The birth of big-money game shows...
A Supreme Court ruling in 1954 that exempted "Jackpot" quizzes from charges of illegal gambling opened the doors and the TV networks gladly created a kingdom of cash giveaways starting with CBS-TV debuting "The $64,000 Question" on June 7, 1955. Cha-ching...The era of the big money quiz shows was officially underway...
"The $64,000 Question" had all the trappings of a respectable operation, coming complete with a security guard, trust officer, isolation booth and let's not forget Professor Bergen Evans, the "question supervisor". The host, Hal March, a nice guy with a big but trusting smile, was taken seriously and the questions leaned toward high culture and academics. This was not the typical "Beat The Clock" kind of game show. This game show had class. Viewers bought it and ratings went through the roof. The show was #1 in its 1st season with a rating of 47.5. The show made superstars of average people. There was shoemaker Gino Prato, an expert on opera, one of New York's "finest", officer Redmond O'Hanlon, a Shakespeare buff and warehouse clerk Teddy Nadler and all of them would get their 15 minutes of fame in addition to walking away with more than loose change...
The gravy train derailed in August and September of 1958 when contestants from "Dotto" and "Twenty One" admitted taking a dive for some of the winning contestants. The most damning charge by Herbert Stempel was leveled against one of the most popular game show contestants of them all, Charles Van Doren who lectured in English at Columbia University. Eventually Van Doren admitted the scam and TV began pulling the plug on all game shows. Little was done to the cheaters because no crime was committed but Congress quickly made rigging a game show a federal crime. In all fairness to the producers of "The $64,000 Question" and the show that it morphed into, "The $64,000 Challenge", neither show was deemed quilty of cheating...
We say goodbye to Billy Preston in "Happy Trails" following our birthdays...
More June 7 Memories...
1864] Abraham Lincoln is nominated for a second term as president at the Republican Party convention in Baltimore...
1937] The cover of LIFE magazine shows the latest campus fashions including saddle shoes...
1955] "The $64,000 Question" debuts (feature story)...
1966] The Mets pass up Reggie Jackson, drafting the immortal Steve Chilcott #1 in the college baseball draft...
1969] Tommy James and the Shondells release "Crystal Blue Persuasion"...
1969] The man in black opens his mouth and out comes: "Hellll-o, I'm Johnny Cash" as "The Johnny Cash Show" debuts on ABC-TV (it will run 7 years)...
1970] The Who's "Tommy" is performed in Lincoln Center...
1972] "Grease" moves to Broadway after playing off-Broadway for 4 months (that's where I first saw it and loved it)...
1976] NBC Nightly News debuts with John Chancellor and David Brinkley...
1979] Chuck Berry goes from the White House to the outhouse, performing for Jimmy Carter and one month later, he's sentenced to 4 months in jail for income tax evasion...
1982] Now this was a good, no, this was a great draft by the Mets. The Amazin's draft: Dwight Gooden, Roger McDowell and Randy Myers...
1986] 72-year old trainer Woody Stephens wins an unprecedented 5th Belmont Stakes with Danzig Connection...
1989] For one-second, the time is 01:23:45 6-7-89 (that's way better than 666)...
1993] Cleveland breaks ground for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
1993] As a birthday present to himself, Prince changes his name to $%@&*! (jeez, I hope I got that right)...
1996] Oscar De La Hoya TKO's junior welterweight champ Julio Cesar Chavez to win the crown...
1998] 49-year old James Byrd Jr. is murdered when he's dragged in the back of a pickup truck in Jasper, Texas (in 1999 William King is sentenced to death for the racial crime)...
2000] A U.S. District judge orders the breakup of Microsoft...
2002] Kennedy Cousin Michael Skakel is convicted in Norwalk, Connecticut, of beating Greenwich neighbor Martha Moxley to death when both were 15 in 1975...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
1940] Tom Jones...
1946] Jenny Jones (no relation to Tom)...
1952] Liam Neeson...
1958] Prince a.k.a. Rogers Nelson...
1981] Anna Kournikova...
"Happy Trails To"...
59-year old Billy Preston who was nicknamed the "Fifth Beatle" for playing so often (and so well) behind the Beatles in recording sessions ("Let It Be" LP, "Get Back" single and so many more) and on "Concert for Bangla Desh" and live performances. He also backed the Rolling Stones on numerous dates and recordings. Preston was also a songwriter, writing Joe Cocker's big hit, "You Are So Beautiful"...
Billy also had solo hits, charting with: "Outta Space" (which also won a Grammy), "Will It Go Round in Circles", "Nothing from Nothing", "I Wrote a Simple Song" and "Space Race"...
Billy had been in a coma since November 21, 2005, the result of a long illness caused by kidney disease. He passed away yesterday, June 6th in Scottsdale, Arizona from malignant hypertension. R.I.P. Billy Preston...
[Today is the 158th day of 2006 with 207 days remaining in the year and 27 days until July 4th]
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