June 25: This Day in TV History

[FreddyE1977]

I remember Ed O'Neill being interviewed about Married with Children also being canceled without prior notice to cast or crew. He said that he had gone back to visit family in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio over the summer, and a honeymooning couple was staying at the same inn. They approached him in the parking lot and told him they were sorry that the show had been canceled. (they had just heard it on the radio, Ed did not know). When he reacted with surprise, they said "We're sorry, we had no idea you didn't know", to which Ed replied "No, that's okay....I'd rather hear it from you!"

Being of a blue collar background, he went on to say that he had obviously done very well with the show, but the producers had been terribly unfair to carpenters, stagehands, etc., who would now have to scramble to find other jobs. To hear concern for those members of the crew from the star of a series was refreshing.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Sadly, you can now add Farrah Fawcett's passing to the June 25 history thread--and also the situation with Michael Jackson.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

And now with the reports that Michael Jackson has died, and Farrah Fawcett's passing earlier today, June 25, 2009 will join the ranks of another sad Thursday in the entertainment world--Sept. 11, 2003 (when both Johnny Cash and John Ritter passed away).

 

[Ultimajock]

Some quickee points:

Jerry Falwell & the Moral Majority tried to take credit for the cancellations of WKRP, Soap, and several other shows. Of course, the Moral Majority was out of business before Bill Clinton took office. I never saw Jerry Falwell fill Yankee Stadium...

I had never heard of Falwell or his "Moral Majority" taking credit for the cancellation over WKRP though I have heard it was the case with Soap but despite them being out of business by the time Clinton took office every once in awhile when "something happens" in regards to TV/radio within the state of Virginia, sometimes Falwell ( when he was still living ) and his Liberty University somehow they get connected to it even though there wasn't much in the way ( if there ever was ) any proof if that was the case. In other words..people just assume.

...however, Falwell indeed took credit -- even where undue -- for needling mainstream showbiz types. He tried to claim he was the reason The Last Temptation of Christ was a "box--office dud" when in fact, due to Falwell's complaining, Universal made back its production costs in its first 72 hours of general release...

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

And now with the reports that Michael Jackson has died, and Farrah Fawcett's passing earlier today, June 25, 2009 will join the ranks of another sad Thursday in the entertainment world--Sept. 11, 2003 (when both Johnny Cash and John Ritter passed away).

Can't believe tomorrow will already be a year since we said goodbye to both Farrah and Michael.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

1967: The first live, international, satellite television production, Our World, is broadcast to 350-400 million viewers in 26-31 countries around the globe (the numbers vary depending on which source you believe), utilizing the Intelsat I (“Early Bird”), Intelsat II, and ATS-1 satellites. The ambitious 2 ½ hour production is best remembered for its most famous segment: The Beatles (along with a small orchestra and dozens of friends) shown recording the new song “All You Need is Love.”

Does anyone know what American network carried "Our World"? Wikipedia is kind of vague, but judging from the entry there, it was NET.

 

[hubcity]

Does anyone know what American network carried "Our World"? Wikipedia is kind of vague, but judging from the entry there, it was NET.

I seem to remember a WNET retrospective that crowed about the station's participation in the project, so I suspect it was NET.

Incidentally, there's a somewhat telescoped version of the show available to watch at the CBC website, here:

http://archives.cbc.ca/economy_business/the_media/topics/1311-7733/

I got a kick out of seeing all the US networks' remote equipment in Glassboro, NJ covering the US/USSR summit...

 

[Ultimajock]

1967: The first live, international, satellite television production, Our World, is broadcast to 350-400 million viewers in 26-31 countries around the globe (the numbers vary depending on which source you believe), utilizing the Intelsat I (“Early Bird”), Intelsat II, and ATS-1 satellites. The ambitious 2 ½ hour production is best remembered for its most famous segment: The Beatles (along with a small orchestra and dozens of friends) shown recording the new song “All You Need is Love.”

Does anyone know what American network carried "Our World"? Wikipedia is kind of vague, but judging from the entry there, it was NET.

...the IMDb indicates at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181743/companycredits that it was, indeed, NET. And, of course, this is not to be confused with Our World, the 1986-87 ABC documentary series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_World_(TV_series) written and hosted by Linda Ellerbee and Ray Gandolf...

 

[easttxtv]

1999: After a total of 8,891 episodes over 35 years, NBC soap opera Another World leaves the airwaves for good.

The final scene : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4HDMP-akJs

At the time of the finale, Another World had outlasted all other NBC programs except Tonight, the Today show, and Meet the Press.

Telenext Media has in recent weeks seen fit to bring Another World back, online, in a fan-fiction style format:
http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/aw_today.html

It is a once-weekly installment, catching fans up with how things would be now, 10 years since the TV show cancellation. There is also a section with interviews of the show's actors, a forum, and a new role-playing area using Twitter to convey what fans would act out in each chosen role.

The final scene (again, since YT has muted the sound in the above sample from before)....
http://www.anotherworldtoday.com/2009_1.html
(scroll down to first video window, pace isn't very smooth, and there is a brief chop in the action, plus I couldn't make out the direct link URL for the vid itself)

At the 1999 Daytime Emmy Awards (where, later that night, the audience would go wild--not over AW being cancelled--but, because Susan Lucci had finally won for lead actress after 19 tries) which aired a few days previous, Linda Dano (Felicia Gallant on AW) came out to introduce an executive from the NATAS, but first made time to make it official to the audience and viewers about Another World's fate, and part in daytime history
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrwWEk9835Y

and later, Stephen Schnetzer (Cass), who can now be heard extolling the virtues of Aleve and Buitoni, and Lisa Peluso (Lila, who married Cass in AW's finale) also make the news known while thanking fans and those in the soap industry, before presenting for best Talk Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0iEh-GiKdI

 

[bpatrick]

The Korean War started 60 years ago today, and while there
was little battle coverage (mostly newsreel footage weeks or
even months old), viewers in the Northeast saw their first live
televised UN hearings starting on June 27. And the conflict was
responsible for one of the first classic documentaries: Edward R.
Murrow's Christmas 1952 report from Korea (which "M*A*S*H"
redid with LA newscaster Clete Roberts as the reporter, IIRC).