Television “Family“, the drama about the Lawrence family set in Pasadena, California and starring Sada Thompson, James Broderick, Kristy McNichol and Meredith Baxter Birney, premiered on ABC in 1976. Its executive producers were Leonard Goldberg, Aaron Spelling, and “The Graduate” director Mike Nichols. The series lasted for five seasons…Dan Rather became the primary anchor of the “CBS Evening News” in 1981…”Rags to Riches“, starring Joseph Bologna as a millionaire in […]
Television Groucho, Chico and Harpo Marx made their final appearance together in a short comedy on “General Electric Theater” on CBS in 1959 called “The Incredible Jewel Robbery.” The trio made 13 films together. The first five – “The Cocoanuts”, “Animal Crackers”, “Monkey Business,“ “Horse Feathers” and “Duck Soup” – also included younger brother Zeppo…TV movie “The Marcus-Nelson Murders” which introduced the character of detective Theo Kojak (Telly Savalas) first aired on CBS […]
Television ABC western “The Rifleman” reached the 100-episode mark in 1961. It ended after five seasons on April 8, 1963…Two sitcoms, the original “The Odd Couple” on ABC in 1975 and “Diff’rent Strokes” on ABC in 1986, concluded their runs. In 1993, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall reunited for TV movie “The Odd Couple: Together Again”…The Nashville Network (TNN) launched in 1983. The network was renamed The National Network (later The New TNN) […]
Television “Lost in Space” on CBS aired its final original episode in 1968. The series ran for three seasons and was canceled due to the high cost of production. A “Lost in Space” theatrical movie was produced in 1998 and Netflix rebooted the series for three seasons…Walter Cronkite, “the most trusted man in America,” signed-off as anchorman […]
Television and Radio The classic 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 on the cable net…”The Class“, the sitcom about a group of former third-grade classmates who become reacquainted with each […]
Television “Chico and the Man” in 1977 featured the final episode with Freddie Prinze, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound five weeks earlier. The producers considered ending the sitcom, but opted for a fourth – and final – season featuring a 12-year old stowaway (Gabriel Melgar)…A pre-“Dallas” Patrick Duffy starred as the “Man from Atlantis,” which began as a TV movie on NBC in 1977. Two similarly-titled […]
Television The first “People’s Choice Awards” was telecast in 1975. The winner’s included John Wayne and Barbra Streisand for motion pictures, and Alan Alda, Mary Tyler Moore and Telly Savalas for television…“Moonlighting” with Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis debuted on ABC in 1985. A combination of comedy, drama, mystery and romance, it is the R word in this descriptor that actually helped put ABC’s “Moonlighting” out of commission. We all remember what […]
