Today in History – Friday, March 19, 2021

Television and Radio
“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” on CBS ended its seven season run in 1977…CBS sitcom “Kate & Allie,“ starring Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin, opened in 1984. It aired through May 22, 1989. NBC has ordered a pilot for a potential reboot…Also in 1984: After being canceled in May 1983, CBS crime solver “Cagney & Lacey” received a second chance thanks to a letter writing campaign by the fans. Seven new episodes were produced for that abbreviated third season, with an additional four full seasons (and four follow-up made-for television movies). A revival of “Cagney & Lacey” was in development on CBS, but it has not moved forward…CBS debuted the animated special “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!” in 1970…The Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, better known as C-SPAN, launched in 1979. Known primarily for live coverage of government proceedings, its first day featured a speech by then-Tennessee congressmember Al Gore…Promoting her “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign, then-First Lady Nancy Reagan visits Arnold (Gary Coleman) at the Drummond household about his controversial article on drug abuse at his school on NBC’s “Diff’rent Strokes” in 1983…NBC premiered two series in 1987: the college-set sitcom “Roomies” starring Burt Young and Corey Haim and the high school drama “The Bronx Zoo” starring Ed Asner; the former would air for only eight episodes, the latter had 20 of its episodes aired across two seasons…Part one of the two-part miniseries “The Women of Brewster Place” starring Oprah Winfrey, Jackée Harry, Robin Givens, Lynn Whitfield and Cicely Tyson aired on the ABC Sunday Night Movie in 1989. Both parts attracted big ratings: Part 1 scored a 23.5 U.S. household rating/36 share, part 2 delivered a 24.5/38. Only two episodes of ABC’s “Roseanne” and one episode of NBC’s “The Cosby Show” at the time rated higher. The miniseries spawned the ABC drama “Brewster Place” that had a brief run from May thru July in 1990… in 1997, USA Network premiered the made-for-TV movie “Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story” starring Mario Lopez (“Saved by the Bell”) as the Olympic gold medalist diver…Several short-lived series launched: performing arts high school docuseries “Taking the Stage” on MTV in 2009; celebrity diving competition “Splash” on ABC in 2013; teen murder mystery “Twisted” on ABC Family in 2013; family docuseries “For Peete’s Sake” with Rodney Peete and Holly Robinson Peete on OWN in 2016; trivia quiz show “Mental Samurai” hosted by Rob Lowe on Fox in 2019; “This Is Us”-esque drama “The Village” on NBC in 2019…Sci-fi adventure “The 100” about a group of youths transported to a new world for the purposes of creating a better society debuted on The CW in 2014. The series ran for 100 episodes across seven seasons…Comedy “Teachers” concluded its 3-season, 50-episode series run on TV Land in 2019.

Movies:
“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”, starring Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill, first premiered in Mexico City in 2016. It was a follow-up to “Man of Steel” in 2013 and the second installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU).

Books and Magazines:
Music-themed Spin Magazine began publishing in 1985. The final issue was in 2012.

News:
In 2012, Wendy’s surpassed Burger King to become the second best-selling hamburger chain.

Celebrity Birthdays:
Renee Taylor (“The Nanny”) is 88; Ursula Andress (“Dr. No”) is 85; Oscar nominee Glenn Close is 74; “Die Hard” star Bruce Willis is 66; Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is 63.

Did You Know?
“Cagney & Lacey” stars Tyne Daly (Mary Beth Lacey) and Sharon Gless (Christine Cagney) dominated the Emmy Awards throughout the series run with four wins for Daly and two for Gless for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series from 1983 to 1988.