November 17: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on November 17. Discuss or comment as you please……

1944: Actor Danny DeVito (Taxi) is born in Neptune, New Jersey.

1944: Producer Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live) is born in Toronto, Ontario.

1952: KONA-TV (channel 2, now KHON-TV) launches in Honolulu, Hawaii.

1957: WBOY-TV (channel 12) begins broadcasting in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

1958: Actress Marg Helgenberger (China Beach, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) is born in Fremont, Nebraska.

1965: KAAR (channel 39, later KCST-TV, now KNSD) signs on in San Diego, California. It is the market’s first UHF station.

1967: Actress Lisa Bonet (The Cosby Show, A Different World) is born in San Francisco.

1968: The infamous “Heidi Bowl” on NBC. The network breaks away (in the Eastern and Central time zones) from a Jets-Raiders football game with the Jets leading 32-29 and just 65 seconds on the play clock. (They were anxious to start that night’s 7 pm EST offering, the made-for-TV movie “Heidi,” on time.) However, in one of the most dramatic comebacks in NFL history, the Raiders score two touchdowns in that last 65 seconds – plays that the viewers never saw. (NBC would, however, announce the final score of the game in a crawl at 7:20 pm that imposed on a very dramatic moment in “Heidi,” thereby also pissing off viewers who wanted to watch the movie!) The network is swamped with angry phone calls, jamming available circuits, and airs a public apology at 8:30. The incident would eventually lead to the still-current policy (adhered to by all broadcast networks) of delaying the start of regular Sunday prime-time programming until all regional games have been played to their conclusion. DYK: Neither Curt Gowdy nor Kyle Rote, announcing the game, were aware that they were off the air after 7 p.m. Gowdy had to be hastily called back into the booth to “recreate” his calls of the two critical touchdowns for use on news and sports broadcasts. (The Wikipedia page about the game is a good summation of the events leading up to and subsequent reaction to the incident...)

1968: A small plane crashes into the tower of WAEO-TV (channel 12, Rhinelander, Wisconsin), toppling the tower and damaging the station’s building. The accident would keep the station off the air for over 9 months.

1976: Actress Diane Neal (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) is born in Alexandria, Virginia.

1978: The Star Wars Holiday Special airs on CBS. The special gives fans their first glimpse of Boba Fett, a character from the upcoming Star Wars sequel.

1981: The first of two General Hospital episodes devoted to Luke and Laura's wedding is broadcast by ABC. It would be the highest-rated event in soap opera history. (See also: 2006)

1985: Kane & Abel, a miniseries based on the best-selling Jeffrey Archer novel, debuts on CBS.

1991: The first condom commercial aired on U.S. television occurs during a Fox broadcast of Herman’s Head.

2004: House premieres on Fox.

2005: Producer and host Ralph Edwards (Truth or Consequences, This is Your Life) dies in Los Angeles, aged 92.

2006: On General Hospital, Luke and Laura Spencer remarry to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their first nuptials. (See also: 1981)

(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…..)

 

[Corky Marlowe]

1978: The Star Wars Holiday Special
Or, as it's known today, "Why George Lucas Hates YouTube".

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1968: The infamous “Heidi Bowl” on NBC. The network breaks away (in the Eastern and Central time zones) from a Jets-Raiders football game with the Jets leading 32-29 and just 65 seconds on the play clock. (They were anxious to start that night’s 7 pm EST offering, the made-for-TV movie “Heidi,” on time.) However, in one of the most dramatic comebacks in NFL history, the Raiders score two touchdowns in that last 65 seconds – plays that the viewers never saw. (NBC would, however, announce the final score of the game in a crawl at 7:20 pm that imposed on a very dramatic moment in “Heidi,” thereby also pissing off viewers who wanted to watch the movie!) The network is swamped with angry phone calls, jamming available circuits, and airs a public apology at 8:30. The incident would eventually lead to the still-current policy (adhered to by all broadcast networks) of delaying the start of regular Sunday prime-time programming until all regional games have been played to their conclusion. DYK: Neither Curt Gowdy nor Kyle Rote, announcing the game, were aware that they were off the air after 7 p.m. Gowdy had to be hastily called back into the booth to “recreate” his calls of the two critical touchdowns for use on news and sports broadcasts. (The Wikipedia page about the game is a good summation of the events leading up to and subsequent reaction to the incident...)

1968: A small plane crashes into the tower of WAEO-TV (channel 12, Rhinelander, Wisconsin), toppling the tower and damaging the station’s building. The accident would keep the station off the air for over 9 months.

Interesting 11/17/1968 coincidence with the tragic plane crash involving the WAEO-TV tower (now WJFW-TV--was and still is an NBC affiliate since its 1966 sign-on). I haven't been able to find more info on this crash, but does anyone know if the accident occurred before or after the "Heidi Game" and subsequent fiasco on its parent network?

 

[mleach]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on November 17. Discuss or comment as you please……

1991: The first condom commercial aired on U.S. television occurs during a Fox broadcast of Herman’s Head.

Maybe on a network level but I am pretty sure some select local markets were airing condom ads before 1991. Sort of like ads for hard liquor, I believe they were airing on local TV somewhere in Texas before such ads were seen on the networks.

I do know comdon ads were being aired on the radio prior to 1991 as I can remember hearing one for Trojan on Denver's 106.7 KAZY-FM ( now KBPI ) in 1989. The day Lucille Ball died.

Of course there is no connection between Lucy and condoms. ;D

 

[LKellerIII]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on November 17. Discuss or comment as you please……

1991: The first condom commercial aired on U.S. television occurs during a Fox broadcast of Herman’s Head.

Maybe on a network level but I am pretty sure some select local markets were airing condom ads before 1991. Sort of like ads for hard liquor, I believe they were airing on local TV somewhere in Texas before such ads were seen on the networks.

