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"
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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.
September 18, 1917
June Foray is born.
The voice actress, best is known as the voice
of many popular animated characters
(particularly Rocky the
Flying Squirrel, Cindy Lou Who
and Granny).
Her long and prolific career has encompassed radio, theatrical shorts, feature
films, television, record albums (particularly with Stan Freberg), video games, talking toys
and other media. Foray was also one of the founding members of ASIFA-Hollywood, the society devoted to
promoting and encouraging animation.
September
18, 1957
The Big Record
premiered on CBS-TV. The show only lasted one season.
September 21, 1957
The first episode of Perry Mason aired on CBS.
The character of Perry Mason
was adapted for motion pictures and a long-running radio series. These were followed by its
best-known adaptation, the CBS television series Perry Mason (1957–66)
starring Raymond Burr. A second television series, The New Perry Mason starring Monte
Markham, ran from 1973 to 1974; and 30 Perry Mason television films ran from
1985 to 1995, with Burr reprising the role of Mason in 26 of them prior to his
death in 1993.
September 21, 1972
ABC-TV
debuted In Concert.
Alice Cooper appeared in the first episode.
September 22, 1987
ABC aired the first episode of Full
House.
Full House is an American sitcom created
by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show chronicles the events
of widowed father, Danny Tanner, who enlists his brother-in-law and best friend
to help raise his three daughters. It aired from September 22, 1987, to May 23,
1995, broadcasting eight seasons and 192 episodes.
While never a critical
favorite, the series was consistently in the Nielsen
Top 30 (from 1988 onward) and gained even more popularity in syndicated reruns. It has also had
tie-in merchandise marketed, such as a series of paperback books. A sequel
series, Fuller House,
premiered on Netflix on February 26, 2016.
September 22, 1992
MTV Unplugged
renamed one episode MTV Plugged when
Bruce Springsteen played an electric set on the show.
September 23, 1952
The first Pay Television sporting event took
place.
The Marciano-Walcott
fight was seen in 49 theaters in 31 cities.
September 23, 1992
The first episode of Mad About You aired.
Mad
About You is
an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 23, 1992 to May 24, 1999. The show
starred Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a newly married couple
in New York City.
The series focuses mainly on
newlyweds Paul Buchman, a documentary filmmaker, and
Jamie Stemple Buchman, a public relations specialist,
as they deal with everything from humorous daily minutiae to major struggles.
Near the end of the show's run, they have a baby daughter, whom they name
Mabel.
September 23, 2002
The first season of CSI: Miami began.
CSI: Miami (Crime Scene
Investigation: Miami) is an American police procedural drama
television series that premiered on September 23, 2002, on CBS. Starring David Carusoas Lieutenant
Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as
Detective Calleigh Duquesne, and Kim Delaney as Lieutenant
Megan Donner, the series is the first direct spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, "transplanting
the same template and trickery — gory crimes, procedural plot and dazzling
graphics — into while retaining the essence of the original idea".
September 24, 1977
The
Love Boat debuted on ABC.
The Love Boat (Love Boat in
its final season) is an American television series set on a cruise
ship, which aired on
the ABC Television Network from September 24, 1977, until May 24, 1986.
The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship’s captain.
It was part of ABC’s popular Saturday night lineup that included Fantasy Islanduntil that show ended in 1984. Gavin MacLeod,
Bernie Kopell, and Ted Lange are the only cast members to appear in every
episode of the series, including the last three made-for-TV movies. Fred Grandy was in every
episode throughout the run of the series, but missed the last of the TV movies.
MacLeod was not the captain in the first two TV movies, however. The viewers
are told in Love Boat II that Gopher, Doc, Isaac, and the
captain served together in Vietnam, but no reference to this is ever made to
their shared history again. However, when MacLeod’s character was introduced,
there was mention of him being “the new captain.”
September 24, 1987
The series A
Different World debuted on NBC.
A Different World is an American sitcom (and a spin-off of The Cosby Show) that aired for six
seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987
to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet) and the life of
students at Hillman College, a fictional historically Black college in Virginia. It was inspired
by student life at Hampton
University, Spelman College, and Howard University. After
Bonet's departure in the first season, the remainder of the series primarily
focused more on Southern belle Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) and math whiz Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison).
September 24, 1997
ABC began airing the series Dharma and Greg.
Dharma and Greg is an American television sitcom that aired from
September 24, 1997, to April 30, 2002.
The show starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as Dharma and
Greg Montgomery, a couple who married on their first date despite being polar
opposites. The series was co-produced by Chuck Lorre Productions,
More-Medavoy Productions and 4 to 6 Foot Productions in association with 20th
Century Fox Television for ABC.
The show's theme song was
written and performed by composer Dennis C. Brown.
