Your Mental Sorbet: Ralph Williams Bay Shore Chrysler-Plymouth

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.

WARNING: Some profanity on this clip.

Circa 1969

Ralph Williams Bayshore Chrysler-Plymouth - San Bruno.

This commercial aired on San Francisco television.

Chick Lambert (and his dog "Storm") did the commercials. Chick was apparently replaced by a younger man and was upset, so made his final commercial for the dealer. This is just as it was on late-night TV on his final ad.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

John McLaughlin

John McLaughlin
March 29, 1927 – August 16, 2016

After missing his first broadcast in 34 years, McLaughlin died on August 16, 2016 at his home in Washington D.C of prostate cancer.

McLaughlin was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Eva Philomena (née Turcotte) and Augustus Hugh McLaughlin. He grew up in a Catholic family who were second-generation Irish Americans. At age 18, he entered Weston College in Weston, Massachusetts, which later became the theological seminary of Boston College, to prepare for the priesthood.

He entered the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church in 1947, was ordained as a priest in 1959, and went on to earn two master's degrees (philosophy and English literature) from Boston College. After his ordination, McLaughlin spent some years as a high school teacher at Fairfield College Preparatory School, a Jesuit prep school in Connecticut. He took time off from teaching to earn a Ph.D. (philosophy) from Columbia University. He wrote his thesis on the Anglo-Catholic poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. He then became a writer and later assistant editor for the Jesuit current affairs publication, America, in New York City. Disagreements with the editor of the magazine led to his departure in 1970 after which he moved back to Providence, Rhode Island.

From 1981 to 1989, McLaughlin was Washington editor and author of the monthly political column "From Washington Straight," for National Review.McLaughlin was originally a supporter of the Democratic Party and opposed the Vietnam War but then became a war supporter and changed his party affiliation to Republican. In 1970 he sought permission from the Jesuit order to run for a seat in the United States Senate, representing Rhode Island. They had given permission to fellow Jesuit Father Robert Drinan who ran successfully for the House of Representatives in Massachusetts. When they refused, McLaughlin ran anyway but lost to the incumbent four-term Senator John O. Pastore. Through a friendship with Pat Buchanan, McLaughlin then became a speechwriter for U.S. President Richard Nixon. In 1974, after the resignation of President Nixon, he was ordered by his Jesuit superiors to return to Boston. He soon thereafter left the Society of Jesus.

Leading up to the 2004 presidential election, McLaughlin—though a longtime Republican—announced that he would be voting for Democratic Party candidate John Kerry.

The McLaughlin Group premiered in 1982. The show features four political commentators, usually two conservatives and two liberals, with McLaughlin seated in the middle. The McLaughlin Group is most widely seen on PBS affiliates, and is taped at the studios of WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C. 

The show is seen in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe and worldwide on American Forces Network and Worldnet and is available in high-resolution at the The McLaughlin Group YouTube channel, low-resolution video podcast form on the show's website and on iTunes.

His loud and forceful style of presentation has been parodied by comedians and other commentators, most notably Dana Carvey of Saturday Night Live. McLaughlin himself appeared as the Grim Reaper in an SNL sketch that parodied his show.

McLaughlin also hosted the interview show John McLaughlin's One on One, first telecast in 1984, and ended in 2013. Also from 1989 through 1994, he produced and hosted McLaughlin, a one-hour nightly talk show on CNBC. For a short while in 1999, he hosted an MSNBC show, McLaughlin Special Report. The show was announced on January 22, and its cancellation was announced on February 25.

Good Night Dr. McLaughlin 

Stay Tuned 

Tony Figueroa 

Single Season Sitcoms, plus a Comic Look at Corruption: Next on TVC

Television writer/producer David Misch, TV and music historian Bob Leszczak and Hollywood Museum founder and president Donelle Dadigan will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Aug. 19-22 at the following times and venues:

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 8/19
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org
Use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in KSAV
Hear us on the KSAV channel on CX Radio Brazil
Hear us on your cell phone or landline number by dialing 712-432-4235

Indiana Talks
Marion, IN
Saturday 8/20
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 8/21
6pm ET, 3pm PT
Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in Indiana Talks

KSCO-AM 1080
San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA
KOMY-AM 1340
La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA
Sunday 8/21
9am ET, 6am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com

KHMB AM-1710
KHMV-LP 100.9 FM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 8/21
9pm PT
Monday 8/22
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com

RadioSlot.com
San Francisco, CA
Monday 8/22
10pm ET, 7pm PT
with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

PWRNetwork
Ann Arbor, MI
Various times throughout the week
on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork.com
and the PWR channel on TuneIn

Television writer/producer David Misch will join us in our first hour. David has also written for and/or produced shows for every major broadcast and cable network, including Police Squad!, Saturday Night Live, Late Night with David Letterman, and Duckman, plus he began his career in television as a story editor on Mork and Mindy.

