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"
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Monday, May 10, 2021
This Week in Television History: May 2021 PART II
May 10, 1983
Laverne &
Shirley ended its 8 season run.
The show was a spin-off from Happy Days, as the two lead
characters were originally introduced on that series as acquaintances of
Fonzie. Set in roughly the same time period as Happy Days, the Laverne &
Shirley timeline started in approximately 1958, when the series began, through
1967, when the series ended (A January 1975 episode of its progenitor
"Happy Days", had a story about the November 1956 presidential election).
May 10, 1983
Laverne & Shirley ended its 8 season run.
The show was a spin-off from Happy Days, as the two lead
characters were originally introduced on that series as acquaintances of
Fonzie. Set in roughly the same time period as Happy Days, the Laverne &
Shirley timeline started in approximately 1958, when the series began, through
1967, when the series ended (A January 1975 episode of its progenitor
"Happy Days", had a story about the November 1956 presidential election).
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Tony Figueroa
Monday, May 03, 2021
This Week in Television History: May 2021 PART I
May 3, 1991
Prime-time soap opera Dallas airs its last
episode. The episode was watched by
33.3 million viewers (38% of all viewers in that time slot)
The show debuted in April of 1978, and broke ratings
records in 1980 when 83.6 million viewers tuned in to find out "Who Shot
J.R.?". In the final episode, titled Conundrum
(An homage to It's a Wonderful Life)
J.R. is contemplating committing suicide. The drunk J.R. walks around the pool
with a bourbon bottle and a loaded gun, when suddenly another person appears, a
spirit named Adam (portrayed by Joel Grey), whose
"boss" has been watching J.R. and likes him. Adam proceeds to take
him on a journey to show him what life would have been like for other people if
he had not been born. At the end of the
episode Adam encourages J.R. on to kill himself. J.R. will not do it, as
he does not want Adam to be sent back to heaven with his job incomplete. At
this point Adam reveals that he's not an angel, but a minion of Satan. Bobby
has returned home. The gun goes off while Bobby is in the hallway, and he
rushes to J.R.'s room. He looks at what has gone down, gasps, "Oh, my
God," and the series ends on that note with the fate of J.R. never settled
(although it eventually would be five years later, in the reunion movie, Dallas: J.R. Returns.).In 2010, cable network TNT announced they had ordered
a pilot for the continuation of the Dallas series. After viewing the completed
pilot episode, TNT proceeded to order a full season of 10 episodes.
The new series premiered on June 13, 2012, centering
primarily around John Ross and Christopher Ewing, the now-grown sons of J.R.
and Bobby. Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray returned in full-time
capacity, reprising their original roles. The series is produced by Warner
Horizon Television, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., which holds the rights to the
Dallas franchise through its acquisition of Lorimar Television and is a sister
company to TNT, both under the ownership of TimeWarner.
The new series is a continuation of the old series,
with the story continuing after a 20-year break. It does not take the events of
the TV movies Dallas: J.R. Returns or Dallas: War of the Ewings as canon.
Instead we find the characters as they are today, 20 years after the events of
the Season 14 cliffhanger.[29] In an interview with UltimateDallas.com, Cynthia
Cidre was asked to describe the new Dallas. She responded, "I tried to be really,
really respectful of the original Dallas because it was really clear to me that
the people who love Dallas are [like] Trekkies, really committed to that show
and I really did not understand that before, so I never wanted to violate
anything that had happened in the past. On the other hand that was the past,
twenty years had gone by, so at the same time I think we're properly balanced
between the characters of Bobby Ewing, J.R. and Sue Ellen. I also have the new
cast and it's John Ross and Christopher, the children of Bobby and J.R., and
their love interests. Total respect and a balance of old and new."
May
8, 1976
The theme song from Welcome
Back, Kotter is the #1 song in America
In
1975, John Sebastian, former member of the beloved 60s pop group the Lovin'
Spoonful, was asked to write and record the theme song for a brand-new ABC
television show with the working title Kotter. As any songwriter would,
Sebastian first tried working that title into his song, but somehow the rhymes
he came up with for "Kotter"—otter, water, daughter, slaughter—didn't
really lend themselves to a show about a middle-aged schoolteacher returning to
his scrappy Brooklyn neighborhood to teach remedial students at his own former
high school. So Sebastian took a more thoughtful approach to the task at hand
and came up with a song about finding your true calling in a life you thought
you'd left behind. That song, "Welcome Back," not only went on to become
a #1 pop single on this day in 1976, but it also led the show's producers to
change its title to Welcome Back, Kotter.
