This Week in Television History: April 2024 PART V

 April 29, 1944

Last "Our Gang" film released. Dancing Romeo, the last "Our Gang" film, is released on this day in 1944. 

The first film, featuring a band of mischievous youngsters, was produced in 1922 by Hal Roach. Roach produced the short films until 1938, when he sold the rights to MGM. In all, more than 100 Our Gang films were made. Later, they were shown as TV comedies under the name "The Little Rascals."

April 30, 1939

NBC began regular U.S. television broadcasts, with a telecast of President Franklin D. Roosevelt opening the New York World's Fair. 

Programs were transmitted from the NBC mobile camera trucks to the main transmitter, which was connected to an aerial atop the Empire State Building.

Ten days prior to the Roosevelt speech, David Sarnoff, President of RCA (The Radio Corporation of America and NBC's original parent company) made a dedication speech for the opening of the RCA Pavilion at the New York World's Fair. Staging this event prior to the World's Fair opening ceremonies ensured that RCA would capture its share of the newspaper headlines. The ceremony was televised, and watched by several hundred viewers on TV receivers inside the RCA Pavilion at the fairgrounds, as well as on receivers installed on the 62nd floor of Radio City in Manhattan. Back then, the programs included operas, cartoons, cooking demonstrations, travelogues, fashion shows, and skaters at Rockefeller Center along with numerous live telecasts relayed from within the fair itself. 

April 30, 1964

The FCC ruled that all TV receivers should be equipped to receive both VHF and UHF channels. 

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa