Today in History: Monday, January 15, 2024

Television and Radio
Two series debuted in 1972: NBC medical procedural “Emergency!” (as a TV movie) starring Robert Fuller and Julie London — it ran for six seasons; and, ABC’s paranormal crime solver “The Sixth Sense” starring Gary Collins and Catherine Ferrar. “The Sixth Sense” aired for 25 episodes across two condensed seasons…Film and book critic Gene Shalit officially joined NBC’s “Today” regular panel alongside Frank McGee and Barbara Walters in 1973. Shalit replaced Joe Garagiola and remained on the morning program until his retirement in November 2010…”Happy Days,” which was first introduced on a segment on “Love, American Style,” debuted on ABC in 1974. It ran for 10 and one-half seasons and it spun-off “Laverne & Shirley,” “Mork & Mindy” and the anemic “Joanie Loves Chachi” and “Blansky’s Beauties.” For more, click here……On NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” in 1977, Bill Murray joined the cast and it was the first-ever appearance of sketch The Coneheads… ”Hill Street Blues,” which won a record eight Emmy Awards in season one (and 26 in total), began its six and one-half season run on NBC in 1981…”The Thorns“, the sitcom about narcissistic social climbers (played by Tony Roberts and Kelly Bishop) in New York City raising their children, debuted on ABC in 1988. Only 7 of the 12 episodes produced had aired before its cancellation in March 1988 …Daytime drama “Santa Barbara” concluded its nine-year run on NBC in 1993. It won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for three consecutive years (1988, 1989, 1990)
 
Movies:
“The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”, based on B. Traven’s novel, directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart opened in theaters in 1948. This was one of the first Hollywood films to be filmed on location outside the United States (in the state of Durango and street scenes in Tampico, Mexico.

Music:
Berry Gordy signed The Supremes with Motown Records in 1961… Reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart: “American Pie” by Don McLean in 1972; “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” by Leo Sayer in 1977; “Down Under” by Men At Work in 1983; “What A Girl Wants” by Christina Aguilera in 2000.

Sports:
The first Super Bowl between NFL champion Green Bay Packers and AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs took place at the Los Angeles Coliseum in California in 1967. The Packers won 35-10. The event was broadcast on CBS and NBC.

News:
Two inches of snow fell in downtown Los Angeles, Calif. in 1932. It was the city’s largest snowfall on record.

Celebrity Birthdays:
Actress Margaret O’Brien (“Meet Me in St. Louis”) is 87; actress-comedienne Andrea Martin (“SCTV”) is 77; actress-Flamenco guitarist Maria Baeza aka Charo is 73; actor-director Mario Van Peebles (“Posse”) is 67; American boxer Bernard Hopkins is 59; pop singer Lisa Velez aka Lisa Lisa of Liss Lisa & Cult Jam is 57; actor Chad Lowe (“Life Goes On”) is 55; Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”) is 52; actor Eddie Cahill (“CSI: NY”) is 46; rapper Armando Christian Perez aka Pitbull is 42 actor Victor Rasuk (“The Baker and the Beauty”) is 40; actress Jessy Schram (“Once Upon A Time”) is 38; actress Dove Cameron (“Liv and Maddie”) is 28.

Did You Know?
Nancy Walker as Nancy Blansky, Howard Cunningham’s (Tom Bosley) cousin, was introduced on an episode of “Happy Days,“ then set in the 1950s. But when spin-off “Blansky’s Beauties” was introduced one week later, suddenly it was present day 1977.