I represent the first generation who, when we were born, the television was now a permanent fixture in our homes. When I was born people had breakfast with Barbara Walters, dinner with Walter Cronkite, and slept with Johnny Carson.
Read the full "Pre-ramble"
that we could use to momentarily forget about those
things that leave a bad taste in our mouths
.
STORY SMASH! This week welcome Expert Judges' comedian Blaine Capatch, Wendy Liebman and thinker Ed Crasnick! Plus spinning the wheel...Comedians Lahna Turner, Vance Sanders, Susan Sassi and storyteller Tony Figueroa! See you at 7pm PST And don't forget to chat during the show! #SpinThatWheel#gameshow#laughyourassoff NO TICKETS!
that we could use to momentarily forget about those
things that leave a bad taste in our mouths
.
The Love Boat TV Cast Reunion with cast members Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubing), Fred Grandy (Gopher), Ted Lange (Isaac), Bernie Kopell (Doc), Lauren Tewes (Julie) and Jill Whelan (Vicki) joined by frequent guest star Charo (April Lopez) and Jack Jones, who will perform the series' theme song.
The
U.S. Telecommunications Bill was signed into law.
The bill included provisions that required TV
manufacturers to install V-chip devices in all television sets with a 13 inch
screen or larger. The chips would allow consumers to block "sexual,
violent, and other material about which parents should be informed before it is
displayed to children".
February
8, 2006
Kelly
Clarkson became the first participant on "American Idol" to win a
Grammy.
The
awards were for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Since U Been
Gone" and Best Pop Vocal Album for "Breakaway". She also
performed "Because of You" at the show.
February 9, 1971
The 1971 San Fernando earthquake (also known as the Sylmar earthquake).
The
quake occurred in the early morning of in the foothills of the San Gabriel
Mountains in southern
California. The unanticipated thrust earthquake had a moment magnitude of 6.5 or 6.7 (as determined by several
independent institutions) and had a maximum Mercalli
intensity of XI (Extreme).
The event was one in a series that affected the Los Angeles area in the late
20th century, and a study of the Sierra Madre Fault during that time indicated
that more substantial thrust earthquakes had occurred near the Transverse Ranges in the past. Damage was locally severe in the northernSan Fernando Valley, and surface faulting was extensive to the south of
the epicenter in the mountains, as well as urban settings along city streets
and neighborhoods. Uplift and other effects affected private homes and businesses.
February 10, 2006
Final episode of Arrested Development airs on Fox.
Celebrated by critics and beloved by its relatively
small but devout fan base, the Fox television series Arrested Development airs
its last episode on this day in 2006. Arrested Development, created by
Mitchell Hurwitz, premiered in November 2003. It was almost universally
acclaimed by critics, who praised its sharp, complicated writing and stellar
acting, as well as the multi-layered plotlines and interesting camera work that
set it apart from run-of-the-mill network sitcoms.
Arrested Development was narrated by Ron Howard, the former Happy
Days star-turned-Oscar-winning movie director (2001’s A Beautiful Mind),
in an uncredited performance. Jason Bateman starred as Michael Bluth, by far
the most responsible member of a madcap family whose patriarch, George Bluth
Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor), has been sent to jail for dubious accounting procedures.
With George Sr. in prison, Michael is forced to take over management of the
Bluth Company and provide a much-needed stabilizing force for the rest of the
Bluth clan: his manipulative mother (Jessica Walter); his magician older
brother (Will Arnett); his self-obsessed sister (Portia de Rossi) and her
aspiring actor husband (David Cross); and his child-like youngest brother (Tony
Hale), who still clings to the hem of his mother’s fur coat. Rounding out the
comedy, Michael’s sensitive son (Michael Cera) harbors a crush on his cousin
(Alia Shawkat), with whom he is forced to share a room after the clan starts
sharing a model home on one of the Bluth Company’s developments.
At the 2004 Emmy Awards, Arrested Development won no fewer than four
statuettes-- for directing, writing, casting and for Outstanding Comedy Series.