What
Sebastian's sweet, wistful and playfully nostalgic tune did not do, however,
was influence the tone and content of the show. To listen to "Welcome
Back," you'd think that Welcome Back, Kotter was a seriocomic
slice-of-life program in the mold of, say, The Courtship of Eddie's Father—another
70s TV show with a theme song by a great 60s songwriter (Harry Nilsson).
Instead, Welcome Back, Kotter was little more than a flimsy platform for
catchphrase-spouting caricatures, albeit an insanely successful one. Arnold
Horshack's "Oooh, oooh, oooh," Freddie "Boom Boom"
Washington's "Hi therrre," Vinnie Barbarino's "What? What?"
and Gabe Kotter's "Up your nose with a rubber hose" were the
pop-cultural coin-of-the-realm in 1975-76, and though they bore little relation
in tone or spirit to the song that topped the charts on this day in 1976, the
disconnect did nothing to hinder the popularity of all things Kotter-related.
Indeed, if you weren't wearing an Uncle Sam or King Kong T-shirt in the summer
of America's bicentennial year, you were probably wearing one with a picture of
"the Sweathogs" and a colorful phrase like "Off my case, toilet
face" on it.
"Welcome
Back" was the first and only television theme song that John Sebastian
ever wrote, but it was far from the only television theme song of the mid-1970s to become a legitimate pop
hit. Only weeks earlier in 1976, the instrumental "Theme From
S.W.A.T." had topped the Billboard Hot 100, and the excellent Mike
Post-written theme The Rockford Files had made the top 10 the previous
summer.
May 9, 1971
Last Honeymooners
episode airs. The last original
episode of the sitcom The Honeymooners, starring Jackie Gleason as
Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden, airs.
Although a perennial rerun favorite in syndication, The Honeymooners
actually aired only 39 episodes in its familiar sitcom format, running for just
one season in 1955-56. The show debuted on October 5, 1951, as a six-minute
sketch on the variety show Cavalcade of Stars, hosted by Jackie Gleason.
Cavalcade of Stars evolved into The Jackie Gleason Show in 1952,
and Gleason continued the sketches, playing the blustery Ralph Kramden. Regular
cast member Audrey Meadows soon replaced the original casting choice, Pert
Kelton, as Ralph’s long-suffering wife, Alice, who deflated his get-rich-quick
schemes but often saved the day. Art Carney played Gleason’s friend and
sidekick, Ed Norton, from the beginning, and Joyce Randolph was the most
memorable incarnation of Ed’s wife, Trixie.In 1955, Gleason had tired of the hour-long variety-show format and wanted
to try something new. He suggested creating two half-hour programs: The Honeymooners
and Stage Show, a musical-variety show, which Gleason would produce.
Among Stage Show’s many musical guests was the first-time TV performer
Elvis Presley, who visited the show in January 1956.
In a departure from most TV shows of the time, The Honeymooners was
filmed in front of a live audience and broadcast at a later date. To allow
Gleason more time to pursue other producing projects, he taped two episodes a
week, leaving him free for several months at the end of the season. Shows were
taped at New York’s Adelphi Theatre in front of around 1,000 people.
Unfortunately, the two shows did not appeal to audiences as much as Gleason
had hoped. He soon returned to his hour-long variety format, occasionally
including Honeymooners skits. He sold the full Honeymooners episodes
to CBS for $1.5 million, and they would go on to earn the network a windfall in
syndication. In 1966, Gleason began creating hour-long Honeymooners
episodes, which he aired in lieu of his usual variety format. From 1966 to
1970, about half of Gleason’s shows were these hour-long episodes. In 1971, the
episodes were rebroadcast as their own series, until May 9, 1971, when the
final episode aired.
Despite its brief life as a traditional sitcom, The Honeymooners remains
one of the most memorable TV comedies of all time, rivaled only by I Love
Lucy in its pioneering role in television history. Its influence has
stretched into modern-day sitcom classics such as Roseanne (also a show
focused on a working-class American family) and Seinfeld (another sitcom
about wacky New York neighbors). The devotion of Honeymooners fans
throughout the years has bordered on cultish worship, including the formation
of a club known as RALPH: Royal Association for the Longevity and Preservation
of the Honeymooners.
May 9, 1991
Michael Landon appeared on the Tonight Show and talked about condition with cancer.
