Today in History: Monday, October 16, 2023

Television and Radio
Edith (Jean Stapleton) missed her surprise 50th birthday party on “All in the Family” on CBS in 1977 when she was attacked by a rapist (David Dukes). The storyline was originally planned for Bonnie Franklin on “One Day at a Time”… TV movie “Human Feelings” premiered on NBC in 1978. It starred Billy Crystal as an angel who falls in love with a woman. Pamela Sue Martin and Nancy Walker also starred… Drama “Smallville” starring Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk and John Schneider debuted on The WB in 2001 and moved over to The CW from 2006 thru May 13, 2011. Later in its run, Erica Durance as Lois Lane and Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow joined the show. It aired for 10 seasons…Netflix revealed its most popular original movie was Sandra Bullock’s “Bird Box” and sci-fi series “Stranger Things” for the year in 2019.

Theater:
George Kaufman and Moss Hart’s “The Man Who Came to Dinner” premiered in New York City in 1939, running until 1941 for 739 performances.

News:
Chevrolet introduced the El Camino in 1958…18-month old Jessica McClure was rescued from an abandoned well in Midland, Tex. in 1987 after she had been trapped in it for 58 hours…The Million Man March took place in Washington D.C. in 1995.

Sports:
American track-and-field athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in silent protest during the medal ceremony at the Summer Olympiad in Mexico City in 1968…The New York Yankees crawled back from an early 4-0 deficit to the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series to tie the game late and send it into extra innings. On the first pitch of the bottom of the 11th inning from Boston’s Tim Wakefield, Yankees third baseman Aaron Boone hit a walk-off solo home run into the left field stands at Yankee Stadium to win the game, the American League pennant and a trip to the World Series. An average of 27.5 million viewers tuned in to the 11-inning classic on the Fox network

Celebrity Birthdays:
Director-producer David Zucker is 76; actor Tim Robbins (“The Shawshank Redemption”) is 64; Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Michael Balzary aka Flea is 61; Wilson Phillips singer Wendy Wilson is 54; actress Kellie Martin (“Life Goes On”) is 48; singer-songwriter John Mayer is 46; legendary WNBA player Sue Bird is 43; actor Jeremy Jackson (“Baywatch”) is also 43; “Big Brother” winner Rachel Reilly (the half of “Brenchel”) is 39; two-time U.S. Open tennis champion Naomi Osaka is 26.

Did You Know?
Norman Lear changed the attempted rape storyline to Edith Bunker on “All in the Family” because he wanted to make a statement that this could happen to anyone, even someone as simple and naive as Edith. The scene in the episode where Edith used the cake to attack the rapist (David Dukes) and her escape prompted the loudest cheers and applause from the audience in the history of “All in the Family.”