Today in History: Saturday, September 11, 2021

Television
There were two series premieres of legendary programs: “The Carol Burnett Show” on CBS in 1967 and “Little House on the Prairie” on NBC in 1974. Carol Burnett’s variety series ran for 11 seasons, through 1978, and it returned in the summer of 1979 for four new episodes. “Little House on the Prairie,” which was re-titled “Little House: A New Beginning” in the final season, enjoyed a nine season run. Three made-for television movies of “Little House” followed.. Drama “Hell Town” starring Robert Blake as ex-con turned priest premiered on NBC in 1985. It only aired for 15 episodes across three months…Family drama “Our House” starring Wilford Brimley, Diedre Hall and Shannen Doherty premiered on NBC in 1986. It lasted two seasons…In 1995 on Fox, the platonic marriage sitcom “Ned and Stacey” starring Debra Messing and Thomas Haden Church debuted. The series aired for two seasons…“The Miss America Pageant” was televised for the first time in 1954. Lee Meriwether was the winner.

Music:
Reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart: “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty” by KC and the Sunshine Band in 1976; “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” by Chicago in 1982; “Dreamlover” by Mariah Carey in 1993; “Goodies” by Ciara featuring Petey Pablo in 2004.

Games:
The Atari 2600 was released in 1977. It was originally sold as the Atari VCS. The system was discontinued on January 1, 1992.

News:
On this horrific day in 2001: Two passenger planes hijacked by Al Qaeda terrorists crashed into New York’s World Trade Towers in 2001, causing the collapse of both and the deaths of 2,606 people…An attempt by passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 to retake control of their hijacked plane from terrorists causes plane to crash in Pennsylvania field killing all 64 people on board…Terrorists also hijacked a passenger plane and crashed it into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. causing the deaths of 125 people…In 2003, the beloved “Three’s Company” star John Ritter passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 54 from an aortic dissection.

Sports:
Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds singled off of San Diego Padres pitcher Eric Show in 1985. It was Rose’s 4,192nd career hit which officially eclipsed Ty Cobb‘s mark and he became the all-time career MLB hits leader.

Celebrity Birthdays
Actor Earl Holliman (“Police Woman”) is 93; film director Brian De Palma (“Dressed to Kill”) is 81; actress Amy Madigan (“Field of Dreams”) is 71; Styx lead singer Tommy Shaw is 68; sports reporter Lesley Visser is also 68; actor Scott Patterson (“Gilmore Girls”) is 63; actor John Hawkes (“Deadwood”) is 62; actress Anne Ramsay (“Mad About You”) is 61; actress Virginia Madsen (“Sideways”) is 60; actress Kristy McNichol (“Family”) is 59; professional wrestling manager Paul Heyman is 56; musician Richard Hall aka Moby is also 56; financial news anchor Maria Bartiromo is 54; singer and talk show host Harry Connick, Jr. is also 54; “Empire” star Taraji P. Henson is 51; rapper Christopher Bridges aka Ludacris is 44; reality TV personality Aneesa Ferreira (“The Real World: Chicago (2001)”, “The Challenge”) is 40; actress Elizabeth Henstridge (“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) is 34.Did You Know?
Dick Van Dyke joined the cast of “The Carol Burnett Show” in the 11^th – and final – season in 1976-77 after Harvey Korman exited for a sitcom deal with ABC. But he felt they were still writing for Korman and he left in the middle of that season…Linwood Boomer, who played Mary’s husband Adam Kendall on “Little House on the Prairie,” went on to create Fox sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle,” which aired from 2000 to 2006.