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"
Best known for playing Peter
Brady on the 1970s series, The Brady Bunch. He has since gone on to become a successful
businessman and enjoyed a semi-resurgence in the public eye with television
appearances in the 2000s. His father, Edward Knight, was also
an actor.
November 8, 1972
Home Box Office, aka HBO, made its debut.
The first film to run on pay cable service was Sometimes
a Great Notion, an Oscar-nominated adaptation of the second novel by One
Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest author Ken Kesey starring Paul Newman and
Henry Fonda.
Almost from its beginnings, television showed a
remarkable ability to influence the pop charts, and not only by giving exposure
to popular musical artists on programs like American Bandstand and The
Ed Sullivan Show. Many television programs also launched legitimate pop
hits in the form of their theme songs—songs like "The Peter Gunn Theme,"
"Welcome Back" and "Theme from S.W.A.T." But prior
to 1985, no television program had ever launched a smash-hit, movie-style
soundtrack album. The first one to do so was NBC's Miami Vice, a show
that not only altered the landscapes of television and fashion, but also sent
the soundtrack album of the same name to the top of the Billboard 200 on
this day in 1985—a spot it would hold for the next 11 weeks
The genesis of Miami Vice is the stuff of
television legend. It came about in the form of a memo from NBC head of
programming Brandon Tartikoff in which he documented one of his brainstorms
simply as "MTV Cops." Inspired by MTV's growing influence on the
music industry, Tartikoff reasoned that a slickly produced, visually arresting
cop show could become to television essentially what Duran Duran was to music.
Under the creative guidance of producer Michael Mann, Tartikoff's vision took
shape in 1984, when it debuted on NBC's fall schedule.
Scheduled opposite the ratings juggernaut Falcon
Crest on Friday nights at 10 pm, Miami Vice struggled in its first
season but catapulted into the Nielson Top 10 in the autumn of 1985.
Simultaneous with the television show's rise to popularity, its instrumental
theme song, by Czech composer Jan Hammer, was climbing the Billboard pop
singles chart. The popularity of that single, in turn, drove sales of the
soundtrack album Miami Vice, which featured not only Jan Hammer's theme
song and other examples of his incidental soundtrack music, but also several
original songs written expressly for the show's fall season, including
"Smuggler's Blues" and "You Belong To The City" by Glenn
Frey. The album also featured previously released songs that had been featured
prominently in the program's signature musical montages—songs such as Phil
Collins' "In The Air Tonight" and Tina Turner's "Better Be Good
To Me."
In demonstrating how five scenes' worth of difficult
expository dialogue could easily be replaced with a 90-second visual montage
set to mood-appropriate pop music, Miami Vice made a significant
creative impact on the future of American television. In demonstrating how much
additional revenue a television show could generate by releasing soundtrack
albums of pre-existing popular music, it had a significant business impact as
well.
November 3, 1975
Good Morning America premiered
on ABC-TV.
GMA expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday
edition on January 3, 1993. The Sunday edition was later canceled in 1999;
weekend editions returned on both Saturdays and Sundays on September 4, 2004.
The weekday program airs from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. in all U.S. time
zones (live in the Eastern Time Zone and on tape delay elsewhere
across the country); the Saturday and Sunday editions are one hour long and is
transmitted to ABC's stations live at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time, although
stations in some markets air
the weekend broadcasts either one hour earlier or later than the 7:00 a.m.
slot. A third hour of the weekday broadcast aired from 2007 to 2008,
exclusively on ABC News Now.
The program features news,
interviews, weather forecasts, special-interest stories, and feature segments
such as "Pop News" (featuring pop culture and
entertainment news, and viral videos),
the "GMA Heat Index" (featuring a mix of entertainment, lifestyle and
human-interest stories) and "Play of the Day" (featuring a selected
viral video or television program clip). It is produced by ABC News and
broadcasts from the Times Square
Studios in New York City's Times Square district.
The primary anchors are Robin Roberts, George
Stephanopoulos and Lara Spencer,
along with newsreader Amy Robach,
social media anchor Tony Reali and
weather anchor Ginger Zee.
Good Morning America has been the most watched morning show in total
viewers and key demos each year since Summer 2012.[2]GMA generally
placed second in the ratings, behind NBC's Today from 1995 to 2012.[3] It
overtook its rival for a period from the early to mid-1980s with anchors David
Hartman and Joan Lunden,
from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s with Charles Gibson and
Lunden, and in April 2012 with Roberts and Stephanopoulos.
