Just a few random TV related events that happened on June 21. Discuss or comment as you please……
1933: Actor Bernie Kopell (Get Smart, That Girl, The Love Boat) is born in New York City.
1937: The Wimbledon tennis championships are first televised by the BBC.
1940: Actress Mariette Hartley is born in Weston, Connecticut.
1947: Actress Meredith Baxter (Bridget Loves Bernie, Family, Family Ties) is born in South Pasadena, California.
1947: Actor Michael Gross (Family Ties, Tremors) is born in Chicago. Yup, that’s right – Family Ties co-stars Gross and Baxter (see above) were born on the exact same date!
1948: WNAC-TV (channel 7) begins broadcasting as Boston’s second TV station, hitting the airwaves just 12 days after WBZ-TV. The station is now WHDH-TV, which are the former calls of Boston’s channel 5 (now WCVB). (I won’t even go into the network swaps, license renewal problems, and ownership changes that have made Boston TV history so convoluted, or else this one item will take up a whole page…..)
1969: The last black-and-white episode of Doctor Who (Episode 10 of “The War Games”) is broadcast by the BBC. The episode also marks the final appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.
1982: Former Today Show host Dave Garroway is found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
1987: Legendary TV pitchman Earl William “Madman” Muntz dies in Rancho Mirage, California. His off-the-wall, in your face, manic TV personality, in ads dating back to the earliest years of commercial TV, inspired countless imitators, including New York’s Crazy Eddie. (Click the link for a summation of Muntz’ incredibly complex and eccentric life.)
1991: WTTA (channel 38) begins broadcasting in St. Petersburg, Florida, 21 years after the channel had been vacated by WSUN-TV.
1997: Pro Bowlers Tour ends a 35-year (!) run on ABC.
2001: Actor Carroll O’Connor (All in the Family, In the Heat of the Night) dies in Culver City, California, aged 76.
(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…..)
1933: Actor Bernie Kopell (Get Smart, That Girl, The Love Boat) is born in New York City.
1937: The Wimbledon tennis championships are first televised by the BBC.
1940: Actress Mariette Hartley is born in Weston, Connecticut.
1947: Actress Meredith Baxter (Bridget Loves Bernie, Family, Family Ties) is born in South Pasadena, California.
1947: Actor Michael Gross (Family Ties, Tremors) is born in Chicago. Yup, that’s right – Family Ties co-stars Gross and Baxter (see above) were born on the exact same date!
1948: WNAC-TV (channel 7) begins broadcasting as Boston’s second TV station, hitting the airwaves just 12 days after WBZ-TV. The station is now WHDH-TV, which are the former calls of Boston’s channel 5 (now WCVB). (I won’t even go into the network swaps, license renewal problems, and ownership changes that have made Boston TV history so convoluted, or else this one item will take up a whole page…..)
1969: The last black-and-white episode of Doctor Who (Episode 10 of “The War Games”) is broadcast by the BBC. The episode also marks the final appearance of Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor.
1982: Former Today Show host Dave Garroway is found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
1987: Legendary TV pitchman Earl William “Madman” Muntz dies in Rancho Mirage, California. His off-the-wall, in your face, manic TV personality, in ads dating back to the earliest years of commercial TV, inspired countless imitators, including New York’s Crazy Eddie. (Click the link for a summation of Muntz’ incredibly complex and eccentric life.)
1991: WTTA (channel 38) begins broadcasting in St. Petersburg, Florida, 21 years after the channel had been vacated by WSUN-TV.
1997: Pro Bowlers Tour ends a 35-year (!) run on ABC.
2001: Actor Carroll O’Connor (All in the Family, In the Heat of the Night) dies in Culver City, California, aged 76.
(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…..)