November 20: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on November 20. Discuss or comment as you please……

1925: Actress Kaye Ballard (The Mothers-in-Law) is born (as Catherine Gloria Balotta) in Cleveland, Ohio.

1928: Weatherman Bob Weaver is born in New York City. He was Miami’s first weatherman (“Weaver the Weatherman” on WTVJ) – a job he held for an incredible 54 years.

1932: Actor and game show host Richard Dawson (Hogan’s Heroes, Family Feud) is born (as Colin Lionel Emm) in Gosport, Hampshire, England.

1939: Comedian and musician Dick Smothers is born in New York City.

1943: Actress Veronica Hamel (Hill Street Blues) is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. DYK: She was considered for Charlie's Angels, but reportedly declined the role. (Producer Aaron Spelling cast Jaclyn Smith instead.)

1946: Journalist Judy Woodruff (Frontline, The MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour, Inside Edition) is born in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

1948: In France, a television broadcast standard of 819 lines is agreed upon (broadcasts in the new format would commence about a year later). It is the only European country to use this standard (the rest eventually adopting 625 lines).

1954: KTRK-TV (channel 13) signs on in Houston, Texas.

1955: Rock 'n' roll singer and guitarist Bo Diddley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show. Scheduled to sing the Tennessee Ernie Ford hit “Sixteen Tons,” he instead performs his eponymous #1 R&B hit "Bo Diddley” for the broadcast. This infuriates Sullivan, who goes into his “You’ll never work in television again” mode. Diddley never appears again on the show, but nonetheless goes on to have a stellar musical career.

1970: Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser (later known as Wall Street Week with Fortune after the host was fired) begins a 35-year run on PBS.

1971: TV host Joel McHale (The Soup) is born in Rome, Italy.

1972: Non-commercial KOCE-TV (channel 50) begins broadcasting in Huntington Beach, California, initially for just 4 hours per day. It is Orange County’s first TV station.

1973: The 11th “Peanuts” special, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, premieres on CBS.

1983: The controversial TV-movie “The Day After,” depicting a devastating nuclear exchange between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., airs on ABC. It is the most-watched TV-movie ever, with an estimated audience of 100 million.

1995: ABC’s One Life to Live airs its 7,000th episode and showcases a new opening sequence.

(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…..)

 

[Ultimajock]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on November 20. Discuss or comment as you please……

1983: The controversial TV-movie “The Day After,” depicting a devastating nuclear exchange between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., airs on ABC. It is the most-watched TV-movie ever, with an estimated audience of 100 million.

...later the same night, ABC airs a special Nightline concerning the issues raised by the movie. Ted Koppel's first words are, "Go ahead and look out your front window, The World is still there just as you remember it" ;-) ...

 

[mleach]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on November 20. Discuss or comment as you please……

1955: Rock 'n' roll singer and guitarist Bo Diddley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show. Scheduled to sing the Tennessee Ernie Ford hit “Sixteen Tons,” he instead performs his eponymous #1 R&B hit "Bo Diddley” for the broadcast. This infuriates Sullivan, who goes into his “You’ll never work in television again” mode. Diddley never appears again on the show, but nonetheless goes on to have a stellar musical career.

Pretty much the same thing happened when The Doors did Sullivan in the late 60's. The band did their classic "Light My Fire". However The Doors were warned not to sing the part with the word "higher". But The Doors did it anyway and here comes Ed Sullivan "...You will never work in TV again". Of course the band could have cared less. They already DID The Ed Sullivan Show.

Of course there were other shows that more/less did the same thing as in banning certain stars from appearing on a show after one or two appearances over various issues. Dick Clark for example banned Jerry Lee Lewis from doing any of his shows like American Bandstand thanks to Jerry's marriage to his cousin ( I believe the two have since made up though ). Plus Clark didn't want anything to do with Ricky Nelson because of a tiff he had with Ozzie Nelson plus I seem to recall reading years ago something happened between Clark and Patsy Cline which prevented her from doing American Bandstand.

OTOH for every story like this there are always rumors of the like such as Mike Douglas banning the rock band KISS after one appearance. That one however wasn't true. Actually despite the generation gap between KISS and Douglas, Mike actually had a lot of respect for the band.

 

[landtuna]

Rick and Ozzie had a 'conflict'? Never heard this one before.

And Dick Clark and Patsy Cline.....Cline was a country singer. Why would she be appearing on AB?

 

[mleach]

Rick and Ozzie had a 'conflict'? Never heard this one before.

And Dick Clark and Patsy Cline.....Cline was a country singer. Why would she be appearing on AB?

Actually it was Dick Clark and Ozzie Nelson who had the conflict with Ricky being the center of it. With Ricky Nelson being such a hot star at the time of course Clark wanted him to do AB but Ozzie for some reason wouldn't allow it. As a result of that "issue" Clark for some odd reason held a grudge against Ricky which lasted long after his "teen star" days had ended. Maybe it was "payback against Ozzie", who knows for sure but I don't think Rick/Ricky Nelson ever did AB even though in some of those AB Anniversary specials later on, Clark did pay tribute to him though.

