March 3, 1986
The pilot episode of Matlock aired on NBC.
The
show centers on widower Benjamin Leighton "Ben" Matlock, a renowned,
folksy and popular though cantankerous attorney. Usually, at the end of the
case, the person who is on the stand being questioned by Matlock is the actual
perpetrator, and Matlock will expose him, despite making clear that his one
goal is to prove reasonable doubt in the case of his client's guilt or to prove
his client's innocence.Matlock
studied law at Harvard, and after several years as a public defender, established his law
practice inAtlanta, living in a modest
farmhouse in a neighboring suburb. He is known to visit crime scenes to
discover clues otherwise overlooked and come up with viable, alternative
theories of the crime in question (usually murder). Matlock also has
conspicuously finicky fashion sense; he generally appears in court wearing a
trademark light gray suit and, over the series' entire run, owned three
generations of the Ford Crown Victoria—always an all-gray model (Griffith's character had always driven Ford
products in his 1960s series, The Andy Griffith Show). Some Mayberry alumni—Don Knotts, Aneta Corsaut, Betty Lynn, Jack Dodson and Arlene Golonka—made guest appearances
on Matlock.
Matlock
is noted for his thrift and a fondness for hot dogs. After the series ended,
his penchant for hot dogs was explained in the 1997 episode "Murder
Two" of Joyce Burditt's Diagnosis: Murder. Matlock blames Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) for recommending a
disastrous investment in 8-track cartridges, in which he lost his
savings of $5,000 in 1969, forcing him into wearing cheap suits and living on
hot dogs. Despite his thrift, Matlock's standard fee is $100,000, usually paid
up front, but if he or his staff believe strongly enough in the innocence of a
client, or if the client is unable to pay immediately (if at all), he will have
them pay over time, or will reduce the fee significantly or waive it entirely,
albeit reluctantly in some cases. He will also, reluctantly, take a pro
bono case occasionally, and at least on one occasion, he has worked as
the prosecuting attorney in a trial.
These
traits, and the demands he placed upon his investigators, were often points of
comic relief in the series. Andy Griffith's prior career as a comic often
showed through in things Matlock did or said.
Matlock
generally defended his clients in the Fulton County Courthouse, which was actually the Second Church of Christ,
Scientist located
at 948 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles.
March 4, 1996
Minnie Pearl
dies.
A longtime fixture of
Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, comedian Minnie Pearl dies on this day. Pearl was
famous for her comic monologues about hillbilly life, and was featured on the
long-running syndicated show Hee Haw from 1970 to 1990.March 5, 2006
Jon Stewart hosts 78th annual Academy Awards ceremony.
By early 2006, Jon Stewart,
the irreverent host of The Daily Show, a fake television news program on
Comedy Central, had seen the ratings for his show jump dramatically as a result
of its coverage of the 2004 presidential election. The show spawned a popular
spin-off, The Colbert Report, starring Daily Show regular Stephen
Colbert, and a best-selling parody of a social studies textbook, America
(The Book). On March 5, 2006, however, Stewart took on his highest-profile
gig to date--hosting the 78th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Kodak
Theatre in Los Angeles.In preparation for the Oscars, Stewart enlisted a team of writers from The
Daily Show led by Ben Karlin, a former editor of the satirical newspaper The
Onion and the then-executive producer of both The Daily Show and The
Colbert Report. After the stars swanned down the red carpet, the ceremony
began with a filmed segment suggesting Stewart was the last possible choice for
the hosting gig and showing a series of former hosts refusing the job.
While Stewart’s deadpan humor might have had audiences laughing at home, his
constant poking fun at Hollywood and the stars themselves seemed to meet with a
less friendly reception from the Kodak Theatre audience. Jokes about
Scientology and Hollywood’s liberal politics fell flat, but the audience did
warm up to Daily Show-style fake ads mocking Oscar-campaigning tactics
and Stewart’s ad-libbed running joke about the exuberant acceptance speech
given by the rap group Three 6 Mafia, who won an Oscar for Best Song for “It’s
Hard Out There For a Pimp” (from Hustle & Flow).
In the post-show media analysis the next morning, the consensus seemed to be
that Stewart struggled; his hosting performance and its reception by the
audience was compared with less-successful hosts from the past, such as David
Letterman and Chris Rock, as opposed to Oscar favorites like Billy Crystal and
Whoopi Goldberg. He was praised, however, for poking fun at the bloated,
self-important nature of the Academy Awards ceremony itself, with its
often-overdone production numbers and political posturing by the stars
themselves. Stewart earned a second Oscars hosting gig--and better reviews--in
2008, in the wake of Hollywood’s writers’ strike and in the midst of the
presidential campaign season.
The 78th annual Oscars were also memorable for the surprising upset victory
of the ensemble drama Crash in the Best Picture category. After the
Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee took home the Best Director Oscar for Brokeback
Mountain, that film’s string of awards seemed to have given it the
front-runner’s momentum to win Best Picture, the last statuette of the night.
