January 4: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on January 4. Discuss or comment as you please……

1914: Actor George Reeves (The Adventures of Superman) is born (as George Keefer Brewer) in Woolstock, Iowa.

1927: Longtime Chicago (WGN-TV, WLS-TV) news anchor John Drury is born in Aurora, Illinois.

1953: KTSM-TV (channel 9) signs on in El Paso, Texas.

1954: Little-remembered soap opera The Brighter Day debuts on CBS. The plots revolve around Reverend Richard Dennis and his four children.

1957: Per Maxwell Smart in dialogue on Get Smart, the date that KAOS was founded. ;D

1958: Actor and voice artist Matt Frewer (Max Headroom) is born in Washington, D.C.

1959: G.E. College Bowl premieres on NBC.

1964: The Hollywood Palace debuts on ABC.

1966: WFLD (channel 32) launches in Chicago.

1966: Rawhide airs the last of 217 network episodes on CBS.

1969: NBC expands The Huntley-Brinkley Report to Saturdays, with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley alternating weeks as solo anchor. Mediocre ratings would soon prompt NBC to replace the duo with other newsmen, re-christening the show as NBC Saturday News.

1970: The 21st Century (formerly titled The 20th Century) airs its final episode on CBS.

1974: Return to Peyton Place, a less than successful spin-off from the prime-time 1960’s soap, airs its final episode on NBC. It would be replaced the following Monday by How to Survive a Marriage, a soap that would have an even shorter lifetime.

1984: Night Court premieres on NBC.

1999: Faux “Native American” actor Iron Eyes Cody (neé Espera de Corti) dies, aged 94. Despite passing himself off as part Cherokee and part Cree, his ancestry was actually Sicilian. Who is this guy, you ask? Remember the famous “Crying Indian” anti-pollution PSA? There ya go.....

(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…..)

 

[bpatrick]

"The Brighter Day" was a career launching pad for
Hal Holbrook and Patty Duke. During its eight-year
run, it was consistently CBS's lowest-rated soap,
odd considering that for most of its run it was in a
block with "The Secret Storm" and "The Edge Of Night."
Moving it to 11:30 AM in the summer of 1962 was the
death knell for the show. By my figures, though, it
ranks 18th on the list of longest-running soaps (behind
"Passions" if you include its time on TV101 and ahead of
"Santa Barbara" and "Somerset").

An event that took place on radio but would be a hallmark
of '50s television happened on January 4, 1950. On that
date, DeSoto-Plymouth dealers became Groucho's sponsor
on "You Bet Your Life." Groucho's tag line, "Go to see your
DeSoto-Plymouth dealer tomorrow and when you do, tell 'em
Groucho sent you," has to be ingrained in the memory banks
of anyone who watched "YBYL" in first-run.

 

[Kurt Toy]

G.E. College Bowl debuted on CBS in 1959, it wouldn't move to NBC until the fall of 1963.

 

[Stanislav]

G.E. College Bowl debuted on CBS in 1959, it wouldn't move to NBC until the fall of 1963.

You're right, sir. My goof.

 

[Ultimajock]

1927: Longtime Chicago (WGN-TV, WLS-TV) news anchor John Drury is born in Aurora, Illinois.

...and Drury was on WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee and WBBM-TV in Chicago before either WGN-TV or WLS-TV. In fact, while at WBBM-TV, Drury was a co-anchor with Fahey Flynn, who later also became closely identified with WLS-TV's "Eyewitness News" franchise...

1959: G.E. College Bowl premieres on NBC.

...as we've noted above, it actually started out on CBS; its original quizmaster was Allen Ludden. A piece of a kinescope of the Ludden era G.E. College Bowl was incorporated into the film Diner, with Kevin bacon memorably talking back to the TV during the quiz. After Ludden quit the show in 1962 to concentrate on hosting Password in both daytime and prime time, Robert Earle took over; after a year of Earle on CBS, the show moved to NBC for the remainder of its original run. Later versions were hosted by Art Fleming (as a radio show), Pat Sajak (as an NBC two-part special in 1984) and Dick Cavett (on The Disney Channel in 1987)...

