Just a few random TV related events that happened on February 14. Discuss or comment as you please……
1894: “Well!” The one and only Jack Benny is born (as Benjamin Kubelsky) in Chicago.
1916: Actor Edward Platt (Get Smart) is born in Staten Island, New York.
1921: TV institution Hugh Downs is born in Akron, Ohio.
1924: Journalist Gabe Pressman is born in The Bronx, New York. He is one of the few pioneer TV news figures still working (as senior correspondent for WNBC-TV), an ongoing journalistic career spanning over 6 decades.
1929: Actor Vic Morrow (Combat!) is born in New York City.
1934: Actress Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch) is born in Dale, Indiana.
1936: Meteorologist Dave Roberts is born (as David Thomas Boreanaz) in Buffalo, New York. He has been the chief weatherman at Philadelphia’s WPVI-TV since 1983.
1942: Actor Andrew Robinson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) is born in New York City.
1953: KTTS-TV (channel 10) signs on in Springfield, Missouri.
1954: WTOC-TV (channel 11) launches as Savannah, Georgia’s first TV station. A short hop north, Augusta gets its second TV station in the form of WRDW-TV (channel 12).
1955: WFLA-TV begins broadcasting on channel 8 in Tampa, Florida. The first broadcast is of the Gasparilla Pirate Festival, which the station has covered every year since sign-on.
1962: First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes Americans on a televised tour of the White House with Charles Collingwood of CBS.
1968: WHKY-TV (channel 14) signs on in Hickory, North Carolina.
1968: A helicopter crashes into the 2060’ (628 m) tower of KXJB-TV (channel 4, Valley City/Fargo) in Trail County, North Dakota, severing guy wires and collapsing the structure. All four aboard the helicopter are killed in the mishap. KXJB would complete construction of a replacement tower (of the same height) 4 ½ months later – that tower would also collapse 29 years later during an ice storm.
1968: The “Peanuts” special He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown is first broadcast on CBS. (But not, unfortunately, on KXJB-TV – see above...)
It is the last “Peanuts” special to feature most of the original voice cast of A Charlie Brown Christmas, including Peter Robbins, Christopher Shea, and Sally Dryer.
1972: The CBS Late Movie debuts.
1980: Say it ain’t so, Uncle Walter! Walter Cronkite announces his intention to retire as anchor of The CBS Evening News. His last show would be just over a year later, on March 6, 1981.
1986: Musician Frank Zappa makes a rare TV acting appearance on Miami Vice (as a crime boss named “Mr. Frankie”).
1992: In Wisconsin, financial problems force Appleton-Green Bay’s WXGZ-TV (channel 32) off the air. Their final broadcast is a half-hour retrospective featuring on-air and behind-the-scenes footage at the station. The channel would be reactivated two years later as WACY-TV.
2007: Actor Lee Patterson (The Nurses/One Life to Live/Another World/Texas) dies on Galveston Island, Texas, aged 77.
(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…..)
1894: “Well!” The one and only Jack Benny is born (as Benjamin Kubelsky) in Chicago.
1916: Actor Edward Platt (Get Smart) is born in Staten Island, New York.
1921: TV institution Hugh Downs is born in Akron, Ohio.
1924: Journalist Gabe Pressman is born in The Bronx, New York. He is one of the few pioneer TV news figures still working (as senior correspondent for WNBC-TV), an ongoing journalistic career spanning over 6 decades.
1929: Actor Vic Morrow (Combat!) is born in New York City.
1934: Actress Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch) is born in Dale, Indiana.
1936: Meteorologist Dave Roberts is born (as David Thomas Boreanaz) in Buffalo, New York. He has been the chief weatherman at Philadelphia’s WPVI-TV since 1983.
1942: Actor Andrew Robinson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) is born in New York City.
1953: KTTS-TV (channel 10) signs on in Springfield, Missouri.
1954: WTOC-TV (channel 11) launches as Savannah, Georgia’s first TV station. A short hop north, Augusta gets its second TV station in the form of WRDW-TV (channel 12).
1955: WFLA-TV begins broadcasting on channel 8 in Tampa, Florida. The first broadcast is of the Gasparilla Pirate Festival, which the station has covered every year since sign-on.
1962: First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes Americans on a televised tour of the White House with Charles Collingwood of CBS.
1968: WHKY-TV (channel 14) signs on in Hickory, North Carolina.
1968: A helicopter crashes into the 2060’ (628 m) tower of KXJB-TV (channel 4, Valley City/Fargo) in Trail County, North Dakota, severing guy wires and collapsing the structure. All four aboard the helicopter are killed in the mishap. KXJB would complete construction of a replacement tower (of the same height) 4 ½ months later – that tower would also collapse 29 years later during an ice storm.
1968: The “Peanuts” special He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown is first broadcast on CBS. (But not, unfortunately, on KXJB-TV – see above...)
It is the last “Peanuts” special to feature most of the original voice cast of A Charlie Brown Christmas, including Peter Robbins, Christopher Shea, and Sally Dryer. 1972: The CBS Late Movie debuts.
1980: Say it ain’t so, Uncle Walter! Walter Cronkite announces his intention to retire as anchor of The CBS Evening News. His last show would be just over a year later, on March 6, 1981.
1986: Musician Frank Zappa makes a rare TV acting appearance on Miami Vice (as a crime boss named “Mr. Frankie”).
1992: In Wisconsin, financial problems force Appleton-Green Bay’s WXGZ-TV (channel 32) off the air. Their final broadcast is a half-hour retrospective featuring on-air and behind-the-scenes footage at the station. The channel would be reactivated two years later as WACY-TV.
2007: Actor Lee Patterson (The Nurses/One Life to Live/Another World/Texas) dies on Galveston Island, Texas, aged 77.
(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…..)