May 3, 1991
Prime-time soap opera Dallas airs its last
episode. The episode was watched by
33.3 million viewers (38% of all viewers in that time slot)
The show debuted in April of 1978, and broke ratings records in 1980 when 83.6 million viewers tuned in to find out "Who Shot J.R.?". In the final episode, titled Conundrum (An homage to It's a Wonderful Life) J.R. is contemplating committing suicide. The drunk J.R. walks around the pool with a bourbon bottle and a loaded gun, when suddenly another person appears, a spirit named Adam (portrayed by Joel Grey), whose "boss" has been watching J.R. and likes him. Adam proceeds to take him on a journey to show him what life would have been like for other people if he had not been born. At the end of the episode Adam encourages J.R. on to kill himself. J.R. will not do it, as he does not want Adam to be sent back to heaven with his job incomplete. At this point Adam reveals that he's not an angel, but a minion of Satan. Bobby has returned home. The gun goes off while Bobby is in the hallway, and he rushes to J.R.'s room. He looks at what has gone down, gasps, "Oh, my God," and the series ends on that note with the fate of J.R. never settled (although it eventually would be five years later, in the reunion movie, Dallas: J.R. Returns.).
In 2010, cable network TNT announced they had ordered
a pilot for the continuation of the Dallas series. After viewing the completed
pilot episode, TNT proceeded to order a full season of 10 episodes.
The new series premiered on June 13, 2012, centering
primarily around John Ross and Christopher Ewing, the now-grown sons of J.R.
and Bobby. Larry Hagman, Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray returned in full-time
capacity, reprising their original roles. The series is produced by Warner
Horizon Television, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., which holds the rights to the
Dallas franchise through its acquisition of Lorimar Television and is a sister
company to TNT, both under the ownership of TimeWarner.
The new series is a continuation of the old series,
with the story continuing after a 20-year break. It does not take the events of
the TV movies Dallas: J.R. Returns or Dallas: War of the Ewings as canon.
Instead we find the characters as they are today, 20 years after the events of
the Season 14 cliffhanger.[29] In an interview with UltimateDallas.com, Cynthia
Cidre was asked to describe the new Dallas. She responded, "I tried to be really,
really respectful of the original Dallas because it was really clear to me that
the people who love Dallas are [like] Trekkies, really committed to that show
and I really did not understand that before, so I never wanted to violate
anything that had happened in the past. On the other hand that was the past,
twenty years had gone by, so at the same time I think we're properly balanced
between the characters of Bobby Ewing, J.R. and Sue Ellen. I also have the new
cast and it's John Ross and Christopher, the children of Bobby and J.R., and
their love interests. Total respect and a balance of old and new."
May
8, 1976
The theme song from Welcome
Back, Kotter is the #1 song in America
What
Sebastian's sweet, wistful and playfully nostalgic tune did not do, however,
was influence the tone and content of the show. To listen to "Welcome
Back," you'd think that Welcome Back, Kotter was a seriocomic
slice-of-life program in the mold of, say, The Courtship of Eddie's Father—another
70s TV show with a theme song by a great 60s songwriter (Harry Nilsson).
Instead, Welcome Back, Kotter was little more than a flimsy platform for
catchphrase-spouting caricatures, albeit an insanely successful one. Arnold
Horshack's "Oooh, oooh, oooh," Freddie "Boom Boom"
Washington's "Hi therrre," Vinnie Barbarino's "What? What?"
and Gabe Kotter's "Up your nose with a rubber hose" were the
pop-cultural coin-of-the-realm in 1975-76, and though they bore little relation
in tone or spirit to the song that topped the charts on this day in 1976, the
disconnect did nothing to hinder the popularity of all things Kotter-related.
Indeed, if you weren't wearing an Uncle Sam or King Kong T-shirt in the summer
of America's bicentennial year, you were probably wearing one with a picture of
"the Sweathogs" and a colorful phrase like "Off my case, toilet
face" on it.
"Welcome
Back" was the first and only television theme song that John Sebastian
ever wrote, but it was far from the only television theme song of the mid-1970s to become a legitimate pop
hit. Only weeks earlier in 1976, the instrumental "Theme From
S.W.A.T." had topped the Billboard Hot 100, and the excellent Mike
Post-written theme The Rockford Files had made the top 10 the previous
summer.
May 9, 1971
Last Honeymooners
episode airs. The last original
episode of the sitcom The Honeymooners, starring Jackie Gleason as
Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden, airs.
In 1955, Gleason had tired of the hour-long variety-show format and wanted
to try something new. He suggested creating two half-hour programs: The Honeymooners
and Stage Show, a musical-variety show, which Gleason would produce.
Among Stage Show’s many musical guests was the first-time TV performer
Elvis Presley, who visited the show in January 1956.
In a departure from most TV shows of the time, The Honeymooners was
filmed in front of a live audience and broadcast at a later date. To allow
Gleason more time to pursue other producing projects, he taped two episodes a
week, leaving him free for several months at the end of the season. Shows were
taped at New York’s Adelphi Theatre in front of around 1,000 people.
