This Week we celebrate the 50th anniversary of EMERGENCY!
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"
Thursday, January 27, 2022
Monday, January 24, 2022
This Week in Television History: January 2022 PART IV
January 24, 1917
Ernest Borgnine was
born Ermes Effron Borgnino.
The American film and television actor whose career spanned
more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the
1950s, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1955 for Marty. On television, he played
Quinton McHale in the 1962–1966 series McHale's Navy and co-starred in the
mid-1980s action seriesAirwolf, in addition to a wide
variety of other roles. Borgnine earned an Emmy Award nomination at age 92
for his work on the series ER. He was also known for
being the original voice of Mermaid Man on SpongeBob SquarePants from 1999 to 2012.Borgnine
died of kidney
failure on
July 8, 2012 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California with his family at his
side. He was 95 years old.
January 25, 1937
NBC radio presented the
first broadcast of The Guiding Light.
The show
remained on radio until 1956 and began on CBS-TV in 1952. January 28, 1957
Jack Lescoulie takes over
the short lived Tonight! America After Dark.
Rather
than continuing with the same format after Allen and Kovacs' departure from Tonight,
NBC changed the show's format to a news and features show, similar to that of
the network's popular morning program Today. The new show, renamed Tonight! America After Dark,
was hosted first by Jack Lescoulie and then by Al "Jazzbo" Collins, with
interviews conducted by Hy Gardner, and music provided by the Lou Stein Trio. This new version of the show was not popular,
resulting in a significant number of NBC affiliates dropping the show.January 29, 1977
Freddie
Prinze’s family removed him from life support, and he died at 1:00 pm on
January 29th at the age of 22.
Prinze suffered from depression, and on January 28, 1977, shot himself
with a small automatic pistol after talking on the telephone with his estranged
wife. His business manager, Marvin "Dusty" Snyder, tried to
intervene, but Prinze shot himself in the head, and was rushed to the UCLA
Medical Center to be placed on life support following emergency surgery.
The death, initially ruled a suicide, was years later re-ruled
accidental. Prinze had a history of playing with guns, faking suicide attempts
to frighten his friends for his amusement. He had left a note stating that the
decision to take his life was his alone, but because he pulled the trigger in
the presence of a witness —it gave enough weight to the argument that he really
was not planning to take his own life that night.
January 30, 1977
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries debuted on ABC.
ABC turned teenage detectives Frank and Joe Hardy,
lead characters of The Hardy Boys book series, into TV stars with The
Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. The series starred teen heartthrobs Parker
Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy as the Hardy brothers; actress Pamela Sue Martin
portrayed amateur sleuth Nancy Drew.
At first, the Hardy Boys Mysteries and Nancy
Drew Mysteries — which were based on the young adult novels written
under the pseudonyms Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene, respectively —
alternated on ABC’s Sunday night schedule. By the second season, Martin’s Nancy
Drew was incorporated into the Hardy Boys’ mysteries, a move that prompted the
actress to leave the show before the season’s end. She was replaced by Janet
Louise Johnson.
The show’s title was shortened to The Hardy Boys Mysteries for
its third and final season.
January 24, 1917
Ernest Borgnine was born Ermes Effron Borgnino.
The American film and television actor whose career spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1955 for Marty. On television, he played Quinton McHale in the 1962–1966 series McHale's Navy and co-starred in the mid-1980s action seriesAirwolf, in addition to a wide variety of other roles. Borgnine earned an Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the series ER. He was also known for being the original voice of Mermaid Man on SpongeBob SquarePants from 1999 to 2012.
Borgnine
died of kidney
failure on
July 8, 2012 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California with his family at his
side. He was 95 years old.
January 25, 1937
NBC radio presented the first broadcast of The Guiding Light.
The show
remained on radio until 1956 and began on CBS-TV in 1952.
January 28, 1957
Jack Lescoulie takes over the short lived Tonight! America After Dark.
January 29, 1977
Freddie Prinze’s family removed him from life support, and he died at 1:00 pm on January 29th at the age of 22.
Prinze suffered from depression, and on January 28, 1977, shot himself with a small automatic pistol after talking on the telephone with his estranged wife. His business manager, Marvin "Dusty" Snyder, tried to intervene, but Prinze shot himself in the head, and was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center to be placed on life support following emergency surgery.