1966: WFLD (channel 32) launches in Chicago.

...interestingly, for many years WFLD and radio station WCFL both had studio suites in Chicago's Marina City towers, and as a result of that fact (and the relative similarity of their call signs) quite a few folks thought the two stations were co-owned; in fact, WFLD was owned by Field Communications (which was itself co-owned with the Chicago Daily News, original owner of WMAQ Radio, and the Chicago Sun-Times) and WCFL was owned by the Chicago Federation of Labor, who also owned a construction permit to build WCFL-TV on Channel 38 (the station only took to the air after that CP was bought by a religious outfit and the call sign changed to WCFC-TV after a few test transmissions in 1976 using the original calls). To further complicate things, for many years WBKB-TV/WLS-TV had its mast atop Marina City, with the "Circle 7" logo prominently placed and lit, although their studios were actually a few blocks south at the corner of State & Lake Streets; WLS-TV left the Marina City stick for a spot atop the Sears Tower in 1973...

...oh, and another point in confusion was the fact that Jim Bohannon, then as a newscaster, worked for both WCFL and WFLD in the late '70s and early '80s; there's a video of him delivering news headlines on WFLD in 1979 on YouTube...

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1975: Actress (and former Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader) Jill Marie Jones (Girlfriends) is born in Dallas, TX.

 

[easttxtv]

Another footnote about The Brighter Day, one of it's co-stars, Geoffrey Lumb (who played attorney Mitchell Dru in 1962), would go on to play the same character on As the World Turns (1962-1964) and Another World (1964-1971). This made Lumb the first actor to do this in daytime.

 

[bpatrick]

1927: Longtime Chicago (WGN-TV, WLS-TV) news anchor John Drury is born in Aurora, Illinois.

...and Drury was on WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee and WBBM-TV in Chicago before either WGN-TV or WLS-TV. In fact, while at WBBM-TV, Drury was a co-anchor with Fahey Flynn, who later also became closely identified with WLS-TV's "Eyewitness News" franchise...

1959: G.E. College Bowl premieres on NBC.

...as we've noted above, it actually started out on CBS; its original quizmaster was Allen Ludden. A piece of a kinescope of the Ludden era G.E. College Bowl was incorporated into the film Diner, with Kevin bacon memorably talking back to the TV during the quiz. After Ludden quit the show in 1962 to concentrate on hosting Password in both daytime and prime time, Robert Earle took over; after a year of Earle on CBS, the show moved to NBC for the remainder of its original run. Later versions were hosted by Art Fleming (as a radio show), Pat Sajak (as an NBC two-part special in 1984) and Dick Cavett (on The Disney Channel in 1987)...

1966: WFLD (channel 32) launches in Chicago.

...interestingly, for many years WFLD and radio station WCFL both had studio suites in Chicago's Marina City towers, and as a result of that fact (and the relative similarity of their call signs) quite a few folks thought the two stations were co-owned; in fact, WFLD was owned by Field Communications (which was itself co-owned with the Chicago Daily News, original owner of WMAQ Radio, and the Chicago Sun-Times) and WCFL was owned by the Chicago Federation of Labor, who also owned a construction permit to build WCFL-TV on Channel 38 (the station only took to the air after that CP was bought by a religious outfit and the call sign changed to WCFC-TV after a few test transmissions in 1976 using the original calls). To further complicate things, for many years WBKB-TV/WLS-TV had its mast atop Marina City, with the "Circle 7" logo prominently placed and lit, although their studios were actually a few blocks south at the corner of State & Lake Streets; WLS-TV left the Marina City stick for a spot atop the Sears Tower in 1973...

...oh, and another point in confusion was the fact that Jim Bohannon, then as a newscaster, worked for both WCFL and WFLD in the late '70s and early '80s; there's a video of him delivering news headlines on WFLD in 1979 on YouTube...