Unfortunately, the two shows did not appeal to audiences as much as Gleason
had hoped. He soon returned to his hour-long variety format, occasionally
including Honeymooners skits. He sold the full Honeymooners episodes
to CBS for $1.5 million, and they would go on to earn the network a windfall in
syndication. In 1966, Gleason began creating hour-long Honeymooners
episodes, which he aired in lieu of his usual variety format. From 1966 to
1970, about half of Gleason’s shows were these hour-long episodes. In 1971, the
episodes were rebroadcast as their own series, until May 9, 1971, when the
final episode aired.
Despite its brief life as a traditional sitcom, The Honeymooners remains
one of the most memorable TV comedies of all time, rivaled only by I Love
Lucy in its pioneering role in television history. Its influence has
stretched into modern-day sitcom classics such as Roseanne (also a show
focused on a working-class American family) and Seinfeld (another sitcom
about wacky New York neighbors). The devotion of Honeymooners fans
throughout the years has bordered on cultish worship, including the formation
of a club known as RALPH: Royal Association for the Longevity and Preservation
of the Honeymooners.
May 9, 1991
Michael Landon appeared on the Tonight Show and talked about condition with cancer.
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Tony Figueroa
Monday, April 26, 2021
This Week in Television History: April 2021 PART IV
April 27, 1986
Video pirate
disrupts HBO signals.
A video pirate
manages to override the satellite transmission of an HBO movie on this day in
1986. He interrupted the show with a message stating he did not intend to pay
for his HBO service.April 29, 1961
ABC’s Wide
World of Sports premiered.
Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport... the
thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat... the human drama of athletic
competition... This is ABC's WideWorld of Sports!Wide World of Sports was the creation of Edgar
Scherick through his company, Sports Programs, Inc. After selling his
company to ABC, he hired a youngRoone
Arledge to produce the show.
The series' April 29, 1961 debut telecast featured both the Penn and Drake Relays. Jim McKay (who
hosted the program for most of its history) and Jesse Abramson, the track
and field writer for the New York Herald Tribune, broadcast
from Franklin Field with Bob
Richards as the field
reporter. Jim Simpson called the action
from Drake Stadium with Bill
Flemming working the field.
During its initial season in the spring and summer of 1961, Wide
World of Sports was initially broadcast from 5:00 p.m. to
7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturdays. Beginning in
1962, it was pushed to 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., and later to 4:30 to
6:00 p.m. Eastern Time to allow ABC affiliates in the Eastern and Central
Time Zonesto carry local early-evening newscasts.
In 1961, Wide World of Sports covered a bowling event
in which Roy Lown beat Pat Patterson. The
broadcast was so successful that in 1962, ABC Sports began covering the Professional Bowlers Tour.
In 1964, Wide World of Sports covered the Oklahoma Rattlesnake
Hunt championships; the following year, ABC premiered outdoor program The American Sportsman, which
remained on the network for nearly 20 years.
In 1973, the Superstars was first televised as a segment
on Wide World of Sports; the following year, the Superstars debuted
as a weekly winter series that lasted for 10 years.
In 1963, ABC Sports producers began selecting the Athlete
of the Year. Its first winner was track
and field star Jim Beatty for being the first to run a
sub-4-minute mile indoors. Through the years, this award was won by such now
legendary athletes of Muhammad Ali, Jim Ryun, Lance
Armstrong, Mario Andretti,Dennis
Conner, Wayne Gretzky, Carl Lewis and Tiger
Woods. The award was discontinued in 2001.
In later years, with the rise of cable
television offering more outlets for sports programming, Wide
World of Sports lost many of the events that had been staples of the
program for many years (many, although not all, of them ended up on ESPN, a sister network
to ABC for most of its existence). Ultimately, on January 3, 1998, Jim McKay
announced that Wide World of Sports, in its traditional anthology
series, had been cancelled after a 37-year run. The Wide World of Sportsname
remained in use afterward as an umbrella title for ABC's weekend sports
programming.
In August 2006, ABC Sports came under the oversight of ESPN, under the
relaunched banner name ESPN on ABC. The Wide World of Sports title
continues to occasionally be revived for Saturday afternoon sports programming
on ABC, most recently during the 140th Belmont Stakes as a tribute to Jim
McKay, following his death in June 2008. Most of ABC's sports programming
since Wide World of Sports ended as a program has been
displaced from ABC and moved to ESPN; the cable network began producing its own
anthology series on Saturday afternoons in 2010, ESPN Sports Saturday, which consists of
documentaries originally featured on ESPN's E:60 and 30 for 30 programs,
and a modified version of the ESPN interactive series SportsNation, titled Winners
Bracket.
