Just a few random TV related events that happened on March 1 (a busy day, as the 1st usually is). Discuss or comment as you please……
1934: Actress Joan Hackett (The Defenders) is born in East Harlem, New York.
1935: Actor Robert Conrad (Hawaiian Eye, The Wild Wild West, Baa Baa Black Sheep) is born (as Conrad Robert Falk) in Chicago.
1945: Actor Dirk Benedict (Battlestar Galactica, The A-Team) is born (as Dirk Niewoehner) in Helena, Montana.
1947: Actor Alan Thicke (Growing Pains) is born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario.
1953: WFBG-TV (channel 10, now WTAJ-TV) begins operating in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The call letters stand for, respectively, the initials of the station's founder, William F.B. Gable, owner of Gable's Department Store; and “We're Television for Altoona and Johnstown.”
1953: KTNT-TV (channel 11, now KSTW) signs on in Tacoma, Washington.
1953: KWFT-TV (channel 6, now KAUZ-TV) launches in Wichita Falls, Texas. It has been the CBS affiliate for the Wichita Falls-Lawton television market since its inception.
1953: WJZ-TV (channel 7, New York) changes calls to the current WABC-TV after ABC merges its operations with United Paramount Theaters. (The WJZ calls would later be reassigned to Baltimore’s channel 13.)
1954: WMUR-TV (channel 9) is established in Manchester, New Hampshire by former governor Francis P. Murphy. It is the first TV station in the state, and remains to this day by far the most dominant.
1954: WDSM-TV (channel 6, now KBJR-TV) signs on from Superior, Wisconsin (also serving Duluth, Minnesota).
1954: CKCO-TV (channel 13) launches in Kitchener, Ontario. 55 years later, they still broadcast from the same transmitter site (on Baden Hill, just west of Kitchener).
1954: Actor/director Ron Howard (The Andy Griffith Show, Happy Days) is born in Duncan, Oklahoma.
1954: Actress Catherine Bach (The Dukes of Hazzard) is born (as Catherine Bachman) in Monroe, Ohio.
1955: KFAR-TV (channel 2, later KTTU-TV, now KATN) debuts as Fairbanks, Alaska’s second TV station.
1955: KTVK (channel 3) begins broadcasting in Phoenix, Arizona. The calls are chosen by former senator Ernest McFarland, one of the principal owners, "because TV will be our middle name." :
1957: KTWO-TV (channel 2), Wyoming’s second TV station, signs on in Casper.
1964: Actress Kathryn Card (I Love Lucy) dies of a heart attack in Costa Mesa, California, aged 71. Her portrayal of Mrs. MacGillicuddy, Lucy’s mother, forever endeared her to lovers of classic TV.
1965: WPSX-TV (channel 3, now WPSU-TV) becomes the 101st public TV station in the country, signing on from Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania (licensed to Clearfield).
1967: WMET-TV (channel 24) begins broadcasting as the first UHF station in Baltimore, Maryland. Saddled with low power and a low budget, the station would struggle for 5 years before going dark. The channel would be revived in 1985 as religious WKJL-TV. (Today, it is WUTB, Baltimore’s MyNetworkTv affiliate.)
1974: Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Saved by the Bell, NYPD Blue) is born in Panorama City, California.
1975: Color television transmissions began in Australia.
1978: Actor Jensen Ackles (Days of our Lives, Dark Angel, Dawson’s Creek, Smallville) is born in Dallas, Texas.
1982: In Search of... airs its final original episode in syndication. (“Life Before Birth: Is an unborn baby aware of the world around him?”)
1982: Most of the on-air talent at WMAR-TV (channel 2, Baltimore) walks out on strike after negotiations between AFTRA and station management break down. The strike would last 50 days, coming to an end not long after sportscaster and former Oriole Brooks Robinson refuses to cross a picket line on Opening Day at Memorial Stadium.
1984: Actor Jackie Coogan (The Addams Family) dies of cardiac arrest in Santa Monica, California, aged 69.
1986: Valerie, starring Valerie Harper, premieres on NBC. In the second season, Harper would leave the show over a salary dispute, and her character would be killed off. The third season would begin retitled as Valerie’s Family: The Hogans before soon settling on The Hogan Family for the duration of the show’s run.
1988: Actor/comedian (and the 3rd “Third Stooge”) Joe Besser (The Abbott and Costello Show, The Joey Bishop Show) dies of heart failure in North Hollywood, California, aged 80.
1991: Clarissa Explains it All debuts on Nickelodeon.
2004: The Price is Right airs its 6,000th episode.
2005: The 261st and final new episode of NYPD Blue is aired on ABC.
2007: Starting this day, all new television devices that receive signals over-the-air are required to include digital ATSC tuners. (Prior to this, the requirement had been gradually phased-in, starting with larger screen sizes.)
2007: The tower of WACS-TV (channel 25, Americus, Georgia), located near Parrott, is toppled by one of several tornadoes which strike the region during a major severe weather outbreak. The collapsing tower also damages the transmitter building. The station would not return to full service until May 2008. (Prior to this, in February 2008, in order to avoid losing their license due to the one-year statutory requirement for all off-air stations enacted by Congress, WACS had resumed broadcasting a low-power signal by “borrowing” the transmitter used for translator W22AC in Hartwell.)