David is also the author of FUNNY: THE BOOK: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Comedy, an entertaining look at the art of comedy from every conceivable angle. His latest book, A Beginner’s Guide to Corruption, is a satirical look at politics, finance and romance that shows how corruption can lead to wealth and happiness (except when it doesn’t work).

Music and TV historian Bob Leszczak join us in our second hour. Bob’s latest book, Single Season Sitcoms of the 1980s: A Complete Guide, takes a close look more than 200 shows that aired on network and cable television between 1980 and 1989 ― most of which aired for one season or less, though some aired over the course of a 12-month period (but not much longer than that). Many shows from this era starred such household names as Lucille Ball, Mary Tyler Moore, George C. Scott and Dabney Coleman, while others served as springboards for such future stars such as Jim Carrey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Sarah Jessica Parker, Geena Davis, Bill Maher, Matthew Perry and Chris Elliott.



This week’s program will also include a return appearance by Donelle Dadigan, founder and president of both The Hollywood Museum, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Hollywood, and The Jose Iturbi Foundation, which is dedicated to sharing and popularizing the wonders of classical arts and classical music around the music. Jose Iturbi was not only the first classical artist to have a Gold Record (which he did twice throughout his career), he also helped popularize classical music to mainstream audiences by appearing in seven movies for M-G-M during the Golden Age of Hollywood and by accompanying such popular recording artists as Frank Sinatra. Donelle Dadigan is also Iturbi’s goddaughter; we’ll ask her about Iturbi when she joins us in our first hour.

If you’re planning a trip to L.A. later this year, make sure you stop by the Hollywood Museum, 1660 N. Highland Ave at Hollywood Blvd., in Hollywood. Their newest exhibit, Child Stars: Then and Now, will feature items on display from the Golden Age of Hollywood and the Golden Age of Television, including Judy Garland's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, Margaret O'Brien’s Oscar for Meet Me In St Louis, Roddy McDowall’s costume from Lassie, the dress that Rose Marie wore when she was "Baby" Rose Marie (as well as the bow she wore as Sally Rogers on The Dick Van Dyke Show), items from Family Affair, Leave It to Beaver and more. The Child Stars Then and Now exhibit will be open to the public beginning Friday, Aug. 19 through the end of the Christmas holidays. For tickets and more information, call (323) 467-7776 or go to TheHollywoodMuseum.com.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Fri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org and CX Radio Brazil
Sat 8pm ET, 5pm PT and Sun 6pm ET, 3pm PT on Indiana Talks
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT KSCO-AM 1080 (San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA)
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT KOMY-AM 1340 (La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA)
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Mid ET on KHMB-AM and FM (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Mon 10pm ET, 7pm PT on The Radio Slot Network
Replays various times throughout the week on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork
Tape us now, listen to us later, using DAR.fm/tvconfidential
Also available as a podcast via iTunes, FeedBurner
and now on your mobile phone via Stitcher.com
Follow us online at www.tvconfidential.net
Follow us now on Twitter: Twitter.com/tvconfidential
Like our Fan Page at www.facebook.com/tvconfidential

If you listen to TV CONFIDENTIAL, and like what you’ve heard, please consider supporting our efforts by becoming a patron of our show through Patreon. For as little as a dollar a month, you will help offset the costs of production and receive some cool rewards. For more information, please visit www.Patreon.com/tvconfidential... and thanks!

This Week in Television History: August 2016 PART III

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.

August 19, 1981

Charlie's Angels aired its final episode. 

The detective series featured crime-solving beauties instructed by a mysterious voice on a speaker phone known only as Charlie. Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, and Farrah Fawcett played the original Angels. Fawcett's blown-dry, feathered hair launched a national fad, and the actress left the show after a year to pursue a career in movies. Subsequent Angels included Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack, and Tanya Roberts. 

In 2000, Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu played the Angels in a movie version of the show.