The death, initially ruled a suicide, was years later re-ruled accidental. Prinze had a history of playing with guns, faking suicide attempts to frighten his friends for his amusement. He had left a note stating that the decision to take his life was his alone, but because he pulled the trigger in the presence of a witness —it gave enough weight to the argument that he really was not planning to take his own life that night.
January 30, 1977
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries debuted on ABC.
ABC turned teenage detectives Frank and Joe Hardy, lead characters of The Hardy Boys book series, into TV stars with The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. The series starred teen heartthrobs Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy as the Hardy brothers; actress Pamela Sue Martin portrayed amateur sleuth Nancy Drew.
At first, the Hardy Boys Mysteries and Nancy
Drew Mysteries — which were based on the young adult novels written
under the pseudonyms Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene, respectively —
alternated on ABC’s Sunday night schedule. By the second season, Martin’s Nancy
Drew was incorporated into the Hardy Boys’ mysteries, a move that prompted the
actress to leave the show before the season’s end. She was replaced by Janet
Louise Johnson.
The show’s title was shortened to The Hardy Boys Mysteries for
its third and final season.
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Friday, January 21, 2022
Louie Anderson
I really try to have fun.
If I don't have fun, you won't have fun.
That's what my gift is: to relieve people from a little of the pain and comfort in their lives by allowing my comedy to distract them.
A good laugh is almost as good as any doctor visit.
-Louie Anderson
 |
| Louis Perry Anderson March 24, 1953 – January 21, 2022 |
On November 20, 1984, Anderson made his network debut as a comedian on The Tonight Show and the was history.
 |
| Stay Tuned Tony Figueroa |
| Good Night Louie |
Monday, January 17, 2022
This Week in Television History: January 2022 PART III
January 17, 1922
Betty Marion White is born.
Actress, comedian, presenter, singer, author and
television personality. In 2013, the Guinness
World Records awarded White with
having the longest television career for a female entertainer. To contemporary audiences, White is best
known for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The
Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls. Since the death of co-star Rue McClanahan in 2010, she is the only surviving Golden Girl. She
currently stars as Elka Ostrovsky in the TV Land sitcom Hot in
Cleveland for which she has won
two consecutive Screen
Actors Guild Awards. She also hosted
NBCs practical-joke show Betty White's Off Their Rockers which resulted in two Emmy nominations.Regarded as a television pioneer for being one of the first women in
television to have creative control in front of and behind the camera, White
has gone on to win six Emmy Awards (five for acting), receiving 20 Emmy nominations over
her career, including being the first woman to receive an Emmy for game show hosting (for the short-lived Just Men!) and is the only woman to have won an Emmy in all
performing comedic categories. In May 2010, White became the oldest person to guest-host Saturday
Night Live, for which she
received a Primetime
Emmy Award. White also holds the
record for longest span between Emmy nominations for performances—her first was
in 1951 and her most recent was in 2012, a span of 61 years—and has become the
oldest nominee as of 2013, aged 91. The actress is also the oldest winner of a
competitive Grammy Award, which she won in 2012.
Due to her legacy and continued success within the entertainment
industry The American Comedy Awards, The Screen Actor Guild and the British
Academy of Film and Television Arts have all awarded White with Lifetime
achievement awards recognizing her contribution to television.
She has made regular appearances on the game shows Password and Match Game and played recurring roles on Mama's Family, Boston Legal, The
Bold and the Beautiful, That '70s Show, and Community.
January 19, 1957
Philadelphia comedian, Ernie Kovacs, did a half-hour
TV show without saying a single word of dialogue.
Silent Show was an American half-hour television comedy
special created by and starring Ernie Kovacs.
It was broadcast in the United States on the NBC network in 1957. It was selected by the United
States as the only television program screened at the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels. Kovacs restaged and expanded the
"Eugene" sketch for the ABC network in 1961.January 22, 1947
The first
television station west of the Mississippi River goes on the air.