I do know comdon ads were being aired on the radio prior to 1991 as I can remember hearing one for Trojan on Denver's 106.7 KAZY-FM ( now KBPI ) in 1989. The day Lucille Ball died.

Of course there is no connection between Lucy and condoms. ;D

I don't know why, but I decided to Google TV condom commercials to get some history. I thought the following was interesting. These are paraphrased excepts, so no copyright worries:

During the 1960s and 70s, condom advertising was prohibited by the National Association of Broadcasters’ (NAB) Code of Conduct. The first station to carry a condom commercial was KNTV, San Jose (then an ABC affiliate - now an NBC O&O) which decided to defy the code and air a Trojan condom commercial in 1975. This was before the AIDS epidemic, interestingly enough. KNTV's switchboard was inundated with calls, so the station decided to poll viewers on their local news programs. Though viewers were overwhelmingly in favor of the ads, KNTV decided to stop carrying them.

In 1979, the NAB Code was rescinded when the Justice Department under President Jimmy Carter opposed it in an antitrust lawsuit, but that decision had no significant impact on the level of condom advertising on TV.

As concern for the AIDS epidemic grew, ABC started running public service announcements (not commercials) about condom use in 1986. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop (a Reagan appointee) pressured the other networks, which started running them about a year later.

As of 2001 (when the article was written), only 3 networks allowed condom ads at the network level - CBS, Fox, and NBC.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1968: The infamous “Heidi Bowl” on NBC. The network breaks away (in the Eastern and Central time zones) from a Jets-Raiders football game with the Jets leading 32-29 and just 65 seconds on the play clock. (They were anxious to start that night’s 7 pm EST offering, the made-for-TV movie “Heidi,” on time.) However, in one of the most dramatic comebacks in NFL history, the Raiders score two touchdowns in that last 65 seconds – plays that the viewers never saw. (NBC would, however, announce the final score of the game in a crawl at 7:20 pm that imposed on a very dramatic moment in “Heidi,” thereby also pissing off viewers who wanted to watch the movie!) The network is swamped with angry phone calls, jamming available circuits, and airs a public apology at 8:30. The incident would eventually lead to the still-current policy (adhered to by all broadcast networks) of delaying the start of regular Sunday prime-time programming until all regional games have been played to their conclusion. DYK: Neither Curt Gowdy nor Kyle Rote, announcing the game, were aware that they were off the air after 7 p.m. Gowdy had to be hastily called back into the booth to “recreate” his calls of the two critical touchdowns for use on news and sports broadcasts. (The Wikipedia page about the game is a good summation of the events leading up to and subsequent reaction to the incident...)

Here's a link from Birmingham Rewound describing how the "Heidi Game" may have been handled in that market with the peculiarity of its network programming situation back in '68. Basically WBNG-42 (now WIAT) had the Jets-Raiders game, while Heidi was slated to air on WAPI-13.

http://www.birminghamrewound.com/features/heidi.htm

 

[Stanislav]

1968: The infamous “Heidi Bowl” on NBC. The network breaks away (in the Eastern and Central time zones) from a Jets-Raiders football game with the Jets leading 32-29 and just 65 seconds on the play clock. (They were anxious to start that night’s 7 pm EST offering, the made-for-TV movie “Heidi,” on time.) However, in one of the most dramatic comebacks in NFL history, the Raiders score two touchdowns in that last 65 seconds – plays that the viewers never saw. (NBC would, however, announce the final score of the game in a crawl at 7:20 pm that imposed on a very dramatic moment in “Heidi,” thereby also pissing off viewers who wanted to watch the movie!) The network is swamped with angry phone calls, jamming available circuits, and airs a public apology at 8:30. The incident would eventually lead to the still-current policy (adhered to by all broadcast networks) of delaying the start of regular Sunday prime-time programming until all regional games have been played to their conclusion. DYK: Neither Curt Gowdy nor Kyle Rote, announcing the game, were aware that they were off the air after 7 p.m. Gowdy had to be hastily called back into the booth to “recreate” his calls of the two critical touchdowns for use on news and sports broadcasts. (The Wikipedia page about the game is a good summation of the events leading up to and subsequent reaction to the incident...)

Here's a link from Birmingham Rewound describing how the "Heidi Game" may have been handled in that market with the peculiarity of its network programming situation back in '68. Basically WBNG-42 (now WIAT) had the Jets-Raiders game, while Heidi was slated to air on WAPI-13.

http://www.birminghamrewound.com/features/heidi.htm

Interesting article...I never considered how situations like the Heidi game could potentially affect stations that carried more than one network. (And there have probably been several similar potential clashes in TV history, with the Heidi Game simply being the most well-known and infamous.) Try explaining to your viewers that their favorite show was delayed, pre-empted, cut short, or joined in progress because of something airing on a different channel.

I wonder...since the game would have been fed live on both East and West Coast circuits (I'm assuming West Coast stations in the era generally, as now, carried sporting events live), would WBMG, or any station in the eastern half of the country that might have been in a similar situation, have had access to both feeds, and theoretically been able, if they were savvy and quick enough, to simply swap feeds at 7 pm ET, and carry the game to its conclusion?

Likewise, I've always been a bit dubious about the need for Gowdy to "recreate" his calls for the last-minute TDs. Assuming the calls were mated to video of the plays, if they had video (from whatever source), why not audio? And in any case, with the game airing to its conclusion on the West Coast, why could they not have just had Burbank feed tape of the last 65 seconds back to New York, to make it available for highlights?

IIRC, didn't the last two TDs eventually air during Monday's Huntley-Brinkley Report, with David Brinkley introducing it by summarizing the incident, and saying, "Here's what you missed?"