May 1, 1931
President
Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City's Empire State Building.
Less than eight months later, a
television-transmitting antenna had been erected atop the structure (The top
was originally designed as a mooring mast for dirigibles). During the ensuing
36 years, television and FM radio signals have continued to be transmitted from
this location. Today, 22 stations share the site.
May 2, 1941The Federal Communications
Commission agreed to let regular scheduling of TV broadcasts by commercial TV
stations begin on July 1, 1941. This was the start of network television.
April 27, 1986
Video pirate disrupts HBO signals.
A video pirate manages to override the satellite transmission of an HBO movie on this day in 1986. He interrupted the show with a message stating he did not intend to pay for his HBO service.April 29, 1961
ABC’s Wide
World of Sports premiered.
Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport... the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat... the human drama of athletic competition... This is ABC's Wide
World of Sports!Wide World of Sports was the creation of Edgar
Scherick through his company, Sports Programs, Inc. After selling his
company to ABC, he hired a youngRoone
Arledge to produce the show.
The series' April 29, 1961 debut telecast featured both the Penn and Drake Relays. Jim McKay (who
hosted the program for most of its history) and Jesse Abramson, the track
and field writer for the New York Herald Tribune, broadcast
from Franklin Field with Bob
Richards as the field
reporter. Jim Simpson called the action
from Drake Stadium with Bill
Flemming working the field.
During its initial season in the spring and summer of 1961, Wide
World of Sports was initially broadcast from 5:00 p.m. to
7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturdays. Beginning in
1962, it was pushed to 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., and later to 4:30 to
6:00 p.m. Eastern Time to allow ABC affiliates in the Eastern and Central
Time Zonesto carry local early-evening newscasts.
In 1961, Wide World of Sports covered a bowling event
in which Roy Lown beat Pat Patterson. The
broadcast was so successful that in 1962, ABC Sports began covering the Professional Bowlers Tour.
In 1964, Wide World of Sports covered the Oklahoma Rattlesnake
Hunt championships; the following year, ABC premiered outdoor program The American Sportsman, which
remained on the network for nearly 20 years.
In 1973, the Superstars was first televised as a segment
on Wide World of Sports; the following year, the Superstars debuted
as a weekly winter series that lasted for 10 years.
In 1963, ABC Sports producers began selecting the Athlete
of the Year. Its first winner was track
and field star Jim Beatty for being the first to run a
sub-4-minute mile indoors. Through the years, this award was won by such now
legendary athletes of Muhammad Ali, Jim Ryun, Lance
Armstrong, Mario Andretti,Dennis
Conner, Wayne Gretzky, Carl Lewis and Tiger
Woods. The award was discontinued in 2001.
In later years, with the rise of cable
television offering more outlets for sports programming, Wide
World of Sports lost many of the events that had been staples of the
program for many years (many, although not all, of them ended up on ESPN, a sister network
to ABC for most of its existence). Ultimately, on January 3, 1998, Jim McKay
announced that Wide World of Sports, in its traditional anthology
series, had been cancelled after a 37-year run. The Wide World of Sportsname
remained in use afterward as an umbrella title for ABC's weekend sports
programming.
In August 2006, ABC Sports came under the oversight of ESPN, under the relaunched banner name ESPN on ABC. The Wide World of Sports title continues to occasionally be revived for Saturday afternoon sports programming on ABC, most recently during the 140th Belmont Stakes as a tribute to Jim McKay, following his death in June 2008. Most of ABC's sports programming since Wide World of Sports ended as a program has been displaced from ABC and moved to ESPN; the cable network began producing its own anthology series on Saturday afternoons in 2010, ESPN Sports Saturday, which consists of documentaries originally featured on ESPN's E:60 and 30 for 30 programs, and a modified version of the ESPN interactive series SportsNation, titled Winners Bracket.
May 1, 1931
President Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City's Empire State Building.
Less than eight months later, a television-transmitting antenna had been erected atop the structure (The top was originally designed as a mooring mast for dirigibles). During the ensuing 36 years, television and FM radio signals have continued to be transmitted from this location. Today, 22 stations share the site.
This was the start of network television.
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Tony Figueroa
Monday, April 19, 2021
This Week in Television History: April 2021 PART III
April 20, 1981
The final episode of Soap aired on ABC.
