Today in History: Friday, January 12, 2024

Television
Variety-themed “Arthur Godfrey and His Friends” premiered on CBS in 1949. The title was changed to “The Arthur Godfrey Show” in September 1956…ABC camp classic “Batman” launched in 1966 and zoomed to the top of the rating charts. But the novelty wore off by the third – and final – season despite the arrival or Yvonne Craig as Batgirl…The first revival of “Dragnet” debuted on NBC in 1967.  It starred Jack Webb and Harry Morgan…Controversial “All in the Family” from Norman Lear debuted on CBS in 1971 and ultimately spun-off five series: “Maude,” “The Jeffersons,” “Archie Bunker’s Place,” “Gloria” and “704 Hauser.” Two of those shows (“Maude” into “Good Times” and “The Jeffersons” into “Checking In”) had their own spin-offs….Animated “King of the Hill” opened on Fox in 1997. It ran for 13 seasons…”Dynasty” bowed on ABC in 1981 and eventually moved ahead of the then top-rated show in primetime, “Dallas.” The reboot on The CW ran for five uneventful seasons…Animated “King of the Hill” began its 13-season run on Fox in 1997…Comedy “Lizzie McGuire”, starring Hilary Duff, premiere on Disney Channel in 2001. It ran for two seasons…“True Detective”, the HBO crime anthology series, launched in 2014. Season one featured Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey.

Music
American record company Motown was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records in 1959.

Sports
Steve Carlton was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.

Celebrity Birthdays
Country singer William Lee Golden of the Oak Ridge Boys is 85; Country singer Ricky Van Shelton is 72; shock-jock Howard Stern is 70; News correspondent Christiane Amanpour is 66; actor Oliver Platt is 64; singer Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice) of the Spice Girls is 50; actress Issa Rae is 39.

Did You Know?
At the last minute NBC expressed interest in a fourth season of “Batman” after ABC canceled it. But the sets (including the Batcave) were already torn down and it was too expensive to reconstruct them. Holy missed opportunity!