May 14: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on May 14. Discuss or comment as you please……

1921: Actor Richard Deacon (Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mothers-In-Law) is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1937: The BBC broadcasts a 30-minute excerpt of “Twelfth Night,” the first known instance of a Shakespeare play on television. Among the cast are Peggy Ashcroft and Greer Garson.

1948: Actor/director/producer/writer Rich Correll is born in Los Angeles. As a child actor, he played the role of Beaver's friend Richard Rickover during the last two seasons of Leave It to Beaver. His directing credits include many episodes of The Hogan Family, Family Matters, That’s So Raven, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, while also writing dozens of episodes for Hannah Montana. In addition, as a teenager, Correll became a close friend of legendary silent film comedian Harold Lloyd and his family, and volunteered to assist Lloyd in preserving and archiving his films. He continues this work today, and is credited as the chief archivist for the Lloyd Trust.

1953: CBC Television stations in Montreal (CBMT) and Ottawa (CBOT) become the first stations to be linked with Toronto (CBLT) within the Trans-Canada Microwave system.

1968: John Lennon and Paul McCartney appear on The Tonight Show. The appearance follows a press conference earlier in the day in which they announced the formation of their new company, Apple. Unfortunately, Johnny is off tonight, and the substitute host is Joe Garagiola, who seems hopelessly out of his element, relating to John and Paul as if they were still the cute moptop sensations of 5 years earlier. Despite ample pre-interview briefing notes being provided to Garagiola, he makes little to no use of them, and the appearance becomes very uncomfortable, with the two Beatles increasingly finding it hard to mask their disdain for this ex-baseball player who just doesn’t “get it.” Mark Evanier’s blog had a nice write-up on this a few months ago, including links to a transcript of the interview and to a brief excerpt of video that survives via an unorthodox marriage of silent off-screen 8mm film and reel-to-reel recorded audio.

1982: Actor Hugh Beaumont (Leave It to Beaver) dies, aged 73, of a heart attack while visiting his son, a psychology professor, in Munich, Germany.

1989: Moonlighting ends its network run on ABC.

1989: Family Ties ends a 7-season, 180-episode NBC run.

1997: The last first-run Coach is broadcast on ABC.

1998: The Seinfeld series finale (a special 75-minute long episode, later cut to 60 for syndication) airs on NBC. It attracts a huge audience of 76 million viewers (58 percent of all viewers), making it the third most watched finale in television history, behind only M*A*S*H and Cheers. However, the finale would receive mixed reviews from both critics and fans of the show.

1998: Ol’ Blue Eyes is gone: Frank Sinatra dies in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack, aged 82. Reportedly, his final words, spoken as attempts were being made to stabilize him, were “I'm losing.”

2001: Baywatch ends a 243-episode run, proving that you don’t need good writing, acting, or directing to have a successful TV show – just lots of hot girls in swimwear.

2006: The series finale of The West Wing is aired on NBC.

2008: Actress S. Epatha Merkerson appears in her 345th episode of Law & Order, setting the record for most appearances in a single prime-time series (previously held by Michele Lee of Knot’s Landing, with 344).

(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…..)

 

[Tim L]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on May 14. Discuss or comment as you please……
1948: Actor/director/producer/writer Rich Correll is born in Los Angeles. As a child actor, he played the role of Beaver's friend Richard Rickover during the last two seasons of Leave It to Beaver. His directing credits include many episodes of The Hogan Family, Family Matters, That’s So Raven, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, while also writing dozens of episodes for Hannah Montana. In addition, as a teenager, Correll became a close friend of legendary silent film comedian Harold Lloyd and his family, and volunteered to assist Lloyd in preserving and archiving his films. He continues this work today, and is credited as the chief archivist for the Lloyd Trust.