Good Morning America won the first three Daytime Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Morning Program",
sharing the inaugural 2007 award with Today and winning the
2008 and 2009 awards outright.
November 4, 1950
Marjorie Armstrong
“Markie” Post is born.
Best known for her roles as bail bondswoman Terri Michaels in The Fall Guy on ABC from 1982 to 1985, as public defender Christine
Sullivan on the NBCsitcomNight Court from 1985 to 1992, and as Georgie Anne Lahti
Hartman on the CBSsitcomHearts Afirefrom 1992 to 1995.
Poppin' Fresh, more widely known as the Pillsbury
Doughboy, is an advertising icon and mascot of the Pillsbury Company, appearing in many of their commercials. Many
commercials from 1965 until 2004 (returned in 2009 to 2011 and 2013 in a Geico Commercial)
conclude with a human finger poking the Doughboy's stomach. The Doughboy
responds when his stomach is poked by giggling (Hoo-Hoo!, or earlier on,
a slight giggle "hee hee").
The show had its origins in a
November 1975 American television movie entitled The New, Original
Wonder Woman starring Carter. It followed a 1974 TV movie
entitled Wonder Woman starring blond actress Cathy Lee Crosby, who neither resembled the super-hero character nor exhibited any
apparent super-human powers. (John D. F. Black wrote and produced the 1974 TV movie.) In this second movie, set
during World War II and produced by Douglas S. Cramer and Wilford Lloyd "W.L." Baumes, who were working from
a script by Stanley Ralph Ross, Carter as Wonder Woman matched the original comic
book character. Its success led the ABC
television network to order two
more one-hour episodes which aired in April 1976. That success led ABC to order
an additional 11 episodes which the network aired weekly (for the most part)
during the first half of the 1976–77 television season. The episodes ran on
Wednesday nights between October 1976 and February 1977.
Wonder Woman achieved solid ratings on ABC during its first
season, but the network was reluctant to renew the series for another
season. Wonder Woman was a period piece, and as such, it was
more expensive to produce than a series set in the present day. Also, ABC
thought that the 1940s setting limited possible storylines, with the major
villains being Nazis. ABC did not renew the series, so Jerry Lieder,
then-president of Warner Bros. Television, went to CBS with the notion of shifting the series to the
present-day 1970s, which would cost less to produce and allow for more creative
storylines. Unlike 20th Century
Fox Television's Batman, the series was produced without having a theatrical
feature film in the middle of its production. In addition, none of the villains
had recurring appearances. CBS agreed and picked up the show in 1977, and it
continued for another two seasons.
November 8, 1920
Esther Rolle was born in Pompano Beach, Florida.
She was the tenth of 18 children (children who included siblings and fellow actresses Estelle Evans and Rosanna Carter).
Rolle is best known for her television role as Florida Evans, the character she played on two 1970s sitcoms. The character was introduced as Maude Findlay's housekeeper on Maude, and was spun off in the show's second season into Good Times, a show about Florida's family. Rolle was nominated in 1975 for the Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy Golden Globe Award for her role in Good Times. Rolle was 19 years older than the actor (John Amos) who played her husband James Evans. The James Evans character was only added after Esther Rolle fought hard for a father figure and husband to be added to the show. Rolle had fought for the father character on the show, more relevant themes and scripts and was unhappy when the success of Jimmie Walker's character, J.J. Evans, took the show in what she thought was a frivolous direction. John Amos agreed with Rolle about Walker's character and was fired from the show after the third season ended. Later on, in a stand-off with Good Times producer Norman Lear, Rolle also quit when her contract ended. Although the show continued without her for the fifth season, she returned for the show's final season. In 1979 she won an Emmy for her role in Summer of My German Soldier, a made-for-television movie.
Among her guest star roles was one on The Incredible Hulk in an episode entitled "Behind the Wheel" where she played a taxicab business owner. In the 1990s, Rolle was a surprise guest on RuPaul's VH-1 talk show. Her Maude co-star Bea Arthur was the guest, and Rolle was brought out to surprise Arthur. The two had not seen each other in years, Arthur said, and embraced warmly. Rolle also appeared in a series of psychic hotline TV commercials in the 1990s. "Tell them Esther sent you," was her trademark line.
Rolle died on November 17, 1998 in Culver City, California, from complications of diabetes, nine days after her 78th birthday. Her body was flown back to her hometown ofPompano Beach, Florida. A devout Methodist, Rolle requested that her funeral be held at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The family requested that any flower donations be sent to such organizations as the African American Chapter of the American Diabetes Association, The Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida, The Black Academy of Arts and Letters in Dallas, Texas, The Jenesse Center in Los Angeles, and Marcus Garvey Elementary and Junior High School in Los Angeles.
