January 11: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on January 11. Discuss or comment as you please……

1932: Experimental TV station W5XA goes on the air in Shreveport, Louisiana. Audio is transmitted on 1594 kHz, and video in the 160-meter amateur radio band.

1949: The coaxial cable linking East and Midwest (from Boston to St. Louis) is activated. A 2-hour special celebrating the link (hosted by DuMont and the newly signed-on WDTV, Pittsburgh) airs on all four networks.

1949: WOIC-TV (channel 9, later WTOP-TV and WDVM-TV, now WUSA) signs on in Washington, D.C.

1953: WKBN-TV (channel 27) begins broadcasting in Youngstown, Ohio.

1974: The final network episodes of Love, American Style and Room 222 are broadcast on ABC.

1976: The first episode of the 2-part special Eleanor and Franklin (Roosevelt, that is) airs on ABC, with Jane Alexander and Edward Herrmann in the title roles.

1979: Actor Jack Soo (Barney Miller) dies in Los Angeles of esophageal cancer, aged 61. His castmates would take the unusual step of breaking character to host a special retrospective episode in Soo’s memory.

1993: WWF Monday Night Raw debuts on the USA Network.

1995: The WB Television Network is launched, initially programming just 2 hours on Wednesday evenings.

2001: During taping of the hugely popular Brazilian children’s show Xuxa Park at the studios of TV Globo, a central stage prop (a mechanical “spaceship”) suddenly bursts into flames during a musical number. The flash fire rapidly fills the set with flames and the studio with dense smoke as about 300 audience members (mostly children) make a panicked run for the exits. The host, Latin superstar Xuxa, escapes unharmed, but 4 individuals (including 2 of the children who were on stage and trapped by the flames) are seriously injured. Dramatic video of the conflagration provides fodder for Brazilian tabloid shows (and turns up on U.S. "caught on video” type shows, too), as well as “evidence” for bizarre religious fundamentalists who believe Xuxa to be in league with the Devil.

2004: Drake and Josh premieres on Nickelodeon.

2008: At 12:46 p.m. CST, the KATV (Little Rock) tower in Redfield, Arkansas collapses. The cause of the collapse remains unknown. A crew replacing older guy wires claim that as they were loosening one of the older guy wires, the structure began to shake and suddenly collapse. Amazingly, no one is seriously injured. The tower had supported analog and digital antennas for KATV (channel 7 analog/22 DTV) and the analog antenna for KETS (channel 2).

2009: Today, the stations of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) are scheduled to close down their analog transmitters, 5 weeks ahead of the February 17 official transition date. In addition, they are shutting down WMED-TV in Calais completely for 6 months, and will have all MPBN stations sign-off for 5 hours per night. All of these moves come due to a serious financial shortfall at the network.

(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…..)

 

[azumanga]

2009: Today, the stations of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network (MPBN) are scheduled to close down their analog transmitters, 5 weeks ahead of the February 17 official transition date. In addition, they are shutting down WMED-TV in Calais completely for 6 months...

WMED's closure has been delayed until March, at earliest, per MPBN.

 

[bk77]

2001: During taping of the hugely popular Brazilian children’s show Xuxa Park at the studios of TV Globo, a central stage prop (a mechanical “spaceship”) suddenly bursts into flames during a musical number. The flash fire rapidly fills the set with flames and the studio with dense smoke as about 300 audience members (mostly children) make a panicked run for the exits. The host, Latin superstar Xuxa, escapes unharmed, but 4 individuals (including 2 of the children who were on stage and trapped by the flames) are seriously injured. Dramatic video of the conflagration provides fodder for Brazilian tabloid shows (and turns up on U.S. "caught on video” type shows, too), as well as “evidence” for bizarre religious fundamentalists who believe Xuxa to be in league with the Devil.

A couple of years before this ( 1996 to be exact ) the Brazilian rock band Mamonas Assassinas was killed in a plane crash just after they did a concert in that country. Mamonas Assassinas was Brazil's version of The Backsteet Boys or perhaps N'Sync. Even though the kids in that country loved them, many of the adults believed they were children of "Satan" since a lot of their songs were about sex such as titles like "Naked in Santos".

In one of those cases where "this could never happen in America", the Brazilian press was actually allowed to go the crash site and not only took pics of the dead bodies of that band but those pics were even published in the newspapers and shown on TV there. Imagine the uproar say had CNN or some other American news outlet would have showed what was left of John Denver after his plane crash?

Of course those very same bizarre religious fundamentalists used this plane crash that killed the band Mamonas Assassinas in their favor by claiming they will killed as a "punishment" for their songs and actions.

