Today in History: Friday, May 24, 2024

Television
There were 9 series finales of note: 1) “The Dean Martin Show” on NBC in 1974; 2) Aaron Spelling’s “The Love Boat” on ABC in 1986; 3) CBS sitcom “Designing Women” in 1993; 4) Fox prime time soap “Melrose Place”, 5) NBC sitcom “Mad About You”, and 6) UPN action drama “The Sentinel” — all in 1999; 7) syndicated dating competition “ElimiDate” in 2006; 8) the original run of syndicated variety show “Showtime At The Apollo” in 2008; and 9) Fox thriller “24”

Seven other series concluded: 1) ABC’s “Happy Days” sitcom spinoff “Joanie Loves Chachi” in 1983; 2) ABC sitcom “Mr. Sunshine” in 1986; 3) ABC family sitcom “10 Things I Hate About You” in 2010; 4) syndicated talker “The Nate Berkus Show” and 5) NBC police drama “Awake” — both in 2012; 6) CBS police comedy-drama “Battle Creek” in 2015; and 7) HBO romantic comedy “Run” in 2020.

NBC premiered the TV movie “Seasons of the Heart” in 1994. It starred Carol Burnett and George Segal as a married couple who are suddenly tasked to raise their young grandson. The film was directed by actress Lee Grant and its score was composed by Marvin Hamlisch.

The first passionate male gay kiss on U.S. prime time television occurred on the third season finale of The WB teen drama “Dawson’s Creek” in 2000. The episode that featured Jack (Kerr Smith) kissing Ethan (Adam Kaufman) was co-written by Greg Berlanti, who would go on to produce ABC’s family drama “Brothers & Sisters” in 2006 and The CW’s DC Universe-based series franchises over the past decade…The Bahamas wedding of “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race” contestants Amber Brkich and “Boston” Rob Mariano was televised on a CBS primetime special in 2005.

Taylor Hicks was crowned the winner of “American Idol” season five on Fox in 2006. “Smash” and “Scorpion” star Katharine McPhee placed runner-up. The finale was the culmination of the Fox reality competition’s most-watched season in its franchise, averaging 30-31 million viewers per episode. Hicks’ first single “Do I Make You Proud” debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart later that summer. Of the season’s contestants, fourth-place finisher Chris Daughtry had the most commercial success…Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Hines Ward and former “America’s Next Top Model” winner Nyle DiMarco were crowned season’s champions of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” in their respective years: Hines, with professional dance partner Kym Johnson for the 12th edition in 2011; and DiMarco (the first deaf DWTS winner) partnered with Peta Murgatroyd in the 22nd edition in 2016…On an episode of syndicated “Wheel of Fortune” in 2013, the Guinness World Records recognized letter-revealer Vanna White for setting the record number of claps on TV…Iowan police officer Sarah Lacina won the 34th season of CBS’ “Survivor” in 2017, in the season entitled “Survivor: Game Changers.“ It was the fourth season in the franchise to feature entirely returning players, and the first-ever season where a moderated discussion between the jurors and finalists took place (in lieu of individual addresses by each juror) at the Final Tribal Council. Lacina won over Brad Culpepper and Troy “Troyzan” Robertson in a 7–3–0 jury vote. She followed up her victory with a fourth-place finish on the 40th season (“Winners At War”) three years later…“Dirty Dancing,“ the made-for-TV movie remake of the classic 1987 theatrical feature, premiered on ABC in 2017. It starred Abigail Breslin, Colt Prattes, Debra Messing, Bruce Greenwood, Sarah Hyland, Nicole Scherzinger and Tony Roberts…Released on Netflix in 2019: Neo-noir thriller “What/If”, the 10-episode limited series, created by Mike Kelley (“Revenge”) and starring Jane Levy, Dave Annable and Renée Zellweger; and, the second (and final) season of Spike Lee’s comedy-drama “She’s Gotta Have It”, based on Lee’s 1986 film of the same name. It starred DeWanda Wise and Anthony Ramos.

Movies:
“The Conversation” directed by Francis Ford Coppola won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film at the Cannes Film Festival in 1974…“Indiana Jones & Last Crusade,” directed by Stephen Spielberg, and produced by George Lucas opened in theaters in 1989. The film grossed $474.3 million at the worldwide box office and won the Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing.

Music:
ABC premiered the singing competition “Duets” in 2012. The show’s mentors were Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Robin Thicke, and Jennifer Nettles. The series only lasted for one single condensed season of nine episodes. Three of the mentors later found better success as judges on other competitions: Clarkson and Legend on “The Voice”, and Thicke on “The Masked Singer”.

Sports:
The New York Islanders defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 in overtime of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in 1980, clinching the Islanders’ first Stanley Cup championship in their history. It was also the first of four consecutive Stanley Cup titles…During an in-ring promo on “WCW Monday Nitro” in 1999, wrestler Bret Hart paid tribute to his brother Owen who died by accidentally falling from the arena’s rafters the night before at the WWF “Over the Edge” event…Brazilian race car driver Helio Castroneves won the third Indianapolis 500 race of his career in 2009, 18 months following winning the fifth season of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” with professional dance partner Julianne Hough.

Celebrity Birthdays
Tommy Chong (of Cheech & Chong fame) is 86; folk singer Bob Dylan is 83; actor Gary Burghoff (“M*A*S*H”) is 81; pop singer Patti LaBelle is 80; actress Priscilla Presley (“Dallas”) is 79; actor Jim Broadbent (“Moulin Rouge”) is 75; actor Alfred Molina (“Spider-Man 2”) is 71; singer Rosanne Cash is 69; actor Cliff Parisi (“Call the Midwife”) is 65; actress Kristin Scott Thomas (“Four Weddings and a Funeral”) is also 64; actor John C. Reilly (“Chicago,” “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”) is 59; actor Dana Ashbrook (“Twin Peaks”) is 57; actor Eric Close (“Nashville,” ″Without a Trace”) is also 57; actor Carl Payne (“Martin,” ″The Cosby Show”) is 55; actor Bryan Greenberg (“One Tree Hill”) is 46; NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady is 45; actor Billy L. Sullivan (“Something So Right”) is 44; dancer Mark Ballas (“Dancing With the Stars”) is 38; country singer Billy Gilman is 36; rapper Gerald Gillum (aka G-Eazy) is 35; race car driver Joey Logano is 34.

Did You Know?:
Dixie Carter and Delta Burke co-starred together prior to “Designing Women” in CBS sitcom “Filthy Rich,“ which produced 15 episodes in total in its run from August 1982 to July 1983.

Priscilla Presley is remembered for her role as Jenna Wade on the original “Dallas.“ But the first actress to play Jenna was Francine Tacker. At the time, Tacker was known for her one season stint as law student Elizabeth Logan on drama “The Paper Chase.“