September 8, 1966
Star Trek premieres.
Although Star Trek ran for only three years and
never placed better than No. 52 in the ratings, Gene Roddenberry's series
became a cult classic and spawned four television series and ten movies.
The first Star Trek
spin-off was a Saturday morning cartoon, The Animated Adventures of Gene
Roddenberry's Star Trek, which ran from 1973 to 1975 (original cast members
supplied the voices). The TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation first
aired in 1987 and was set in the 24th century, starring the crew of the new,
larger U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D, captained by Jean-Luc Picard
(played by Patrick Stewart). This series became the highest-rated syndicated
drama on television and ran until 1994.
Another spin-off, Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine, premiered in 1992, featuring a 24th-century crew
that lived in a space station rather than a starship. Star Trek: Voyager,
which debuted in 1995 and ran until 2001, was the first to feature a female
captain, Kathryn Janeway (played by Kate Mulgrew). In this series, the crew of
the U.S.S. Voyager is stranded more than 70,000 light years from
Federation space and is trying to find its way home. The final spin-off to air
on TV was Enterprise, which premiered in the United States on September
26, 2001. The final two episodes of that show aired in May 2005.
September 8, 1966
That Girl primeried.
The sitcom ran on ABC from
1966 to 1971 and starred Marlo Thomas as the title character
Ann Marie, an aspiring (but only sporadically employed) actress, who moves from
her hometown of Brewster, New York to try to make it big in New York City. Ann has to take a number of
offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various
auditions and bit parts. Ted Bessell played her boyfriend
Donald Hollinger, a writer forNewsview Magazine; Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp played Lew Marie and
Helen Marie, her concerned parents. Bernie Kopell, Ruth Buzzi and Reva Rose played Ann and
Donald's friends. That Girl was developed by writers Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had served as head
writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show (with which Thomas's father, Danny Thomas, was closely associated)
earlier in the 1960s.
Each
episode begins with a pre-credits teaser in which an odd incident occurs or a
discussion foreshadows the episode's story. The scene almost always ends with
someone exclaiming "...that girl!", just as Ann wanders into the shot
or the character notices her. The words "That Girl" would appear over
the freeze-frame shot of Ann. The opening credits during the first season
featured Thomas, in character, strolling the streets of New York. From the
second season forward, the opening shot was the view from a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train crossing the New Jersey Meadowlands between Newark andPenn Station near Laurel Hill Park, then Thomas flying a
kite in Central
Park, and
seeing (and exchanging winks with) her double in a store window. Lyrics were
added to the theme for the final season, written by series co-creator Sam Denoff, sung by Ron Hicklin.
That
Girl was
one of the first sitcoms to focus on a single woman who was not a domestic or
living with her parents. Some consider this show the forerunner of the highly
successful Mary Tyler Moore Show, Murphy Brown, and Ally McBeal, and an early indication of
the changing roles of American women in feminist-era America. Thomas's goofy charm, together with Bessell's dry wit, made That
Girl a solid performer on the ABC Television Network, and while the
series, in the overall ratings, never made the top thirty during its entire
five-year run, the series did respectably well.
At
the end of the 1969–1970 season, That Girl was still doing
moderately well in the ratings; however, after four years, Thomas had grown
tired of the series and wanted to move on. ABC convinced her to do one more
year. In the beginning of the fifth season, Don and Ann became engaged,
although they never actually married. The decision to leave the couple engaged
at the end of the run was largely the idea of Thomas herself. She did not want
to send a message to young women that marriage was the ultimate goal for them
and she was worried that it would have defeated the somewhat feminist message
of the show.
September 8, 1986
The Oprah Winfrey Show is
broadcast nationally for the first time.
A huge success, her daytime television talk show turns Winfrey into one of the
most powerful, wealthy people in show business and, arguably, the most
influential woman in America.
