June 13: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on June 13. Discuss or comment as you please……

1913: TV host Ralph Edwards (This is Your Life, Truth of Consequences) is born in Merino, Colorado.

1925: Charles Francis Jenkins achieves the first synchronized transmission of pictures and sound when he sends a silhouette image of a toy windmill in motion from a naval radio station to his laboratory in Washington, using a lensed disk scanner with 48 lines per picture and 16 pictures per second.

1926: Character actor and game show legend Paul Lynde (The Hollywood Squares) is born in Mount Vernon, Ohio

1951: Actor Richard Thomas (The Waltons) is born in New York City.

1962: Sportscaster/news journalist Hannah Storm (The NBA on NBC, The Early Show, SportsCenter) is born.

1975: The Joker’s Wild ends a three-season run on CBS. The show would later return in syndication in 1977 and endure for another decade.

1979: Former "Our Gang" member Darla Hood dies in North Hollywood, California, aged 47. Hood, who made many television guest appearances and did commercial voice-over work in her adult years, contracted acute hepatitis after undergoing minor surgery – an event that some have labeled “suspicious.”

1986: Actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson (Full House) are born in Los Angeles.

(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…..)

 

[Ultimajock]

1926: Character actor and game show legend Paul Lynde (The Hollywood Squares) is born in Mount Vernon, Ohio

...I just transferred some installments of the 1972 revival of "I've Got a Secret" from VHS to DVD this morning. One was the time Lynde showed up to promote his new sitcom on ABC. Richard Dawson, a regular panel member that year, decided to do his imitation of Lynde, to which Lynde responded, "It's Alan Sues!"...

 

[tlyle]

Add now that Tim Russert passed away on this day in history.

 

[bk77]

1926: Character actor and game show legend Paul Lynde (The Hollywood Squares) is born in Mount Vernon, Ohio

...I just transferred some installments of the 1972 revival of "I've Got a Secret" from VHS to DVD this morning. One was the time Lynde showed up to promote his new sitcom on ABC. Richard Dawson, a regular panel member that year, decided to do his imitation of Lynde, to which Lynde responded, "It's Alan Sues!"...

And oddly in this day and age with LOGO, Will & Grace, QAF, The L Word, and the rest, pretty much the gay stereotypes on televsion really aren't that much different than the days of Paul Lynde and Alan Sues. With the exception of Rosie O'Donnell, most lesbians on TV are viewed as beautiful women while gay men, the networks it seems try to show the "I love Cher and Showtunes", clean shaven, skinny, swishy type of gay man. Ah most of the gay guys I know are overweight, have beards, have deep voices and love to watch sports and none of them are into songs by Ethel Merman. LOL

 

[Stanislav]

Add now that Tim Russert passed away on this day in history.

Boy, that was a shock, wasn't it? Tim's always been a big boy, but not morbidly so, and there had been no indications of any health problems.

Few, if any, journalists could have commanded the kind of respect and universal tributes that Russert is receiving; not just from colleagues at NBC, but from competitors as well as pols of every persuasion. Even the pundits at Fox News were uncharacteristically respectful and seemed genuinely touched by his passing. It's largely because he was just an all-around good guy -- he could absolutely make a guest sweat bullets under his "interrogation," then be all smiles and bonhomie after the red light went off. They respected him because they knew it wasn't personal -- he was just doing his job and doing it very well.

If you saw it, Tom Brokaw was tapped to break in to regular NBC programming with the news, and he was clearly still fighting his emotions as he announced Russert's demise. Very reminiscent of Cronkite announcing JFK's death.

 

[Stanislav]

1926: Character actor and game show legend Paul Lynde (The Hollywood Squares) is born in Mount Vernon, Ohio

...I just transferred some installments of the 1972 revival of "I've Got a Secret" from VHS to DVD this morning. One was the time Lynde showed up to promote his new sitcom on ABC. Richard Dawson, a regular panel member that year, decided to do his imitation of Lynde, to which Lynde responded, "It's Alan Sues!"...

And oddly in this day and age with LOGO, Will & Grace, QAF, The L Word, and the rest, pretty much the gay stereotypes on televsion really aren't that much different than the days of Paul Lynde and Alan Sues. With the exception of Rosie O'Donnell, most lesbians on TV are viewed as beautiful women while gay men, the networks it seems try to show the "I love Cher and Showtunes", clean shaven, skinny, swishy type of gay man. Ah most of the gay guys I know are overweight, have beards, have deep voices and love to watch sports and none of them are into songs by Ethel Merman. LOL

What I get a kick out of is when some absolutely, blatantly obvious flamboyant gay man feels compelled to publicly come out of the closet, as if we didn't already know. When Jim J. Bullock "revealed" that he was gay, I remember one comedian who remarked very sarcastically, "Uh, yeah....thanks for connecting the dots on that for us, Jim..."

