Today in History: Friday, April 2

Television and Radio:
“The Big Story” began its eight season run on NBC radio in 1947. Each week the program recognized the reporter who wrote the story on which that episode was based and the newspaper in which the story appeared… Remember that guy that streaked past David Niven in the buff on “The Academy Awards”? His name was Robert Opal and it happened on this day in 1974… CBS daytime dramas “The Edge of Night” and “As the World Turns” premiered in 1956. “The Edge of Night” moved to ABC in 1975 and remained on the air until 1984. “As the World Turns” enjoyed a 54 season run on the Eye net, concluding in 2010… CBS drama “Dallas” opened in 1978 in the form of a five-part miniseries. It returned as a regularly scheduled series the following fall and concluded on May 3, 1991. Combined with the recent three season revival on TNT (2012-14), a total of 397 episodes of “Dallas” have been produced… NBC aired TV movie “The Facts of Life Go to Paris,“ featuring the cast of the sitcom, in 1984…CBS launched two short-lived sitcoms: “Good Advice” in 1993 starring Shelley Long; and “The Lucie Arnaz Show” in 1985 which aired for six episodes and co-starred Tony Roberts…Monthly Sports newsmagazine “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” debuted on HBO in 1995…WB sitcom “Smart Guy,” starring Tahj Mowry, began its three season run in 1999. Taj is the brother of Tia and Tamera Mowry of “Sister, Sister” fame…Eight short-lived series launched: 1) Fox’s “World’s Wildest Police Videos” in 1998; 2) Dick Wolf’s Beltway drama “D.C.” on The WB in 2000 starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Daniel Sunjata, and Kristanna Loken; 3) Kevin Hart sitcom “The Big House” on ABC in 2004; 4) VH1 comedy “So NoTORIous” in 2006 loosely based on the life of Tori Spelling (which also starred Loni Anderson); 5) CBS hospital drama “Miami Medical” in 2010; 6) Comedy Central animated sketch comedy “TripTank” in 2014; 7) Syfy mythological drama “Olympus” in 2015; ABC mystery drama “The Crossing” in 2018; 8_ CBS sitcom “Broke” in 2020 starring Pauley Perrette…NBC medical drama “ER” concluded after 15 seasons in 2009…Two current programs began: celebrity competition “Lip Sync Battle“, based on an idea by Stephen Merchant and John Krasinski and a segment from “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon“, on Spike in 2015; and ESPN morning program “Get Up!” in 2018 with its original hosts Mike Greenberg, Michelle Beadle and Jalen Rose… Six short-lived series concluded: 1) CBS crime drama “EZ Streets” in 1997 starring Ken Olin, Joe Pantoliano and Jason Gedrick; 2) UPN animated comedy “Game Over” in 2004 featuring the voices of Patrick Warburton, Lucy Liu and Rachel Dratch; 3) CBS police procedural “Eleventh Hour” in 2009; 4) PBS news program “Worldfocus” in 2010; 5) NBC’s Ryan Murphy-produced sitcom “The New Normal” in 2013; 6) Starz pirate drama “Black Sails” in 2017.

Movies
“2001: A Space Odyssey”, directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, premiered at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C. in 1968. The film is noted for its scientifically accurate depiction of space flight, pioneering special effects and imagery…Theatrical “Patton,“ starring George C. Scott in his Oscar-winning role, opened in theaters in 1970.
 
Music:
Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” album went No. 1 in 1977 and stayed stays No. 1 for 31 for 31 week… Elton John was the host and musical guest of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” in 2011. It was his first appearance on SNL since 1981.

Celebrity Birthdays:
“NCIS: Los Angeles” star Linda Hunt is 76; country singer Emmylou Harris is 74; actor Sam Anderson (“Lost,” ″ER,” ″Perfect Strangers”) is 74; actress Pamela Reed (“Grand”) is 72; Country singer Buddy Jewell is 60; actress Christopher Meloni (“Law & Order: SVU”) is 60; Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” star Clark Gregg is 59; actress Jana Marie Hupp (“Ed”) is 57; actress Roselyn Sanchez (“Devious Maids”) is 49; actor Pedro Pascal (“Game of Thrones”) is 46; actor Adam Rodriguez (“Criminal Minds,” ″CSI: Miami”) is 46; actor Michael Fassbender (“Shame,” ″Inglourious Basterds”) is 44; singer Lee Dewyze (“American Idol”) is 35; actor Jesse Plemons (“Fargo,” “Breaking Bad”) is 33.

Did You Know?
Both “Dallas” and “ER” finished three of their seasons ranked as the No. 1 show overall in all of primetime. “Dallas,” in fact, populated the Top 10 for seven consecutive seasons (from 1979 to 1986).