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"
that we could use to momentarily forget about those
things that leave a bad taste in our mouths
PEOPLE has partnered with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation to present a virtual table read of a 1975 episode of the beloved sitcom!
For the upcoming table read, four-time SAG Award nominee Henry Winkler will reprise his iconic role as "the Fonz," joined by a series of other stars who will step into new roles: Glenn Close (2021 SAG Award nominee, Hillbilly Elegy) as Marion Cunningham, John Carroll Lynch (2021 SAG Award nominee, The Trial of the Chicago 7) as Howard Cunningham, and 2021 SAG Award nominees Eli Goree and Aldis Hodge (One Night in Miami...) as Richie Cunningham and Ralph Malph, respectively. The group will read the episode "The Motorcycle," where Winkler's Fonzie seeks revenge for the culprit who demolished his treasured bike.
Barbra Streisand's "Color Me Barbra" special aired on CBS-TV.
April 3, 1956
Elvis sings his first RCA recording, "Heartbreak Hotel," on NBC's Milton Berle Show.
An estimated 25 percent of America's population saw him sing that night; by April 21, the song had become Elvis' first No. 1 single.
April 4, 1971
The final episode of Hogan's Heroes aired.
Rockets Or Romance: Three mobile rocket launchers are aimed at London and awaiting detonation, or destruction. With radio detection trucks patrolling the area and one rocket sitting inside Stalag 13, directing the Allied bombers could turn into a suicide mission. Timeline: Klink tells Hogan the Germans will stop the Allies from Capturing Munich-which was captured in March 1945.
April 4, 1986
The final episode of Knight Rider aired.
Voo Doo Knight: Michael tries to stop a voodoo woman who is using mind control on innocent people and forcing them to commit crimes for her.
The Canadian actor,
musician, recording artist, author and film director. He gained worldwide fame
and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T. Kirk, captain of the USS
Enterprise, in the science
fiction television series, Star Trek, from 1966
to 1969; Star Trek: The Animated Series from 1973 to 1974; and in seven of the subsequent Star
Trek feature films from 1979 to 1994. He has written a series of books
chronicling his experiences playing Captain Kirk and being a part of Star Trek, and has co-written several novels set in the Star
Trek universe. He has also authored a series of science fiction novels
called TekWar that were adapted for television.
Frank
Cannon was a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, however he retired after the deaths of his wife
and son in a car
accident and
later became a private detective. The series begins at the point
where Cannon is just beginning this new career (the pilot film picks up after
Cannon has just spent 2 1/2 months overseas on an investigation). The cause of
death of Cannon's wife and child was not clear through the first four seasons
of the show. However, the first episode of the fifth and final season revolves
around Cannon's investigation of the deaths, and he finally finds out the
reason they were killed.
The
noticeably overweight Frank Cannon had
expensive tastes, especially in food and cars. (His primary vehicle was an ice-blue '72Lincoln Continental Mark IV.)During the series' run, his car would range from a
Lincoln 1971 Mark III to a 1976 Mark IV in various color schemes, all dark over
light blue exteriors, with interiors ranging from red velour to dark-blue
leather... Cannon's investigations were mostly for clients in the Southern California area, although on occasion he was called in for investigations much
farther away (e.g., New Mexico in the pilot).
Cannon
occasionally would get hurt (shot or beaten) and knocked unconscious. He
carried a gun for self-defense, usually a snub-nosed.38 Special revolver (which
appeared to be a Colt Detective Special). Sometimes he used other guns (Including an M1911 and a B.A.R). He was known to subdue suspects with karate chops, judo holds, and occasionally he would thrust and
knock down adversaries with his huge abdomen.
In
the first two seasons Cannon was a pipe smoker. In the third season, the pipe
was seen occasionally; it was subsequently dropped altogether.
Darrow was born inNew York City, the first son of Gloria and Enrique PÃo Delgado, who worked in the restaurant and clothing businesses.Darrow's parents had moved fromPuerto Ricoto New York in the early 1930s. At the age of eight, he played a woodcutter in a school play, an experience which convinced him that his destiny was as an actor.
In 1946, when Darrow was 13, his family returned to Puerto Rico, where he discovered his roots and grew to love the island he had not known. He graduated from Academia del Perpetuo Socorro high school in Miramar, Puerto Rico, as class president before enrolling in the University of Puerto Rico. There he studied political science and acting, and worked as a part-time English-language interpreter. During his third year at the University, he was awarded a Scholarship (the first of its kind) to attend acting school. There upon Darrow moved to Los Angeles, where he enrolled in the Pasadena Playhouse. He met and married his first wife, Lucy and they went on to have two children, Denise and Tom. Darrow graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in theater arts.
In 1974-75, Darrow portrayed police detective Manny Quinlan in the first season of Harry O starring David Janssen. The character was killed off at the end of the first season in a re-tooling of the series.
In 1986, he appeared in the horror film The Hitcher as Trooper Hancock, a ruthless and vengeful policeman who would go above the law to kill the main protagonist (who was framed for the crimes by the main antagonist).
The
Greatest American Hero flew onto the small screen for the first time.
