Television While visiting Italy, Lucy (Lucille Ball) worked in a vineyard to “soak up a little color” for a role in a film called “Bitter Grapes” in this classic episode of “I Love Lucy” in 1956. In 1962, “the most trusted man in America,” Walter Cronkite, began anchoring the “CBS Evening News” (which was initially called “Walter Cronkite with the News”)…Barry Bostwick hosted […]
The cigarette industry has declined over the past couple of years. According to Altria, the maker of popular brands such as Marlboro, these products take up only 60% of the nicotine market, as opposed to 80% in 2018. The company predicts that it will fall below 50% in three years. Inversely, companies like Philip Morris […]
Television Western “The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok,” starring Guy Madison, debuted in first-run syndication in 1951. It moved to CBS in 1955…Adventure/espionage drama “I Spy,” starring Bill Cosby and Robert Culp, concluded on NBC in 1968. It aired for three seasons…Law school drama “The Paper Chase” starring James Stephens and John Houseman made its Showtime cable network debut in 1983. It had aired for one season […]
Television NBC sitcom “Teacher’s Only,” starring Norman Fell and Lynn Redgrave, opened in 1982. It aired for two seasons. Jean Smart was added to the cast in the second season, which was her first role in a regularly scheduled series…Eddie Murphy exited “Saturday Night Live” in 1984…Variety-themed “The Jim Henson Hour” debuted on NBC in 1989. At the beginning of each episode, Jim Henson would enter an oddly-decorated set (alongside […]
Television Barbara Bel Geddes (pre-“Dallas”) killed her cheating husband with a frozen leg of lamb, and then cooked it and served it to the police officers investigating the murder on the “Lamb to the Slaughter” episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” on CBS in 1958. This was based on a short story by Roald Dahl…Sidney Poitier became the first African American to […]
Television Police drama “21 Jump Street,” the first drama to air on Fox, debuted in 1987. One of the stars was a young Johnny Depp. Also in 1987: TV movie “Escape From Sobibor,” the story of the mass escape by Jewish prisoners from the extermination camp at Sobibor, aired on CBS…On a very special episode of the ABC sitcom […]
Television Music variety themed “Hullabaloo” on NBC, which was patterned after “American Bandstand,” ended its two season run in 1966. NBC’s “Hill Street Blues” hit the 100-episode mark in 1985. The highly honored police drama concluded two seasons later after 146 episodes…“704 Hauser,” the fifth — and final — spin-off from “All in the Family,” debuted on CBS in 1994. It ran for only […]