November 8, 1965
Days of our Lives first aired.
The series was created by husband-and-wife team Ted Corday and Betty Corday along with Irna Phillips in 1964, and many of the first stories were written by William J. Bell. The original title sequence voiced by MacDonald Carey is still used to this day. The series expanded from 30 minutes to a full hour on April 21, 1975. The co-creator and original executive producer, Ted Corday, was only at the helm for eight months before dying of cancer in 1966. His widow, Betty, was named executive producer upon his death. She continued in that role, with the help of H. Wesley Kenney and Al Rabin as supervising producers, before she semi-retired in 1985. When Mrs. Corday semi-retired in 1985, and later died in 1987, her son, Ken, became executive producer and took over the full-time, day-to-day running of the show, a title he still holds today.
When Days of our Lives debuted the cast consisted of seven main characters (Tom Horton, Alice Horton, Mickey Horton, Marie Horton, Julie Olson, Tony Merritt, and Craig Merritt). The series first focused on its core family, the Hortons. Several other families have been added to the cast, and many of them still appear on the show. Frances Reid the matriarch of the series' Horton family remained with the show from its inception to her death on February 3, 2010.
The Cordays and Bell combined the "hospital soap" idea with the tradition of centering a series on a family, by making the show about a family of doctors, including one who worked in a mental hospital. Storylines in the show follow the lives of middle and upper-class professionals in Salem, a middle-America town, with the usual threads of love, marriage, divorce, and family life, plus the medical storylines and character studies of individuals with psychological problems. Former executive producer Al Rabin took pride in the characters' passion, saying that the characters were not shy about "sharing what's in their gut." Critics originally praised the show for its non-reliance on nostalgia and its portrayal of "real American contemporary families." By the 1970s, critics deemed Days to be the most daring daytime drama, leading the way in using themes other shows of the period would not dare touch, such as artificial insemination and interracial romance. The January 12, 1976 cover of Time magazine featured Days of our Lives' Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes, the first daytime actors to ever appear on its cover. The Hayeses themselves were a couple whose onscreen and real-life romance (they met on the series in 1970 and married in 1974) was widely covered by both the soap opera magazines and the mainstream press.
One of the longest-running storylines involved the rape of Mickey Horton's wife Laura by Mickey's brother Bill. Laura confides in her father-in-law Dr. Tom, and the two agree that her husband Mickey should never know. The secret, involving the true parentage of Michael Horton (a product of the rape) and Mickey's subsequent health issues as a result of the revelation, spanned episodes from 1968 to 1975. The storyline was the first to bring the show to prominence, and put it near the top of the Nielsen daytime ratings. Another love triangle, between lounge singer Doug Williams, Tom and Alice's daughter Addie, and Addie's own daughter, Julie, proved to be very popular around the same time. The storyline culminated in the death of Addie in 1974 and the marriage of Doug and Julie in 1976.
In the 1980s, the Brady and DiMera families were introduced, and their rivalry quickly cemented their places as core families in Salem beside the Hortons. Around the same time, with the help of head writers Sheri Anderson, Thom Racina, and Leah Laiman, action/adventure storylines and supercouples such as Bo and Hope, Shane and Kimberly, and Patch and Kayla reinvigorated the show, previously focused primarily on the domestic troubles of the Hortons.
November 8, 2010
Conan premiered
on TBS.
Describing
itself as a traditional late-night talk show, Conan draws its
comedy from recent news stories, political figures and prominent celebrities,
as well as aspects of the show itself. The show typically opens with a monologue from
Conan O'Brien relating to recent headlines and frequently features exchanges
with his sidekick, Andy Richter,
and members of the audience. The next segment is devoted to a celebrity
interview, with guests ranging from actors and musicians to media personalities
and political figures. The show then closes with either a musical or comedy
performance.
On
TBS, Conan airs Monday through Thursday beginning at
11:00 p.m. eastern time. Comedian and actor Andy Richter continues
his role as sidekick to O'Brien, and as the show's announcer. Conan's long-time
house band continues with the host under the new moniker Jimmy
Vivino and the Basic Cable Band,
with Max Weinberg being replaced as bandleader by guitarist Jimmy Vivino and
as drummer by regular substitute James Wormworth,
both of whom regularly substituted for Weinberg during his brief departures.
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.