Bateman also won a Golden Globe Award in 2005 for Best Actor in a Television
Series--Musical or Comedy. Despite critics’ rapture and the enthusiasm of its
fan base, the series earned low ratings from the beginning. While Fox renewed Arrested
Development for a second season, it shortened its run to only 18
episodes--a fact that was worked into the jokes on the show, along with jokes
about its corporate sponsor, Burger King, and jokes about its much higher-rated
Sunday-night competition (ABC’s Desperate Housewives). A few of the
memorable guest stars during the show’s three-year run included Liza Minnelli,
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Henry Winkler, Scott Baio and Charlize Theron.
During its third season, Arrested Development’s audience averaged
around 4 million viewers, compared with 6 million during the previous season.
With the threat of cancellation hovering, rumors flew that Arrested
Development might be picked up by HBO or Showtime--either of which might
have been a better fit for its offbeat, often racy humor. References to these
rumors were also worked into the script.
Despite the positive response from critics, Arrested Development received
low ratings and viewership on Fox, which canceled the series in 2006. In
2011, Netflix agreed
to license new episodes and distribute them on its video
streaming service. These episodes were released in May 2013. Netflix
commissioned a fifth season of Arrested Development, the first half
of which premiered on May 29, 2018, and the second half on March 15, 2019.
Nielsen appeared in over 100 films and 1,500
television programs over the span of his career beginning with dramatic roles
on television appearing in almost 50 live programs in 1950 alone during what is
now known as "The Golden Age".
Nielsen first appeared in films in 1956 when he made his feature film debut in
the Michael Curtiz-directed musical film The Vagabond King. His
lead roles in the films Forbidden Planet (1956)
and The Poseidon
Adventure (1972) received
positive reviews as a serious actor.
Although Nielsen's acting career crossed a variety of genres in both television
and films, his deadpan delivery as a doctor in Airplane! (1980) marked a turning point in his career, one that
would make him, in the words of film critic Roger Ebert,
"the Olivier of spoofs." Nielsen enjoyed further success with
The Naked Gun film series,
based on his short-lived television series Police Squad!.
His portrayal of serious characters seemingly oblivious to (and complicit in)
their absurd surroundings gave him a reputation as a comedian. He was
recognized with a variety of awards throughout his career and was inducted into
both the Canada and Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nielsen married four times and had
two daughters from his second marriage. Nielsen died in his sleep in a Fort Lauderdale, Florida
hospital of complications from pneumonia.
Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer had previously starred in the highly successful 1965 film The Sound of Music, and their reuniting in this play was part of the promotion for the original broadcast of the film. The film is also notable because the author of the play, Ernest Thompson, directed this version, and Craig Anderson, the producer/director of the original Off Broadway and Broadway productions of the play, was the executive producer.
Hal Holbrook died at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on January 23, 2021 at age 95. His death was announced more than a week later, on February 2. He was buried in McLemoresville Cemetery in McLemoresville, Tennessee, alongside his wife Dixie Carter.
Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. was an actor, television director and writer. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for aone-man stage showhe developed,Mark Twain Tonight!, while studying atDenison University, performing asMark Twain. He won theTony Award for Best Actor in a Playin 1966 for his portrayal of Twain.He would continue to perform his signature role for over 60 years, only retiring the show in 2017 due to his failing health. Throughout his career, he also won fivePrimetime Emmy Awardsfor his work on television and was nominated for anAcademy Awardfor his work in film.
From 1986 to 1989, Holbrook had a recurring role as Reese Watson on Designing Women, opposite his wife Dixie Carter. For a short period between 1988 and 1990, Holbrook directed four episodes of the series. In 1999, Holbrook was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. A year later, Holbrook appeared inMen of Honor, where he portrayed a racist and hypocritical officer who endlessly tries to fail an African-American diver trainee. Holbrook played the role of Albie Duncan in two episodes of The West Wing.
Holbrook appeared as a featured guest star in a 2006 episode of the HBO series The Sopranos and the NCIS episode "Escaped". On April 22, 2010, Holbrook signed on to portray Katey Sagal's character's father on the FX original seriesSons of Anarchy for a four-episode arc in their third season, as well as appearing in additional fifth episode in the final season. He also had a multiple-episode arc on The Event, an American television series on NBC, appearing in the 2010–2011 season.