May 24: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on May 24. Discuss or comment as you please……

[NOTE: Some of these May dates are full of series finales and last episodes. Rather than devote separate lines to each, I will just mention that some of the better-known series that had a May 24 swan song include The Love Boat, Melrose Place, Mad About You, and Friday Night Videos.]

1943: Actor Gary Burghoff (M*A*S*H) is born in Bristol, Connecticut.

1945: Actress Priscilla Presley (Dallas) is born (as Priscilla Ann Wagner) in Brooklyn, New York. (That’s right – Elvis' bride was not a Tennessee or Mississippi girl, but an Air Force brat whose family didn’t even live in the South until Priscilla was 11.)

1953: The iconic television debut of Paddy Chayefsky’s “Marty” takes place on NBC”s Philco Television Playhouse. The production, the actors (including Rod Seiger in the title role) and Chayefsky's dialogue receive much critical acclaim and herald a new naturalistic approach to live television drama.

1980: The last Saturday Night Live with the “classic” cast (the Not Ready for Prime-Time Players) airs on NBC. The next few months would see the departure from the show of producer Lorne Michaels and all of the principal cast, to be replaced in the Fall by Jean Doumanian and a new cast of unknowns, beginning a disastrous season many regard as historically the show’s worst.

2008: Comedian/actor/director Dick Martin (The Lucy Show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In) dies in Santa Monica, California due to respiratory complications, aged 86. Starting in the early 70’s, Martin worked behind the camera on more than a dozen TV series, including a stint as chief director of Newhart.

(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…..)

 

[radioman148]

>>1980: The last Saturday Night Live with the “classic” cast (the Not Ready for Prime-Time Players) airs on NBC. The next few months would see the departure from the show of producer Lorne Michaels and all of the principal cast, to be replaced in the Fall by Jean Doumanian and a new cast of unknowns, beginning a disastrous season many regard as historically the show’s worst.>>

That was a terrible time for SNL.

 

[wbhist]

1945: Actress Priscilla Presley (Dallas) is born (as Priscilla Ann Wagner) in Brooklyn, New York. (That’s right – Elvis' bride was not a Tennessee or Mississippi girl, but an Air Force brat whose family didn’t even live in the South until Priscilla was 11.)

Just curious - at what time between her birth and her marriage to Elvis did she become a Beaulieu?

 

[Stanislav]

1945: Actress Priscilla Presley (Dallas) is born (as Priscilla Ann Wagner) in Brooklyn, New York. (That’s right – Elvis' bride was not a Tennessee or Mississippi girl, but an Air Force brat whose family didn’t even live in the South until Priscilla was 11.)

Just curious - at what time between her birth and her marriage to Elvis did she become a Beaulieu?

Her biological father was a Navy pilot named James Wagner, who was killed in a plane crash when Priscilla was six months old. A couple years later, her mother (who, BTW, was of Norwegian descent -- Priscilla still has cousins living in Norway) remarried to a man from Quebec, Paul Beaulieu, a USAF officer. He was, as far as Priscilla was concerned, her father, since she never really knew her biological Dad.

 

[wbhist]

Her biological father was a Navy pilot named James Wagner, who was killed in a plane crash when Priscilla was six months old. A couple years later, her mother (who, BTW, was of Norwegian descent -- Priscilla still has cousins living in Norway) remarried to a man from Quebec, Paul Beaulieu, a USAF officer. He was, as far as Priscilla was concerned, her father, since she never really knew her biological Dad.

Ah, much obliged. So that explains it all.

 

[Stanislav]

Her biological father was a Navy pilot named James Wagner, who was killed in a plane crash when Priscilla was six months old. A couple years later, her mother (who, BTW, was of Norwegian descent -- Priscilla still has cousins living in Norway) remarried to a man from Quebec, Paul Beaulieu, a USAF officer. He was, as far as Priscilla was concerned, her father, since she never really knew her biological Dad.

Ah, much obliged. So that explains it all.