Winfrey, who was born in rural Mississippi to a poor unwed teenage mother on
January 24, 1954, began her TV career as a local news anchor in Nashville and
Baltimore before moving to Chicago in 1984 to host a low-rated morning talk
program. She quickly turned the show into a ratings winner, beating out a
popular talk program hosted by Phil Donahue. At the urging of the Chicago-based
movie critic Roger Ebert, Winfrey signed a syndication deal with King World and
The Oprah Winfrey Show was broadcast nationally for the first
time on September 8, 1986. It went on to become the highest-rated talk show in
TV history.
Proving that talk-show host wasn’t the only role she could play, Winfrey
made her big-screen debut as Sofia in director Steven Spielberg’s The Color
Purple(1985), based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the
same name and co-starring Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover. The film earned
Winfrey a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination, although she lost the gold
statue to Anjelica Huston (Prizzi’s Honor). Winfrey went on to
star in and produce in 1998’s Beloved, based on Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer
Prize-winning novel, and voice characters for 2006’s Charlotte’s Web
and 2007’s Bee Movie, which co-starred and was co-written by Jerry
Seinfeld. In addition to TV and film, Winfrey became a true media mogul,
branching out to books and magazines, radio, musical theater and the Web. In
2008, she announced plans to launch her own network, named OWN, in 2009.
In 2008, The Oprah Winfrey Show had an estimated weekly audience of
some 46 million viewers in the United States and was broadcast around the world
in 134 countries. Winfrey wields enormous influence when it comes to promoting
products: A recommendation on her show can turn a book, movie or just about
anything else into a bestseller, a phenomenon that has been dubbed the “Oprah
Effect.”
September 9, 1926
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) was created by
the Radio Corporation of America (RCA).
RCA chairman of the board Owen D. Young and president James G. Harbord announced the formation of the National
Broadcasting Company, Inc., to begin broadcasting upon RCA's acquisition
of WEAF on November 15. "The purpose of the National Broadcasting Company
will be to provide the best programs available for broadcasting in the United
States. ... It is hoped that arrangements may be made so that every event of
national importance may be broadcast widely throughout the United States,"
announced M.H. Aylesworth, the
first president of NBC, in the press release.Although RCA was identified as the
creator of the network, NBC was actually owned 50% by RCA, 30% by General
Electric, and 20% by Westinghouse.The network officially was launched at 8 p.m.
ET on Monday, November 15, 1926.
September 9, 1966
The Green Hornet Premiered:
Though it
followed and crossed over with Batman, The Green Hornet struck a much different tone than its
vigilante peers. The action and plots were taken seriously, though remained a
joyous thrill thanks to Kato. Though it lasted just a season, the series made
Bruce Lee a household name. The debut outing, "The Silent Gun," also
introduced America to the Black Beauty, which remains on of the coolest
vehicles in screen history.
September 9, 1956
Elvis Presley sang
"Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" on Ed Sullivan's show Toast
of the Town.
Presley scandalized audiences with his suggestive hip
gyrations, and Sullivan swore he would never book the singer on his show.
However, Presley's tremendous popularity and success on other shows changed
Sullivan's mind. Although Elvis had appeared on a few other programs already,
his appearance on Ed Sullivan's show made him a household name.
September 9, 1986
Ted Turner presented the first of his colorized films
on WTBS in Atlanta, GA.
Ted
Turner presented the first of his colorized films -- on his superstation WTBS
in Atlanta, GA. The first Hollywood classic to get the new look was
"Yankee Doodle Dandy". Some people were opposed to the colorization
process, where color is added to black-and-white movies. They felt the
originals should be pristine -- that any change interferes with the original
creativity. 
September 8, 1966
Star Trek premieres.
The first Star Trek
spin-off was a Saturday morning cartoon, The Animated Adventures of Gene
Roddenberry's Star Trek, which ran from 1973 to 1975 (original cast members
supplied the voices). The TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation first
aired in 1987 and was set in the 24th century, starring the crew of the new,
larger U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D, captained by Jean-Luc Picard
(played by Patrick Stewart). This series became the highest-rated syndicated
drama on television and ran until 1994.
Another spin-off, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, premiered in 1992, featuring a 24th-century crew that lived in a space station rather than a starship. Star Trek: Voyager, which debuted in 1995 and ran until 2001, was the first to feature a female captain, Kathryn Janeway (played by Kate Mulgrew). In this series, the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager is stranded more than 70,000 light years from Federation space and is trying to find its way home. The final spin-off to air on TV was Enterprise, which premiered in the United States on September 26, 2001. The final two episodes of that show aired in May 2005.
