January 3: This Day in TV History

[LKellerIII]

I always found it hard to believe when Morton
Downey, Jr. claimed he'd never heard of Joe Pyne.
Pyne was big on radio and television in the late '60s;
BTW, he even hosted a game show in 1966, "Showdown,"
on which contestants were seated on breakaway chairs
which deposited them on the floor (or beneath it) when
they gave wrong answers.

I remember watching Pyne on Saturdays in Greenville, SC
and in Birmingham, and even though I didn't necessarily
agree with him I found him more fun to watch than Downey.
I always wondered just how seriously he took himself.

Yes - the few times I caught Downey's show, I found him to be just nasty. Joe Pyne didn't take himself too seriously, though I suspect he came by his rudeness naturally. He had the top rated morning talk show on LA radio in the mid 60s (MetroMedia's KLAC), and his mood would vary depending on the day - always edgy, but sometimes a bit playful, other times downright hostile...I used to wonder if he was hung over on the bad days.

 

[Ultimajock]

I always found it hard to believe when Morton
Downey, Jr. claimed he'd never heard of Joe Pyne.
Pyne was big on radio and television in the late '60s

...in fact, when Mort was trying to be a Top 40 disc jockey on KDEO in San Diego in 1964, one of his competitors -- I think he actually beat Mort in the SD ratings -- was Joe Pyne's talk show on Los Angeles' KLAC...

 

[Ultimajock]

Morton Downey Jr....of course his late 80's show didn't last and even before that infamous San Francisco/Skinheads incident, Mort's show was already in serious trouble.

...I regularly caught Mort's final regular gig, as a talker on WTAM Cleveland just before his last cancer battle. He sounded reasonable by that time and admitted on the air that the WWOR show was bogus from day one. I used to know the late Don Vogel, who worked with Mort at WMAQ Chicago in '87; Don, a noted liberal, liked Mort personally but cursed Mort's overbearing ambition that led him to take the WWOR gig in the first place...

 

[Joe_Capitano]

Are you sure on the date with Arsenio Hall? January 3, 1989 was a Tuesday.

The date is confirmed in the book "Total Television."

And on the day before, January 2, there were the New Year's Day bowl games, delayed from Sunday - and you know the rule in Pasadena. "Never on Sunday". That probably explains the one-day delay for the Dog Pound.


"Let's Get Busy."

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1916: Actress, commentator and consumer advocate Betty Furness (d. 1994), best known for What's My Line fame, is born in NYC.

 

[therealjm12]

I was pretty much too young to appreciate Joe Pyne in his heyday. I guess I must have seen his TV at one time but really remember his syndicated radio show. As I remember, he mostly interviewed people that had been abducted by flying saucers, or had evil twins. He would insult them and belittle them. My Mother listened to it for laughs.
I believe that an episode of The Dick Van Dyke show had a character based on him interviewing Laura. She revealed that Alan Brady wore a rug.

 

[easttxtv]

1905: Ray Milland (Meet Mr. McNutley/The Ray Milland Show, Markham, Trails West (rebroadcasts of Death Valley Days), Hart to Hart) is born (as Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones) in Neath, Wales.

1930: Robert Loggia (T.H.E.Cat, The Secret Storm, Search for Tomorrow, Emerald Point NAS, Wild Palms, The Sopranos, numerous others) is born (as Salvatore Loggia) in Staten Island, New York.

1947: Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.

1950: Victoria Principal (Dallas, Titans) is born in Fukuoka, Japan.

1975: Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years, The West Wing, Inspector Mom) is born (as Danica Mae McKellar) in La Jolla, California.

1976: Nicholas Gonzalez (MTV's Undressed, Resurrection Blvd., Melrose Place (2009 version)) is born (as Nicholas Edward Gonzalez) in San Antonio, Texas.

1992: Dame Judith Anderson (Santa Barbara, numerous TV guest roles) died of pneumonia on this date in Santa Barbara, California.

2009: Pat Hingle (Gunsmoke, Elvis, Stone, War and Remembrance, The Kennedys of Massachusetts, numerous others) died of myelodysplasia on this date in Carolina Beach, North Carolina.

 

[bpatrick]

Re Woody Woodbury: according to his own account, his
show passed to Allen Ludden, then Donald O'Connor, and
finally to Merv Griffin (all, apparently and Merv, definitely)
syndicated by Metromedia. Ralph Edwards produced Woodbury's
show.

I remember Woodbury on "Who Do You Trust?" being dressed
somewhat like McLean Stevenson on "M*A*S*H": fishing hat,
windbreaker, sport shirt, jeans or khakis, tennis shoes. Despite
Don Fedderson's insistence that he explain the wardrobe (something
he wore in his nightclub act), he never did and thus left viewers
puzzled as to his outfit (he once told writer Richard Lamparski that
he should have gone along with Fedderson, but he was feeling his oats,
getting to host a network show). I also remember my mom being somewhat
offended by Woodbury's humor, but since I was only about eight years
old and didn't understand most of the jokes, she let me watch anyway.