July 10: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on July 10. Discuss or comment as you please……

1937: High-definition television with 455 lines is first shown in France at the International Exposition in Paris.

1945: Actor Ron Glass (Barney Miller) is born in Evansville, Indiana.

1949: WJAR-TV begins operations in Providence on channel 11 as Rhode Island’s first TV station. The station shifted to channel 10 in 1952 as a result of the post-freeze reassignment of channel allocations. DYK: In 1986, WJAR-TV covered its own disaster on the air, broadcasting live coverage of a devastating fire that destroyed its main studios.

1950: Your Hit Parade debuts on NBC. The radio version had already logged 15 years, and would continue to run for five more.

1978: The ABC Evening News is renamed ABC World News Tonight, with Frank Reynolds as anchor.

1980: A huge fire guts Alexandra Palace, the London site where BBC Television began in 1936, and where many studios and production facilities were still located. The fire spares the wing housing the TV facilities, but the BBC nonetheless soon abandons its studios there. The disused wing has fallen into neglect and decay, prompting a campaign in England to attempt to secure financing to restore and save one of the most significant buildings in world television history.

1981: The great voice artist Mel Blanc dies in Los Angeles, aged 81. While his many characters live on, it is a tribute to Blanc’s unique talents that it now takes a whole stable of voice actors to cover all the voices originally done by this one man.

1981: KVIA-TV (El Paso, Texas) swaps channels with PBS station KCOS, moving from channel 13 to 7.

1981: The final episode of the short-lived revival series Sanford (sans “Son”) airs on NBC.

(Just a little featurette I hope to do as time permits…..don’t expect it every single day. 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…..)

 

[landtuna]

I personally haven't heard one single post-Blanc voice that measures up to his in the least. He was truely one of a kind.

 

[Stanislav]

I personally haven't heard one single post-Blanc voice that measures up to his in the least. He was truely one of a kind.

Some come pretty close. Joe Alaskey does a decent Sylvester and Tweety; Bob Bergen is not bad as Porky, etc. And several (like half a dozen guys) have tackled Bugs Bunny for various projects -- I still think Jeff Bergman comes closest to Blanc, although he doesn't get used very often anymore. The difference is that they are all imitations, and even when done with the greatest respect for Mel, they cannot reproduce the spirit and life that he gave the characters.

One voice that has never come even close post-Blanc is Barney Rubble. There have been about 3 different guys who have done the voices for cereal commercials after Mel's death, and they have gotten progressively worse IMHO.

 

[LKellerIII]

"I personally haven't heard one single post-Blanc voice that measures up to his in the least. He was truely one of a kind."

Agreed - not even Mel Jr. And those of us who have lived a couple of decades or more in the San Francisco Bay Area will remember:

"Farms?? In Berkeley?!! Moooooooo!"

RE: the comments on UPA animation. That studio was in the artistic forefront in the early 50s and produced some award winning animated films. But by the 60s, their original creative writers and producers had left...some were victims of the anti-communist witch-hunts of the mid 50s.

Though there were a few bright spots in the 60s, but by then, most of their productions were low quality - later Mr. Magoos, Dick Tracy, etc.

 

[LKellerIII]

...Sorry...I was having topic confusion. The comments from me and others about UPA animation are in the "TV Widows" topic thread.

 

[Stanislav]

...Sorry...I was having topic confusion. The comments from me and others about UPA animation are in the "TV Widows" topic thread.

We're supposed to stay on-topic in these threads? News to me..... ;D

 

[KML0224]

Just to correct the original post...Mel Blanc died in 1989.

 

[Stanislav]

Just to correct the original post...Mel Blanc died in 1989.

Damn, I wish this board would let you edit a post for longer than a few minutes! Probably my addled brain transferred the digits of his age (81) to the year.

 

[RicoGregg]

Three voices that CAN'T be duplicated; I know, I've tried, so have many others:

Bob Hope

Gerald Ford

Kermit the Frog

As the old KRLA slogan went: Often imitated, never duplicated.

 

[firepoint525]

Just to correct the original post...Mel Blanc died in 1989.

Damn, I wish this board would let you edit a post for longer than a few minutes! Probably my addled brain transferred the digits of his age (81) to the year.

Your most recent post can be edited, until you post something else, then that becomes your most recent post. ;D

 

[Stanislav]

Just to correct the original post...Mel Blanc died in 1989.

Damn, I wish this board would let you edit a post for longer than a few minutes! Probably my addled brain transferred the digits of his age (81) to the year.

Your most recent post can be edited, until you post something else, then that becomes your most recent post. ;D

I thought there was a time limit on editing a post even if you hadn't posted anything else. Regardless, by the time one of my stupid typos is pointed out, I've usually long since posted other messages. Either way, the goof stays on display for all of Internet Eternity. :-[

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Also on July 10:

1920: Former NBC and ABC anchor David Brinkley (d. 2003) was born in Wilmington, NC.

 

[Rob Jason]

1978: The ABC Evening News is renamed ABC World News Tonight, with Frank Reynolds as anchor.

I feel a little guilty nit-picking Stanislav's post -- but technically, Max Robinson and Peter Jennings were also anchors -- the famous triumvirate devised by Roone Arledge, that would last until 9/1/83.

 

[radioman148]

1978: The ABC Evening News is renamed ABC World News Tonight, with Frank Reynolds as anchor.

I feel a little guilty nit-picking Stanislav's post -- but technically, Max Robinson and Peter Jennings were also anchors -- the famous triumvirate devised by Roone Arledge, that would last until 9/1/83.

Yes--remember it very well.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1962: Telstar 1, the world's first communications satellite, is launched.

 

[BobbyNBC10]

1978: The ABC Evening News is renamed ABC World News Tonight, with Frank Reynolds as anchor.

I feel a little guilty nit-picking Stanislav's post -- but technically, Max Robinson and Peter Jennings were also anchors -- the famous triumvirate devised by Roone Arledge, that would last until 9/1/83.

Yes--remember it very well.

And the holdovers of the Reasoner-Walters trainwreck were Baba Wawa herself and for a time Howard K. Smith who did commentary,but in a 1979 interview, he called World news Tonight, "A Punch & Judy Show".