Just a few random TV related events that happened on June 24 (a busy day!). Discuss or comment as you please……
1919: Actor Al Molinaro (The Odd Couple, Happy Days) is born in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
1938: Test match cricket is first telecast by the BBC.
1949: The first TV western series, Hopalong Cassidy, debuts on NBC. Not actually produced for TV, the episodes are edited down from the 66 theatrical films (made 1935-1948) starring William Boyd.
1953: KSWS-TV starts broadcasting on channel 8 in Roswell as southeast New Mexico’s first TV station. The very interesting history of this station (now KOBR) can be perused on its unusually detailed Wikipedia page.
1955: CBOFT (channel 9) begins broadcasting in Ottawa, Ontario as a CBC French affiliate.
1956: WISC-TV (channel 3) signs on the air for its first broadcast in Madison, Wisconsin.
1956: The Steve Allen Show premieres on NBC.
1967: Actress Sherry Stringfield (ER) is born in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
1973: Leonid Brezhnev addresses the American people on television, the first Soviet leader to do so.
1985: Kathie Lee Gifford replaces Ann Abernathy as co-host of The Morning Show on WABC-TV with Regis Philbin. The chemistry between the two produced ratings success that led to national syndication in 1988 as Live with Regis and Kathie Lee.
1987: “The Great One,” Jackie Gleason dies in Lauderhill, Florida, aged 71.
1991: The Montel Williams Show makes its debut in daily syndication. To date, over 3000 episodes have been produced and broadcast.
1997: Actor Brian Keith (Family Affair, Hardcastle and McCormick) dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Malibu, California, aged 75. He had been suffering from emphysema and lung cancer, and grieving his own daughter’s suicide two months previous.
2005: Actor/ventriloquist/voice artist/inventor Paul Winchell (Winchell-Mahoney Time, The Smurfs, Wacky Races, Dastardly and Muttley, etc., etc.) dies, aged 82. DYN: Winchell sued Metromedia in 1986 over syndication rights to the 288 surviving episodes of Winchell-Mahoney Time (taped at KTTV Los Angeles). In one of the most spiteful acts in TV history (and a crime against all classic TV fans), Metromedia responded by destroying the tapes! A jury later awarded Winchell a $17.8 million judgment over the matter.
(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…..)
1919: Actor Al Molinaro (The Odd Couple, Happy Days) is born in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
1938: Test match cricket is first telecast by the BBC.
1949: The first TV western series, Hopalong Cassidy, debuts on NBC. Not actually produced for TV, the episodes are edited down from the 66 theatrical films (made 1935-1948) starring William Boyd.
1953: KSWS-TV starts broadcasting on channel 8 in Roswell as southeast New Mexico’s first TV station. The very interesting history of this station (now KOBR) can be perused on its unusually detailed Wikipedia page.
1955: CBOFT (channel 9) begins broadcasting in Ottawa, Ontario as a CBC French affiliate.
1956: WISC-TV (channel 3) signs on the air for its first broadcast in Madison, Wisconsin.
1956: The Steve Allen Show premieres on NBC.
1967: Actress Sherry Stringfield (ER) is born in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
1973: Leonid Brezhnev addresses the American people on television, the first Soviet leader to do so.
1985: Kathie Lee Gifford replaces Ann Abernathy as co-host of The Morning Show on WABC-TV with Regis Philbin. The chemistry between the two produced ratings success that led to national syndication in 1988 as Live with Regis and Kathie Lee.
1987: “The Great One,” Jackie Gleason dies in Lauderhill, Florida, aged 71.
1991: The Montel Williams Show makes its debut in daily syndication. To date, over 3000 episodes have been produced and broadcast.
1997: Actor Brian Keith (Family Affair, Hardcastle and McCormick) dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Malibu, California, aged 75. He had been suffering from emphysema and lung cancer, and grieving his own daughter’s suicide two months previous.
2005: Actor/ventriloquist/voice artist/inventor Paul Winchell (Winchell-Mahoney Time, The Smurfs, Wacky Races, Dastardly and Muttley, etc., etc.) dies, aged 82. DYN: Winchell sued Metromedia in 1986 over syndication rights to the 288 surviving episodes of Winchell-Mahoney Time (taped at KTTV Los Angeles). In one of the most spiteful acts in TV history (and a crime against all classic TV fans), Metromedia responded by destroying the tapes! A jury later awarded Winchell a $17.8 million judgment over the matter.
(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…..)