Just a few random TV related events that happened on March 19. Discuss or comment as you please……
1923: Actress Pamela Britton (My Favorite Martian) is born (as Armilda Jane Owen) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1928: Actor Patrick McGoohan (Danger Man, The Prisoner) is born in Astoria, Queens, New York.
1933: Actress/singer/game show panelist Phyllis Newman is born in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1951: Actor Fred “Rerun” Berry (What’s Happening!!) is born in St. Louis, Missouri.
1954: The first NTSC color broadcast of a sporting event (a boxing match from Madison Square Garden) is presented by NBC. (CBS had previously colorcast football and baseball using their non-compatible system.)
1955: KBET (channel 10, now KXTV) signs on in Sacramento, California.
1955: Actor Bruce Willis (Moonlighting) is born (as Walter Bruce Willis) in Baumholder, Idar-Oberstein, West Germany. (Yup...a military brat.)
1966: The Donna Reed Show ends an 8-season, 275-episode run on ABC.
1969: Actor Connor Trinneer (Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate Atlantis) is born in Walla Walla, Washington.
1974: Actor Edward Platt (Get Smart) dies in Santa Monica, California, aged 58. His death is reported to be attributable to a heart attack; however, in 2007 an interview appeared on a fansite with a man claiming to be Edward's son Jeff Platt, in which it was claimed that his father had died as a result of a suicide, caused by depression and financial difficulties.
1977: It never, ever “jumped the shark” (IMHO, anyway): The Mary Tyler Moore Show ends a 7-season (168 episodes) history of wonderfulness on CBS. The last show’s tautological title is “The Last Show.”
1979: Cable channel C-SPAN launches.
1979: Actor Al Hodge (Captain Video) dies in New York City of heart failure, aged 66.
1983: First Lady Nancy Reagan makes a special appearance on an episode of NBC’s Diff'rent Strokes, launching her “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign.
1984: Kate and Allie premieres on CBS.
1984: Denver’s KBTV (channel 9) changes calls to WUSA-TV. (The KBTV calls now reside with Port Arthur, Texas’ channel 4.)
1985: Alice doesn’t live here (at CBS) anymore. The sitcom airs its 202nd and last original episode.
1987: Televangelist Jim Bakker (The PTL Club) resigns from his ministry following the revelation of a payoff to Jessica Hahn, whom Heritage USA's chief builder had paid $279,000 out of his own funds to keep secret her allegation that Bakker had raped her.
1999: Farscape premieres on SciFi.
2007: TV personality Calvin DeForest f/k/a Larry “Bud” Melman (Late Night with David Letterman, Late Show with David Letterman) dies in West Islip, New York, aged 85.
(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…..)
1923: Actress Pamela Britton (My Favorite Martian) is born (as Armilda Jane Owen) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1928: Actor Patrick McGoohan (Danger Man, The Prisoner) is born in Astoria, Queens, New York.
1933: Actress/singer/game show panelist Phyllis Newman is born in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1951: Actor Fred “Rerun” Berry (What’s Happening!!) is born in St. Louis, Missouri.
1954: The first NTSC color broadcast of a sporting event (a boxing match from Madison Square Garden) is presented by NBC. (CBS had previously colorcast football and baseball using their non-compatible system.)
1955: KBET (channel 10, now KXTV) signs on in Sacramento, California.
1955: Actor Bruce Willis (Moonlighting) is born (as Walter Bruce Willis) in Baumholder, Idar-Oberstein, West Germany. (Yup...a military brat.)
1966: The Donna Reed Show ends an 8-season, 275-episode run on ABC.
1969: Actor Connor Trinneer (Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate Atlantis) is born in Walla Walla, Washington.
1974: Actor Edward Platt (Get Smart) dies in Santa Monica, California, aged 58. His death is reported to be attributable to a heart attack; however, in 2007 an interview appeared on a fansite with a man claiming to be Edward's son Jeff Platt, in which it was claimed that his father had died as a result of a suicide, caused by depression and financial difficulties.
1977: It never, ever “jumped the shark” (IMHO, anyway): The Mary Tyler Moore Show ends a 7-season (168 episodes) history of wonderfulness on CBS. The last show’s tautological title is “The Last Show.”
1979: Cable channel C-SPAN launches.
1979: Actor Al Hodge (Captain Video) dies in New York City of heart failure, aged 66.
1983: First Lady Nancy Reagan makes a special appearance on an episode of NBC’s Diff'rent Strokes, launching her “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign.
1984: Kate and Allie premieres on CBS.
1984: Denver’s KBTV (channel 9) changes calls to WUSA-TV. (The KBTV calls now reside with Port Arthur, Texas’ channel 4.)
1985: Alice doesn’t live here (at CBS) anymore. The sitcom airs its 202nd and last original episode.
1987: Televangelist Jim Bakker (The PTL Club) resigns from his ministry following the revelation of a payoff to Jessica Hahn, whom Heritage USA's chief builder had paid $279,000 out of his own funds to keep secret her allegation that Bakker had raped her.
1999: Farscape premieres on SciFi.
2007: TV personality Calvin DeForest f/k/a Larry “Bud” Melman (Late Night with David Letterman, Late Show with David Letterman) dies in West Islip, New York, aged 85.
(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…..)