August 19, 1921

TV producer Gene Roddenberry, best known as the creator of Star Trek, is born in El Paso, Texas. 

His family moved to Los Angeles when Roddenberry was a toddler, and his father became a police officer. Roddenberry also studied criminal justice at Los Angeles City College but became a pilot instead through the Civilian Pilot Training Program. During World War II, Roddenberry flew bombing missions in the South Pacific with the U.S. Army Air Corps. Shot down during a raid, he survived and won a medal. A second crash, when he was working as a Pan Am pilot after the war, killed 14 people and convinced Roddenberry to give up flying. Instead, Roddenberry became a police officer like his father. But before long, he discovered that living the police life paid less than writing about it for TV, so he began writing scripts for Dragnet and other police TV dramas. In 1963, he produced a short-lived NBC show, The Lieutenant, about life in the U.S. Marines.

A lifelong science-fiction fan, Roddenberry wanted to try his hand making a sci-fi TV program. He convinced superstar Lucille Ball to fund a pilot. Although the first pilot was rejected, a second take was picked up, and Star Trek premiered in 1966.

Although the show ran for only three years and never placed better than No. 52 in the ratings, Roddenberry's sci-fi series became a cult classic and spawned four television series and nine movies.

Roddenberry died on October 24, 1991, and was one of the first people to be "buried" in space.

September 23, 1951

The first transcontinental telecast was received on the west coast. The show Crusade for Freedom was broadcast by CBS-TV from New York.

CLICK HERE for a list of Stations

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Michael Keaton on Mr. Rodgers

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.

A mini-biography of Fred Rogers by Michael Keaton.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Toni Tennille and Dawn Lyn: Next on TVC

Grammy Award-winning singer/actress Toni Tennille and actress/speaker Dawn Lyn will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Aug. 12-15 at the following times and venues:

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 8/12
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org
Use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in KSAV
Hear us on the KSAV channel on CX Radio Brazil
Hear us on your cell phone or landline number by dialing 712-432-4235

Indiana Talks
Marion, IN
Saturday 8/13
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 8/14
6pm ET, 3pm PT
Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in Indiana Talks

KSCO-AM 1080
San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA
KOMY-AM 1340
La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA
Sunday 8/14
9am ET, 6am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com

KHMB AM-1710
KHMV-LP 100.9 FM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 8/14
9pm PT
Monday 8/15
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com

RadioSlot.com
San Francisco, CA
Monday 8/15
10pm ET, 7pm PT
with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

PWRNetwork
Ann Arbor, MI
Various times throughout the week
on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork.com
and the PWR channel on TuneIn


This week’s program will include a return appearance by Grammy Award winner Toni Tennille, the effervescent half of Captain and Tennille, an accomplished songwriter and classically trained pianist who has released numerous solo albums that celebrate her love of big band music and The Great American Songbook. Toni’s performance in the audiobook version of her new book, Toni Tennille: A Memoir, was recently accepted for Grammy consideration in the Spoken Word category. We’ll ask Toni about that, plus she’ll share some more memories of her career in music and television when she joins us in our second hour.

Toni Tennille will be appearing at the Barnes and Noble in Palm Beach Gardens, FL on Saturday, Aug. 13 beginning at 2pm. The audiobook version of Toni Tennille: A Memoir is available through Audible Studios. For more information on Toni’s other upcoming appearances, visit her Facebook page.



Also joining us this week will be Dawn Lyn (Dodie Douglas on My Three Sons). Dawn began her acting career at the age of four, and continued to act in movies and TV throughout her teenage years before pursuing other interests, including running her own business in San Francisco, and an accomplished career as a voiceover artist with the Avalon Community Theater Radio Troupe in Southern California. But as buoyant as she appeared on screen, Dawn’s off-screen life was anything but ideal. With an absentee father and a controlling mother, she experienced emotional and verbal abuse at home, while also being burdened with the task of being the primary breadwinner for the family ― even at a young age. Yet, remarkably enough, instead of turning to drugs and feeling sorry for herself, Dawn parlayed her own inner strength to find success and happiness, both personally and professionally.

Today, among other things, Dawn is a motivational speaker whose core message is How to Emerge Victorious, no matter who life throws at you. We’ll ask her about this, plus she’ll share some memories of working with such legends as Gregory Peck, David Janssen, Robert Young, Karl Malden and, of course, Fred MacMurray, when she joins us in our first hour.