Theseries that aired for three
seasons from1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created
by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour pilot movie on March 18, 1981.The
series features William
Katt as
teacher Ralph Hinkley ("Hanley" for the latter part of the first
season), Robert
Culp as
FBI agent Bill Maxwell, and Connie Sellecca as lawyer Pam
Davidson.
The series chronicles Ralph's adventures after a
group of aliens gives him a red suit that grants him superhumanabilities. Unfortunately for
Ralph, who hates wearing the suit, he immediately loses its instruction
booklet, and thus has to learn how to use its powers by trial and error, often
with comical results.
The main character's name was originally Ralph
Hinkley, but after the assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, Jr. on March 30, 1981, the character's last name was changed to
"Hanley". For the rest of the first season, he was either
"Ralph" or "Mister H". In the episode where Ralph is given
a promotion and his own office space, we see the name "Ralph Hanley"
on the door plaque. At the start of season two, the name had changed back to
Hinkley. In the season three episode "Live At Eleven", Ralph is given
a name tag at a political rally with his last name spelled "Hunkley"
and Ralph gives up saying "it's close enough for politics".
March 20, 1931
Hal Linden is born Harold Lipshitz in New
York City.
During his youth, Linden aspired to be a big bandbandleader. Before embarking on a career in music, he decided to
change his name stating, "'Swing and Sway with Harold Lipshitz' just
didn't parse." During the 1950s, he toured with Sammy Kaye, Bobby Sherwood, and other big bands of the era. Linden played the saxophone and clarinet and also sang. He enlisted in the United
States Army in 1952 where he was sent
to Fort Belvoir and played in the United
States Army Band. While in Fort
Belvoir, a friend recommended that he see the touring production of Guys and Dolls playing in Washington, D.C. After seeing the show, Linden decided to become an
actor. Linden found success on Broadway when he replaced Sydney Chaplin in the musical Bells Are Ringing. In
1971, he won a Best Actor Tony Award for
his portrayal of Mayer Rothschild in the musical The
Rothschilds.
In 1975, Linden landed the starring role in the ABC television police comedy Barney Miller. Linden portrayed the titular captain of the
beleaguered 12th Precinct in bohemian Greenwich Village, dealing with mordant wit, compassion and occasional
frustration at the comedy-of-manners misfits brought in for arrest or
questioning, or who came to lodge a complaint or stop by on bureaucratic
business or to just say hi. He earned seven Emmy Award nominations for his work on the series, one for each
season. Linden also earned four Golden
Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. The series aired from 1975 to 1982. During the
series' run, Linden also hosted two educational series, Animals,
Animals, Animals and FYI. He won two special Daytime
Emmy Awards for the latter series.
Linden won a third Daytime Emmy Award for a guest starring role on CBS
Schoolbreak Special in 1995.
Linden has since continued his career on the stage, in films and guest starring
roles on television. He released his first album of pop and jazz standards, It's
Never Too Late, in 2011.
Linden returned to episodic television in the NBC series Blacke's Magic in 1986. He played the lead character, Alexander
Blacke, a magician who solves mysteries with the help of his assistant Leonard
(Harry Morgan). The series was canceled after 13 episodes. In 1988,
he co-starred in the romantic comedy A New
Life, directed by Alan Alda. In 1992, Linden tried his hand at television again with the leading
role in the comedy-drama series Jack's Place. In the series, Linden portrayed Jack Evans, a
retired jazz musician who ran a restaurant that was frequented by patrons who
learned lessons about love. The show was often compared to the The Love Boat by critics as it featured a different weekly guest
star. The series premiered as a mid-season
replacement but did well enough in
the ratings for ABC to order additional episodes. Viewership soon
declined and ABC chose to cancel the series in 1993. The next year, Linden
appeared in the CBS
sitcom The Boys Are Back.
That series was also low rated and canceled after 18 episodes. In 1995, Linden
won his third Daytime Emmy Award for his 1994 guest starring role as Rabbi
Markovitz on CBS
Schoolbreak Special.]
Linden continues to have an active stage career. He
appeared in the Toronto production of Tuesdays
with Morrie in 2009. In July 2011, he appeared opposite Christina Pickles in the Colony Theatre's production of On
Golden Pond. Linden also starred
in Under My Skin, which premiered at the Pasadena
Playhouse on September 19, 2012 and
ran through October 2012. In 2013, Linden guest starred in an episode of comedy
series The
Mindy Project.
After the success of Barney Miller, Linden
decided to revive his music career with a night club act. In his act, Linden
plays the clarinet, performs pop
and Broadway standards backed by a big band, and discusses his life and career.
He has continued touring with various night club and cabaret acts since the
early 1980s.
In March 2011, he began touring with his cabaret show An
Evening with Hal Linden: I'm Old Fashioned. The show, which ran through
2012, was later released on DVD. In April 2011, Linden released his first
album, It's Never Too Late. The album features a collection of jazz,
Broadway and pop standards that Linden began recording around the time he was
touring in the early 1980s. Due to a lack of interest, he shelved the songs.
Linden decided to finish the album on the advice of his tour booker. Linden is
the spokesperson for the Jewish
National Fund, a position he has held
since 1997. Linden met dancer Fran Martin while doing summer stock in 1955.
They married in 1958 and had four children. Martin died in 2010.