June 1, 1980
CNN (Cable News Network), the world's first 24-hour
television news network, makes its debut.
The network signed on at 6 p.m. EST from its headquarters in Atlanta,
Georgia, with a lead story about the attempted assassination of civil rights
leader Vernon Jordan. CNN went on to change the notion that news could only be
reported at fixed times throughout the day. At the time of CNN's launch, TV news
was dominated by three major networks--ABC, CBS and NBC--and their nightly
30-minute broadcasts. Initially available in less than two million U.S. homes,
today CNN is seen in more than 89 million American households and over 160
million homes internationally.
June 3, 2002
Lew Wasserman dies
Lewis
Robert "Lew" Wasserman (March 22, 1913 – June 3, 2002)
was an American talent agent and
studio executive, sometimes credited with creating and later taking apart the studio system in a career
spanning more than six decades. He was also the manager of MCA.
That's where I wake up, take a hit of acid, smoke a joint, and go to my sister's house and ask her for money.
--Kevin Meaney
Kevin Gerard MeaneyApril 23, 1956 – October 21, 2016
Kevin Meaney died today at the age of 60. He was found in his home in Forestburgh, New York. I had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of times and and he always made me laugh. Meaney was born the third child of five in Valhalla, New York. He married television executive Mary Ann Halford and they had one daughter.
Meaney began his career in comedy in 1980. His big break into mainstream culture is considered to be his first HBO comedy special done in 1986, followed by his debut performance on The Tonight Show in 1987.
His most famous catchphrase was "That's not right!", delivered while doing an impression of his mother, which was followed by, and usually preceded by, her complaints and remonstrations. Typically, his act consisted of commentary about his family and complaints about hotel service. Often, Meaney closed his show with a rendition of the 1985 song "We Are the World" which included comical impressions of the various singers who originally sang the song.
He was known for ending his performance with a few jokes that will intentionally not get a good response in order to follow them up with a song reminiscent of "I Don't Care" by Jean Lenox and Harry O. Sutton sung about how he doesn't care whether the audience laughs at his jokes.
He was also a singer and musician, writing and producing songs for HBO and Comedy Central with his co-writer Martin Olson, with whom he wrote several television series. He intermittently appeared on The Jay Thomas Show as a co-host. In 1996, he wrote and performed a one-man play titled Vegas Vowsbased loosely on his brief marriage to a woman he had just met.
In the 2000s, Meaney performed on Broadway in the musical Hairspray for seven years. He released a comedy album in 2004 titled That's Not Right.
On XM Radio's Stand Up Sit Down on May 5, 2008, Meaney stated publicly that he was gay.He explained that his time on Broadway was where he gained the courage to accept his homosexuality.Soon after, he and his wife divorced.
You can also download each of the last 10 programs for future listening on your desktop, notebook, Smartphone or portable listening device. Each program can be heard through RealPlayer, Windows Media Player or any other program capable of playing MP3 files. Point your browser to the file you wish to download (listed below by show number), right-click, then save. In addition, select programs from the past two years are available for purchase for a nominal fee. Click here for more information. Show No. 321 with guest Jimmy Weldon Original Airdate: Week of June 8-13, 2016 First hour: Part 5 of our tribute to Joey Bishop features audio highlights from Bishop’s ABC late night talk show, including a rarely heard interview with Mutual radio journalist Andrew West in which West recounts his first-person coverage of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968. Also in this hour: Greg Ehrbar pays tribute to Alan Young.Second hour: Ed welcomes actor and motivational speaker Jimmy Weldon, the voice of Yakky Doodle on Yogi Bear, and the author of Go Get ’Em Tiger, a part autobiographical, part motivational book that shows that the real definition of success is becoming the person you want to be and doing what you really want to do.
Show No. 319 with guests Carl Amari and Kevin Glynn Original Airdate: Week of May 25-30, 2016 First hour: Ed welcomes Kevin Glynn, author of Tyrannosaurus Sex, a coming of age novel set in the 1970s that some have described as 50 Shades of Grey, “but from a male perspective.” Also in this hour: Phil Gries with Part 3 of our tribute to Joey Bishop, including audio highlights from some of Bishop’s record 177 appearances as guest host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Second hour: Ed and Greg Ehrbar welcome Carl Amari, host of Hollywood 360 and the founder of Radio Spirits, the world’s largest marketer and distributor of classic radio programs, and the producer of the Twilight Zone Radio Dramas, a series of fully dramatized radio plays adapted from episodes of the classic TV series created by Rod Serling. Also in this hour: Greg reviews the first season DVD release of SuperFriends.