Although Susan Harris had
planned for five seasons of Soap, the program was abruptly canceled
by ABC after its fourth season. Therefore the final one-hour episode, which
originally aired on April 20, 1981, did not serve as a series finale and instead ended with
several unresolved cliffhangers. These involve a suicidal Chester preparing to
kill Danny and Annie (his son and wife) after catching them in bed together, an
irreversibly hypnotized Jodie believing himself to be a 90-year-old Jewish man,
Burt preparing to walk into an ambush orchestrated by his
political enemies, and Jessica about to be executed by a Communist firing squad. Vlasic Foods pulled their
sponsorship of the program shortly after this episode aired and ABC announced
that the program was not picked up for its planned fifth season. The official
reason given by the network was its declining ratings. However, according to
the Museum of Broadcast Communications, Soap "ended under
suspicion that resistance from ad agencies may have caused ABC to cancel [it]
at that point" because its still controversial content was negatively
affecting its relationship with sponsors. A 1983 episode of Benson mentions Jessica's disappearance, noting the Tate family is seeking
to have her declared legally dead. In the episode, Jessica appears as an
apparition that only Benson can see or hear and reveals to him that she is not
dead, but in a coma somewhere in South America. No other incidents from the
final episode of Soap are mentioned.
April 22, 1926
Charlotte Rae is born Charlotte Rae Lubotsky.
The of stage, comedienne, singer and dancer, who in her six
decades of television is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett
in the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The
Facts of Life (in which she
starred from 1979 to 1986). She received a Primetime Emmy
Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy in 1982. She also appeared in two Facts of Life
television movies: The Facts of Life Goes to Paris in 1982 and The Facts
of Life Reunion in 2001. She
voiced the character of "Nanny" in 101
Dalmatians: The Series.
Her first significant success was on the sitcom Car 54, Where
Are You? (1961–1963), in which
she played Sylvia Schnauzer, the wife of Officer Leo Schnauzer (played by Al Lewis). She was nominated for an Emmy Award
for her supporting role in the 1975 drama Queen
of the Stardust Ballroom. In
January 1975, Rae became a cast member on the ABC television comedy Hot L Baltimore, wherein she played Mrs. Bellotti, whose dysfunctional adult son
Moose, who was never actually seen, lived at the "hot l" (the hotel
was so bad the "E" on the sign never worked). Mrs. Bellotti, who was
a bit odd herself, would visit Moose and then laugh about all the odd
situations that Moose would get into with the others living at the hotel. Rae
also appeared in early seasons of Sesame Street as Molly the Mail Lady.
Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life
In 1978, NBC was losing to both CBS and ABC in sitcom
ratings, and Fred Silverman, future producer and former head of CBS, ABC, and NBC, insisted that Norman Lear
produce Diff'rent Strokes. Knowing that Rae was one of Lear's favorite
actresses, he hired her immediately for the role of housekeeper Edna
Garrett, and she co-starred with Conrad Bain
in all 24 episodes of the first season. Her character proved to be so popular
that producers decided to do an episode that could lead to a spinoff. That
episode (called "The Girls School") was about girls attending a
fictional school called Eastland. In July 1979, Rae proposed the idea for the
spinoff. NBC approved the show, to be called The
Facts of Life, which would
portray a housemother in a prestigious private school and dealt with such
issues facing teenagers as weight issues, depression, drugs, alcohol, and
dating.
After working as a character actress/comedienne in
supporting roles or in guest shots on television series and specials, The Facts
Of Life gave Rae not only her best-known role but it finally made her a
television star. The role of Edna Garrett was the unifying center of attention
of the program as well as a warm, motherly figure for the girls. Rae's role was
very similar to that of Kate Bradley on the 1960's CBS-TV
series Petticoat Junction, which also gave radio and television actress Bea Benaderet late stardom.
The Facts of Life had marginal ratings at first but
after a major restructuring and time change, the show became a ratings winner
between 1980 and 1986. Midway throughout both the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons,
she missed several episodes because she was planning on leaving the show, and
the story lines focused more on the other characters. At the beginning of the
eighth season, Rae left the show and Cloris Leachman
was then brought in as Mrs. Garrett's sister, Beverly
Ann Stickle, for the show's last two
years, until the show was canceled in 1988.
In 2001, Rae, Lisa Whelchel,
Mindy Cohn,
and Kim Fields
were reunited in a TV movie, The Facts
of Life Reunion. In 2007, the
entire cast was invited to attend the TV Land Awards
where several members of the cast, including Rae, sang the show's theme song.
On April 19, 2011, the entire cast was reunited again to attend the TV Land
Awards, where the show was nominated and won the award for Pop Culture Icon.
The same day, Nancy McKeon and Kim Fields (who played Jo & Tootie,
respectively) also gave a speech in honor of her 85th birthday. The cast did
likewise on ABC's Good Morning
America, where at the end of the
segment, reporter, Cynthia McFadden wished Rae a happy birthday, and the cast sang the show's theme song.