The station was KTLA-TV in Hollywood. The station
began broadcasting at 8:30 p.m. from a converted garage. When the first Emmy
Awards were handed out two years later, KTLA swept the awards for its original
programming.January 22, 1972
Emergency premieres
Emergency, produced by Dragnet star and producer Jack
Webb, premieres, featuring the same semidocumentary style popularized by Webb's
earlier police drama. Emergency was based on the paramedic program that started
in Los Angeles, California in 1969. Senator Alan Cranston actually praised the
show for informing the public about the value of funding such programs!
The show focused on the adventures of paramedics Roy DeSoto and Johnny Gage.
The show, which ran from 1972 to 1977, foreshadowed later hits like E.R.,
with its interwoven comic and serious subplots.Julie
London was married to fellow Emergency cast member Bobby Troup. In an earlier
marriage, London was married to Jack Webb. Bobby Troup was a bandleader before
becoming an actor.
January 22, 1987 - Phil
Donahue became the first talk show host to tape a show from inside the Soviet
Union.
The
shows were shown later in the year.January 23, 1977
The miniseries
Roots debuts on ABC.
The show
traced four generations of an African-American family based on the family of
author Alex Haley. Running for eight consecutive days, the miniseries became
the single most watched program in American history, drawing about 100 million
viewers.
January 17, 1922
Betty Marion White is born.
Actress, comedian, presenter, singer, author and television personality. In 2013, the Guinness World Records awarded White with having the longest television career for a female entertainer. To contemporary audiences, White is best known for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls. Since the death of co-star Rue McClanahan in 2010, she is the only surviving Golden Girl. She currently stars as Elka Ostrovsky in the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland for which she has won two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards. She also hosted NBCs practical-joke show Betty White's Off Their Rockers which resulted in two Emmy nominations.Regarded as a television pioneer for being one of the first women in
television to have creative control in front of and behind the camera, White
has gone on to win six Emmy Awards (five for acting), receiving 20 Emmy nominations over
her career, including being the first woman to receive an Emmy for game show hosting (for the short-lived Just Men!) and is the only woman to have won an Emmy in all
performing comedic categories. In May 2010, White became the oldest person to guest-host Saturday
Night Live, for which she
received a Primetime
Emmy Award. White also holds the
record for longest span between Emmy nominations for performances—her first was
in 1951 and her most recent was in 2012, a span of 61 years—and has become the
oldest nominee as of 2013, aged 91. The actress is also the oldest winner of a
competitive Grammy Award, which she won in 2012.
Due to her legacy and continued success within the entertainment
industry The American Comedy Awards, The Screen Actor Guild and the British
Academy of Film and Television Arts have all awarded White with Lifetime
achievement awards recognizing her contribution to television.
She has made regular appearances on the game shows Password and Match Game and played recurring roles on Mama's Family, Boston Legal, The
Bold and the Beautiful, That '70s Show, and Community.
January 19, 1957
Philadelphia comedian, Ernie Kovacs, did a half-hour
TV show without saying a single word of dialogue.
Silent Show was an American half-hour television comedy
special created by and starring Ernie Kovacs.
It was broadcast in the United States on the NBC network in 1957. It was selected by the United
States as the only television program screened at the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels. Kovacs restaged and expanded the
"Eugene" sketch for the ABC network in 1961.
January 22, 1947
The first television station west of the Mississippi River goes on the air.
The station was KTLA-TV in Hollywood. The station began broadcasting at 8:30 p.m. from a converted garage. When the first Emmy Awards were handed out two years later, KTLA swept the awards for its original programming.
January 22, 1972
Emergency premieres
Emergency, produced by Dragnet star and producer Jack
Webb, premieres, featuring the same semidocumentary style popularized by Webb's
earlier police drama. Emergency was based on the paramedic program that started
in Los Angeles, California in 1969. Senator Alan Cranston actually praised the
show for informing the public about the value of funding such programs!
The show focused on the adventures of paramedics Roy DeSoto and Johnny Gage.
The show, which ran from 1972 to 1977, foreshadowed later hits like E.R.,
with its interwoven comic and serious subplots.
Julie London was married to fellow Emergency cast member Bobby Troup. In an earlier marriage, London was married to Jack Webb. Bobby Troup was a bandleader before becoming an actor.