"The Mad Programmer," CBS's Jim Aubrey, was partially responsible for Ludden's leaving "College Bowl." For the fall of 1962 CBS had scheduled "College Bowl" Sundays at 5:30, and nighttime "Password" at 6:30. Aubrey didn't think Ludden should appear on two shows scheduled so near each other (funny nobody had a problem with Bill Cullen's hosting "The Price Is Right" on NBC Wednesdays at 8:30, then appearing as a panelist on "I've Got A Secret" on CBS an hour later from 1958-61). Aubrey gave Ludden a choice: he could host "College Bowl" or "Password" but not both. Because "Password" paid more (being a daytime show as well), and with Ludden paying off the medical bills of his late first wife, he opted for "Password." I think we all know how Robert Earle got the job as "College Bowl" host: taping a broadcast with Ludden, then taping and splicing himself in wherever Ludden appeared on the tape. Oddly, although Earle hosted "College Bowl" for eight years, until GE dropped sponsorship and NBC dropped the show in 1970, it's still Ludden whom most people associate with it.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

1957: Per Maxwell Smart in dialogue on Get Smart, the date that KAOS was founded.

And of course, that bit of knowledge was imparted while Max and the Chief were in the Cone Of Silence..."What about Agent 57?" "No, not 1857, 1957!"

"The Hollywood Palace" replaced part of the time devoted to Jerry Lewis's 2 hour (or was it 90 minute?) variety show that premiered in the fall of 1963 and was gone by the new year. "Palace"'s most famous moment was when the Rolling Stones appeared on the show and that week's host, Dean Martin, made them the butt of joke after joke. His eye roll when he said "The Rolling Stones...Aren't they great?" is priceless. "Palace" was never quite as rock-friendly as "The Ed Sullivan Show".

 

[easttxtv]

1915: Meg Mundy (The Doctors) is born (as Margaret Mundy) on this date in London, England.

1927: Barbara Rush (Peyton Place, Flamingo Road, 7th Heaven) is born on this date in Denver, Colorado.

1930: Sorrell Booke (Naked City, All in the Family, The Dukes of Hazzard) is born on this date in Buffalo, New York.

1937: Dyan Cannon (Ally McBeal, Three Sisters) is born (as Samille Diane Friesen) on this date in Tacoma, Washington.

1943: Doris Kearns Goodwin (many guest appearances on interview shows and documentaries (Baseball, The American Experience, etc.)) is born (as Doris Helen Kearns) on this date in Brooklyn, New York.

1963: Dave Foley (The Kids in the Hall, NewsRadio) is born (as David Scott Foley) on this date in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada.

 

[FreddyE1977]

1958: Actor and voice artist Matt Frewer (Max Headroom) is born in Washington, D.C.

Really?? I remember back in the day when he was doing a lot of Max all of the bios
floating around said that he was a Canadian.

 

[bpatrick]

1957: Per Maxwell Smart in dialogue on Get Smart, the date that KAOS was founded.

And of course, that bit of knowledge was imparted while Max and the Chief were in the Cone Of Silence..."What about Agent 57?" "No, not 1857, 1957!"

"The Hollywood Palace" replaced part of the time devoted to Jerry Lewis's 2 hour (or was it 90 minute?) variety show that premiered in the fall of 1963 and was gone by the new year. "Palace"'s most famous moment was when the Rolling Stones appeared on the show and that week's host, Dean Martin, made them the butt of joke after joke. His eye roll when he said "The Rolling Stones...Aren't they great?" is priceless. "Palace" was never quite as rock-friendly as "The Ed Sullivan Show".

Jerry Lewis's show was two hours (9:30-11:30 ET); "The Hollywood Palace" replaced the first hour. I've read a story that the act that followed the Rolling Stones was an acrobat, and that Dean Martin, in his introduction (or possibly after the guy had finished) said, "This is the father of the Rolling Stones. He's been trying to kill himself ever since."

 

[Ultimajock]

1958: Actor and voice artist Matt Frewer (Max Headroom) is born in Washington, D.C.