 

[Stanislav]

2001: During taping of the hugely popular Brazilian children’s show Xuxa Park at the studios of TV Globo, a central stage prop (a mechanical “spaceship”) suddenly bursts into flames during a musical number. The flash fire rapidly fills the set with flames and the studio with dense smoke as about 300 audience members (mostly children) make a panicked run for the exits. The host, Latin superstar Xuxa, escapes unharmed, but 4 individuals (including 2 of the children who were on stage and trapped by the flames) are seriously injured. Dramatic video of the conflagration provides fodder for Brazilian tabloid shows (and turns up on U.S. "caught on video” type shows, too), as well as “evidence” for bizarre religious fundamentalists who believe Xuxa to be in league with the Devil.

A couple of years before this ( 1996 to be exact ) the Brazilian rock band Mamonas Assassinas was killed in a plane crash just after they did a concert in that country. Mamonas Assassinas was Brazil's version of The Backsteet Boys or perhaps N'Sync. Even though the kids in that country loved them, many of the adults believed they were children of "Satan" since a lot of their songs were about sex such as titles like "Naked in Santos".

In one of those cases where "this could never happen in America", the Brazilian press was actually allowed to go the crash site and not only took pics of the dead bodies of that band but those pics were even published in the newspapers and shown on TV there. Imagine the uproar say had CNN or some other American news outlet would have showed what was left of John Denver after his plane crash?

Of course those very same bizarre religious fundamentalists used this plane crash that killed the band Mamonas Assassinas in their favor by claiming they will killed as a "punishment" for their songs and actions.

That's very much akin to the situation with Xuxa. The Fundies despise her because on one hand she wears provocative costumes, has done some mildly adult videos, and frankly discussed sexuality on other programs, while at the same time hosting countless kiddie shows and being an idol of the young. They believe that she is trying to lead their children astray. As best as I can make out (with my very limited knowledge of Portuguese), there are two camps about the Xuxa Park fire. Some say that the fire was Divine punishment for her sins, while others see her as the source of the fire, that she was subliminally summoning the Devil through her music. All the while rejecting the more obvious notion that the fire was simply the result of a combination of poor maintenance and an electrical short circuit. But that is the fundamentalist mind-set -- things never just "happen" -- everything has to be seen as some deliberate supernatural act, whether divine or satanic. :

 

[RicoGregg]

With Brazil's horrendous poverty, intensely high crime rates, and corrupt governments at virtually all levels, the Fundies would do better to address those issues, hopefully without violence, then to aim their misguided wrath at Xuxa.

Even if she is making God angry, and I'm not an ecumenical-type, shouldn't God be the one to deal with her, and not a mortal soul? Did God ask them to do that? I don't think so.

 

[LKellerIII]

With Brazil's horrendous poverty, intensely high crime rates, and corrupt governments at virtually all levels, the Fundies would do better to address those issues, hopefully without violence, then to aim their misguided wrath at Xuxa.

Even if she is making God angry, and I'm not an ecumenical-type, shouldn't God be the one to deal with her, and not a mortal soul? Did God ask them to do that? I don't think so.

Not meaning to turn this into a bash the fundamentalists thread, but...don't expect the majority of "fundies" of any religion in any society to address the real and basic problems of society (hunger, homelessness, health care). There are exceptions of course, but the vast majority of fundies are more concerned with dictating moral behavior to other people in the belief that any other kinds of behavior are "Godless," and because their religion is the only way to live.

 

[Stanislav]

While I agree with much that is being said, let's be careful not to get too far or passionately OT -- I don't want my TDITVH thread getting dumped into "Take It Outside."

 

[bk77]

While I agree with much that is being said, let's be careful not to get too far or passionately OT -- I don't want my TDITVH thread getting dumped into "Take It Outside."

I really wouldn't worry to much about that. After all most folks reguardless how religious they are or what kind of religion they belong too, they know there are those out there who are just that...out there, like the Fred Phelps types. Even Jerry Falwell didn't want to have anything to do with his and his "church". Like my aunt for example. She has been going to the same baptist church for 40 years and no she doesn't approve of those protesting funerals or writing letters to the families of those who had lost loved ones in that Station nightclub fire that happened years ago in Rhode Island.."reminding" them that their friends are "currently burning in hell" because they had died in a bar that played rock music.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1928: Producer David L. Wolper, whose credits include Roots, The Thorn Birds, North and South, and This is Elvis, is born in NYC.

 

[mjlarochelle]

1982: The CBC in Canada relaunches its nightly news program, The National, at 10 PM, and also launches the current affairs program The Journal immediately following at 10:22. At the same time, CBC affiliates expand their late local newscasts to begin at 11 PM.