January 22, 1987 - Phil Donahue became the first talk show host to tape a show from inside the Soviet Union.
The shows were shown later in the year.
January 23, 1977
The miniseries Roots debuts on ABC.
The show traced four generations of an African-American family based on the family of author Alex Haley. Running for eight consecutive days, the miniseries became the single most watched program in American history, drawing about 100 million viewers.
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Thursday, January 13, 2022
Monday, January 10, 2022
This Week in Television History: January 2022 PART II
January 12, 1967
Dragnet returned to
NBC-TV after being off the network schedule for eight years.
Webb relaunched Dragnet in
1966, with NBC once again chosen to air the series. He tried to persuade Ben Alexander to rejoin him as Frank Smith. Alexander was then
committed to an ABC police series, Felony Squad,
and the producers would not release him. Webb reluctantly came up with a new
character to take the role of Joe Friday's partner, calling upon his longtime
friend Harry Morgan to play Officer Bill Gannon. Morgan had
previously portrayed rooming house proprietor Luther Gage in the 1949 radio
series episode "James Vickers". George Fenneman returned as the
show's primary announcer with John Stephenson replacing Hal Gibney in the role
of announcing the trial dates and subsequent punishments for the offenders.
Fenneman replaced Stephenson in that role during the fourth season. Unlike the
previous Dragnet series, the revival was produced and aired in
color.
Webb produced a TV movie pilot for
the new version of the show for Universal Television, although the pilot was
not aired until January 1969. NBC bought the show on the strength of the movie
and it debuted as a midseason replacement for the sitcom The Hero on
Thursday nights in January 1967. To distinguish it from the original, the year
was included in the title of the show (i.e., Dragnet 1967).
Although Friday had been promoted to lieutenant in the final episode of the
1950s production, Webb chose to have Friday revert to sergeant with his
familiar badge, "714".
January 12, 1997
The first episode of King of the Hill was aired.
King
of the Hill is an American animated sitcom created
by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels that
ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010 on Fox. It centers on the Hills, a middle-class American family
in the fictional city of Arlen, Texas.
It attempts to retain a realistic approach,
seeking humor in the conventional and mundane aspects of everyday life.Judge and Daniels conceived
the series after a run with Judge's Beavis and
Butt-head on MTV, and the series
debuted on the Fox network as a mid-season
replacement on January 12, 1997,
quickly becoming a hit. The series' popularity led to worldwide syndication, and reruns aired nightly on Adult Swim.
The show became one of Fox's longest-running series (third-longest as an
animated series, after Family Guy and The Simpsons),
and briefly held the record for the second longest running animated sitcom in
history. In 2007, it was named by Time magazine
as one of the top 100 greatest television shows of all time. The
title theme was written and performed by The
Refreshments. King of the
Hill won two Emmy Awards and
was nominated for seven.
The series had a total
of 259
episodes over the course of its
13 seasons. The series finale aired on the Fox Network on September 13, 2009.
Four episodes from the final season were to have aired on Fox, but later aired
in syndication on local stations from May 3 to 6, 2010, and on Adult Swim from
May 17 to 20, 2010. King of the Hill was a joint production
by 3 Arts Entertainment, Deedle-Dee
Productions, Judgemental Films, and 20th Century
Fox Television and syndicated
by 20th Television.
January 13, 1962
Ernie Kovacs killed in Corvair crash.
Ernie Kovacs, a comedian who hosted his own television
shows during the 1950s and is said to have influenced such TV hosts as Johnny
Carson and David Letterman, dies at the age of 42 after crashing his Chevrolet
Corvair into a telephone pole in Los Angeles, California, while driving in a
rainstorm. Kovacs, who often appeared on camera with his trademark cigar, was
found by police with an unlit cigar, leading to speculation that he had been
reaching for the cigar and lost control of his vehicle. The Corvair was later
made infamous by Ralph Nader's groundbreaking 1965 book "Unsafe at Any
Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile," about unsafe
practices in the auto industry.January 13, 1997
The first episode of La Femme Nikita aired.
La Femme Nikita (French pronunciation: [la fam nikita], "The Woman Nikita"; called Nikita in Canada) is a Canadian action/drama television series based on the French film Nikita by Luc Besson.
