Friday-Sunday, September 16-18, 2005
Music pops into primetime and it's live...
It was on this date 41 years ago that pop music went mainstream with a weekly primetime show of its own. "Shindig" debuted on September 16, 1964, the first of two primetime music shows in the 60s with "Hullabaloo" to follow a year later...
The one-hour show, hosted by Los Angeles disc jockey Jimmy O'Neill featured top popular music acts singing live. There was also a "disc pick of the week" feature. The premiere show starred Sam Cooke, the Righteous Brothers, the Everly Brothers, "Shindig discovery" Bobby Sherman and comedian Alan Sues. Frequently seen semi-regulars included Glen Campbell and Sonny & Cher in addition to the Righteous Brothers and Bobby Sherman...
To kick off the 1965 season, same September 16 date, "Shindig" opened with the Rolling Stones. Other acts appearing during the show's 2-year run were the Beatles, Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Neil Sedaka and Louis Armstrong. The only act they couldn't get, Elvis Presley, had a whole show devoted to his music on "The King's" 10th anniversary in 1965. "Shindig" ended in 1966...
More September 16 Memories...
1630) The Massachusetts village of Shawmut changes its name to Boston...
1949) The "Road Runner" "beep-beeps" for the first time in the Warner Brothers cartoon "Fast and Furry-ous". Mel Blanc does the "beep-beep"...
1963) The Beatles release "She Loves You"...
1963) "Outer Limits" premieres on ABC-TV...
1964) "Shindig" premieres on ABC-TV (feature story)...
1965) "The Dean Martin Show" premieres on NBC-TV...
1968) "The Andy Griffith Show" bows out...
1968) President Nixon makes his famous "sock it to me" walk on appearance on "Laugh-In"...
1972) Bob Newhart premieres with the second "Bob Newhart Show" on CBS-TV...
1972) The first TV series about a mixed marriage, "Bridget Loves Bernie" premieres...
1973) Buffalo running back O.J. Simpson becomes the first NFL player to run for 250 yards in a game...
1977) Marc Bolan (T. Rex) dies in a car accident at 29...
1979) Acknowledged by many as the first rap hit, the Sugar Hill Gang release "Rapper's Delight"...
1981) Sugar Ray Leonard rallies to beat Thomas Hearnes winning by TKO to win the welterweight title. It's Hearnes' first loss...
1984) "Miami Vice" makes its debut on NBC-TV...
1985) "Money for Nothing" tops the charts for Dire Straits...
1990) Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan say "I do"...
1994) Exxon is ordered to pay $5 billion in punitive damages to the people affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill...
Happy Birthday to...
1924) Lauren Bacall...
1925) B.B. King...
1927) Peter Falk...
1956) David Copperfield...
1956) Mickey Rourke...
1964) Former SNL cast member Molly Shannon...
Saturday, September 17, 2005...
Three of the sixties biggest TV series debuted on this date, let's take a look at all 3...
"The Fugitive" started its run on September 17, 1963 with David Janssen as Dr. Richard Kimble, accused, tried and convicted wrongly for the killing of his wife. Breaking away from a prison detail the good doctor would spend the next 4 years pursuing the real murderer, the mysterious and elusive one-armed man. Barry Morse played Lt. Philip Gerard who would spend 4 years chasing Dr. Kimble. The final episode of "The Fugitive" which aired on August 29, 1967 was seen by more people than any single episode of a regular series (a whopping 72% share of all television viewers). It wouldn't be topped until the "Dallas" finale 13 years later. Reruns of "The Fugitive" aired until 1968...
"Bewitched", recently made into a movie starring Nicole Kidman, debuted on September 17, 1964 starring Elizabeth Montgomery and husband Darin was played by Dick York and then Dick Sargent when York passed away. Agnes Moorehead played the role of Endora. This imaginitive and well-written show earned several Emmys and was the biggest hit series produced by the ABC network to-date. It would rank #2 in its initial season. Reruns aired from 1968 to 1973...
"M*A*S*H" made its debut on September 17, 1972. A sitcom that played up to the war in Vietnam but "M*A*S*H" (The Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) was located in Korea in the 50s. One of TV's best casts included Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Loretta Swit, McLean Stevenson, Harry Morgan, Jamie Farr and Mike Farrell. The show would run 11 years, ending in 1983 as a 2 1/2 hour special and was seen by the largest audience ever to watch a single television program. The series was based on the hit motion picture of the same name which in turn was taken from the novel. Reruns aired in 1978 & 1979...
Some interesting factoids on all 3 shows follow in my commentary...
More September 17 Memories...