April 22, 1976
Barbara
Walters signs $5 million contract.
Barbara Walters signs a record-breaking five-year, $5 million contract with
ABC. The contract made her the first news anchorwoman in network history and
the highest paid TV journalist to date.
April 24, 1936
A group of
firemen responding to an alarm in Camden, New Jersey, is televised.
It was the first time an unplanned event was
broadcast on television, anticipating the development of live TV news coverage.
Fortunately, the event would not inspire anyone to create reality programming.
April 20, 1981
The final episode of Soap aired on ABC.
April 22, 1926
Charlotte Rae is born Charlotte Rae Lubotsky.
The of stage, comedienne, singer and dancer, who in her six
decades of television is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett
in the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The
Facts of Life (in which she
starred from 1979 to 1986). She received a Primetime Emmy
Award nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy in 1982. She also appeared in two Facts of Life
television movies: The Facts of Life Goes to Paris in 1982 and The Facts
of Life Reunion in 2001. She
voiced the character of "Nanny" in 101
Dalmatians: The Series.
Her first significant success was on the sitcom Car 54, Where
Are You? (1961–1963), in which
she played Sylvia Schnauzer, the wife of Officer Leo Schnauzer (played by Al Lewis). She was nominated for an Emmy Award
for her supporting role in the 1975 drama Queen
of the Stardust Ballroom. In
January 1975, Rae became a cast member on the ABC television comedy Hot L Baltimore, wherein she played Mrs. Bellotti, whose dysfunctional adult son
Moose, who was never actually seen, lived at the "hot l" (the hotel
was so bad the "E" on the sign never worked). Mrs. Bellotti, who was
a bit odd herself, would visit Moose and then laugh about all the odd
situations that Moose would get into with the others living at the hotel. Rae
also appeared in early seasons of Sesame Street as Molly the Mail Lady.
Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life
In 1978, NBC was losing to both CBS and ABC in sitcom
ratings, and Fred Silverman, future producer and former head of CBS, ABC, and NBC, insisted that Norman Lear
produce Diff'rent Strokes. Knowing that Rae was one of Lear's favorite
actresses, he hired her immediately for the role of housekeeper Edna
Garrett, and she co-starred with Conrad Bain
in all 24 episodes of the first season. Her character proved to be so popular
that producers decided to do an episode that could lead to a spinoff. That
episode (called "The Girls School") was about girls attending a
fictional school called Eastland. In July 1979, Rae proposed the idea for the
spinoff. NBC approved the show, to be called The
Facts of Life, which would
portray a housemother in a prestigious private school and dealt with such
issues facing teenagers as weight issues, depression, drugs, alcohol, and
dating.
After working as a character actress/comedienne in
supporting roles or in guest shots on television series and specials, The Facts
Of Life gave Rae not only her best-known role but it finally made her a
television star. The role of Edna Garrett was the unifying center of attention
of the program as well as a warm, motherly figure for the girls. Rae's role was
very similar to that of Kate Bradley on the 1960's CBS-TV
series Petticoat Junction, which also gave radio and television actress Bea Benaderet late stardom.
The Facts of Life had marginal ratings at first but
after a major restructuring and time change, the show became a ratings winner
between 1980 and 1986. Midway throughout both the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons,
she missed several episodes because she was planning on leaving the show, and
the story lines focused more on the other characters. At the beginning of the
eighth season, Rae left the show and Cloris Leachman
was then brought in as Mrs. Garrett's sister, Beverly
Ann Stickle, for the show's last two
years, until the show was canceled in 1988.
In 2001, Rae, Lisa Whelchel,
Mindy Cohn,
and Kim Fields
were reunited in a TV movie, The Facts
of Life Reunion. In 2007, the
entire cast was invited to attend the TV Land Awards
where several members of the cast, including Rae, sang the show's theme song.
On April 19, 2011, the entire cast was reunited again to attend the TV Land
Awards, where the show was nominated and won the award for Pop Culture Icon.
The same day, Nancy McKeon and Kim Fields (who played Jo & Tootie,
respectively) also gave a speech in honor of her 85th birthday. The cast did
likewise on ABC's Good Morning
America, where at the end of the
segment, reporter, Cynthia McFadden wished Rae a happy birthday, and the cast sang the show's theme song.
April 22, 1976
Barbara Walters signs $5 million contract.
Barbara Walters signs a record-breaking five-year, $5 million contract with
ABC. The contract made her the first news anchorwoman in network history and
the highest paid TV journalist to date.