Richard Correll is also a son of the late Charles Correll, who with Freeman Gosden created Amos and Andy on Radio and later, TV. Gosden and Correll also created "Calvin and the Colonel", a Cartoon series using their Amos and Andy Voices, which was produced by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who were responsible for Leave it to Beaver"

 

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on May 14. Discuss or comment as you please……
1948: Actor/director/producer/writer Rich Correll is born in Los Angeles. As a child actor, he played the role of Beaver's friend Richard Rickover during the last two seasons of Leave It to Beaver. His directing credits include many episodes of The Hogan Family, Family Matters, That’s So Raven, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, while also writing dozens of episodes for Hannah Montana. In addition, as a teenager, Correll became a close friend of legendary silent film comedian Harold Lloyd and his family, and volunteered to assist Lloyd in preserving and archiving his films. He continues this work today, and is credited as the chief archivist for the Lloyd Trust.

Richard Correll is also a son of the late Charles Correll, who with Freeman Gosden created Amos and Andy on Radio and later, TV. Gosden and Correll also created "Calvin and the Colonel", a Cartoon series using their Amos and Andy Voices, which was produced by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who were responsible for Leave it to Beaver"

Wow -- I totally missed that father-son connection when I was researching this -- thanks for adding that info!

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

With regards to Lennon & McCartney on The Tonight Show; I recall that despite the host Joe Garagiola "not getting it", the pair were featured on the show for a lengthy period of time. So lengthy, in fact, that guest Jack Twyman was not brought out until approximately ten minutes or less was left in the show, leaving very little time for him to speak on his work on behalf of former teammate Maurice Stokes. While many viewers may have clamored for Lennon & McCartney, I have always felt that Twyman and the ongoing story of his humanitarian work for Stokes was very much shortchanged that night. Fortunately, those who know the story have always remained warmed by it despite the very few minutes that were alotted that night.

 

[Stanislav]

With regards to Lennon & McCartney on The Tonight Show; I recall that despite the host Joe Garagiola "not getting it", the pair were featured on the show for a lengthy period of time. So lengthy, in fact, that guest Jack Twyman was not brought out until approximately ten minutes or less was left in the show, leaving very little time for him to speak on his work on behalf of former teammate Maurice Stokes. While many viewers may have clamored for Lennon & McCartney, I have always felt that Twyman and the ongoing story of his humanitarian work for Stokes was very much shortchanged that night. Fortunately, those who know the story have always remained warmed by it despite the very few minutes that were alotted that night.

Might have had more to do with Garagiola's unpreparedness and confusion -- maybe the Lennon-McCartney segment just dragged on longer than it should have. In all likelihood, things would have been quite different if Carson was hosting, as Johnny was a consummate pro who ran a tight ship. (One wonders, also, whether Fred DeCordova was directing that night, or if he took the night off as well -- he would have also been on top of the situation even if Johnny were not there, making sure things came off smoothly and on time.)

 

[wbhist]

(One wonders, also, whether Fred DeCordova was directing that night, or if he took the night off as well -- he would have also been on top of the situation even if Johnny were not there, making sure things came off smoothly and on time.)

From my understanding, Mr. DeCordova didn't join The Tonight Show until 1970.

 

[Ultimajock]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on May 14. Discuss or comment as you please……
1948: Actor/director/producer/writer Rich Correll is born in Los Angeles. As a child actor, he played the role of Beaver's friend Richard Rickover during the last two seasons of Leave It to Beaver. His directing credits include many episodes of The Hogan Family, Family Matters, That’s So Raven, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, while also writing dozens of episodes for Hannah Montana. In addition, as a teenager, Correll became a close friend of legendary silent film comedian Harold Lloyd and his family, and volunteered to assist Lloyd in preserving and archiving his films. He continues this work today, and is credited as the chief archivist for the Lloyd Trust.

Richard Correll is also a son of the late Charles Correll, who with Freeman Gosden created Amos and Andy on Radio and later, TV. Gosden and Correll also created "Calvin and the Colonel", a Cartoon series using their Amos and Andy Voices, which was produced by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who were responsible for Leave it to Beaver"

...and in the movie I Wanna Hold Your Hand, about The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, Rich Correll was one of the actors who recreated The Beatles' movements on the Sullivan stage...Robert Zemeckis says as much on the director's commentary track of the DVD...

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1977: British reality TV personality Sophie Anderton (I'm a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here) is born.