October 18: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on October 18. Discuss or comment as you please……

1926: Singer/actress Julie London (Emergency!) is born (as Gayle Peck) in Santa Rosa, California.

1928: Sportscaster Keith Jackson is born in Roopville, Georgia.

1934: Actress Inger Stevens (The Farmer’s Daughter) is born (as Inger Stensland) in Stockholm, Sweden.

1938: Actress Dawn Wells (Gilligan’s Island) is born in Reno, Nevada.

1939: Football player/coach/TV commentator Mike Ditka is born in Carnegie, Pennsylvania.

1951: Actress Pam Dawber (Mork & Mindy, My Sister Sam) is born in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

1954: Washington, D.C.’s WNBW (channel 4) changes calls to WRC-TV. New York’s WNBT (also channel 4) changes to WRCA-TV.

1954: WBTW-TV begins broadcasting on channel 8 in Florence, South Carolina. (They would move to channel 13 in 1963 when channel 8 was reassigned to high Point, North Carolina.)

1959: CJSS-TV begins broadcasting on channel 8 in Cornwall, Ontario. It would last just 4 years before being purchased and changed into a passive satellite of Ottawa’s CJOH-TV.

1960: Actress Erin Moran (Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi) is born in Burbank, California.

1964: Comedian Jackie Mason, appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show, allegedly gives Ed “the finger” on the air. The incident occurs near the end of Mason’s act as Sullivan is flashing finger signals to the comic, trying to get him to wrap up his routine as CBS was about to cut away to carry an address by President Johnson. Mason makes reference to Sullivan’s signals, and playfully flashes some of his own, including (some say) a brief middle finger. Ed is incensed and vows never to have Jackie on the show again. Mason later filed a libel suit over Sullivan’s claim, but later dropped it. [NOTE: I have seen the tape of this, and IMHO it doesn’t look like Mason was intentionally flipping Ed off.]

1981: KTRV (channel 12) signs on in Boise, Idaho, It is the only independent station in the market (indeed, the region) for the next few years before becoming a charter Fox affiliate in 1986.

1988: Roseanne premieres on ABC.

1997: Pioneering newswoman Nancy Dickerson dies in New York of complications from a stroke, aged 70.

2004: The new Battlestar Galactica premieres on the Sci-Fi Channel.

(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…..)

 

[mleach]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on October 18. Discuss or comment as you please……

1926: Singer/actress Julie London (Emergency!) is born (as Gayle Peck) in Santa Rosa, California.

Before "Marlboro Country", when Marlboro cigarettes failed as a woman's cig in the early 50's Phillip Morris re-launched the brand as a "man's smoke". Who did they pick as their spokeswoman? Julie London !!! Her Marlboro ads are still somewhat remembered today, not as much as her role on Emgerency but on the same level as her hits from the 50's like "Cry Me A River". And yes Julie was a big time smoker too, actually there is at least one episdoe of Emeregncy where Julie London is seen smoking in the lounge at Rampart Hospital.

Interesting thing about London, I have heard she was VERY SHY !!! Come to think of it, I don't recall ever seening a pic of Julie London anywhere that was taken of her after her Emgerency days. Over the years I have heard both..that she was still a knockout until she had her stroke in the early 90s (?) and that she aged really fast after Emgercny ended. Dittos with Jack Webb too. Are there any known photos of Jack taken after he did Emergency? The most "recent" pic I have ever seen of Jack Webb was taken on the set of Emgerency in the mid 70s ( still looked the same from his Dragnet days ) and he was standing next to..Julie London in her Dixie uniform.

OTOH, not long before his passing I did see a pic of Julie's husband Bobby Troup in his later years..and he did look like an old man, then again of course he was.
But I never seen a pic of either Julie London or Jack Webb in their later years.

 

[RicoGregg]

1938: Actress Dawn Wells (Gilligan’s Island) is born in Reno, Nevada.

Just think, our sweet little Mary Ann is the youngest cast member of Gilligan's Island, and she's now 70!

Where's McNulty's stopwatch when you need it?

 

[wbhist]

1954: Washington, D.C.’s WNBW (channel 4) changes calls to WRC-TV. New York’s WNBT (also channel 4) changes to WRCA-TV.

There was a third NBC O&O that also changed their calls on or around this day: Hollywood's KNBH (likewise channel 4) changed to KRCA-TV.

 

[KML0224]

What about channel 30 of New Britain, CT? (Hartford/New Haven market) They were the first station to have the WNBC-TV call letters. Only in our case, you may see what the N-B-C stood for.

 

[Newname]

Oct. 18, 1977: During the ABC telecast of Game 6 of the World Series, Howard Cosell utters the soon-to-be immortal phrase, 'LA-dies and GEN-tle-men, THE BRONX IS BURNING!', as cameras zoom in on a fire raging in an abandoned tenement house across from Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees' Reggie Jackson figuratively sets off fireworks in the park, with 3 homers as the Bronx Bombers clinch the Series 8-4 over the Dodgers.
Cosell's line inspires the title of a book, and infamous 2007 ESPN miniseries.