April 24, 1936
A group of firemen responding to an alarm in Camden, New Jersey, is televised.
It was the first time an unplanned event was broadcast on television, anticipating the development of live TV news coverage. Fortunately, the event would not inspire anyone to create reality programming.
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Tony Figueroa
Saturday, April 17, 2021
Monday, April 12, 2021
This Week in Television History: April 2021 PART II
April 12, 1941
Life of Riley radio show debuts.
An
unrelated radio show with the name Life of Riley was a summer
replacement show heard on CBS from April 12, 1941 to September 6, 1941. The CBS
program starred Lionel Stander as J. Riley Farnsworth
and had no real connection with the more famous series that followed a few
years later staring William Bendix as a bullheaded family man. The show
ran for 10 years on radio and about six years on television.
April 13, 1986
Return to Mayberry airs on NBC.
The cast of the popular Andy Griffith Show is
reunited for a one-time television special. Besides stars Andy Griffith and Don
Knotts, the original show featured little Ronny Howard, who grew up to become a
star of television's Happy Days and, later, a famous film director. The Andy
Griffith Show ran from 1960 to 1968.
April 14, 1956
First video
camera for sound and pictures demonstrated.
The first videotape recorder is demonstrated. The machine, invented by
Ray Dolby, Charles Ginsberg, and Charles Anderson, recorded both images and
sound. CBS purchased three of the video tape recorders for $75,000 each in
1956.
April 18, 1971
The Jackson 5 and Bill Cosby were guests on Diana Ross' solo TV special Diana!
Diana! is American singer Diana Ross'
first solo TV special, which aired on ABC on April 18,
1971, choreographed by David Winters of West Side
Story fame, who at that time choreographed all of
Ross' stage and TV shows. The special featured performances by The Jackson
5, and also included Jackson 5 lead singer Michael
Jackson's solo debut. Michael Jackson performed Frank
Sinatra's "It Was a Very Good Year",
which drew laughter as its adult-themed lyrics were changed to fit his age.
Other guests included Danny Thomas andBill Cosby,
who would be featured on a similar TV special by the Jackson 5 (Goin' Back to Indiana)
a few months later.Since this was right at the beginning of her solo
career, she took the opportunity to promote the two hits from her debut, the
gold audience participant "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's
Hand)" and the number 1 song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
She also performed a cover of The
Carpenters "(They Long to Be) Close to You"
and the top-20 gold single "Remember Me" released
that previous December 1970 included on her forthcoming album "Surrender" to be
released later that summer. (Though she performed "Reach Out and Touch
(Somebody's Hand)" on the special, it was not included on the soundtrack).
The television special, and its subsequent
soundtrack, was a Neilsen's ratings winner, hitting the top 20 (number 17) of
shows that week and garnering Emmy nominations for Ross and Bob Mackie and in
technical categories.
April 12, 1941
Life of Riley radio show debuts.
An unrelated radio show with the name Life of Riley was a summer replacement show heard on CBS from April 12, 1941 to September 6, 1941. The CBS program starred Lionel Stander as J. Riley Farnsworth and had no real connection with the more famous series that followed a few years later staring William Bendix as a bullheaded family man. The show ran for 10 years on radio and about six years on television.
April 13, 1986
Return to Mayberry airs on NBC.
The cast of the popular Andy Griffith Show is
reunited for a one-time television special. Besides stars Andy Griffith and Don
Knotts, the original show featured little Ronny Howard, who grew up to become a
star of television's Happy Days and, later, a famous film director. The Andy
Griffith Show ran from 1960 to 1968.
April 14, 1956
First video camera for sound and pictures demonstrated.
The first videotape recorder is demonstrated. The machine, invented by
Ray Dolby, Charles Ginsberg, and Charles Anderson, recorded both images and
sound. CBS purchased three of the video tape recorders for $75,000 each in
1956.
April 18, 1971
The Jackson 5 and Bill Cosby were guests on Diana Ross' solo TV special Diana!
Since this was right at the beginning of her solo
career, she took the opportunity to promote the two hits from her debut, the
gold audience participant "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's
Hand)" and the number 1 song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
She also performed a cover of The
Carpenters "(They Long to Be) Close to You"
and the top-20 gold single "Remember Me" released
that previous December 1970 included on her forthcoming album "Surrender" to be
released later that summer. (Though she performed "Reach Out and Touch
(Somebody's Hand)" on the special, it was not included on the soundtrack).
The television special, and its subsequent
soundtrack, was a Neilsen's ratings winner, hitting the top 20 (number 17) of
shows that week and garnering Emmy nominations for Ross and Bob Mackie and in
technical categories.
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Tony Figueroa