Dawn Lyn will be joining Paul Petersen, Alison Arngrim, Scott Schwartz, Jon Provost, Stan and Barry Livingston, Darby Hinton and many other former child stars at a special two-day autograph show that will be held Saturday, Aug. 20 and Sunday, Aug. 21 at the Hollywood Museum, 1660 N. Highland Ave at Hollywood Blvd., in Hollywood, CA. Proceeds for the autograph show will benefit A Minor Consideration. For tickets and more information, call (949) 439-9504 or click the Fundraising button at AMinorConsideration.org.

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Fri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org and CX Radio Brazil
Sat 8pm ET, 5pm PT and Sun 6pm ET, 3pm PT on Indiana Talks
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT KSCO-AM 1080 (San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA)
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT KOMY-AM 1340 (La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA)
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Mid ET on KHMB-AM and FM (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Mon 10pm ET, 7pm PT on The Radio Slot Network
Replays various times throughout the week on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork
Tape us now, listen to us later, using DAR.fm/tvconfidential
Also available as a podcast via iTunes, FeedBurner
and now on your mobile phone via Stitcher.com
Follow us online at www.tvconfidential.net
Follow us now on Twitter: Twitter.com/tvconfidential
Like our Fan Page at www.facebook.com/tvconfidential

If you listen to TV CONFIDENTIAL, and like what you’ve heard, please consider supporting our efforts by becoming a patron of our show through Patreon. For as little as a dollar a month, you will help offset the costs of production and receive some cool rewards. For more information, please visit www.Patreon.com/tvconfidential... and thanks!

This Week in Television History: August 2016 PART II

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.

August 8, 1956

The Dumont network made its final telecast. 

The DuMont Television Network was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in the USA. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned byDuMont Laboratories, a television equipment and set manufacturer. The network was hindered by the prohibitive cost of broadcasting, by regulations imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which restricted the company's growth, and even by the company's partner, Paramount Pictures. Despite several innovations in broadcasting and the creation of one of television's biggest stars of the 1950s (Jackie Gleason), the network never found itself on solid financial ground. Forced to expand on UHF channels during an era when UHF was not yet a standard feature on television sets, DuMont fought an uphill battle for program clearances outside of their three owned-and-operated stations in New York, Washington and Pittsburgh, finally ending network operations in 1956. DuMont's last broadcast, a boxing match, aired on August 6, 1956. 

DuMont's latter-day obscurity, caused mainly by the destruction of its extensive program archive by the 1970s, has prompted TV historian David Weinstein to refer to it as the "Forgotten Network" or "Network Is Long Gone". A few popular DuMont programs, such as Cavalcade of Stars and Emmy Award winner Life Is Worth Living, appear in television retrospectives or are mentioned briefly in books about U.S. television history.

August 11, 1921

Alex Haley, author of Roots (1976), was born in Ithaca, New York. 

After 20 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, Haley retired and wrote books, including The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965). In 1976, he published his best-known work, Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The blend of fact and fiction, drawn largely from stories recited by Haley's grandmother, chronicles seven generations of Haley's family history, from the enslavement of his ancestors to his own quest to trace his family tree.

Roots became a TV miniseries in 1977. The eight-part series was aired on consecutive nights and became the most watched dramatic show in TV history. Some 130 million people-nearly half the country's population at the time--watched the final episode of the series. Haley died on Feb. 10, 1992.

CLICK HERE for a list of Stations

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

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: 3 a.m. | The SIMPSONS

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.

Marge and Homer Simpson wrestle with the choice in this election.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Paul Petersen, Alison Arngrim and a Tribute to Garry Marshall: Next on TVC

Actors Paul Petersen and Alison Arngrim and author Vince Waldron will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, airing Aug. 5-8 at the following times and venues:

Share-a-Vision Radio
San Francisco Bay Area
Friday 8/5
7pm ET, 4pm PT
10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Listen Live button at KSAV.org
Use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in KSAV
or hear us on the KSAV channel on CX Radio Brazil

Indiana Talks
Marion, IN
Saturday 8/6
8pm ET, 5pm PT
Sunday 8/7
6pm ET, 3pm PT
Click on the player at IndianaTalks.com
or use the TuneIn app on your smartphone and type in Indiana Talks

KSCO-AM 1080
San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA
KOMY-AM 1340
La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA
Sunday 8/7
9am ET, 6am PT
Also streaming at KSCO.com