 

[dhett]

Even the pundits at Fox News were uncharacteristically respectful and seemed genuinely touched by his passing.

C'mon, that was a cheap shot. You don't like Fox News and a lot of other people don't either - I get it - but just because you disagree with them doesn't mean they're some kind of ogres or something and are celebrating his untimely demise.

For the record, I'm not crazy about Fox News either.

 

[Ultimajock]

If you saw it, Tom Brokaw was tapped to break in to regular NBC programming with the news, and he was clearly still fighting his emotions as he announced [Tim] Russert's demise. Very reminiscent of Cronkite announcing JFK's death.

...actually, wouldn't the more appropriate comparison be Frank McGee's relaying of Robert MacNeil's telephone report of JFK's death on NBC? McGee winced as MacNeil said the word "died" over that phone line, and as the report ends, still on-camera, McGee silently wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. At the end of the broadcast day, McGee was back at the NBC news set to sign the network off, and had his own struggle to keep his composure...

 

[Stanislav]

If you saw it, Tom Brokaw was tapped to break in to regular NBC programming with the news, and he was clearly still fighting his emotions as he announced [Tim] Russert's demise. Very reminiscent of Cronkite announcing JFK's death.

...actually, wouldn't the more appropriate comparison be Frank McGee's relaying of Robert MacNeil's telephone report of JFK's death on NBC? McGee winced as MacNeil said the word "died" over that phone line, and as the report ends, still on-camera, McGee silently wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. At the end of the broadcast day, McGee was back at the NBC news set to sign the network off, and had his own struggle to keep his composure...

The McGee grimace is legendary (it lasts just a second, but it's there), but as many times as I've watched that tape, I sure don't recall him "wiping a tear" from his eye. (I'll look at it again later...) Other than that, McGee didn't betray any real emotion at that time. Cronkite, OTOH, was clearly blinking back tears, and his voice cracked a bit as he tried to go on.

Brokaw's report is even more emotional and poignant -- after all, while the death of a President is a big thing, this was the death of a friend with whom he had worked closely. Plus, everybody pretty much knew for the better part of an hour and a half that JFK was probably a goner, whereas Russert's death was sudden, with no hint of its coming. I have never seen Brokaw like that -- his voice cracking and wavering the way it did -- really sad.

 

[LKellerIII]

"What I get a kick out of is when some absolutely, blatantly obvious flamboyant gay man feels compelled to publicly come out of the closet, as if we didn't already know. When Jim J. Bullock "revealed" that he was gay, I remember one comedian who remarked very sarcastically, 'Uh, yeah....thanks for connecting the dots on that for us, Jim...' "

Bill Clinton may have put the coined the official term "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for the armed services, but it was standard policy for gay actors until the 70s. In the 50s, entertainers like Liberace could be as flamboyantly gay as they wanted, as long as they weren't explicit about it. Liberace in particular had many older, very conservative fans, and it never occurred to them to believe he was gay, or if it did occur to them, they chose to be in denial about it.

If these entertainers had announced their homosexuality, they would have lost fans by the thousands, and been considered perverts.

Even in the 70s, I don't remember too many of the flamboyantly gay actors announcing "I'm gay, and I'm proud.". It happened slowly - first you'd hear comedians like Paul Lynde and Charles Nelson Reilly make off-hand jokes about it on game shows and talk show. The jokes were subtle at first, then got more blatant as time went on.

 

[firepoint525]

If you saw it, Tom Brokaw was tapped to break in to regular NBC programming with the news, and he was clearly still fighting his emotions as he announced Russert's demise. Very reminiscent of Cronkite announcing JFK's death.

What exactly is Brokaw's role at NBC nowadays? Is he now some sort of elder-statesman, father figure to the rest of the staff at NBC now? I sort of thought he was now (at least) semi-retired. Which is why I thought it was somewhat odd, not that he was picked to make the announcement, but that he was even there to be able to do so! He is becoming to NBC what Cronkite was to CBS (and maybe still is!) for many years!