(Just a little featurette I hope to do as time permits. 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…..)
1934: Actress Joan Hackett (The Defenders) is born in East Harlem, New York.
1935: Actor Robert Conrad (Hawaiian Eye, The Wild Wild West, Baa Baa Black Sheep) is born (as Conrad Robert Falk) in Chicago.
1945: Actor Dirk Benedict (Battlestar Galactica, The A-Team) is born (as Dirk Niewoehner) in Helena, Montana.
1947: Actor Alan Thicke (Growing Pains) is born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario.
1953: WFBG-TV (channel 10, now WTAJ-TV) begins operating in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The call letters stand for, respectively, the initials of the station's founder, William F.B. Gable, owner of Gable's Department Store; and “We're Television for Altoona and Johnstown.”
1953: KTNT-TV (channel 11, now KSTW) signs on in Tacoma, Washington.
1953: KWFT-TV (channel 6, now KAUZ-TV) launches in Wichita Falls, Texas. It has been the CBS affiliate for the Wichita Falls-Lawton television market since its inception.
1953: WJZ-TV (channel 7, New York) changes calls to the current WABC-TV after ABC merges its operations with United Paramount Theaters. (The WJZ calls would later be reassigned to Baltimore’s channel 13.)
1954: WMUR-TV (channel 9) is established in Manchester, New Hampshire by former governor Francis P. Murphy. It is the first TV station in the state, and remains to this day by far the most dominant.
1954: WDSM-TV (channel 6, now KBJR-TV) signs on from Superior, Wisconsin (also serving Duluth, Minnesota).
1954: CKCO-TV (channel 13) launches in Kitchener, Ontario. 55 years later, they still broadcast from the same transmitter site (on Baden Hill, just west of Kitchener).
1954: Actor/director Ron Howard (The Andy Griffith Show, Happy Days) is born in Duncan, Oklahoma.
1954: Actress Catherine Bach (The Dukes of Hazzard) is born (as Catherine Bachman) in Monroe, Ohio.
1955: KFAR-TV (channel 2, later KTTU-TV, now KATN) debuts as Fairbanks, Alaska’s second TV station.
1955: KTVK (channel 3) begins broadcasting in Phoenix, Arizona. The calls are chosen by former senator Ernest McFarland, one of the principal owners, "because TV will be our middle name." :
1957: KTWO-TV (channel 2), Wyoming’s second TV station, signs on in Casper.
1964: Actress Kathryn Card (I Love Lucy) dies of a heart attack in Costa Mesa, California, aged 71. Her portrayal of Mrs. MacGillicuddy, Lucy’s mother, forever endeared her to lovers of classic TV.
1965: WPSX-TV (channel 3, now WPSU-TV) becomes the 101st public TV station in the country, signing on from Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania (licensed to Clearfield).
1967: WMET-TV (channel 24) begins broadcasting as the first UHF station in Baltimore, Maryland. Saddled with low power and a low budget, the station would struggle for 5 years before going dark. The channel would be revived in 1985 as religious WKJL-TV. (Today, it is WUTB, Baltimore’s MyNetworkTv affiliate.)
1974: Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Saved by the Bell, NYPD Blue) is born in Panorama City, California.
1975: Color television transmissions began in Australia.
1978: Actor Jensen Ackles (Days of our Lives, Dark Angel, Dawson’s Creek, Smallville) is born in Dallas, Texas.
1982: In Search of... airs its final original episode in syndication. (“Life Before Birth: Is an unborn baby aware of the world around him?”)
1982: Most of the on-air talent at WMAR-TV (channel 2, Baltimore) walks out on strike after negotiations between AFTRA and station management break down. The strike would last 50 days, coming to an end not long after sportscaster and former Oriole Brooks Robinson refuses to cross a picket line on Opening Day at Memorial Stadium.
1984: Actor Jackie Coogan (The Addams Family) dies of cardiac arrest in Santa Monica, California, aged 69.
1986: Valerie, starring Valerie Harper, premieres on NBC. In the second season, Harper would leave the show over a salary dispute, and her character would be killed off. The third season would begin retitled as Valerie’s Family: The Hogans before soon settling on The Hogan Family for the duration of the show’s run.
1988: Actor/comedian (and the 3rd “Third Stooge”) Joe Besser (The Abbott and Costello Show, The Joey Bishop Show) dies of heart failure in North Hollywood, California, aged 80.
1991: Clarissa Explains it All debuts on Nickelodeon.
2004: The Price is Right airs its 6,000th episode.
2005: The 261st and final new episode of NYPD Blue is aired on ABC.
2007: Starting this day, all new television devices that receive signals over-the-air are required to include digital ATSC tuners. (Prior to this, the requirement had been gradually phased-in, starting with larger screen sizes.)
2007: The tower of WACS-TV (channel 25, Americus, Georgia), located near Parrott, is toppled by one of several tornadoes which strike the region during a major severe weather outbreak. The collapsing tower also damages the transmitter building. The station would not return to full service until May 2008. (Prior to this, in February 2008, in order to avoid losing their license due to the one-year statutory requirement for all off-air stations enacted by Congress, WACS had resumed broadcasting a low-power signal by “borrowing” the transmitter used for translator W22AC in Hartwell.)
(Just a little featurette I hope to do as time permits. 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…..)