True about Patsy Cline being a country singer but like Conway Twitty, Roy Clark, Buck Owens and The Statler Brothers ( all of whom did either AB or Where The Action Is in those days ), Cline had a large teenage following which would have been a good idea for her to do AB. But something happened between her and Clark that prevented it. I wish I remember what it was.

 

[Tim L]

True about Patsy Cline being a country singer but like Conway Twitty, Roy Clark, Buck Owens and The Statler Brothers ( all of whom did either AB or Where The Action Is in those days ), Cline had a large teenage following which would have been a good idea for her to do AB. But something happened between her and Clark that prevented it. I wish I remember what it was.

About the Statler Brothers-The most likely appearance on AB or Where The Action Is would be in 1965 with their first big hit, 'Flowers On The Wall"

 

[Smittian]

1954: KTRK-TV (channel 13) signs on in Houston, Texas.

Happy 54th Birthday to Channel 13 and Rest In Peace, Marvin Zindler . Also congrats to Dave Ward, who's been at KTRK for 42 of those 54 years

 

[RicoGregg]

Rick and Ozzie had a 'conflict'? Never heard this one before.

And Dick Clark and Patsy Cline.....Cline was a country singer. Why would she be appearing on AB?

She was appearing on AB because two of her biggest hits, "Walking After Midnight" and "Crazy" crossed over from the Country charts into the Pop charts, and were very popular with the Top 40 crowd.

I don't know specifics, but from what little I do understand, apparently having a dispute with Dick Clark is a relatively large club.

I'm still not sure, as I wondered in a much earlier thread, if Clark ever had a British group on either Bandstand or Action. Supposedly, according to legend, the British Invasion of '64 somehow upset his apple cart, and he was allegedly very resentful.

 

[gr8oldies]

The movie VH1 aired several years ago didn't paint Ozzie in a very good light, making him out to be a controlling SOB..which he may well have been, I don't know.

 

[landtuna]

Hmmmmm.....I remember Twitty crossing over but not Cline. But then this was during my Vietnam "adventure" time and pop music got short shift on AFRTS so maybe I just never heard Cline on the pop side.

 

[LKellerIII]

Rick and Ozzie had a 'conflict'? Never heard this one before.

And Dick Clark and Patsy Cline.....Cline was a country singer. Why would she be appearing on AB?

She was appearing on AB because two of her biggest hits, "Walking After Midnight" and "Crazy" crossed over from the Country charts into the Pop charts, and were very popular with the Top 40 crowd.

I don't know specifics, but from what little I do understand, apparently having a dispute with Dick Clark is a relatively large club.

I'm still not sure, as I wondered in a much earlier thread, if Clark ever had a British group on either Bandstand or Action. Supposedly, according to legend, the British Invasion of '64 somehow upset his apple cart, and he was allegedly very resentful.

Patsy Cline died a year or two before I was paying attention to the Top 40 - but I can tell you that from about 1964 into the early 70s, there were always anywhere from 3 to 6 country songs on the Top 40 at any one time. I wasn't a big AB viewer, but it wasn't unusual to see people like Lynn Anderson, Tammy Wynette, Jeannie C. Riley, Kenny Rogers, or Joe South on the local LA dance party programs singing (or lip-synching) their country hits.

RE: Ed Sullivan and naughty lyrics (Light My Fire), I recall seeing the Rolling Stones on the Sullivan Show about 1964 singing "Let's Spend Some Time Together"...instead of Let's Spend the Night Together.

 

[Ultimajock]

issues. Dick Clark for example banned Jerry Lee Lewis from doing any of his shows like American Bandstand thanks to Jerry's marriage to his cousin ( I believe the two have since made up though ).

...Jerry Lee's marriage to Myra Gale wasn't the reason for the ban. It was due to Jerry Lee's setting fire to a piano during a Hollywood-based performance of "Great Balls of Fire" -- a piano that had been loaned to Clark's production company by Lawrence Welk...

 

[RicoGregg]

Patsy Cline died a year or two before I was paying attention to the Top 40 - but I can tell you that from about 1964 into the early 70s, there were always anywhere from 3 to 6 country songs on the Top 40 at any one time. I wasn't a big AB viewer, but it wasn't unusual to see people like Lynn Anderson, Tammy Wynette, Jeannie C. Riley, Kenny Rogers, or Joe South on the local LA dance party programs singing (or lip-synching) their country hits.

Each and every artist mentioned above had hits that crossed over from the Country charts to the Pop charts. Crossovers in both directions were quite common then.

Growing up watching L.A. television, we teens in Southern California were indeed blessed in that unlike many parts of the nation, we didn't have to settle only for American Bandstand. We had some great, fun local shows like Lloyd Thaxton, Shebang, 9th St. West, Make Believe Ballroom, and others that made Bandstand seem like a school-sanctioned tea party by comparison. In other words, Bandstand, compared to the L.A. shows, was dull like a rounded-off pencil point.

