Mr. Television: Saturday, October 30, 2021

Television and Radio
On radio, and in 1938, Orson Welles and his troupe of radio actors interrupted the Columbia Broadcasting System’s programming to “report” that our planet had been invaded. It was actually the dramatization of H. G. Wells‘ fantasy “War of the Worlds“. According to reports, approximately 12 million people were listening when Welles’ broadcast came on the air and about 1 in every 12 of those people thought it was true…NBC daytime game show “Concentration,” hosted by Jack Barry, was added to the network’s prime-time lineup in 1958 as a temporary replacement for “Twenty-One,“ which had been pulled from the schedule in response to television’s quiz-show scandal….”Oh, the humanity!”: Mr. Carlson (Gordon Jump) came up with a promotional stunt to drop live turkeys from an airplane for Thanksgiving on this classic episode of CBS sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati” in 1978. “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!!!”, befuddled Carlson admitted…Hotel restaurant sitcom “It’s A Living” debuted on ABC in 1980. The show aired on ABC from October 30, 1980 until June 11, 1982. After the series was canceled by ABC, new episodes aired in first-run syndication from 1985 to 1989…”Motown’s 25th Anniversary Special” aired on NBC in 1983. It most notably featured the debut of The Moon Walk dance by Michael Jackson… on NBC’s “Seinfeld” in 1991, Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer get lost in a mall parking garage.

Movies:
“The Sheik”, a silent film starring Rudolph Valentino, premiered in Los Angeles in 1921…“One Night in the Tropics,“ the film debut of duo Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, opened in New Jersey in 1940…“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1,” starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, premiered at the Rome Film Festival in 2011.

Music:
George Michael‘s debut solo album “Faith” was released in 1987.

News:
The Sherman Oaks Galleria in Southern California’s “The Valley” opened in 1980. The area was the center of the decade’s teenage mall culture.

Sports:
The “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing match took place in Zaire in 1974, where Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round. Ali earned the heavyweight boxing championship title for the second time in his career…In 2001, President George W. Bush, wearing a bulletproof vest, threw out the first pitch of Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, NY, seven weeks after the 9/11 attacks…The Washington Nationals earn their first World Series title in 2019, winning four games to three over the Houston Astros. Starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg was named World Series MVP. It was the only Fall Classic where the road team won each of the seven games in the series.
 
Celebrity Birthdays:
Singer Eddie Holland is 81; Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick is 81; actor Henry Winkler (“Happy Days”) is 75; NBC news journalist Andrea Mitchell is 74; actor Harry Hamlin (“L.A. Law”) is 69; actor-comedian Kevin Pollak (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) is 63; Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona is 60; actor Michael Beach (“Third Watch”) is 57; Bush lead singer Gavin Rossdale is 55; “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” star Nia Long is 50; “Cash Cab” host Ben Bailey is 50; actor Matthew Morrison (“Glee”) is 42; actor Gael Garcia Bernal (“Babel”) is 42.

Did You Know?
Nine years after “WKRP in Cincinnati” concluded came spin-off “The New WKRP in Cincinnati,” which began its two season run in first-run syndication on Sept. 14, 1991. Gordon Jump (Arthur Carlson), Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek), and Richard Sanders (Les Nessman) reprised their roles from the original show, while Howard Hesseman returned as Dr. Johnny Fever on a recurring basis. Unlike the original, there were no live turkeys…or as many laughs…After retooling the cast of “It’s a Living” in season two, ABC changed the title to “Making a Living.“ When it was revived in first-run syndication, it returned to its original title.