Mr. Television: Sunday, October 17, 2021

Television
Game show “The Hollywood Squares” debuted on NBC in 1966 in daytime with Ernest Borgnine in the center square. Peter Marshall was the host and the first week also featured Cliff Arquette (a.k.a. “Charlie Weaver”), Wally Cox, Morey Amsterdam, Rose Marie and Abby Dalton…Barbra Streisand was featured in CBS special “Belle of 14th Street” in 1967…In 1999, HBO presented what it thought would be a one-time, one-hour special, “Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm.” The show was presented as a mocumentary that followed David’s preparation for an upcoming HBO comedy special…Docuseries “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” opened on E! in 2007...Amy Schumer comedy special “Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo” premiered on HBO in 2015.

Movies
“Around the World in 80 Days”, based on the book by Jules Verne, and starring David Niven and Cantinflas, opened in New York in 1956…“Jailhouse Rock”, starring Elvis Presley, premiered in Memphis, Tennessee in 1957…“Bullitt” directed by Peter Yates and starring Steve McQueen and Jacqueline Bisset opened in theaters across the country in 1967.

Music
Chuck Berry single “My Ding-a-ling“, rose to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard charts in 1972.

Celebrity Birthdays
Country singer Alan Jackson is 61; Rapper Eminem is 49.

Did You Know?
Bert Parks was the host of “The Hollywood Squares” in the unaired pilot “Storybook Squares”… A children’s version of “The Hollywood Squares” aired on Saturday mornings on NBC from Jan. 4 to Aug. 30, 1969 and featured stars dressed as various fictional characters from television and fairy tales as well as historical figures from the past. It returned briefly in the 1976–77 season featuring entire families playing.