October 7: This Day in TV History

[Stanislav]

Just a few random TV related events that happened on October 7. Discuss or comment as you please……

1943: Comedienne and talk show host Joy Behar (The View) is born in Brooklyn, New York.

1952: Bandstand debuts as a local show on Philadelphia’s WFIL-TV (Channel 6, now WPVI-TV). The original hosts are Bob Horn and Lee Stewart. (The show would be renamed American Bandstand upon going national on ABC in 1957.) 37 years later to the day after its local launch, American Bandstand (then in syndication) would broadcast its final show.

1957: KOAC-TV (channel 7) signs on in Corvallis, Orgeon. It would become the flagship station of OEPBS (Oregon Educational and Public Broadcasting Service).

1959: Music executive and TV host Simon Cowell (American Idol) is born in Brighton, East Sussex, England.

1960: The 2nd of the Kennedy-Nixon debates is broadcast from the studios of WRC-TV.

1969: WJMN-TV (channel 3) begins broadcasting in Escanaba, Michigan, as a satellite of Green Bay, Wisconsin’s WFRV-TV (channel 5). It is one of the few cases historically of a station located in one time zone having a full-power satellite in another.

1981: Mr. Merlin premieres on CBS.

1996: And then there were three.....Fox News Channel launches, about three months after MSNBC, providing yet another competitor for CNN.

1998: Charmed premieres on The WB.

(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]

1960: The 2nd of the Kennedy-Nixon debates is broadcast from the studios of WRC-TV.
Was this one the "Kennedy was tan/Nixon was pale and gaunt after getting over the flu/Kennedy wore a dark suit/Nixon wore a gray suit" debate?

 

[Ultimajock]

1960: The 2nd of the Kennedy-Nixon debates is broadcast from the studios of WRC-TV.
Was this one the "Kennedy was tan/Nixon was pale and gaunt after getting over the flu/Kennedy wore a dark suit/Nixon wore a gray suit" debate?

...no, that was the first debate back in September '60...

 

[wbhist]

1960: The 2nd of the Kennedy-Nixon debates is broadcast from the studios of WRC-TV.

Was this one the "Kennedy was tan/Nixon was pale and gaunt after getting over the flu/Kennedy wore a dark suit/Nixon wore a gray suit" debate?

...no, that was the first debate back in September '60...

Which originated from the studios of WBBM-TV in Chicago.

 

[bpatrick]

1950: The Frank Sinatra Show debuts on CBS.
It's the low point of his career, and maybe that has
something to do with the show's cancellation after
two seasons. Or perhaps it's because he's on against
Sid Caesar the first season and Milton Berle the second.
He does have a frequent guest named Jackie Gleason,
even though he's doing a show on DuMont. Sinatra tries
again on ABC in 1957; by this time he's won an Oscar
for "From Here To Eternity," and his movie and recording
careers have taken a noticeable upturn, but this show
fares even worse than the CBS one. It seems that Sinatra
was more effective on television when he did specials.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1917: Actress June Allyson (d. 2006) is born in the Bronx, NY. The renowned actress also made TV appearances including "The DuPont Show with June Allyson" (1959-61), "The Dick Powell Show" (1962-63), as well as guest appearances on other series including "Burke's Law," "Incredible Hulk," "Vega$," "House Calls," "The Love Boat," and "Airwolf."

 

[mleach]

1952: Bandstand debuts as a local show on Philadelphia’s WFIL-TV (Channel 6, now WPVI-TV). The original hosts are Bob Horn and Lee Stewart. (The show would be renamed American Bandstand upon going national on ABC in 1957.) 37 years later to the day after its local launch, American Bandstand (then in syndication) would broadcast its final show.

Even though American Bandstand ended in 1989, if one watched the 40th & 50th Bandstand Anniversary specials..well one wouldn't had known that since the 50th special had featured clips from some of those late 90's boy bands like The Backstreet Boys as well as Britney Spears and Celine Dion, none of whom ever did American Bandstand. Never really quite understood what exactly was the purpose? An appearance on the special itself, I can understand that but to make it seem like they "did" the actual Bandstand show, that I never did understand.

Well at least the Backstreet Boys, Britney & Celine were nice about it unlike the band The Spin Doctors. Shortly after the 1991 song "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" became a huge hit, I remember the AP story where Dick Clark said the band had appeared on Bandstand, "..their first TV appearance !!" only to have lead singer Chris Barron calling Clark's bluff by more/less calling Dick Clark a "liar" and soon after that Clark admitted that the band never did American Bandstand. I think I still have that AP story in my collection someplace.

Safe bet to say that Dick Clark to this day isn't a fan of the Spin Doctors.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

1970: Actress Nicole Ari Parker (aka Nikki Kodjoe) ("Soul Food" on Showtime) is born in Baltimore, MD.