July 8: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on July 8. Discuss or comment as you please……

1931: TV sports and news mogul Roone Arledge in born in North Carolina. DYK: He won a total of 37 Emmys over his career.

1953: WMTV signs on in Madison, Wisconsin. Initially broadcasting on channel 33 and affiliated with three networks (ABC, DuMont, and NBC), they would become exclusively NBC in a few years, and move down the dial to channel 15 in 1960.

1954: KWK-TV (channel 4) hits the airwaves in St. Louis as a CBS affiliate (with ABC secondary at first). It would become a CBS O&O in 1958, changing calls to KMOX-TV, then change calls once more to KMOV in 1986 when purchased by Viacom.

1954: A tiny market station with a complicated history: KDRO-TV begins broadcasting on channel 6 in Sedalia, Missouri. Four years later, the station becomes an ABC affiliate, at first picking up network programs off-air from KMBC-TV Kansas City, then later becoming a full-time satellite of that station (and changing calls to KMOS-TV). Later it would become a satellite of KCRG-TV Jefferson City. In 1978, the owner would donate the station to Central Missouri State University (they feared selling it to a commercial interest, which might go full-power and provide unwanted competition) and, after a 16 month off-air hiatus for upgrading and relocation, returned to the air for good as a non-commercial PBS station. Tower Trivia: Yes, super-towers are monstrous things. KMOS-TV says that its 2000-foot transmitting tower (inaugurated in 2003) weighs 1,000,000 pounds and is held together with 18,000 bolts!

1962: The comedy-western Maverick airs its final network episode on ABC.

1982: The short-lived comedy Police Squad! ends its brief 6-episode run on ABC. The show’s demise is later explained sarcastically by then-ABC entertainment president Tony Thomopoulos: “[It] was canceled because the viewer had to watch it in order to appreciate it." Some feel that the show was a couple decades ahead of its time, and its frantic, quick-fire pace of jokes would be better appreciated by today’s audiences.

1982: WXEL-TV (channel 42) goes on the air in West Palm Beach, Florida, becoming that market’s first PBS affiliate. (Previously, Broward and Palm Beach County viewers had to rely on reception of Miami’s WPBT for their PBS programs.)

1984: WLAE-TV (Channel 32) signs on as New Orleans’ second non-commercial station. It is one of just two PBS stations nationwide (along with WXEL-TV in West Palm Beach, above) owned at least in part by Roman Catholic-related organizations.

1990: Mr. Belvedere ends a six-season run on ABC, relegating Bob Uecker to calling baseball games and doing beer commercials.

1992: Melrose Place premieres on Fox.

1994: Actor Dick Sargent (Bewitched) dies in Los Angeles, aged 64. [WARNING: No “which Darrin was better?” arguments will be tolerated in this thread…..]

(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…..)

 

[wbhist]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on July 8. Discuss or comment as you please……
1982: WXEL-TV (channel 42) goes on the air in West Palm Beach, Florida, becoming that market’s first PBS affiliate. (Previously, Broward and Palm Beach County viewers had to rely on reception of Miami’s WPBT for their PBS programs.)

This was the second WXEL that I know of; the first was what after c.1956 became WJW-TV in Cleveland, OH (with an eight-year sojourn, 1977-1985, as WJKW-TV).

1994: Actor Dick Sargent (Bewitched) dies in Los Angeles, aged 64. [WARNING: No “which Darrin was better?” arguments will be tolerated in this thread…..]

Agreed . . . though it did seem comparatively speaking Mr. Sargent was in somewhat better health than Dick York had been in his final years (i.e. no crippling back pain).

 

[1069_KIFR]

I loved Police Squad. I understood that you had to watch it. If you were just listening to it or doing something else, it didn't make sense. It was written with such deep and smart humor.

 

[easttxtv]

1954: A tiny market station with a complicated history: KDRO-TV begins broadcasting on channel 6 in Sedalia, Missouri. Four years later, the station becomes an ABC affiliate, at first picking up network programs off-air from KMBC-TV Kansas City, then later becoming a full-time satellite of that station (and changing calls to KMOS-TV). Later it would become a satellite of KCRG-TV Jefferson City. In 1978, the owner would donate the station to Central Missouri State University (they feared selling it to a commercial interest, which might go full-power and provide unwanted competition) and, after a 16 month off-air hiatus for upgrading and relocation, returned to the air for good as a non-commercial PBS station. Tower Trivia: Yes, super-towers are monstrous things. KMOS-TV says that its 2000-foot transmitting tower (inaugurated in 2003) weighs 1,000,000 pounds and is held together with 18,000 bolts!

I thought KCRG was in Cedar Rapids all this time.... 8)

 

[bpatrick]

It's also on this date in 1950 that Jackie Gleason
did his first "Cavalcade Of Stars" on DuMont. It
was there that he introduced "The Honeymooners."
Two years later he moved to CBS and even greater
success, running (with some interruptions) until 1970,
and then getting canceled mainly due to demographics.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1954: A tiny market station with a complicated history: KDRO-TV begins broadcasting on channel 6 in Sedalia, Missouri. Four years later, the station becomes an ABC affiliate, at first picking up network programs off-air from KMBC-TV Kansas City, then later becoming a full-time satellite of that station (and changing calls to KMOS-TV). Later it would become a satellite of KCRG-TV Jefferson City. In 1978, the owner would donate the station to Central Missouri State University (they feared selling it to a commercial interest, which might go full-power and provide unwanted competition) and, after a 16 month off-air hiatus for upgrading and relocation, returned to the air for good as a non-commercial PBS station. Tower Trivia: Yes, super-towers are monstrous things. KMOS-TV says that its 2000-foot transmitting tower (inaugurated in 2003) weighs 1,000,000 pounds and is held together with 18,000 bolts!

