Today in History: Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Television and Radio:
Variety half-hour “The Victor Borge Show” ended its five-month run on NBC in 1951…CBS daytime soap “The Guiding Light” began its 57-year run in 1952…CBS introduced the half-hour “The Johnny Carson Show,” which was a mixture of comedy sketches and singing, in 1955. The audience interest was minimal and the series expired on March 29, 1956. Carson began his almost 30-year hosting duties on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” on October 1, 1962…Summer ABC variety series “The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour,“ hosted by Jack Burns and Avery Screiber, debuted in 1973. It aired for just one summer season and also featured Teri Garr and Fred Willard…NBC fired its president Fred Silverman in 1981 for failing to top CBS and ABC — his previous two employers in the 1970’s — in the network ratings during his tenure. During Silverman’s brief NBC stint, he brought “Diff’rent Strokes” and its spinoff “The Facts of Life” to air while he helped develop “Real People“, “Cheers“. and “Hill Street Blues“…The ABC military family drama “Call to Glory,” which was set at fictionalized Edwards Air Force Base in the early 1960s, concluded its two-season run in 1985. It starred Craig T. Nelson and Cindy Pickett…Medical drama “Hothouse,” starring Michael Learned, began on ABC in 1988. It lasted only 7 episodes…In 2015, Misty Copeland became the first African American female to be named principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre.

Movies:
“Easter Parade,” starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire, premiered in 1948…Children’s classic “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,” starring Gene Wilder, opened in theaters in 1971…”Do the Right Thing,” which was directed by and starred Spike Lee, premiered in 1989…”The Firm“, the motion picture based on the John Grisham novel that was directed by Sydney Pollack and starred Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman and Jeanne Tripplehorn, premiered in 1993…Three films opened in 1995: the Oscar-nominated box office hit “Apollo 13,” directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton; “Judge Dredd,” starring Sylvester Stallone and Rob Schneider; and, “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie“…The R-rated “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut,” based on the popular animated Comedy Central series, opened in theaters in 1999. Its song “Blame Canada” was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards and was performed by Robin Williams at the ceremony in the spring of 2000…George Clooney scored his first feature film box office success with the disaster pic “The Perfect Storm,” which premiered in 2000. It also starred Mark Wahlberg and Diane Lane…Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2” starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco and Alfred Molina opened in wide release in 2004…Fashion comedy-drama “The Devil Wears Prada” starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway was released nationwide in 2006…Two films with nationwide releases in 2017: animated “Despicable Me 3” featuring the voices of Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig and the action flick “Baby Driver” starring Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx.

Celebrity Birthdays
Actress Nancy Dussault (“Too Close for Comfort”) is 85; actor David Garrison (“Married With Children”) is 69; actor-director Ken Olin (“thirtysomething”) is 67; actor David Alan Grier (“In Living Color”) is 65; actor Vincent D’Onofrio (“Law & Order: Criminal Intent”) is 62; actress Deirdre Lovejoy (“The Wire”) is 59; boxer Mike Tyson is 55; actress Monica Potter (“Parenthood”) is 50; actress Molly Parker (“House of Cards”) is 49; comedian Tony Rock (Chris Rock’s brother) is 47; actress Lizzy Caplan (“Masters of Sex”) is 39; “American Idol” season three winner Fantasia Barrino is 37; Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps is 36; actor Sean Marquette (“The Goldbergs”) is 33…And a very Happy 34th Birthday to one of our loyal readers and subscribers, Northwest Iowa KUOO Campus Radio personality Jason Jacobs!

Did You Know?
“The Guiding Light” is listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest-running drama in television in American history, broadcast on CBS for 57 years (until Sept. 18, 2009), and overlapping a 19-year broadcast run on radio from 1937 to 1956…Jack Burns had the impossible task of replacing multiple Emmy Award winner Don Knotts on CBS’ “The Andy Griffith Show.” He played inept deputy sherriff in 11 appearances in the 1965-66 season after Knotts exited…Fantasia Barrino’s brother Ricco auditioned for the eight season of “American Idol” but failed to make it to the Hollywood round.