1947) Baseball's first black player Jackie Robinson is named "Rookie of the Year"...
1954) Brockton's Rocky Marciano KOs Ezzard Charles in the 8th round to retain his heavyweight crown at Yankee Stadium...
1955) "The Perry Como Show" moves to Saturday Nights on NBC-TV...
1963) "The Fugitive" makes its debut on ABC-TV (feature story)...
1964) "Bewitched" premieres on ABC-TV (feature story)...
1964) The Supremes release "Baby Love"...
1965) "Hogan's Heroes" debuts on CBS-TV...
1965) "The Smothers Brothers Show" premieres on CBS-TV...
1966) "Mission: Impossible" debuts on CBS-TV...
1967) The Doors do "Light My Fire" and "People Are Strange" on "The Ed Sullivan Show"...
1967) The Who appear on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour"...
1972) "M*A*S*H" premieres on CBS-TV (feature story)...
1977) Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" LP tops the charts for the 19th consecutive week (it will stay there for a total of 31 weeks)...
1986) The Mets clinch the NL East title...
1996) Former VP Spiro T. Agnew dies at 77...
2003) New York Stock Exchange chairman Dick Grasso resigns amid a furor over his $139.5 million pay package...
Happy Birthday to:
1939) LaMonte (Fifth Dimension) McLemore...
1949) Laker coach (again) Phil Jackson...
1955) Rita Rudner...
1960) Ex-Met John Franco...
1974) Nona (daughter of Marvin) Gaye...
Commentary...
Some interesting factoids on:
"The Fugitive": The voice of the narrator who kept viewers aware of Richard Kimble's plight belonged to none other than William Conrad...
"Bewitched": Uncle Arthur was played by "Hollywood (center) Square", Paul Lynde. Elizabeth Montgomery was in real life married to the show's producer/director William Asher)...
"M*A*S*H": Gary Burghoff (Radar) was the only member of the cast who played the same role in the movie version of "M*A*S*H". The novel was written by a doctor who had actually served in one of the Korean War "M*A*S*H" units...
Sunday, September 18, 2005...
Because TV shows make their debut at this time of the year, they are the central theme of this weekend's post and we end the weekend with a review of a show that made its debut on September 18th, 40 years ago in 1965, "Get Smart"...
A spoof of the secret-agent genre spawned by the James Bond movies of the 60s, "Get Smart" was funny, well acted and gave birth to many of TV's funniest catch phrases. Don Adams was Maxwell Smart or "Agent 86", "Agent 99" was Barbara Feldon. The Chief was played by the dead-panned Edward Platt. The show originally ran until 1970 and was resurrected for a short run in 1995. The highest position it achieved in ratings was #12...
Some memories of the show follow in my commentary...
More September 18 Memories...
1851) The first issue of the New York Times is published...
1927) The Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System debuts with a network of 47 stations. The name is later changed to CBS...
1947) The U.S. Air Force is established as a separate branch of the military...
1947) Country comes to New York as Ernest Tubb and Roy Acuff perform at Carnegie Hall...
1955) "The Toast of the Town" changes its name to "The Ed Sullivan Show"...
1960) Fidel Castro visits New York City...
1961) U.N. Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold perishes in a plane crash in Rhodesia (now Zambia)...
1963) The Mets play their last game at the Polo Grounds. Oh yes, they lost but they'll get a new stadium (Shea) in '64...
1963) "The Patty Duke Show" makes its debut on ABC-TV...
1965) The first episode of "I Dream of Jeannie" is shown on NBC-TV...
1965) "Get Smart" premieres (feature story)...
1970) Jimi Hendrix dies at 28...
1975) The FBI captures Patty Hearst in San Francisco...
1976) Boston releases "More Than A Feeling"...
1977) Courageous captained by Ted Turner sweeps Australia in the 24th "America's Cup" at Newport, RI...
1994) The Ken Burns produced "Baseball" series of specials premieres on PBS...
1994) Tennis player Vitas Gerulaitis dies of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning at 40...
1997) Ted Turner announces that over the next 10 years he will donate $1 billion to the U.N...
2004) Britney Spears and Kevin Federline give the world a marriage made in heaven...
Happy Birthday to...
1933) Robert Blake...
1939) Frankie Avalon...
1951) Rick Pitino...
1961) James Gandolfini...
1971) Jada Pinkett Smith...
1971) Lance Armstrong...
Commentary...
The developers and writers of "Get Smart" were Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. One of TV's all-time catch phrases, "would you believe ?" came out of the show and how can we ever forget the sneaker phones and cone of silence...
All of the TV shows that we reviewed would turn out to be classics, something rare in these days of reality TV...