September 8, 1966
That Girl primeried.
Each
episode begins with a pre-credits teaser in which an odd incident occurs or a
discussion foreshadows the episode's story. The scene almost always ends with
someone exclaiming "...that girl!", just as Ann wanders into the shot
or the character notices her. The words "That Girl" would appear over
the freeze-frame shot of Ann. The opening credits during the first season
featured Thomas, in character, strolling the streets of New York. From the
second season forward, the opening shot was the view from a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train crossing the New Jersey Meadowlands between Newark andPenn Station near Laurel Hill Park, then Thomas flying a
kite in Central
Park, and
seeing (and exchanging winks with) her double in a store window. Lyrics were
added to the theme for the final season, written by series co-creator Sam Denoff, sung by Ron Hicklin.
That
Girl was
one of the first sitcoms to focus on a single woman who was not a domestic or
living with her parents. Some consider this show the forerunner of the highly
successful Mary Tyler Moore Show, Murphy Brown, and Ally McBeal, and an early indication of
the changing roles of American women in feminist-era America. Thomas's goofy charm, together with Bessell's dry wit, made That
Girl a solid performer on the ABC Television Network, and while the
series, in the overall ratings, never made the top thirty during its entire
five-year run, the series did respectably well.
At
the end of the 1969–1970 season, That Girl was still doing
moderately well in the ratings; however, after four years, Thomas had grown
tired of the series and wanted to move on. ABC convinced her to do one more
year. In the beginning of the fifth season, Don and Ann became engaged,
although they never actually married. The decision to leave the couple engaged
at the end of the run was largely the idea of Thomas herself. She did not want
to send a message to young women that marriage was the ultimate goal for them
and she was worried that it would have defeated the somewhat feminist message
of the show.
September 8, 1986
The Oprah Winfrey Show is broadcast nationally for the first time.
A huge success, her daytime television talk show turns Winfrey into one of the most powerful, wealthy people in show business and, arguably, the most influential woman in America.Winfrey, who was born in rural Mississippi to a poor unwed teenage mother on
January 24, 1954, began her TV career as a local news anchor in Nashville and
Baltimore before moving to Chicago in 1984 to host a low-rated morning talk
program. She quickly turned the show into a ratings winner, beating out a
popular talk program hosted by Phil Donahue. At the urging of the Chicago-based
movie critic Roger Ebert, Winfrey signed a syndication deal with King World and
The Oprah Winfrey Show was broadcast nationally for the first
time on September 8, 1986. It went on to become the highest-rated talk show in
TV history.
Proving that talk-show host wasn’t the only role she could play, Winfrey
made her big-screen debut as Sofia in director Steven Spielberg’s The Color
Purple(1985), based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the
same name and co-starring Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover. The film earned
Winfrey a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination, although she lost the gold
statue to Anjelica Huston (Prizzi’s Honor). Winfrey went on to
star in and produce in 1998’s Beloved, based on Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer
Prize-winning novel, and voice characters for 2006’s Charlotte’s Web
and 2007’s Bee Movie, which co-starred and was co-written by Jerry
Seinfeld. In addition to TV and film, Winfrey became a true media mogul,
branching out to books and magazines, radio, musical theater and the Web. In
2008, she announced plans to launch her own network, named OWN, in 2009.
September 9, 1926
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) was created by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA).
September 9, 1966
The Green Hornet Premiered:
September 9, 1956
Elvis Presley sang "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog" on Ed Sullivan's show Toast of the Town.
Presley scandalized audiences with his suggestive hip gyrations, and Sullivan swore he would never book the singer on his show. However, Presley's tremendous popularity and success on other shows changed Sullivan's mind. Although Elvis had appeared on a few other programs already, his appearance on Ed Sullivan's show made him a household name.
September 9, 1986
Ted Turner presented the first of his colorized films
on WTBS in Atlanta, GA.