KHMB AM-1710
KHMV-LP 100.9 FM
Half Moon Bay, CA
Sunday 8/7
9pm PT
Monday 8/8
Midnight ET
Click on the Listen Live button at KHMBRadio.com

RadioSlot.com
San Francisco, CA
Monday 8/8
10pm ET, 7pm PT
with replays Tuesday thru Friday at 10pm ET, 7pm PT
Click on the Talk Slot button at RadioSlot.com

PWRNetwork
Ann Arbor, MI
Various times throughout the week
on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork.com
and the PWR channel on TuneIn

Most of you know Paul Petersen as Jeff Stone on The Donna Reed Show, as well as his success as a recording artist (“My Dad,” “Lollilops and Roses”) and author of sixteen novels. But his life’s work really began in 1990, when he founded A Minor Consideration, a non-profit support and assistance foundation that is dedicated to helping child stars past, present and future make the often difficult transition from child acting to adult life. Paul has devoted the past twenty-five years providing guidance and help to child stars (and their parents), while advocating legal protection for young performers. We’ll ask Paul how he came to start A Minor Consideration, and more, when he joins us in our first hour.

Paul Petersen will be joining Alison Arngrim, Scott Schwartz, Jon Provost, Quinn Cummings, Butch Patrick, Stan and Barry Livingston, Darby Hinton and many other former child stars at a special two-day autograph show that will be held Saturday, Aug. 20 and Sunday, Aug. 21 at the Hollywood Museum, 1660 N. Highland Ave at Hollywood Blvd., in the famous Max Factor building. The two-day event promises to be the largest gathering of former film and TV child actors under one roof. Proceeds for the autograph show will benefit A Minor Consideration. For tickets and more information, call (323) 467-7776 or go to TheHollywoodMuseum.com.


Speaking of Alison Arngrim, she will join us during the second hour of this week’s program. Known around the world as Nellie Oleson from Little House on the Prairie, Alison is also a member of the board of A Minor Consideration and a tireless advocate for many other important causes. Among other things, we will catch up on some of her recent projects, including her upcoming web series, The Mephisto Box.

This week’s show will also include a tribute to iconic writer, producer and director Garry Marshall. Though most of us immediately think of him for his work on Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and The Odd Couple (as well as his eighteen movies as a feature director), early in his career Marshall co-wrote (along with his then-writing producer, Jerry Belson), eighteen episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show. With that in mind, Emmy Award-winning writer, playwright and author Vince Waldron will join us in our first hour for our remembrance of Garry Marshall. Vince’s books on pop culture include The Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book: The Definitive History of Tel....

TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Fri 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org and CX Radio Brazil
Sat 8pm ET, 5pm PT and Sun 6pm ET, 3pm PT on Indiana Talks
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT KSCO-AM 1080 (San Jose, Santa Cruz and Salinas, CA)
Sun 9am ET, 6am PT KOMY-AM 1340 (La Selva Beach and Watsonville, CA)
Sun 9pm PT, Mon Mid ET on KHMB-AM and FM (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Mon 10pm ET, 7pm PT on The Radio Slot Network
Replays various times throughout the week on the Entertainment Channel at PWRNetwork
Tape us now, listen to us later, using DAR.fm/tvconfidential
Also available as a podcast via iTunes, FeedBurner
and now on your mobile phone via Stitcher.com
Follow us online at www.tvconfidential.net
Follow us now on Twitter: Twitter.com/tvconfidential
Like our Fan Page at www.facebook.com/tvconfidential

If you listen to TV CONFIDENTIAL, and like what you’ve heard, please consider supporting our efforts by becoming a patron of our show through Patreon. For as little as a dollar a month, you will help offset the costs of production and receive some cool rewards. For more information, please visit www.Patreon.com/tvconfidential... and thanks!

This Week in Television History: August 2016 PART I

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.

August 1, 1971

The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour debuts. The popular variety show, featuring music, comedy routines and sarcastic banter between vertically challenged Sonny and his statuesque wife, Cher.

Sonny and Cher had been singing and performing comedy in nightclubs for more than a decade. They released several hit records in the 1960s, most notably "I Got You, Babe," before launching their show. The series rated well and showcased future comedy stars, including Teri Garr and Steve Martin. 

