October 19: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on October 19. Discuss or comment as you please……

1932: Actor Robert Reed (The Defenders, The Brady Bunch, Mannix) is born (as John Robert Rietz) in Highland Park, Illinois.

1945: Actor John Lithgow (3rd Rock From the Sun) is born in Rochester, New York.

1951: Less than a month after sales of the first color receivers began [see TDITVH for September 20], the government asks CBS to suspend production of color receivers "to conserve material for defense" for the duration of the Korean War. CBS immediately agrees, and announces that it will also drop color broadcasts (the last CBS Color System broadcast would be the following day’s North Carolina-Maryland football game). The non-compatible color sets are recalled and destroyed; however, production of B&W sets continues unabated! The whole scenario, according to Allan B. DuMont, was "a move to take Columbia off the hook" and give them an excuse to scrap their already doomed system while saving face.

1953: Arthur Godfrey fires Julius La Rosa on the air.

1954: KAKE-TV (channel 10) signs on in Wichita. Kansas.

1982: St. Elsewhere premieres on NBC.

(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]

1953: Arthur Godfrey fires Julius La Rosa on the air.

...as has been discussed on this board in the last few months, this is one of those events that people can swear on a stack of Bibles they saw on TV -- but it was never broadcast on TV, only on radio. And, as I'm fairly sure I said at the time, I still think that Godfrey got a bum rap on the whole situation, the claims of the Wikipedia piece linked above notwithstanding...

 

[bpatrick]

1953: Arthur Godfrey fires Julius La Rosa on the air.

...as has been discussed on this board in the last few months, this is one of those events that people can swear on a stack of Bibles they saw on TV -- but it was never broadcast on TV, only on radio. And, as I'm fairly sure I said at the time, I still think that Godfrey got a bum rap on the whole situation, the claims of the Wikipedia piece linked above notwithstanding...

I don't think anyone would argue that Godfrey had a right to fire LaRosa if
he wasn't satifsfied with his performance. I think what rankled people was
that he did it on the air and not privately, then explained it by saying that
LaRosa "lost his humility." Besides, most viewers saw LaRosa as a clean-cut,
all-American kid who got the break he deserved, but LaRosa himself has said
that he was cocky in those days. In the public's mind it was Godfrey who lost
his humility, since he began firing people right and left afterwards. Godfrey
often said he was going to write his autobiography and give his side of the
story, but he never did (he died in 1983).

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1982: St. Elsewhere premieres on NBC.

Actually, St. Elsewhere premiered the following Tuesday (Oct. 26). Game 6 of the 1982 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers (then in the AL) aired on NBC on Oct. 19.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1960: Actress/singer Jennifer Holliday, whose television credits include appearances on "Ally MacBeal," is born in Riverside, TX.

 

[bpatrick]

Re Godfrey/LaRosa: I've heard for years that Godfrey deliberately
waited until the television portion of his show was over before "wishing
[LaRosa] Godspeed". The television portion aired from 10-11 AM; the
radio part continued until 11:30, and the Godfrey/LaRosa incident happened
just before 11:30, after which Godfrey signed off for the day. It's also been
said that LaRosa didn't know what "swan song" (the last utterance of a dying
swan, according to legend) meant (Godfrey had said that LaRosa's song "Manhattan"
was his "swan song").

The following Sunday LaRosa appeared with Ed Sullivan, who, when he came on
stage, simply opened the show by saying, "I know what you're waiting for. Ladies
and gentlemen, Julius LaRosa!"

 

[Mr. Mike]

1982: St. Elsewhere premieres on NBC.

Actually, St. Elsewhere premiered the following Tuesday (Oct. 26). Game 6 of the 1982 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers (then in the AL) aired on NBC on Oct. 19.

You're right about that. And for the World Series, in case anyone's wondering, Game 6, which took place in St. Louis, was delayed by rain twice, with both delays totaling 2 and 1/2 hours. The Cardinals won that game with a 13-1 blowout, and the next day sealed the deal with a 6-3 Series-clinching victory in Game 7.

As for St. Elsewhere, I heard that it earned the unusual distinction of being the longest running non-hit in TV history.

 

[LKellerIII]

Actually, St. Elsewhere premiered the following Tuesday (Oct. 26). Game 6 of the 1982 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers (then in the AL) aired on NBC on Oct. 19.

As for St. Elsewhere, I heard that it earned the unusual distinction of being the longest running non-hit in TV history.

Define "non-hit." Many TV series have survived for multiple seasons, while never earning more than middle-of-the-pack ratings. According to Jim is probably the number 1 example - surviving 7 seasons, and often running multiple times per night, when ABC was desperate and had nothing else to offer. It was ABC's number 1 comedy for its first year (which isn't saying much), and dropped to middle of the pack for the rest of its run.

Another example I personally enjoyed watching - Switch in the mid 70s with Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner. It survived 4 seasons, but was never a ratings winner.

 

[mleach]

...as has been discussed on this board in the last few months, this is one of those events that people can swear on a stack of Bibles they saw on TV -- but it was never broadcast on TV, only on radio. And, as I'm fairly sure I said at the time, I still think that Godfrey got a bum rap on the whole situation, the claims of the Wikipedia piece linked above notwithstanding...

Actually you can thank the then-press ( newspapers ) for the reason people "swear" they saw it but didn't as the press did report that the firing did happen on TV. A few weeks back I was reading the book "Yearbook 1953" published in 1954 and even they had said that the LaRosa-Godfrey thing took place "...on television".

Kinda like the 1974 Chris Chubbuck on-air suicide. People claim to have seen the shooting on TV in Colorado, Maryland, even Alaska. Of course we know otherwise.

 

[dave73]

2010: Tom Bosley died of a staph infection at his home in Palm Springs California at the age of 83. He's best known for his role as Howard Cunningham on Happy Days, & the spokesman for SMC (Specialty Merchandise Corporation).