Today in History: Sunday, August 28, 2021

Television
Police drama “240-Robert” starring Mark Harmon, John Bennett Perry and Joanna Cassidy debuted on ABC in 1979. After its 13-episode initial season, the series was abruptly canceled three episodes into its second season in March 1981…Joan Lunden officially became the co-anchor of ABC’s “Good Morning America” in 1980. She remained on the morning news program for 17 years…Children’s superhero series “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” launched on Fox in 1993. While it lasted only two years, the “Power Rangers” franchise continued on in subsequent series and films…Sitcom “The Jamie Foxx Show” began its five season run on The WB in 1996…To open the MTV Video Music Awards in 2003, Madonna dressed as a groom and kissed both her “brides” Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera on the lips…HBO historical drama “Rome,” which was set in the 1st century BC and looked at the rise of the Roman Empire through the eyes of two Roman soldiers, debuted in 2005. Five seasons were planned, but it aired for only two seasons due to high production costs.

Movies:
Film noir “The Killers,“ starring Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner and based on a story by Ernest Hemingway, opened in theaters in 1946…Sexy film noir “Body Heat“, the remake of “Double Indemnity”, starring William Hurt premiered in 1981. It was the movie that launched the career of actress Kathleen Turner…“54,” a fictionalized take on the Manhattan nightclub Studio 54 starring Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek and Mike Myers opened in 1998.

Music:
“Let’s Get It On,“ the 13th studio album by Marvin Gaye was released in 1973… Mary J. Blige‘s successful fifth studio album “No More Drama” was released in 2001.

News:
The famous “I Have A Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr. was delivered at the March on Washington (at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.) in 1963… A divorce decree was issued for Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1996, officially ending their 15-year marriage.

Sports:
Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut becomes a media darling at the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany in 1972, by winning the team all-around gold medal in gymnastics; the first of three golds she’d earn in Munich.

Celebrity Birthdays
Actor Sonny Shroyer (“The Dukes of Hazzard”) is 87; actor Ken Jenkins (“Scrubs”) is 82; “Starsky & Hutch” star David Soul is 79; actress Debra Mooney (“Everwood”) is 75; former New York Yankees pitcher Ron Guidry is 72; “The Wonder Years” moderator Daniel Stern is 65; Olympic figure skating champion Scott Hamilton is 64; actress Emma Samms (“Dynasty”) is 62; actress Jennifer Coolidge (“Two Broke Girls”) is 61; film director David Fincher is 60; country singer Shania Twain is 57; “Beverly Hills, 90210” star Jason Priestley is 53; actor Jack Black is also 53; Olympic swimming champion Janet Evans is 51; actor Daniel Goddard (“The Young and the Restless”) is also 51; actor J. August Richards (“Angel”) is 49; country singer LeAnn Rimes is 40; actor Armie Hammer (“The Social Network”) is 36; Florence & the Machine lead singer Florence Welch is 36; “That’s So Raven” star Kyle Massey is 31; reality TV personally Alana Thompson (aka Honey Boo Boo) is 17.

Did You Know?
“The Jamie Foxx Show,” which concluded on Jan. 14, 2001, ran for 100 episodes. Fox drama “Fringe,” which starred Joshua Jackson and ran from 2008 to 2013, also produced exactly 100 episodes…Jason Priestley’s first regularly scheduled series role was an NBC sitcom called “Sister Kate” with “The Colbys” star Stephanie Beacham playing a nun. It aired for one season in 1989-90.