Despite the show's popularity, the couple suffered marital problems and announced in the spring of 1974 that they were divorcing and would cancel the show. After divorcing in 1975, both Sonny and Cher tried and failed to launch solo comedy-variety shows. They revived their show together briefly in 1976 and 1977. Cher went on to a successful film career, winning the Best Actress Oscar for Moonstruck (1987). Bono later became a politician, serving as mayor of Palm Springs and a U.S. congressman.

August 1, 1981

MTV launches. MTV: Music Television goes on the air for the first time ever, with the words (spoken by one of MTV’s creators, John Lack): “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll.” The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first music video to air on the new cable television channel, which initially was available only to households in parts of New Jersey. MTV went on to revolutionize the music industry and become an influential source of pop culture and entertainment in the United States and other parts of the world, including Europe, Asia and Latin America, which all have MTV-branded channels.

In MTV’s early days, its programming consisted of basic music videos that were introduced by VJs (video jockeys) and provided for free by record companies. As the record industry recognized MTV’s value as a promotional vehicle, money was invested in making creative, cutting-edge videos. Some directors, including Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Three Kings) and Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), worked on music videos before segueing into feature films. In the 1980s, MTV was instrumental in promoting the careers of performers such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince and Duran Duran, whose videos played in heavy rotation.

By the late 1980s, MTV started airing non-video programming, geared toward teenagers and young adults. Its popular reality series The Real World launched in 1992 and was followed by such highly rated shows as The Osbournes, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, Laguna Beach, My Super Sweet 16 and The Hills. MTV also debuted animated series including Beavis and Butthead and Celebrity Deathmatch, as well as documentaries, news, game shows and public service campaigns on topics ranging from voting rights to safe sex. MTV developed a reputation for pushing cultural boundaries and taste; the airing of Madonna’s 1989 “Like a Prayer” video is just one famous example. In 1984, the channel launched the MTV Music Video Awards, which were followed in 1992 by the MTV Movie Awards. Today, MTV’s music-video programming is largely confined to one show, Total Request Live.

August 3, 1941

Martha Helen Stewart (née Kostyra) was born. 

Business magnate, television host, author and magazine publisher. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising. Stewart's syndicated talk show, Martha, is broadcast throughout the world, she has written numerous bestselling books, and she is the publisher of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

In 2001, Stewart was named the third most powerful woman in America by Ladies Home Journal. In 2004, she was convicted of lying to investigators about a stock sale and served five months in prison. Stewart began a strong comeback campaign in 2005, with her company returning to profitability in 2006.

August 5, 1956

Maureen Denise McCormick was born. 

Actress, reality show participant, and recording artist. She is best known as a child actor who played Marcia Brady in the television series The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974.

August 6, 1911

Lucille Ball was born. 

She became one of America's most beloved comic actresses, is born near Jamestown, New York. Her father, an electrician, died when Ball was two. By age 15, Ball had decided to attend drama school and become an actress. However, the shy, skinny teenager received little encouragement and was rejected at least four times from Broadway chorus lines before finally becoming a chorus girl in 1926. In 1933, she was hired as the Chesterfield cigarette girl and was featured in all the company's advertisements. Attracting attention with her Chesterfield ads, she finally began playing bit parts in Hollywood movies in 1933. By the late 1930s, the starlet had graduated to comic supporting roles. In 1940, she met Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz while shooting Too Many Girls. The couple married the following year.

Ball continued to land movie roles that didn't fully showcase her talent. Frustrated, she turned to radio and starred as a ditzy wife in My Favorite Husband from 1948 to 1951. CBS decided to launch the popular series on the relatively new medium of TV. Lucy insisted Desi be cast as her husband in the TV version, though the network executives argued that no one would believe the couple were married. Desi and Lucy performed before live audiences and filmed a pilot, convincing network executives that audiences responded well to their act, and CBS cast Desi for the show.

I Love Lucy became one of the most popular TV situation comedies in history, ranking in the top three shows for six years and turning the couple's production company, Desilu, into a multimillion-dollar business. Ball became president of the company in 1960, after she and Desi divorced. She also starred in several other "Lucy" shows, including The Lucy Show, which debuted in 1962 and ran for six seasons, and Here's Lucy, in which she starred with her two children until the show was cancelled in 1974. A later show, Life with Lucy, featuring Lucy as a grandmother, was cancelled after only eight episodes. Ball worked little in the last years of her life. She died of congestive heart failure in 1989, at the age of 78.

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Tony Figueroa