(A little early posting today....I was bored....) 
Just a few random TV related events that happened on October 23. Discuss or comment as you please……
1910: Actor Hayden Rourke (I Dream of Jeannie) is born (as William Henry Rourke) in Brooklyn, New York.
1923: Actor Frank Sutton (Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.) is born in Clarksville, Tennessee.
1925: (Smack!) (Waaaaa!!!!!) Heeeeeere’s Johnny! Johnny Carson is born in Corning, Iowa.
1946: WWDT (channel 4, now WDIV-TV) goes on the air in Detroit for a one-day demonstration of television. Although they would not begin regular programming for more than six months (by which time they had already changed calls to the long-used WWJ-TV), the one-time 1946 event grants them the title of “First TV Station in Michigan.”
1953: The first television station in the Philippines, DZAQ-TV of Alto Broadcasting System, goes on the air.
1954: WSAU-TV (channel 7, now WSAW-TV) signs on for the first time in Wausau, Wisconsin.
1956: The first (test) use of videotape in a network broadcast takes place during NBC’s The Jonathan Winters Show. A pre-taped song sequence (by Dorothy Collins) is inserted (unannounced) into the otherwise live show, and selected viewers are then surveyed to determine if they noted any difference in quality between that segment and the rest of the show. When almost all surveyed state that they saw no difference, the network figures tape is “ready for prime time.”
1959: TV legal commentator and former prosecutor Nancy Grace is born in Macon, Georgia.
1962: WCIV-TV (channel 4) signs on in Charleston, South Carolina.
1969: CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta is born in Novi, Michigan.
1971: WXLT-TV (channel 40, now WWSB) begins broadcasting in Sarasota, Florida as an ABC affiliate. The new station is intended to bring ABC to the southerly part of the Tampa Bay area where the signal of WLCY-TV (Channel 10) is weak.
1983: NBC journalist Jessica Savitch, aged 36, and a dining companion are killed after leaving a restaurant when their car plunges into the Delaware River during a heavy, blinding rainstorm.
1997: Three tower workers from Canada's LeBlanc & Royal working at 1500’ are killed when WLBT's 1999’ tower near Raymond, Mississippi collapses. The accident knocks WLBT and Mississippi ETV Network affiliate WMPN off the air. WLBT was able to resume broadcasting within hours from a 100-foot (30 m) secondary tower. (This was the second collapse of a WLBT tower at the same site, the first occurring in 1966 when a rare F5 tornado ravaged the area.)
2000: Boston Public debuts on Fox.
(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…..)
Just a few random TV related events that happened on October 23. Discuss or comment as you please……
1910: Actor Hayden Rourke (I Dream of Jeannie) is born (as William Henry Rourke) in Brooklyn, New York.
1923: Actor Frank Sutton (Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.) is born in Clarksville, Tennessee.
1925: (Smack!) (Waaaaa!!!!!) Heeeeeere’s Johnny! Johnny Carson is born in Corning, Iowa.
1946: WWDT (channel 4, now WDIV-TV) goes on the air in Detroit for a one-day demonstration of television. Although they would not begin regular programming for more than six months (by which time they had already changed calls to the long-used WWJ-TV), the one-time 1946 event grants them the title of “First TV Station in Michigan.”
1953: The first television station in the Philippines, DZAQ-TV of Alto Broadcasting System, goes on the air.
1954: WSAU-TV (channel 7, now WSAW-TV) signs on for the first time in Wausau, Wisconsin.
1956: The first (test) use of videotape in a network broadcast takes place during NBC’s The Jonathan Winters Show. A pre-taped song sequence (by Dorothy Collins) is inserted (unannounced) into the otherwise live show, and selected viewers are then surveyed to determine if they noted any difference in quality between that segment and the rest of the show. When almost all surveyed state that they saw no difference, the network figures tape is “ready for prime time.”
1959: TV legal commentator and former prosecutor Nancy Grace is born in Macon, Georgia.
1962: WCIV-TV (channel 4) signs on in Charleston, South Carolina.
1969: CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta is born in Novi, Michigan.
1971: WXLT-TV (channel 40, now WWSB) begins broadcasting in Sarasota, Florida as an ABC affiliate. The new station is intended to bring ABC to the southerly part of the Tampa Bay area where the signal of WLCY-TV (Channel 10) is weak.
1983: NBC journalist Jessica Savitch, aged 36, and a dining companion are killed after leaving a restaurant when their car plunges into the Delaware River during a heavy, blinding rainstorm.
1997: Three tower workers from Canada's LeBlanc & Royal working at 1500’ are killed when WLBT's 1999’ tower near Raymond, Mississippi collapses. The accident knocks WLBT and Mississippi ETV Network affiliate WMPN off the air. WLBT was able to resume broadcasting within hours from a 100-foot (30 m) secondary tower. (This was the second collapse of a WLBT tower at the same site, the first occurring in 1966 when a rare F5 tornado ravaged the area.)
2000: Boston Public debuts on Fox.
(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…..)
