actor
playing various literary characters.

Razzleberry dressing! I forgot about this... thanks for mentioning it. I'll have to dig out my tape since they never show it anymore. But I'm surprised Christmas Carol actually came before the Mr. Magoo series. I thought the character was a popular one to begin with; hence, the reason for the Scrooge special (unless he appeared in various single cartoons before then).

Love the "We're Despicable" number sung by the charwoman, the laundress, and the undertaker.

 

[Stanislav]

The Magoo special, IIRC, led to a series, "The
Famous Adventures Of Mr. Magoo," in the 1964-65
season, and I believe it, too, cast him as an actor
playing various literary characters.

Razzleberry dressing! I forgot about this... thanks for mentioning it. I'll have to dig out my tape since they never show it anymore. But I'm surprised Christmas Carol actually came before the Mr. Magoo series. I thought the character was a popular one to begin with; hence, the reason for the Scrooge special (unless he appeared in various single cartoons before then).

Love the "We're Despicable" number sung by the charwoman, the laundress, and the undertaker.

For those obviously younger than I, Magoo starred in a bunch of UPA theatrical cartoons in the 1950's, which were repackaged for TV in the early 60's. (And I believe there were some additional cartoons made just for TV at that time.) So, Magoo was already a known and fairly popular character well before Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, and the subsequent "sequel" series placing ol' Quincy in various literary and historical guises (none of which, IMHO, had anywhere near the charm or subtlety of Carol...)

 

[Tim L]

Yes..Magoo had been around since 1949 in Columbia Theatrical Cartoons, and a TV Cartoon package was produced in 1960. I remember seeing Famous Adventures in the 1970's on Sunday mornings at 7:30 or 8AM when we would DX KDKA-TV 2 in Pittsburgh. Famous Adventures also ran for a time on USA Network in 1990-91 Sunday Mornings at 10..I taped about 15 of the episodes at that time..

Question:I just pulled out a DVD version of Magoo's Christmas Carol and watched it last night..As often as I had seen it, I thought they had the early scene in the Scrooge Counting House with Nephew Fred inviting him for dinner, but the scene was nowhere to be found. Am I misremembering, or was the scene cut?

 

[Grindlfan]

The Magoo special, IIRC, led to a series, "The
Famous Adventures Of Mr. Magoo," in the 1964-65
season, and I believe it, too, cast him as an actor
playing various literary characters.

Love the "We're Despicable" number sung by the charwoman, the laundress, and the undertaker.

That is my favorite number too. As good as the Heat Miser/Snow Miser number from The Year Without a Santa Claus.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Well, courtesy of a YouTuber, here is the above mentioned colorized Lucy. It's been edited to only show some of the color portions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBaFmehY5SY&feature=related

The 1956 "I Love Lucy" Christmas special, which CBS rebroadcast twenty years ago tomorrow (Dec. 18, 1989), then colorized for the Christmas 1990 season, was featured in a 1981 Rona Barrett "Television: Inside and Out" broadcast (linked below). It said that the reason why the episode never made it to reruns was that Desilu and CBS agreed that it would be a one-time only special and not to be put into reruns--and in fact, was nearly considered forgotten.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwn9A-1dhMU

Both the 1989 and colorized 1990 showings also featured another treat--the "animated shutter" CBS eye ID (circa 1956) at the end of the program:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tGEhD9_UUE&feature=related

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Both the 1989 and colorized 1990 showings also featured another treat--the "animated shutter" CBS eye ID (circa 1956) at the end of the program:

That eye used to scare the you know what out of me when I was a wee dude...The special is awesome, though!

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Both the 1989 and colorized 1990 showings also featured another treat--the "animated shutter" CBS eye ID (circa 1956) at the end of the program:

That eye used to scare the you know what out of me when I was a wee dude...The special is awesome, though!

Same here when I first saw that eye at the end of the 1989 airing of the 1956 Lucy Christmas show (even though I was 12 at the time).

 

[RyanHoward]

1947: Master film director Steven Spielberg(E.T., Jurassic Park, etc.), who has also done
quite a few TV projects, is born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

 

[Stanislav]

Both the 1989 and colorized 1990 showings also featured another treat--the "animated shutter" CBS eye ID (circa 1956) at the end of the program:

That eye used to scare the you know what out of me when I was a wee dude...The special is awesome, though!

Same here when I first saw that eye at the end of the 1989 airing of the 1956 Lucy Christmas show (even though I was 12 at the time).

There have been discussions (perhaps even here, as I recall) about logos and musical tags that unnerved us as kids. That "blinking eye" did it for me, too, as well as (oddly) the old NBC films animated logo with the rotating film reels (as used, as I recall, at the end of old prints of You Bet Your Life). Go figure....