Today in History: Thursday, June 20, 2024

Television:
“Toast of the Town,” the original title of legendary “The Ed Sullivan Show,” debuted on CBS in 1948. The first episode featured Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II, concert pianist Eugene List, and the six original June Taylor Dancers (then called the Toastettes).

In 1966, The U.S. Open golf tournament was broadcast in color for the first time…NBC summer replacement variety series, “Dean Martin Presents” (or, more specifically, “Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers”) launched in 1968.

Summer variety hour “The Ray Stevens Show” debuted on NBC in 1970… “Yellowstone” starring Kevin Costner, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Luke Grimes and Cole Hauser debuted on Paramount Network in 2018. The second part of the current fifth – and final – season opens on November 10. Upcoming spin-off “Yellowstone 2024” is set to take place after the events of the original show.

“Holey Moley” hosted by Rob Riggle and Joe Tessitore debuted on ABC in 2019. The game show set on a supersized miniature golf obstacle course has produced four seasons thus far. NBA superstar Stephen Curry serves as an executive producer and the show’s resident golf pro.

Movies:
Steven Spielberg thriller “Jaws” opened in theaters in 1975. In just 78 days, it overtook “The Godfather” as the highest-grossing film at the North American box office, moving past that picture’s earnings of $86 million, and became the first film to earn $100 million in U.S. theatrical rentals.

News:
Lizzie Borden acquitted of the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts

Celebrity Birthdays:
Actress Bonnie Bartlett (“St. Elsewhere”) is 95; actor James Tolkan (“Back to the Future”) is 93; Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys is 82; actor John McCook (“The Bold and the Beautiful”) is 80; pop singer Anne Murray is 79; home repair host Bob Vila is 78; actress Candy Clark (“American Graffiti”) is 77; R&B singer Lionel Richie is 75; “Roseanne” star John Goodman is 72; Oscar winner Nicole Kidman is 57; actor Josh Lucas (“Sweet Home Alabama,” ″A Beautiful Mind”) is 53; actor Mark Saul (“Grey’s Anatomy”) is 39; actress Dreama Walker (film’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” TV’s “Gossip Girl”) is 38; actor Chris Mintz-Plasse (“Superbad”) is 35.

Did You Know?:
It was a “Really Big Shew!” The list of performers on “The Ed Sullivan Show” over the course of the variety hour included Elvis Presley, The Jackson 5, The Supremes, The Beach Boys, The Dave Clark Five, Janis Joplin, The Rolling Stones, The Mamas & the Papas, The Lovin’ Spoonful, The Doors, Herman’s Hermits and, of course, The Beatles.