January 18: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

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

1948: Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour makes the move to TV, debuting on DuMont. In its long, but disjointed run (finally ending in 1970), the show would make stops at all 4 commercial networks.

1969: Actor Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order) is born (as Jesse Lamont Watkins) in Rocky Mount, Virginia.

1975: The Jeffersons premieres on CBS.

1978: Actor Carl Betz (The Donna Reed Show, Judd for the Defense) dies in Los Angeles, aged 56.

1990: Actor Rusty Hamer (Make Room for Daddy) dies off a self-inflicted gunshot wound, aged 42.

(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…..)

 

[LKellerIII]

There's a "6 degrees of separation" style connection between 2 items that happened on January 28th.

As noted, Carl Betz played the TV father on The Donna Reed Show. His TV son was played by Paul Peterson. It was Rusty Hamer's 1990 suicide (along with the suicides of 2 other former child actors) that motivated Peterson to found A Minor Consideration - a support and advocacy group for former child stars, many of whom have lead troubled adult lives.

 

[Stanislav]

There's a "6 degrees of separation" style connection between 2 items that happened on January 28th.

Speaking of the "six degrees" phenomenon, there used to be a fun website based on the premise. Linked to the IMDB database, it had you enter the names of any two actors, and it would show how closely they were linked via their TV and movie roles. (For example, entering actors A & B, it might find that A appeared with C in production X, while B appeared with C in production Y.) No matter how wild the perceived disparity between any two actors, I found it rarely took more than 2 or 3 degrees to link them. Does anyone remember this site, and is it still around? (I've long since lost the bookmark...)

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Speaking of the "six degrees" phenomenon, there used to be a fun website based on the premise. Linked to the IMDB database, it had you enter the names of any two actors, and it would show how closely they were linked via their TV and movie roles. (For example, entering actors A & B, it might find that A appeared with C in production X, while B appeared with C in production Y.) No matter how wild the perceived disparity between any two actors, I found it rarely took more than 2 or 3 degrees to link them. Does anyone remember this site, and is it still around? (I've long since lost the bookmark...)

Wasn't that the "Oracle Of Kevin Bacon"? You typed in any actor, actress, singer, or anyone you could think of who had been in a movie, and got their "Bacon Factor". The game was made possible by the fact that Kevin Bacon was in "JFK" along with everybody in Hollywood and their cousin.

 

[Stanislav]

Speaking of the "six degrees" phenomenon, there used to be a fun website based on the premise. Linked to the IMDB database, it had you enter the names of any two actors, and it would show how closely they were linked via their TV and movie roles. (For example, entering actors A & B, it might find that A appeared with C in production X, while B appeared with C in production Y.) No matter how wild the perceived disparity between any two actors, I found it rarely took more than 2 or 3 degrees to link them. Does anyone remember this site, and is it still around? (I've long since lost the bookmark...)

Wasn't that the "Oracle Of Kevin Bacon"? You typed in any actor, actress, singer, or anyone you could think of who had been in a movie, and got their "Bacon Factor". The game was made possible by the fact that Kevin Bacon was in "JFK" along with everybody in Hollywood and their cousin.

No, it wasn't "Bacon-centric" -- you could type in any two names and it would show how closely they were linked.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1954: Former WWF(E) superstar "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase is born in Omaha, NE.

 

[Tim L]

1963:Shock Theater, with "Ghoulardi" Ernie Anderson) premieres on WJW-TV 8 in Cleveland at 11:20 PM Friday Nights..After a hugely successful 3 and a half year run, Anderson moves to Hollywood, where he becomes arguably the most successful voice-over artist in history..

Not wanting to lose the ratings success on Friday Nights, WJW pairs "Big Chuck" Schodowski and "Hoolihan The Weatherman" Bob Wells as "Hoolihan and Big Chuck"..After Wells leaves TV 8 in 1979 "Lil John" Rinaldi takes his place as the show is retitled "Big Chuck and Lil John"...

Between the 3 formats and hosting changes, the show lasted 44 years ..The longest running show of its kind in TV History by the time Chuck Schodowski and John Rinaldi retired the show in June 2007..