Monday, November 21, 2016

This Week in Television History: November 2016 PART IV

As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history,
the more that fact and legend become intertwined.
It's hard to say where the truth really lies.


Today is World Television Day

World Television Day celebrates the daily value of television as a symbol of communication and globalization. Television is one of the single greatest technological advances of the 20th century, serving to educate, inform, entertain and influence our decisions and opinions.  It is estimated that approximately 90% of homes around the world have televisions, however, with the introduction of internet broadcasting, the number is declining in favor of computers. 


World Television Day was proclaimed by the United Nations in 1996. It is celebrated annually on November 21.


November 24, 1981
Simon & Simon first aired. 
The detective television series originally ran to January 21, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two brothers who run a private detective agency together. The show revolves around the decisively, polar opposite Simon brothers, Rick (McRaney) and Andrew Jackson/"A.J." (Parker). Rick is the less-refined, but still pleasant, United States Marine Corps Vietnam veteran with a penchant for cowboy boots, denim and four-wheel drive pickups, visually much akin to the Marlboro Man, popular of that day. However, A.J. Simon, a college graduate, with a Wall Street look, is a polished fellow with a taste for classic cars and tailored suits. A.J. was a practicing Catholic; Rick was not. Rick lived on a boat in A.J.'s water-front property. A.J. preferred to follow the rules, while Rick was much more of a free spirit, using a classic P.I. type of approach. Even their guns are different: Rick has a .45 revolver, and A.J. has a .357 Magnumrevolver, yet both are stainless steel/grey-anodized. Rick's Dodge Power Wagon is notable for its dull paint and conspicuously-large metal bumper/ramming device, used in one episode to crush the engine of a car). A.J. could afford to be more fashionable in his 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, and later, a customized Chevrolet Camaro Z28 or 1968 Chevrolet Camaro RS convertible in the two-part episode, "Pirate's Key".
Together, they run a private detective service in San Diego, CA during the 1980s; the contrasting ways in which the brothers went about their investigations and the subsequent personality conflicts between them, provided much of the dramatic dialectic each week.

Although Rick is a few years older, in fact McRaney and Parker were both born in 1947 with only a three-month age difference
























The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit (with both parades being four years younger than the 6abc Dunkin' Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia). The three-hour Macy's event is held in New York City starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thanksgiving Day, and has been televised nationally on NBC since 1952.
The parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 as a result of World War II, owing to the need for rubber and helium in the war effort. The parade resumed in 1945 using the route that it followed until 2008. The parade became known nationwide after being prominently featured in the 1947 film, Miracle on 34th Street, which included footage of the 1946 festivities. The event was first broadcast on network television in 1948 (see below). By this point the event, and Macy's sponsorship of it, were sufficiently well-known to give rise to the colloquialism "Macy's Day Parade". Since 1984, the balloons have been made by Raven Aerostar (a division of Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Raven Industries).

November 25, 1971
Christina Applegate is born. 

Since then, she has established a film and television career, winning a Primetime Emmy and earning Tony and Golden Globe nominations. She has had major roles in several films including Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, The Big Hit, The Sweetest Thing, Anchorman, Farce of the Penguins, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and Hall Pass. She has also starred in numerous Broadway theatre productions such as the 2005 revival of the musical Sweet Charity. As of September 2011, she is starring in NBC's comedy, Up All Night.

November 26, 1956
The Price Is Right first aired. 

The television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed media and board games. The franchise began in 1956 as a television game show hosted by Bill Cullen and was revamped in 1972. This version was originally hosted by Bob Barker. Since 2007,Drew Carey has hosted the program.

The Hollywood Christmas Parade (formerly the Hollywood Santa Parade or Santa Claus Lane Parade) is an annual parade that takes place on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in the Hollywood community in Los Angeles, CaliforniaUnited States. The parade follows a 3.5-mile route along Hollywood Boulevard, then back along Sunset Boulevard and features various celebrities among its participants.
The Parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 due to World War II, but reopened in 1945 with record attendance.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa
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