Today in History: Sunday, February 12, 2023

Television
Eunice (Carol Burnett) appeared on “The Gong Show” in 1977 in a “Family” sketch on CBS’ “The Carol Burnett Show.” “The Family,” which also featured Vicki Lawrence as Thelma Harper (Mama) and Harvey Korman as Eunice’s husband Ed, was spun-off into a made-for TV movie in 1982 called “Eunice” and sitcom “Mama’s Family” effective on January 22, 1983…NBC debuted the three-part miniseries, “King,” which chronicled the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in 1978. “King” earned nine Emmy Award nominations and it starred Paul Winfield, Ossie Davis, Cicely Tyson and Tony Bennett.

Celebrity Birthdays
Arsenio Hall is 67; actor Josh Brolin (“No Country For Old Men”) is 54; actress Christina Ricci (“The Addams Family”) is 43.

Did You Know?:
“Mama’s Family,” of course, was the spin-off sitcom featuring Vicki Lawrence as Thelma Harper. After a two season run on NBC (from 1983 to 1984), “Mama’s Family” returned in first-run syndication in the fall of 1986 where it ran for four additional seasons. Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman reprised their roles as Eunice and Ed in a handful of early episodes of “Mama’s Family” on NBC, but never appeared when it was syndicated. Korman, additionally, introduced the early episodes as the stuffed shirt Alistair Quince (an obvious parody of Alistair Cooke), who would soberly introduce the program in the style of “Masterpiece Theatre.” These monologues were cut out of the later syndicated reruns.”