Really?? I remember back in the day when he was doing a lot of Max all of the bios
floating around said that he was a Canadian.

...Frewer's father was an officer in the Canadian Navy assigned to guard duty at the Canadian Embassy in Washington at the time Matt was born...

 

[mleach]

Because "Password" paid more (being a daytime show as well), and with Ludden paying off the medical bills of his late first wife, he opted for "Password."

This is similar to Liza Minnelli and her 1972 CBS Special "Liza with a Z" and her doing such films as "Cabaret"..it was so she could pay off her mother Judy's debts. Now with Ludden I can see him paying off the medical bills of his late wife since they were, well married. But with Liza, I don't get it. While it was true when Judy Garland died she left behind a ton of debt but from a legal standpoint children aren't responsible for their parent's debts...unless they signed for something.

 

[Stanislav]

Because "Password" paid more (being a daytime show as well), and with Ludden paying off the medical bills of his late first wife, he opted for "Password."

This is similar to Liza Minnelli and her 1972 CBS Special "Liza with a Z" and her doing such films as "Cabaret"..it was so she could pay off her mother Judy's debts. Now with Ludden I can see him paying off the medical bills of his late wife since they were, well married. But with Liza, I don't get it. While it was true when Judy Garland died she left behind a ton of debt but from a legal standpoint children aren't responsible for their parent's debts...unless they signed for something.

Some feel an untoward moral obligation to settle a deceased parent's debts, in spite of there being no legal responsibility per se. (Although a creditor can file a probate claim against a decedent's estate prior to its distribution.) This moral sentiment is often used unapologetically by collection agencies to try to "shame" a surviving child into settling a parent's debt.

 

[bpatrick]

Because "Password" paid more (being a daytime show as well), and with Ludden paying off the medical bills of his late first wife, he opted for "Password."

This is similar to Liza Minnelli and her 1972 CBS Special "Liza with a Z" and her doing such films as "Cabaret"..it was so she could pay off her mother Judy's debts. Now with Ludden I can see him paying off the medical bills of his late wife since they were, well married. But with Liza, I don't get it. While it was true when Judy Garland died she left behind a ton of debt but from a legal standpoint children aren't responsible for their parent's debts...unless they signed for something.

I'm quite sure Judy Garland wasn't married to Vincente Minnelli at the time of her death, and she probably wasn't married to Sid Luft, either. I don't know the law on this but I would think that neither man, if still alive, would have to assume Ms. Garland's debts. That may have left either Liza or Lorna Luft to pay them off. Somebody please straighten me out on this.

 

[mleach]

I'm quite sure Judy Garland wasn't married to Vincente Minnelli at the time of her death, and she probably wasn't married to Sid Luft, either. I don't know the law on this but I would think that neither man, if still alive, would have to assume Ms. Garland's debts. That may have left either Liza or Lorna Luft to pay them off. Somebody please straighten me out on this.

Judy was married to Mickey Deans at the time of her death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Deans

It would be Deans who were to assume Judy's debts not Liza or Lorna Luft unless there was some agreement within the family prior to Judy's death that gave control to Liza...don't know about this case of course but legally children aren't responsible for any debts that their deceased parents had created when they were living, actually there was a case on Judge Judy several years ago on this subject. The mother had left behind a defaulted credit card with a debt of 30 K..the bank wanted her daughter to pay it off since "..this is from your mother". Judge Judy ruled in favor of the daughter and the debt was written off.

Back to Liza, the more I think of it me thinks she took over Judy's debt only to protect the image of her mother. I can see that.

 

[bpatrick]

1974: Last telecast of "The Who, What Or Where Game," the
companion program to the original "Jeopardy!" on NBC's daytime
schedule since December 1969. Some people have called "the
3Ws" "Jeopardy Lite" but I disagree; I think the questions on the
3Ws were as tough, if not tougher. The show returned in modified
format in 1990 as "The Challengers" (more emphasis on questions
about current events), but I'd like to see the show return in its
original format, although with higher stakes; in fact, I wouldn't
mind hosting the show.