 

[wbhist]

What about channel 30 of New Britain, CT? (Hartford/New Haven market) They were the first station to have the WNBC-TV call letters. Only in our case, you may see what the N-B-C stood for.

The irony is, during that period, was when NBC (the network) owned that station for the first of two go-rounds - the second until just recently.

 

[WMC2006]

Just think, our sweet little Mary Ann is the youngest cast member of Gilligan's Island, and she's now 70!

[/quote]

And she's also only one of 3 castaways left along with Tina Louise and Russell Johnson. Alan Hale, Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, and Gilligan himself, Bob Denver, have all passed away. :'(

However, knowing the talents of the Professor, he's probably had everyone cryogenically frozen after passing and future viewers will probably be able to watch Return to Gilligan's Island: 3015 with all the original cast. But they won't be able to get off the island because the Professor still can't figure out how to patch the hole in the boat. ;D ;D

 

[bpatrick]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on October 18. Discuss or comment as you please……

1926: Singer/actress Julie London (Emergency!) is born (as Gayle Peck) in Santa Rosa, California.

Before "Marlboro Country", when Marlboro cigarettes failed as a woman's cig in the early 50's Phillip Morris re-launched the brand as a "man's smoke". Who did they pick as their spokeswoman? Julie London !!! Her Marlboro ads are still somewhat remembered today, not as much as her role on Emgerency but on the same level as her hits from the 50's like "Cry Me A River". And yes Julie was a big time smoker too, actually there is at least one episdoe of Emeregncy where Julie London is seen smoking in the lounge at Rampart Hospital.

Interesting thing about London, I have heard she was VERY SHY !!! Come to think of it, I don't recall ever seening a pic of Julie London anywhere that was taken of her after her Emgerency days. Over the years I have heard both..that she was still a knockout until she had her stroke in the early 90s (?) and that she aged really fast after Emgercny ended. Dittos with Jack Webb too. Are there any known photos of Jack taken after he did Emergency? The most "recent" pic I have ever seen of Jack Webb was taken on the set of Emgerency in the mid 70s ( still looked the same from his Dragnet days ) and he was standing next to..Julie London in her Dixie uniform.

OTOH, not long before his passing I did see a pic of Julie's husband Bobby Troup in his later years..and he did look like an old man, then again of course he was.
But I never seen a pic of either Julie London or Jack Webb in their later years.

I seem to recall that the Marlboro Country cowboy died, ironically,
of lung cancer. As for Julie, if you can find it, there's a TV Guide
cover of her from June 1972, just after Emergency! debuted, and
you ain't kiddin' about her being a knockout.

As for Jackie Mason, I've seen the clip of his controversial Sullivan
appearance, and it's almost impossible to tell if he's giving Ed the finger
or not. I think any judge (including the one who heard the case) would
have to award damages to Mason for that very reason. And indeed,
Mason did win his lawsuit, although he didn't appear on Sullivan but one
more time--on the first show of the 1966-67 season.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

This historical event would have later effects on television:

1925: The first broadcast of what would become the "Grand Ole Opry" would air on WSM-AM in Nashville. The first episode on Oct. 18, 1925 was what station management called "Dr. Humphrey Bate and his string quartet of old-time musicians" (per Wikipedia). Longtime Opry announcer George Hay began his duties that Nov. 2, and the first "official" broadcast of the Opry (originally the "WSM Barn Dance") was that Nov. 28. The first broadcast where the name "Grand Ole Opry" was used was on Dec. 10, 1927, in response to the show following NBC Radio's "Music Appreciation Hour."

Television broadcasts of the "Grand Ole Opry" began during 1955-56 with a once-monthly Saturday night broadcast on ABC, and also during the 1950s the syndicated "Stars of the Grand Ole Opry" was distributed by Flamingo Films.

The Opry aired on PBS from 1978-81, and then The Nashville Network from 1985-2001. It moved to CMT for 2001-2003, and GAC since 2003 (but is currently on hiatus).

A special commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry aired on CBS in January 1986 (that network later carried a 65th anniversary special in early 1991). The over three minutes of the opening of the special (featuring reminiscences by stars including Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, and Minnie Pearl) is on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CFkQi-3orU

 

[LKellerIII]

1938: Actress Dawn Wells (Gilligan’s Island) is born in Reno, Nevada.

Just think, our sweet little Mary Ann is the youngest cast member of Gilligan's Island, and she's now 70!

Where's McNulty's stopwatch when you need it?

No kidding. What's scarier - Courtney Cox (sitcom star of the 90s) is 45 years old and playing a "cougar." Many of the rock stars of the 80s (Sting, Cyndi Lauper) are pushing 60.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1958: Actress Corrine Bohrer ("Veronica Mars") is born in Camp Lejeune, NC.