This Day in History: Monday, October 11, 2021

Television
“McHale’s Navy” began its four season run on ABC in 1962. The sitcom originated from an episode called “Seven Against the Sea” with Ernest Borgnine on anthology series “Alcoa Premiere”…“Live from New York…it’s Saturday Night!” Late night NBC staple “Saturday Night Live” debuted in 1975 with Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner as the original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players”…Critically acclaimed (but perennially low-rated) NBC sitcom “30 Rock” debuted in 2006. It aired for seven seasons and aired for a reunion episode featuring the entire cast (Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer and Tracy Morgan) on July 16, 2020, which used to promote the network’s upcoming new series…Sitcom “Last Man Standing” starring Tim Allen and Nancy Travis debuted on ABC in 2011. After its sixth season in 2017, the family comedy was canceled by ABC. One year later, Fox picked it up and, beginning in the fall of 2018, attracted respectable ratings on Friday nights (pre-“WWE SmackDown”). Overall, the series ran for 194 episodes across nine seasons, just ten episodes short of Allen’s first hit sitcom, the 1991-99 comedy “Home Improvement.“

Movies
The film noir classic “Laura”, starring Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews, opened in New York City in 1941. The American Film Institute named it one of the 10 best mystery films of all time.

Music
John Lennon’s single “Imagine” was released in 1971. The best-selling single of his solo career, the lyrics encourage listeners to imagine a world of peace, without materialism, without borders separating nations and without religion…Lionel Richie released his second album, “Can’t Slow Down”, in 1983.

News
American astronaut Kathryn Sullivan became the first woman to walk in space in 1984.

Celebrity Birthdays
Country singer Gene Watson is 78; singer Daryl Hall is 75; actress Catlin Adams (“The Jerk,” ″The Jazz Singer”) is 71; MTV VJ Mark Goodman is 69; actor David Morse (“St. Elsewhere”) is 68; Super Bowl XXIX MVP quarterback Steve Young is 60; actress Joan Cusack is 59; actor-writer Michael J. Nelson (“Mystery Science Theater 3000”) is 57; actor Sean Patrick Flanery is 56; actor Lennie James (“The Walking Dead”) is 56; comedian Artie Lange (“MADtv”) is 54; “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” star Jane Krakowski is 53; “UnREAL” star Constance Zimmer is 51; actress Emily Deschanel (“Bones”) is 45; actor Matt Bomer (“White Collar”) is 44; actor Trevor Donovan (“90210″) is 43; actress Michelle Trachtenberg (“Buffy, the Vampire Slayer”) is 36; golfer Michelle Wie is 32; rapper Belcalis Almanazar (aka Cardi B) is 29.

Did You Know?
Two theatrical films based on “McHale’s Navy” were produced during its run: “McHale’s Navy” in 1964 and “McHale’s Navy Joins the Air Force” in 1965. In 1997, the sitcom was revived on the big screen with Tom Arnold as McHale, Dean Stockwell as Captain Wallace B. Binghamton and David Alan Grier as Ensign Charles T. Parker…In 2019, NBC gave a straight-to-series order for a spin-off from “30 Rock” featuring Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy now the mayor of New York. When Baldwin dropped out, Ted Danson replaced him as the lead character in “Mr. Mayor.”