The series was co-produced by Jay Firestone of Fireworks
Entertainment and Warner Bros..
It was adapted for television by Joel Surnow.
The series was first telecast in North America on the USA Network cable
channel on January 13, 1997, and ran for five seasons until March 4, 2001. The
series was also aired in Canada on the over-the-air CTV Television
Network. La Femme Nikita was
the highest-rated drama on American basic
cable during its first two
seasons. It was also distributed in some other countries, and it continues to
have a strong cult following.January 14, 1952
Today premieres on NBC.
It was the brainchild of Pat Weaver,
who was then vice-president of NBC. Weaver was president of the company from 1953 to 1955, during which
time Today's late-night companion The Tonight Show premiered. In pre-production, the show's proposed title was The
Rise and Shine Revue. Today was the first show of its genre when it signed on with
original host Dave Garroway. The show blended national news headlines, in-depth
interviews with newsmakers, lifestyle features, other light news and gimmicks
(including the presence of the chimpanzee J. Fred Muggs
as the show's mascot during the early years), and local station news updates. Today's
female anchors were once called "Today girls." Other hosts over the
years have included John Chancellor, Hugh Downs, Florence Henderson, Barbara
Walters, Tom Brokaw, Bryant Gumbel, Jane Pauley, and Katie Couric. The first
two hours of the show are anchored by Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb . Al Roker serves as weather forecaster.January 14, 1972
NBC-TV debuted Sanford
& Son.
Sanford
and Son is an American sitcom that
ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972 to March 25, 1977. It was
based on the BBC Television program Steptoe and Son.Known for its edgy racial humor, running gags and catchphrases,
the series was adapted by Norman Lear and
considered NBC's answer to CBS's All in the Family. Sanford and Son has been hailed as the precursor to
many other African American sitcoms. It was a ratings hit throughout its six-season run.
While the role of Fred G. Sanford was
known for his bigotry and cantankerousness, the role of Lamont Sanford was that of a conscientious peacemaker. At
times, both characters would involve themselves in schemes, usually as a means
of earning cash quickly in order to pay off their various debts. Other colorful and
unconventional characters on the show included Aunt
Esther, Grady Wilson, Bubba Bexley, and Rollo Larson.
In 2007, Time magazine
included the show on their list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All
Time".
January 12, 1967
Dragnet returned to
NBC-TV after being off the network schedule for eight years.
Webb relaunched Dragnet in
1966, with NBC once again chosen to air the series. He tried to persuade Ben Alexander to rejoin him as Frank Smith. Alexander was then
committed to an ABC police series, Felony Squad,
and the producers would not release him. Webb reluctantly came up with a new
character to take the role of Joe Friday's partner, calling upon his longtime
friend Harry Morgan to play Officer Bill Gannon. Morgan had
previously portrayed rooming house proprietor Luther Gage in the 1949 radio
series episode "James Vickers". George Fenneman returned as the
show's primary announcer with John Stephenson replacing Hal Gibney in the role
of announcing the trial dates and subsequent punishments for the offenders.
Fenneman replaced Stephenson in that role during the fourth season. Unlike the
previous Dragnet series, the revival was produced and aired in
color.
Webb produced a TV movie pilot for
the new version of the show for Universal Television, although the pilot was
not aired until January 1969. NBC bought the show on the strength of the movie
and it debuted as a midseason replacement for the sitcom The Hero on
Thursday nights in January 1967. To distinguish it from the original, the year
was included in the title of the show (i.e., Dragnet 1967).
Although Friday had been promoted to lieutenant in the final episode of the
1950s production, Webb chose to have Friday revert to sergeant with his
familiar badge, "714".
January 12, 1997
The first episode of King of the Hill was aired.
King
of the Hill is an American animated sitcom created
by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels that
ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010 on Fox. It centers on the Hills, a middle-class American family
in the fictional city of Arlen, Texas.
It attempts to retain a realistic approach,
seeking humor in the conventional and mundane aspects of everyday life.
Judge and Daniels conceived
the series after a run with Judge's Beavis and
Butt-head on MTV, and the series
debuted on the Fox network as a mid-season
replacement on January 12, 1997,
quickly becoming a hit. The series' popularity led to worldwide syndication, and reruns aired nightly on Adult Swim.