Created by executive producers Dottie Dartland and
Chuck Lorre, the comedy took much of its inspiration from culture-clash
"fish out of water" situations. The show earned eight Golden
Globe nominations, six Emmy Award nominations, and
six Satellite
Awardsnominations. Elfman earned a Golden Globe in 1999
for Best Actress.
September 24, 2007
The pilot episode of The Big Bang Theory aired.
The Big Bang Theory is an American
television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as
executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro. All three also
serve as head writers.
The show premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007. The series' tenth
season premiered on September 19, 2016. In March 2017, the series was
renewed for two additional seasons, bringing its total to twelve, and running
through the 2018–19 television season. The eleventh season is set to premiere
on September 25, 2017.
To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
Stay Tuned Tony Figueroa |
One of the most visible actors on network and cable television over the past three decades, Peter Onorati has appeared in such popular films and TV series as Goodfellas, Rocketman, The Last Ride, Postcards from the Edge, Kate and Allie, Murder One, Sons of Anarchy, How to Get Away with Murder, Castle, Rizzoli & Isles, Desperate Housewives, 24, Everybody Hates Chris, Boston Legal, NYPD Blue, CSI, NCIS, Monk, Crossing Jordan, and Sex and the City, plus leading roles in such shows as Civil Wars, Murder in the First, and the cult classic Cop Rock.
Peter Onorati is one of the stars, along with Shemar Moore, of the reimagining of S.W.A.T. that will premiere on Thursday, Nov. 2 on CBS. He also has a recurring role as Jack’s father, Stanley, on This Is Us, which starts its second season on NBC on Tuesday, Sept. 26. We’ll ask Peter about both shows, plus we’ll talk about how his career in acting “accidentally” came about, when he joins us in our second hour. |
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.
September 11, 1942
Comedian Tom Dreesen is
born.
Dreesen grew up in Harvey, Illinois, south of Chicago. His family was one of the few
white families in a largely African American community. While working
as an insurance salesman in 1968, he met Tim Reid through a local Jaycee
chapter, and the two teamed up to form the first biracial stand-up comedy duo
in the United States. Though their material is now considered cutting-edge for
its time, the pair struggled to make a living together, and split up in the mid-1970s.
However, each found individual success: while Reid landed a role on WKRP in Cincinnati,
Dreesen became a regular on The Tonight Show and toured
with Frank Sinatra as the crooner's opening act. In 1989, Dreesen released a
comedy album through Flying Fish Records
called That White Boy's Crazy. The album was recorded in
front of an all-black audience in Harvey, Illinois.
Dreesen continues to perform today. He is also involved in philanthropic
endeavors and hosts an annual celebrity golf tournament called the Tom Dreesen
Celebrity Classic. In 2008, Dreesen, Reid, and former Chicago Sun-Times sportswriter Ron
Rapoport completed the book Tim and Tom: An American Comedy in
Black and White.
September 11, 1967
The Carol Burnett Show premiered
on CBS.
The
Carol Burnett Show (also Carol Burnett and Friends in
syndication) is an American variety/sketch
comedy television show starring Carol
Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki
Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner.
In 1975, frequent guest star Tim Conway became
a regular after Waggoner left the series. In 1977, Dick
Van Dyke replaced Korman for much of its final season (but he left the
show by Thanksgiving, on friendly terms). The show originally ran on CBS from September
11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in
the fall of 1991.
The series originated in CBS Television City's Studio 33, and won 25
primetime Emmy Awards, was ranked number 16 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All
Time in 2002, and in 2007 was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 Best TV Shows of
All Time.
In 2013, TV Guide ranked The
Carol Burnett Show number 17 on their list of the 60 Greatest Shows of
All Time.
September 12, 1972
Maude preimered.
Maude stars Bea Arthur as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, middle-aged, politically liberal woman
living in suburban Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York with her fourth husband, household appliance store
owner Walter Findlay (Bill Macy). Maude embraced the tenets of women's
liberation, always voted for Democratic Party
candidates, strongly supported legal abortion, and advocated for civil rights and racial and gender equality. However, her
overbearing and sometimes domineering personality often got her into trouble
when speaking out on these issues.
September 13, 1977
SOAP Priemered on ABC.
The show was created as a
parody of daytime soap operas, presented as a weekly half-hour prime time
comedy. Similar to a soap opera, the show's story was presented in a serial
format and included melodramatic plot elements such as amnesia, alien
abduction, demonic possession, murder and kidnapping. In 2007 it was listed as
one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME," and in 2010,
the Tates and the Campbells ranked at number 17 in TV Guide's list of
"TV's Top Families".
The
show was created, written, and produced by Susan Harris. The show aired for
four seasons and 85 episodes. The final four episodes of the series aired as
one-hour episodes during the original run on ABC. These hour-long episodes were
later split in two, yielding 93 half-hour episodes for syndication.
September 14, 1967
The first episode of Ironside aired.
