Today in History: Sunday, October 3, 2021

Television
There were three classic sitcom premieres, all on CBS: “Father Knows Best” in 1954, which was based on the radio series of the same name; “The Andy Griffith Show” in 1960; and “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in 1961. “Father Knows Best” aired on all Big 3 networks at one point…“The Mickey Mouse Club” began on ABC in 1955. It was created by Walt Disney and featured a regular but ever-changing cast of teenage performers in a variety show for kids, with a newsreel, a cartoon, and a serial, as well as music, talent and comedy, and the “Mouseketeer Roll Call” where the teenage performers would introduce themselves by name…In 1976, “Quincy, ME,” starring Jack Klugman, launched as one of the four rotating series on “The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie.” After four 90-minute movie format broadcasts, “Quincy, ME” was upgraded to a weekly one-hour series in the fall of 1977…More recent was the launch of ABC dramedy “Desperate Housewives” in 2004.

Movies
“The Maltese Falcon”, John Houston’s adaptation of the 1930 novel by Dashiell Hammett, opened in theaters in 1941. It starred Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade and Mary Astor as his femme fatale client. Gladys George, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet co-starred, with the last appearing in his film debut.

News
In 1985, the space shuttle Atlantis was launched on its maiden voyage, carrying two military communications satellites in a mission dedicated to the US Department of Defense…In 1995, former football player and actor O.J. Simpson was found ‘not guilty’ for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ronald Goldman…In 2003, a white tiger used in their illusion act attacked Roy Horn of the duo “Siegfried & Roy” during a performance in Las Vegas, leaving him partially paralyzed. He died on May 8, 2020.

Celebrity Birthdays
Singer Gwen Stefani is 501; “Party of Five” star Neve Campbell is 48.

Did You Know?
“The Andy Griffith Show” is one of three TV series historically to top the ratings in its final season. The other two are “I Love Lucy” and “Seinfeld”…The other three series in the “NBC Mystery Movie” rotation the season “Quincy, ME” aired in that format were “Columbo,“ “McCloud” and “McMillan” (which, minus Susan Saint James, had its titled shortened from “McMillan and Wife”).