This Week in Television History: June 2020 PART III

June 16, 1952

My Little Margie debuted on CBS-TV. 

The situation comedy starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell that alternated between CBS and NBC from 1952 to 1955. The series was created by Frank Fox and produced in Los Angeles, California at Hal Roach Studios by Hal Roach, Jr. and Roland D. Reed.

My Little Margie premiered on CBS as the summer replacement for I Love Lucy on June 16, 1952, under the sponsorship of Philip Morris cigarettes (when the series moved to NBC for its third season in the fall of 1953, Scott Paper Company became its sponsor). In an unusual move, the series—with the same leads—aired original episodes on CBS Radio, concurrently with the TV broadcasts, from December 1952 through August 1955. Only 23 radio broadcasts are known to exist in recorded form.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: June 2020 PART II

June 8, 2010

The pilot episode of Pretty Little Liars aired on ABC Family 

Pretty Little Liars premiered on June 8, 2010 the United States, becoming ABC Family's highest-rated series debut on record across the network's target demographics. It ranked number one in key 12–34 demos and teens, becoming the number-one scripted show in Women 18–34, and Women 18–49. The premiere was number two in the hour for total viewers, which generated 2.47 million unique viewers, and was ABC Family's best delivery in the time slot since the premiere of The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

The second episode retained 100% of its premiere audience with 2.48 million viewers, despite the usual downward trend following a premiere of a show, and built on its premiere audience. It was the dominant number one of its time slot in Adults 18–49, and the number one show in female teens. Subsequent episodes fluctuated between 2.09 and 2.74 million viewers. The August 10, 2010 "Summer Finale" episode drew an impressive 3.07 million viewers.

Set in the fictional town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, the series follows the lives of four girls, Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin, Emily Fields, and Spencer Hastings, whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their leader, Alison DiLaurentis. One year later, the estranged friends are reunited as they begin receiving messages from a mysterious figure named A who threatens to expose their deepest secrets, including ones they thought only Alison knew. At first, they think it's Alison herself, but after her body is found, the girls realize that someone else is planning on ruining their perfect lives.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: "Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism. A CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall for Kids and Families"

HISTORIC NOTE: In 1970, Mississippi officials banned Sesame Street from the state's PBS member station, citing the racial integration of the show's neighborhood, which "the commission members felt that Mississippi was not yet ready for"; the station added that its portrayal of such a neighborhood could be construed as "offensive" to some of the state's residents. The ban lasted only 22 days, and was reversed after the station, WMAA (now WMPN and part of Mississippi Public Broadcasting), received negative feedback from much of the nation over the decision.

Here is another

"Mental Sorbet" 

A little spark of madness

that we could use to momentarily forget about those

things that leave a bad taste in our mouths

CNN partnered with "Sesame Street" for a special town hall about racism, giving both kids and parents an opportunity to explore the current moment the nation is living through and to understand how these issues affect people.

Stay Tuned and Wash Your Hands 

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Reunited Apart Makes a SPLASH

Here is another

"Mental Sorbet" 

A little spark of madness

that we could use to momentarily forget about those

things that leave a bad taste in our mouths

Josh Gad gets Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah and some very special surprise guests to take a “Splash” with him down memory lane in Episode 3 of “Reunited Apart.”

The SPLASH episode of Reunited Apart will raise money for DIG DEEP, a global health and humanitarian relief organization aids health care workers around the world. You can make your donation on the “Reunited Apart.” YouTube page.

Stay Tuned and Wash Your Hands 

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: #StarsInTheHouse : BOMBSHELL/SMASH Reunion!!

Here is another

"Mental Sorbet" 

A little spark of madness

that we could use to momentarily forget about those

things that leave a bad taste in our mouths

BOMBSHELL/SMASH reunion!! Katharine McPhee, Megan Hilty, Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman, Neil Meron and Robert Greenblatt will visit Stars In The House to break down the musical phenomenon.

Donate at starsinthehouse.com

Stay Tuned and Wash Your Hands 

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: June 2020 PART I

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.

CNN was the brainchild of Robert "Ted" Turner, a colorful, outspoken businessman dubbed the "Mouth of the South." Turner was born on November 19, 1938, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and as a child moved with his family to Georgia, where his father ran a successful billboard advertising company. After his father committed suicide in 1963, Turner took over the business and expanded it. In 1970, he bought a failing Atlanta TV station that broadcast old movies and network reruns and within a few years Turner had transformed it into a "superstation," a concept he pioneered, in which the station was beamed by satellite into homes across the country. Turner later bought the Atlanta Braves baseball team and the Atlanta Hawks basketball team and aired their games on his network, TBS (Turner Broadcasting System). In 1977, Turner gained international fame when he sailed his yacht to victory in the prestigious America's Cup race.
In its first years of operation, CNN lost money and was ridiculed as the Chicken Noodle Network. However, Turner continued to invest in building up the network's news bureaus around the world and in 1983, he bought Satellite News Channel, owned in part by ABC, and thereby eliminated CNN's main competitor. CNN eventually came to be known for covering live events around the world as they happened, often beating the major networks to the punch. The network gained significant traction with its live coverage of the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and the network's audience grew along with the increasing popularity of cable television during the 1990s.

In 1996, CNN merged with Time Warner, which merged with America Online four years later. Today, Ted Turner is an environmentalist and peace activist whose philanthropic efforts include a 1997 gift of $1 billion to the United Nations.

June 7, 1955

$64,000 Question premieres.

TV game show The $64,000 Question debuts on this day in 1955. The show was a spin-off of radio game show The $64 Question and spun off The $64,000 Challenge. The show started with contestants answering a question worth $64, with each subsequent question worth double the amount of the previous one. The show was an instant hit, knocking I Love Lucy out of first place in the ratings. Rumors of rigging plagued this and other big-money game shows in the mid-1950s causing The $64,000 Question and The $64,000 Challenge to be yanked off the air within three months of the quiz show scandal's eruption. Challenge went first, in September 1958, with Question – once the emperor of Tuesday night television – taking its Sunday night time slot, until it was killed in November, 1958.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: #StarsInTheHouse Tuesday 5/26 8 PM: Star trek Voyager Reunion

Here is another

"Mental Sorbet" 

A little spark of madness

that we could use to momentarily forget about those

things that leave a bad taste in our mouths

The May 26 Voyager live reunion – marking the 25th anniversary of the sci-fi series – featured cast members Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Roxann Dawson (B’Elanna Torres), Robert Beltran (Chakotay), Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Garrett Wang (Harry Kim), and Tim Russ (Lt. Tuvok).

Donate at starsinthehouse.com

Stay Tuned and Wash Your Hands 

Tony Figueroa