The New York Times called Crash’s selection as Best Picture a
“stunning twist” to the evening, while Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles
Times observed that some Academy voters may have been uncomfortable with
the subject matter of Brokeback Mountain, which starred Heath Ledger and
Jake Gyllenhaal as sheepherders who fall in love while working in Wyoming in
the early 1960s. Acting awards went to Rachel Weisz (Best Supporting Actress
for The Constant Gardener), George Clooney (Best Supporting Actor for Syriana),
Reese Witherspoon (Best Actress for Walk the Line) and Philip Seymour
Hoffman (Best Actor for Capote).
March 7, 1986
The final episode of Different Strokes was aired.
Arnold's feature story
about his high school football team threatens to turn into a controversial
expose for the school newspaper when he witnesses team members buying steroids.
March 3, 1986
The pilot episode of Matlock aired on NBC.
Matlock
studied law at Harvard, and after several years as a public defender, established his law
practice inAtlanta, living in a modest
farmhouse in a neighboring suburb. He is known to visit crime scenes to
discover clues otherwise overlooked and come up with viable, alternative
theories of the crime in question (usually murder). Matlock also has
conspicuously finicky fashion sense; he generally appears in court wearing a
trademark light gray suit and, over the series' entire run, owned three
generations of the Ford Crown Victoria—always an all-gray model (Griffith's character had always driven Ford
products in his 1960s series, The Andy Griffith Show). Some Mayberry alumni—Don Knotts, Aneta Corsaut, Betty Lynn, Jack Dodson and Arlene Golonka—made guest appearances
on Matlock.
Matlock
is noted for his thrift and a fondness for hot dogs. After the series ended,
his penchant for hot dogs was explained in the 1997 episode "Murder
Two" of Joyce Burditt's Diagnosis: Murder. Matlock blames Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) for recommending a
disastrous investment in 8-track cartridges, in which he lost his
savings of $5,000 in 1969, forcing him into wearing cheap suits and living on
hot dogs. Despite his thrift, Matlock's standard fee is $100,000, usually paid
up front, but if he or his staff believe strongly enough in the innocence of a
client, or if the client is unable to pay immediately (if at all), he will have
them pay over time, or will reduce the fee significantly or waive it entirely,
albeit reluctantly in some cases. He will also, reluctantly, take a pro
bono case occasionally, and at least on one occasion, he has worked as
the prosecuting attorney in a trial.
These
traits, and the demands he placed upon his investigators, were often points of
comic relief in the series. Andy Griffith's prior career as a comic often
showed through in things Matlock did or said.
Matlock
generally defended his clients in the Fulton County Courthouse, which was actually the Second Church of Christ,
Scientist located
at 948 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles.
March 4, 1996
Minnie Pearl dies.
A longtime fixture of Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, comedian Minnie Pearl dies on this day. Pearl was famous for her comic monologues about hillbilly life, and was featured on the long-running syndicated show Hee Haw from 1970 to 1990.March 5, 2006
Jon Stewart hosts 78th annual Academy Awards ceremony.
In preparation for the Oscars, Stewart enlisted a team of writers from The
Daily Show led by Ben Karlin, a former editor of the satirical newspaper The
Onion and the then-executive producer of both The Daily Show and The
Colbert Report. After the stars swanned down the red carpet, the ceremony
began with a filmed segment suggesting Stewart was the last possible choice for
the hosting gig and showing a series of former hosts refusing the job.
While Stewart’s deadpan humor might have had audiences laughing at home, his
constant poking fun at Hollywood and the stars themselves seemed to meet with a
less friendly reception from the Kodak Theatre audience. Jokes about
Scientology and Hollywood’s liberal politics fell flat, but the audience did
warm up to Daily Show-style fake ads mocking Oscar-campaigning tactics
and Stewart’s ad-libbed running joke about the exuberant acceptance speech
given by the rap group Three 6 Mafia, who won an Oscar for Best Song for “It’s
Hard Out There For a Pimp” (from Hustle & Flow).
In the post-show media analysis the next morning, the consensus seemed to be
that Stewart struggled; his hosting performance and its reception by the
audience was compared with less-successful hosts from the past, such as David
Letterman and Chris Rock, as opposed to Oscar favorites like Billy Crystal and
Whoopi Goldberg. He was praised, however, for poking fun at the bloated,
self-important nature of the Academy Awards ceremony itself, with its
often-overdone production numbers and political posturing by the stars
themselves. Stewart earned a second Oscars hosting gig--and better reviews--in
2008, in the wake of Hollywood’s writers’ strike and in the midst of the
presidential campaign season.
The 78th annual Oscars were also memorable for the surprising upset victory
of the ensemble drama Crash in the Best Picture category. After the
Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee took home the Best Director Oscar for Brokeback
Mountain, that film’s string of awards seemed to have given it the
front-runner’s momentum to win Best Picture, the last statuette of the night.
The New York Times called Crash’s selection as Best Picture a
“stunning twist” to the evening, while Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles
Times observed that some Academy voters may have been uncomfortable with
the subject matter of Brokeback Mountain, which starred Heath Ledger and
Jake Gyllenhaal as sheepherders who fall in love while working in Wyoming in
the early 1960s. Acting awards went to Rachel Weisz (Best Supporting Actress
for The Constant Gardener), George Clooney (Best Supporting Actor for Syriana),
Reese Witherspoon (Best Actress for Walk the Line) and Philip Seymour
Hoffman (Best Actor for Capote).
March 7, 1986
The final episode of Different Strokes was aired.
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