 

[Stanislav]

If you saw it, Tom Brokaw was tapped to break in to regular NBC programming with the news, and he was clearly still fighting his emotions as he announced Russert's demise. Very reminiscent of Cronkite announcing JFK's death.

What exactly is Brokaw's role at NBC nowadays? Is he now some sort of elder-statesman, father figure to the rest of the staff at NBC now? I sort of thought he was now (at least) semi-retired. Which is why I thought it was somewhat odd, not that he was picked to make the announcement, but that he was even there to be able to do so!

All of what you say is true -- I don't know what his actual "title" is, but he is still around and does commentary, sits in on panel shows now and then, and has the freedom to do some occasional special projects if he wishes. And, yes, "father figure" isn't too far off the mark -- if you want someone around to help mentor young people breaking into the news business, you could hardly ask for a better role model than Brokaw!

I thought the choice of Brokaw was a little odd, though, myself. After all, it was a weekday, mid-afternoon, and Brian Williams certainly would have been in the building prepping his newscast, wouldn't he? Unless he was either on vacation or working, but on location somewhere -- anyone know? Maybe Brokaw was particularly close to Russert, and asked to be the one to make the announcement.

 

[LKellerIII]

"What exactly is Brokaw's role at NBC nowadays? Is he now some sort of elder-statesman, father figure to the rest of the staff at NBC now? I sort of thought he was now (at least) semi-retired. Which is why I thought it was somewhat odd, not that he was picked to make the announcement, but that he was even there to be able to do so! He is becoming to NBC what Cronkite was to CBS (and maybe still is!) for many years!"

I think "elder statesman" is exactly what Brokaw would like his role to be. It's quite enviable, actually. He can do specials and documentaries when he wants to, provide analysis during major news stories, elections, as so forth. Otherwise, he can live his life at the pace he wants. He's also still very visible as an author, and shows up on talk shows frequently. I'd say he's more visible than Cronkite was in the decade following his "retirement."

Not to date myself, but I remember when Brokaw was a very young anchor in Los Angeles on the KNBC "News Service" at 11:00 in the late 60s. Tom Snyder was the 6:00 anchor at that time.

It's worth pointing out that Cronkite is now 91, and has been retired from his anchor desk for 27 years!

 

[charlestondxman]

Brian Williams was in Afghanistan yesterday, after he had spent four days there, so that is why he couldn't go live when the story broke.

It is very sad that a luminary like Russert could just die suddenly, as he would have been a major part of this November's election coverage.

One thing I did like was that everybody covered the story in a good way. All of our local newscasts, not just the NBC affiliate, led with the Russert death, and of course, our NBC station was all over it, as well.

Our newspaper could have put it on the front page, but instead, they decided to put it on page 2, with a billfishing tournament being the main front page story (My city is a major fishing locale).

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

If you saw it, Tom Brokaw was tapped to break in to regular NBC programming with the news, and he was clearly still fighting his emotions as he announced Russert's demise. Very reminiscent of Cronkite announcing JFK's death.

What exactly is Brokaw's role at NBC nowadays? Is he now some sort of elder-statesman, father figure to the rest of the staff at NBC now? I sort of thought he was now (at least) semi-retired. Which is why I thought it was somewhat odd, not that he was picked to make the announcement, but that he was even there to be able to do so!

All of what you say is true -- I don't know what his actual "title" is, but he is still around and does commentary, sits in on panel shows now and then, and has the freedom to do some occasional special projects if he wishes. And, yes, "father figure" isn't too far off the mark -- if you want someone around to help mentor young people breaking into the news business, you could hardly ask for a better role model than Brokaw!

I thought the choice of Brokaw was a little odd, though, myself. After all, it was a weekday, mid-afternoon, and Brian Williams certainly would have been in the building prepping his newscast, wouldn't he? Unless he was either on vacation or working, but on location somewhere -- anyone know? Maybe Brokaw was particularly close to Russert, and asked to be the one to make the announcement.

Can't believe tomorrow is now a year since Tim Russert's passing. Immediately after his death the video of Brokaw's report of Russert's death made YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwNcuikop8A

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Two more Birthdays on June 13:

1965: Lisa Vidal (born in NYC)--the actress has appeared on "Cosby Show" and "New York Undercover"

1981: David Madden--he's the second-longest winning contestant on "Jeopardy!" (his run lasted from July 5, 2005-Sept. 19, 2005--exactly a year after Ken Jennings--winning 19 games and $432,400).

 

[firepoint525]

2009: First full day of nothing but DTV broadcasts!

 

[LKellerIII]

"What exactly is Brokaw's role at NBC nowadays? Is he now some sort of elder-statesman, father figure to the rest of the staff at NBC now? I sort of thought he was now (at least) semi-retired. Which is why I thought it was somewhat odd, not that he was picked to make the announcement, but that he was even there to be able to do so! He is becoming to NBC what Cronkite was to CBS (and maybe still is!) for many years!"

I think "elder statesman" is exactly what Brokaw would like his role to be. It's quite enviable, actually. He can do specials and documentaries when he wants to, provide analysis during major news stories, elections, as so forth. Otherwise, he can live his life at the pace he wants. He's also still very visible as an author, and shows up on talk shows frequently. I'd say he's more visible than Cronkite was in the decade following his "retirement."

Not to date myself, but I remember when Brokaw was a very young anchor in Los Angeles on the KNBC "News Service" at 11:00 in the late 60s. Tom Snyder was the 6:00 anchor at that time.

It's worth pointing out that Cronkite is now 91, and has been retired from his anchor desk for 27 years!

Brokaw doesn't need a title. I seem to remember that Walter Cronkite continued to contribute reports and the occasional news special to CBS for quite a few years after retirement in 1980. I believe they just referred to him as a "special correspondent." BTW - Walter is now fully retired, but doing quite well for a man of 93.

 

[KyDXIn]

1926: Character actor and game show legend Paul Lynde (The Hollywood Squares) is born in Mount Vernon, Ohio

...I just transferred some installments of the 1972 revival of "I've Got a Secret" from VHS to DVD this morning. One was the time Lynde showed up to promote his new sitcom on ABC. Richard Dawson, a regular panel member that year, decided to do his imitation of Lynde, to which Lynde responded, "It's Alan Sues!"...

And oddly in this day and age with LOGO, Will & Grace, QAF, The L Word, and the rest, pretty much the gay stereotypes on televsion really aren't that much different than the days of Paul Lynde and Alan Sues. With the exception of Rosie O'Donnell, most lesbians on TV are viewed as beautiful women while gay men, the networks it seems try to show the "I love Cher and Showtunes", clean shaven, skinny, swishy type of gay man. Ah most of the gay guys I know are overweight, have beards, have deep voices and love to watch sports and none of them are into songs by Ethel Merman. LOL

What I get a kick out of is when some absolutely, blatantly obvious flamboyant gay man feels compelled to publicly come out of the closet, as if we didn't already know. When Jim J. Bullock "revealed" that he was gay, I remember one comedian who remarked very sarcastically, "Uh, yeah....thanks for connecting the dots on that for us, Jim..."

Ironically, I saw the following clip earlier today where Adam Lambert comes out...

http://www.whas.com/cc-common/news/...d=Reuters/6-09/Adam-Lambert-6-9.asf&redir=yes

 

[easttxtv]

1892: Basil Rathbone (several dramatic anthologies, Dr. Kildare, Hallmark Hall of Fame (4 times)) is born (as Philip St. John Basil Rathbone) in Johannesburg, South Africa.

1910: Mary Wickes (numerous sitcoms, Match Game, Father Dowling Mysteries) is born (as Mary Isabelle Wickenhauser) in St. Louis, Missouri.

1943: Malcolm McDowell (Pearl, Entourage, Heroes, Phineas and Ferb, Coco Chanel) is born (as Malcolm John Taylor) in Horsforth, Yorkshire, England.

1953: Tim Allen (Home Improvement) is born (as Timothy Allen Dick) in Denver, Colorado.

1962: Ally Sheedy (Hill Street Blues, The Dead Zone (series), Kyle XY, Psych) is born (as Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy) in New York City.

1978: Ethan Embry (Work With Me, FreakyLinks, Dragnet (2003 version), Spider-Man (2003 animated version), Brotherhood) is born (as Ethan Philan Randall) in Huntington Beach, California.

1987: Geraldine Page (several dramatic anthologies, Kojak, The Blue and the Gray, Loving) died at age 62, in New York City.

1989: Fran Allison (Ozark Jubilee; Kukla, Fran, and Ollie) died at age 81, in Sherman Oaks, California.

2002: John Hope (Weather Channel meteorologist/hurricane forecaster 1982-1997,1998-2001) died at age 83, in Atlanta, Georgia.

2005: Lane Smith (Chiefs, V (1984 version), Kay O'Brien, Lois & Clark, King of the Hill) died at age 69, in Northridge, California.