Ironside is an American television crime
drama that aired on NBC over 8 seasons from 1967 to 1975. The show starred Raymond
Burr as Robert T. Ironside, a consultant for the San Francisco police
(usually addressed by the title Chief Ironside), who was paralyzed
from the waist down after being shot while on vacation. The character debuted
on March 28, 1967, in a TV movie entitled Ironside. When the series
was broadcast in the United Kingdom, in the 1970s, it was broadcast under the
title A Man Called Ironside. The show earned Burr six Emmy and
two Golden Globe nominations.
Ironside was a production of Burr's Harbour Productions Unlimited in
association with Universal Television.
September 14, 1972
The series The
Waltons began airing.
The
Waltons is an American
television series created by Earl
Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a
1963 film of the same name, about a family in rural
Virginia during the Great
Depression and World
War II.
The series pilot The
Homecoming: A Christmas Story was broadcast on December 19, 1971. Beginning
in September 1972, the series aired on CBS for nine
seasons. After the series was canceled by CBS in 1981, NBC aired three
television movie sequels in 1982, with three more in the 1990s on CBS. The
Waltons was produced by Lorimar Productionsand distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution in
syndication.
September 16, 1927
Peter Falk was born.
The
actor is best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo.
He appeared in numerous films and television guest roles, and has been
nominated for an Academy Award twice,
and won the Emmy Award on five occasions and the Golden Globe award
once. The Columbo character was originally played in a 1960 episode of the NBC
anthology series The Chevy Mystery Show, where the detective was played
by Bert Freed, and in a subsequent Broadway
play by Thomas
Mitchell. Falk first appeared as Columbo in Prescription: Murder
, a 1968 TV movie, but the character was not the subject of a show of its own
until 1971. Columbo aired regularly from 1971 to 1978 on NBC, and then
more infrequently on ABC as TV movies beginning in 1989. The most recent
episode was broadcast in 2003.
The Bob
Newhart Show premiered on CBS-TV.
The Bob Newhart Show is an American sitcom produced
by MTM Enterprises that aired on CBS from September
16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, with a total of 142 half-hour episodes spanning
over six seasons. Comedian Bob
Newhart portrays a psychologist having
to deal with his patients and fellow office workers. The show was filmed before
a live audience.
September
16, 1987
The first episode of Wiseguy aired on CBS.
Wiseguy is
an American crime
drama series that aired on CBS from September
16, 1987 to December 8, 1990, for a total of 75 episodes over four seasons. The
series was produced by Stephen J. Cannell and was filmed in Vancouver, British
Columbia, to avoid the higher studio costs associated with filming in Los
Angeles.
Wiseguy originally starred Ken Wahl as
Vinnie Terranova, a Brooklyn native and deep cover operative for the FBI under the supervision of
senior agent Frank McPike, played by Jonathan
Banks. The primary cast was rounded out by Jim Byrnes, who played an information operative
known as Lifeguard (real name Daniel Burroughs) who assisted Vinnie in the
field. This cast remained together for three full seasons, after which Wahl
left the series. The writers conceived a new lead character Michael Santana,
and brought on Steven Bauer to fill the role.
The
show placed #74 on Entertainment
Weekly's "New TV Classics" list.
September 17, 1972
M*A*S*H first aired
M*A*S*H (the television series) developed by Larry
Gelbart, adapted from the 1970 feature film MASH (which was itself based on the
1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, by Richard Hooker). The series is a medical drama that was produced in
association with 20th Century Fox Television for CBS.
It follows a team of
doctors and support staff stationed at the "4077th Mobile Army Surgical
Hospital" in Uijeongbu, South Korea, during the Korean War. M*A*S*H's
title sequence featured an instrumental version of the song "Suicide Is
Painless", which also appears in the original film. The show was created
after an attempt to film the original book's sequel, M*A*S*H Goes to Maine,
failed. It is the most well known version of the M*A*S*H works.
To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
Stay Tuned Tony Figueroa |
As you can imagine Puerto Rico in on my mind. |
| The Ballaja Barracks (Cuartel de Ballaja). The building is a former military barracks that is currently used for cultural education programs. I was born here when it was the Rodriguez (161st) General Hospital, in honor of Major Fernando E. RodrÃguez Vargas. |
The first hour of this week’s program will be dedicated to Emmy Award-winning actress June Foray, the prolific voice artist who passed away on Tuesday, July 26 at the age of 99. The voice of Rocket J. Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Cindy Lou Who, Witch Hazel, Talky Tina, and countless other classic film and TV characters, Foray was also a tireless activist, philanthropist and animation advocate who remained a viable force in the industry well into her nineties. 
Our second hour this week will be devoted to Richard Anderson, the actor known around the world as Oscar Goldman on The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. Richard Anderson passed away on Thursday, Aug. 31 at the age of 91. 