I thought KCRG was in Cedar Rapids all this time.... 8)

KRCG (Channel 13, CBS) is in Jefferson City (as opposed to KCRG-9 Cedar Rapids).

 

[Corky Marlowe]

1953: WMTV signs on in Madison, Wisconsin. Initially broadcasting on channel 33 and affiliated with three networks (ABC, DuMont, and NBC), they would become exclusively NBC in a few years, and move down the dial to channel 15 in 1960.
Are its call letters still WMTV, or did they change when a certain cable channel that used to play music videos came to prominence?

 

[wbhist]

1953: WMTV signs on in Madison, Wisconsin. Initially broadcasting on channel 33 and affiliated with three networks (ABC, DuMont, and NBC), they would become exclusively NBC in a few years, and move down the dial to channel 15 in 1960.

Are its call letters still WMTV, or did they change when a certain cable channel that used to play music videos came to prominence?

Still is. Ditto for KMTV (Ch. 3) in Omaha, Nebraska.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

A few July 8 birthdays:

1935: Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz in Brooklyn, NY)--the singer of "Go Away Little Girl" and "Party Doll" fame also had guest appearances on TV series including "The Carol Burnett Show," "Police Story," and "Gilmore Girls."

1947: Kim Darby (born Deborah Zerby in Los Angeles). The actress has appeared in many films and TV shows including "Star Trek," "Ironside," "Crazy Like a Fox," "The Love Boat," and "Riptide."

 

[radioman148]

I loved Police Squad. I understood that you had to watch it. If you were just listening to it or doing something else, it didn't make sense. It was written with such deep and smart humor.

Police Squad was a classic.

 

[KML0224]

After all, Police Squad! did help give us three movies after all!

 

[radioman148]

After all, Police Squad! did help give us three movies after all!

Yes it did & Leslie Nielson is grateful.

 

[LKellerIII]

I loved Police Squad. I understood that you had to watch it. If you were just listening to it or doing something else, it didn't make sense. It was written with such deep and smart humor.

Police Squad was a classic.

Absolutely! Though the Naked Gun movies were fun, the half-hour sitcom format was far superior for that kind of humor, IMO.

My favorites were the short scenes with Johnny the shoe-shine guy and "informant" who was an expert on everything. Celebrities would make cameos at his shoe stand and pay him for advice - like Dr. Joyce Brothers asking him for advice on psychology theory

Here's Dick Clark asking Johnny for musical advice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUx1i38Rco8

 

[FreddyE1977]

supposedly ABC wanted the producers of Police Squad to add a laugh track, which would have
totally destroyed it

 

[radioman148]

supposedly ABC wanted the producers of Police Squad to add a laugh track, which would have
totally destroyed it

Laugh track would have totally destroyed it. You had to get the jokes on your own.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1986: Actor Jake McDorman, whose acting credits include TV guest appearances on shows including CSI: Miami and Cold Case, is born in Dallas, TX.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

2010: I guess you could add LeBron James' ESPN hour-long special tonight on where he will play (the first such special ever for an athlete in the midst of a potential trade/free agency) to today's TDITVH.

 

[RyanHoward]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on July 8. Discuss or comment as you please……


1982: WXEL-TV (channel 42) goes on the air in West Palm Beach, Florida, becoming that market’s first PBS affiliate. (Previously, Broward and Palm Beach County viewers had to rely on reception of Miami’s WPBT for their PBS programs.)

It was originally known as WHRS. It became WXEL a few years later.

 

[FreddyE1977]

1982: The short-lived comedy Police Squad! ends its brief 6-episode run on ABC. The show’s demise is later explained sarcastically by then-ABC entertainment president Tony Thomopoulos: “[It] was canceled because the viewer had to watch it in order to appreciate it." Some feel that the show was a couple decades ahead of its time, and its frantic, quick-fire pace of jokes would be better appreciated by today’s audiences.

No doubt making it the best-remembered 6-episode series in the history of American Television!
(i had heard that ABC's insistence on adding a laugh track was the deal breaker)

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1982: The short-lived comedy Police Squad! ends its brief 6-episode run on ABC. The show’s demise is later explained sarcastically by then-ABC entertainment president Tony Thomopoulos: “[It] was canceled because the viewer had to watch it in order to appreciate it." Some feel that the show was a couple decades ahead of its time, and its frantic, quick-fire pace of jokes would be better appreciated by today’s audiences.

No doubt making it the best-remembered 6-episode series in the history of American Television!
(i had heard that ABC's insistence on adding a laugh track was the deal breaker)

IIRC, weren't reruns of Police Squad broadcast around the summer of 1988 (right at the time the first Naked Gun movie was released), but on CBS instead?