Until I saw her bio, I always assumed with the Beaulieu name that perhaps she was from the South, maybe of Cajun heritage. But she was a "Southern girl" by residence only, as a transplant. She certainly played the role of Southern girl well in her Elvis days, though. Especially the hair. ;D

 

[WMC2006]

[NOTE: Some of these May dates are full of series finales and last episodes. Rather than devote separate lines to each, I will just mention that some of the better-known series that had a May 24 swan song include The Love Boat

And then Charo disappeared forever

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRc3s5LZ6Do

 

[KeithE4]

[NOTE: Some of these May dates are full of series finales and last episodes. Rather than devote separate lines to each, I will just mention that some of the better-known series that had a May 24 swan song include The Love Boat

And then Charo disappeared forever

Until Geico started the Y-list celebrities (that means "up about one inch from the bottom-of-the-barrel," for those of you in Rio Linda) ad campaign. ;D

 

[radioman148]

[NOTE: Some of these May dates are full of series finales and last episodes. Rather than devote separate lines to each, I will just mention that some of the better-known series that had a May 24 swan song include The Love Boat

And then Charo disappeared forever

And that's a good thing.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1984: Actress Sarah Hagan (Freaks and Geeks, DAG) is born in Austin, TX.

 

[RyanHoward]

1980: The last Saturday Night Live with the “classic” cast (the Not Ready for Prime-Time Players) airs on NBC. The next few months would see the departure from the show of producer Lorne Michaels and all of the principal cast, to be replaced in the Fall by Jean Doumanian and a new cast of unknowns, beginning a disastrous season many regard as historically the show’s worst.

Among that new cast, only a handful of them(most notably, Eddie Murphy) would go on to film and TV superstardom. Many of them would fade to nothing(anyone remember Gail Matthius, Ann Risley or Rich Hall?)

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Among that new cast, only a handful of them(most notably, Eddie Murphy) would go on to film and TV superstardom. Many of them would fade to nothing(anyone remember Gail Matthius, Ann Risley or Rich Hall?)

Hey, Rich Hall gave the world "Sniglets".

 

[wbhist]

1980: The last Saturday Night Live with the “classic” cast (the Not Ready for Prime-Time Players) airs on NBC. The next few months would see the departure from the show of producer Lorne Michaels and all of the principal cast, to be replaced in the Fall by Jean Doumanian and a new cast of unknowns, beginning a disastrous season many regard as historically the show’s worst.

Among that new cast, only a handful of them(most notably, Eddie Murphy) would go on to film and TV superstardom. Many of them would fade to nothing(anyone remember Gail Matthius, Ann Risley or Rich Hall?)

Let's not forget, though . . . the 1980-81 season also (for a while, until he was fired) brought us Gilbert Gottfried . . . perhaps better known these days as the voice of the "Aflac Duck."

 

[Ultimajock]

Among that new cast, only a handful of them(most notably, Eddie Murphy) would go on to film and TV superstardom. Many of them would fade to nothing(anyone remember Gail Matthius, Ann Risley or Rich Hall?)

Hey, Rich Hall gave the world "Sniglets".

...but that was when Hall was associated with Not Necessarily the News, not SNL...Denny Dillon, later featured on Dream On, was also part of that Doumanian cast (and was standing right next to Chareles Rockett when he dropped that infamous "f-bomb" that got him canned)...

 

[LKellerIII]

Though any real fame eluded him, Charles Rocket had a reasonably decent career doing guest shots on TV series. Sadly, he was found dead in 2005, an apparent suicide.

 

[ixnay]

Until I saw [Priscilla's] bio, I always assumed with the Beaulieu name that perhaps she was from the South, maybe of Cajun heritage.

I assume by bio you refer to Elvis and Me, right, Stanislav?

How did Paul Beaulieu end up in the U.S. Air Force if he was born in Quebec, Canada?

ixnay

 

[Stanislav]

How did Paul Beaulieu end up in the U.S. Air Force if he was born in Quebec, Canada?

Dunno...I assume he became a naturalized U.S. citizen at some point.