The show became one of Fox's longest-running series (third-longest as an
animated series, after Family Guy and The Simpsons),
and briefly held the record for the second longest running animated sitcom in
history. In 2007, it was named by Time magazine
as one of the top 100 greatest television shows of all time. The
title theme was written and performed by The
Refreshments. King of the
Hill won two Emmy Awards and
was nominated for seven.
The series had a total
of 259
episodes over the course of its
13 seasons. The series finale aired on the Fox Network on September 13, 2009.
Four episodes from the final season were to have aired on Fox, but later aired
in syndication on local stations from May 3 to 6, 2010, and on Adult Swim from
May 17 to 20, 2010. King of the Hill was a joint production
by 3 Arts Entertainment, Deedle-Dee
Productions, Judgemental Films, and 20th Century
Fox Television and syndicated
by 20th Television.
January 13, 1962
Ernie Kovacs killed in Corvair crash.
Ernie Kovacs, a comedian who hosted his own television
shows during the 1950s and is said to have influenced such TV hosts as Johnny
Carson and David Letterman, dies at the age of 42 after crashing his Chevrolet
Corvair into a telephone pole in Los Angeles, California, while driving in a
rainstorm. Kovacs, who often appeared on camera with his trademark cigar, was
found by police with an unlit cigar, leading to speculation that he had been
reaching for the cigar and lost control of his vehicle. The Corvair was later
made infamous by Ralph Nader's groundbreaking 1965 book "Unsafe at Any
Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile," about unsafe
practices in the auto industry.
January 13, 1997
The first episode of La Femme Nikita aired.
La Femme Nikita (French pronunciation: [la fam nikita], "The Woman Nikita"; called Nikita in Canada) is a Canadian action/drama television series based on the French film Nikita by Luc Besson.
The series was co-produced by Jay Firestone of Fireworks
Entertainment and Warner Bros..
It was adapted for television by Joel Surnow.
The series was first telecast in North America on the USA Network cable
channel on January 13, 1997, and ran for five seasons until March 4, 2001. The
series was also aired in Canada on the over-the-air CTV Television
Network. La Femme Nikita was
the highest-rated drama on American basic
cable during its first two
seasons. It was also distributed in some other countries, and it continues to
have a strong cult following.
January 14, 1952
Today premieres on NBC.
It was the brainchild of Pat Weaver,
who was then vice-president of NBC. Weaver was president of the company from 1953 to 1955, during which
time Today's late-night companion The Tonight Show premiered. In pre-production, the show's proposed title was The
Rise and Shine Revue. Today was the first show of its genre when it signed on with
original host Dave Garroway. The show blended national news headlines, in-depth
interviews with newsmakers, lifestyle features, other light news and gimmicks
(including the presence of the chimpanzee J. Fred Muggs
as the show's mascot during the early years), and local station news updates. Today's
female anchors were once called "Today girls." Other hosts over the
years have included John Chancellor, Hugh Downs, Florence Henderson, Barbara
Walters, Tom Brokaw, Bryant Gumbel, Jane Pauley, and Katie Couric. The first
two hours of the show are anchored by Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb . Al Roker serves as weather forecaster.
January 14, 1972
NBC-TV debuted Sanford
& Son.
Sanford
and Son is an American sitcom that
ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972 to March 25, 1977. It was
based on the BBC Television program Steptoe and Son.
Known for its edgy racial humor, running gags and catchphrases,
the series was adapted by Norman Lear and
considered NBC's answer to CBS's All in the Family. Sanford and Son has been hailed as the precursor to
many other African American sitcoms. It was a ratings hit throughout its six-season run.
While the role of Fred G. Sanford was
known for his bigotry and cantankerousness, the role of Lamont Sanford was that of a conscientious peacemaker. At
times, both characters would involve themselves in schemes, usually as a means
of earning cash quickly in order to pay off their various debts. Other colorful and
unconventional characters on the show included Aunt
Esther, Grady Wilson, Bubba Bexley, and Rollo Larson.
In 2007, Time magazine included the show on their list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time".
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
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