Today in History: Friday, March 5, 2021

Television and Radio
The 1933 theatrical “King Kong” premiered on U.S. television in 1956…Docuseries “The Osbournes,” featuring Ozzy, Sharon, Kelly and Jack Osbourne, debuted on MTV in 2002. It aired for three seasons and the first season was the most-watched series ever in the cable net…”The Class“, the sitcom about a group of former third-grade classmates who become reacquainted with each other’s lives two decades later, concluded its only season on CBS in 2007. The comedy was created by David Crane (“Friends”) and had starred Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lizzy Caplan, Jon Bernthal and Jason Ritter…Christian Siriano was the winner of the fourth season of reality competition “Project Runway” on Bravo in 2008. At the age of 22 years old at the time, Siriano became the show’s youngest winner ever (to date) and he has since been one of the most sought-after designers in the worlds of fashion and Hollywood. Beginning with season 17 of “Project Runway” in the spring of 2019, Siriano replaced Tim Gunn as contestant adviser…The U.S. version of docuseries “Who Do You Think You Are?” debuted on NBC in 2010. Based on the British original, the program delves into the ancestry of celebrities. It is co-executive produced by Lisa Kudrow (“Friends”) and Dan Bucatinsky (“Scandal”). The first episode featured “Sex and the City” alum Sarah Jessica Parker. To date, 78 episodes plus one special across ten seasons have been produced. The latter seven seasons have aired on TLC… “Bring It!“, the reality series about one of the country’s preeminent dance troupes led by its founder and mentor Dianna Williams, debuted on Lifetime in 2014. It ran for five seasons with 121 episodes…Anthology crime drama “American Crime” starring Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton and Regina King launched on ABC in 2015. Created by Academy Award-winning screenwriter John Ridley (“12 Years A Slave”), the series delved into issues of race, class and gender politics among the backdrop of the legal system. It aired 29 episodes across three condensed seasons…Also in 2015, “Dig” premiered on USA Network. The murder mystery set in Israel starred Jason Isaacs and Anne Heche. Only ten episodes aired…Science experiment series “MythBusters” with hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman concluded its original run on Discovery in 2016 after 14 seasons. Science Channel revived the program in November 2017 with new hosts Jon Lung and Brian Louden but only 14 episodes of the updated edition were produced…Three short-lived series launched in 2017: Fox comedy “Making History” starring Adam Pally and Leighton Meester; ABC fantasy drama “Time After Time” starring Josh Bowman; and E! drama “The Arrangement” starring Josh Henderson…Also in 2017 was the start of the eight-episode FX limited series “Feud: Bette and Joan“. Ryan Murphy chronicled the behind-the-scenes drama during the filming of the 1962 film “What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?” with its clashing stars Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange)…In 2020, the first two episodes of the eight-episode limited series “Devs” premiered on FX on Hulu. The science fiction murder mystery starred Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman and Alison Pill. It was among President Barack Obama‘s list of the year’s best TV shows

Movies:
“Airport” based on the book by Arthur Hailey, and starring Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jacqueline Bisset, Maureen Stapleton and Helen Hayes opened in theaters in 1970. Produced on a $10 million budget, it earned over $100 million, and Helen Hayes took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

News:
Elvis Presley ended his two years of service in the U.S, Army in 1960.

Celebrity Birthdays:
Religious leader Joel Osteen is 58; Actress Eve Mendes (“Training Day”) is 47.

Did You Know?
“Airport” had three sequels: “Airport 1975”, “Airport ’77” and “The Concorde…Airport ’79”…There is a third Osbourne sibling, Aimee, who chose not to appear on the program. Each of the four Osbournes on camera received $20,000 per episode in the first season’s 10-episode run. By season two, Sharon negotiated a reported $5 million for each family member for the season.