Show No. 318 with guest Kathy Garver Original Airdate: Week of May 11-16, 2016 First hour: Part 2 of our tribute to Joey Bishop as part of The Sounds of Lost Television, including audio highlights of Bishop emceeing the January 1961 gala honoring President John F. Kennedy, plus Bishop’s 1961 interview with Helen O’Connell on Here’s Hollywood on which he discusses The Joey Bishop Show. Also in this hour: Greg Ehrbar reviews the recent DVD releases of Cheers: The Complete Series and the 1949 version of The Life of Riley starring Jackie Gleason. Second hour: Actress and author Kathy Garver (Family Affair) discusses her latest book, X Child Stars: Where Are They Now?, an inside look at the lives of more than 200 former child stars from your favorite TV shows of the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. Autographed editions are available through Kathy Garver herself at KathyGarver.com.
Show No. 317 with guest Wesley Hyatt Original Airdate: Week of May 4-9, 2016 First hour: Phil Gries joins Ed for the first in a series of Sounds of Lost Television editions that will spotlight the career of actor, comedian and late night TV talk show host Joey Bishop. Though Bishop did not grant many interviews during the last few years of his life, he did speak to Phil on several occasions between 2002 and 2003. We’ll play highlights of those conversations during this hour, including segments in which Bishop discusses his birth at Fordham Hospital (for decades he was the smallest baby born there, weighing only two pounds), as well as the origins of the Dean Martin/Frank Sinatra Rat Pack. Second hour: Wesley Hyatt joins Ed for Part 2 of our behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Carol Burnett Show. Wes’ book The Carol Burnett Show Companion: So Glad We Had This Time tells you everything you wanted to know about the landmark CBS variety series. Topics this hour include the contributions of Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner; the circumstances that led Tim Conway to become a series regular (after many memorable guest appearances); the ill-fated experiment with Dick Van Dyke in what proved to be the show’s final season; and the backstory behind such classic moments as “Went with the Wind” and the infamous “elephant story” segment of “The Family.” Show No. 316 with guests Wesley Hyatt and Chris Korman Original Airdate: Week of Apr. 27-May 2, 2016 First hour: Wesley Hyatt joins Ed for the first of a two-part discussion about the making of The Carol Burnett Show. Wes’ latest book, The Carol Burnett Show Companion: So Glad We Had This Time, takes a comprehensive look at all eleven seasons of the Burnett show, including interviews with almost every key writer, as well as many notable guest stars. Among other topics, this hour discusses the unusual circumstances that led to the premiere of the Burnett show in 1967, plus the backstory as to why many episodes from the first five seasons were withheld from the public until recent months. Also in this hour: Wes’ thoughts on the passing of Prince, plus highlights from our June 2011 conversation with Jason Draper, author of Prince: Chaos, Disruption and Revolution. Second hour: Part 1 of a two-part conversation with Chris Korman, son of Harvey Korman. While most people think of Harvey Korman as one of TV’s great second bananas (both on The Carol Burnett Show, as well as The Danny Kaye Show), he was also a gifted teacher, a dedicated actor, a mentor to many young writers and comedians, and a loving father who instilled a lot of wisdom and life lessons that Chris still lives by today. Show No. 315 with guests Budd Moss and David Michaels Original Airdate: Week of Apr. 20-25, 2016This week’s program includes Part 2 of our conversation with longtime Hollywood agent and manager Budd Burton Moss, whose career spans the Golden Age of Hollywood and Golden Age of Television right on through the digital age. Budd shares many stories about his adventures in film and TV in a two-volume memoir: All I Got Was 10 Percent: What It’s Like to Be a (Famous) Hollywood Agent, which covers his early career in Hollywood (including his efforts as an actor and bullfighter, his lifelong friendship with Sidney Poitier, and the circumstances that led him to become an agent under the legendary Martin Baum); and Hollywood: Sometimes the Reality is Better Than the Dream, the story of Budd’s later career, and particularly his efforts on behalf of Rita Hayworth, Tom Bosley, John James, Hunter Tylo and former MPAA president Jack Valenti. (The interview with Budd runs eighty minutes and begins about fifteen minutes into the first hour.) Also on this week’s show: David Michaels, senior executive director of the Daytime Emmy Awards Broadcast, gives Ed a preview of The 43rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, which will take place on Sunday, May 1 in Los Angeles, while Greg Ehrbar reviews the recent DVD release of The New Loretta Young Show..