A DVD of Lloyd Thaxton's show will soon be available, and I hope that people who weren't lucky enough to see it will now be able to, and will enjoy it.

 

[landtuna]

I have MP3's of Thaxton's "Image of a Surfer" and "My Name is Llyod Thaxton" and would be happy to share with anyone who remembers his great show.

 

[Ultimajock]

Growing up watching L.A. television, we teens in Southern California were indeed blessed in that unlike many parts of the nation, we didn't have to settle only for American Bandstand. We had some great, fun local shows like Lloyd Thaxton, Shebang, 9th St. West, Make Believe Ballroom, and others that made Bandstand seem like a school-sanctioned tea party by comparison. In other words, Bandstand, compared to the L.A. shows, was dull like a rounded-off pencil point.

...it's the smile of the week, just imagining American Bandstand being hosted by The Real Don Steele instead of Dick Clark ;D ...

 

[RicoGregg]

...it's the smile of the week, just imagining American Bandstand being hosted by The Real Don Steele instead of Dick Clark ;D ...

....or even better, imagine Dick Clark trying to survive in L.A. radio during the 50s and 60s. With competition like Hunter Hancock, Art Laboe, Wolfman Jack, Huggy Boy, The Real Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan, Joe Yocum, Al Jarvis, B. Mitchell Reed, Jim Hawthorne, and so many others I could name, Clark would've turned tail and ran back to Philly. He's lucky to have had Bandstand. He would not have survived in L.A. radio, especially back then.

 

[LKellerIII]

...it's the smile of the week, just imagining American Bandstand being hosted by The Real Don Steele instead of Dick Clark ;D ...

....or even better, imagine Dick Clark trying to survive in L.A. radio during the 50s and 60s. With competition like Hunter Hancock, Art Laboe, Wolfman Jack, Huggy Boy, The Real Don Steele, Robert W. Morgan, Joe Yocum, Al Jarvis, B. Mitchell Reed, Jim Hawthorne, and so many others I could name, Clark would've turned tail and ran back to Philly. He's lucky to have had Bandstand. He would not have survived in L.A. radio, especially back then.

Amen to the above. Honorable mention to Sam Riddle, who morphed from a puker" into a quiet low key radio style (almost MOR), but was nevertheless pretty slick as host of 9th St West (starting when he was on KFWB, yet), and Boss City.

There are 2 or 3 streaming videos of The Real Don Steele Show (entire shows, including commercials) on reelradio.com. They're from 1974 - disco era - and fun to watch not just for the great RDS, but the hair styles, clothing, platform shoes, etc.

Also - Groovy! with Robert W. Morgan, and that oddball Michael Blodgett dance-party show on the beach (might have also been called Groovy, can't remember).

Rhino Video has distributed some Shebang shows (on ABC network, and not really a dance party show)...but they're fun to watch, and Jimmy O'Neill was an LA based DJ.

 

[RicoGregg]

Rhino Video has distributed some Shebang shows (on ABC network, and not really a dance party show)...but they're fun to watch, and Jimmy O'Neill was an LA based DJ.

Me respectfully thinks that you meant Shindig in lieu of Shebang.

Casey Kasem, another KRLA legend, hosted Shebang, while Jimmy O'Neill hosted Shindig.

Shindig was carried on ABC, while Shebang ran on KTLA, and was produced by Dick Clark. I don't recall whether or not it was syndicated.

 

[LKellerIII]

Rhino Video has distributed some Shebang shows (on ABC network, and not really a dance party show)...but they're fun to watch, and Jimmy O'Neill was an LA based DJ.

Me respectfully thinks that you meant Shindig in lieu of Shebang.

Casey Kasem, another KRLA legend, hosted Shebang, while Jimmy O'Neill hosted Shindig.

Shindig was carried on ABC, while Shebang ran on KTLA, and was produced by Dick Clark. I don't recall whether or not it was syndicated.

Me thinks you are correct. Pardon the gaffe - I didn't know Shebang on KTLA was produced by Dick Clark, but I do remember that it starred Casey Kasem,also then of KRLA. Shindig was indeed the ABC program I was referring to. In fact, if I remember correctly, Jimmy O'Neill's opening on the show was "Hi-de-hi, Shindiggers."

And in case anybody cares, the Michael Blodgett beach dance-party show was called Groovy!. The Robert W. Morgan show of the same name was the second version, in studio. Apparently Blodgett (who was an actor), turned to writing later in life, and passed away last year.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Blodgett

 

[Newname]

For those who aren't experts in the history of TV music shows, the easiest way to tell Shindig from Shebang is to remember that only Shindig was parodied on The Flintstones, as 'Shinrock, with Jimmy O'Neillstone', while Kasem never did get the Bedrock treatment! ;D