Today in History: Thursday, February 2, 2023

Television
Game show “What’s My Line,” hosted by John Daly, debuted on CBS in 1950. The panel on the first telecast was former New Jersey governor Harold Hoffman, columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, poet Louis Untermeyer, and psychiatrist Richard Hoffmann…”The Midnight Special“, the weekly 90-minute showcase of rock, pop and soul music acts, debuted in its regular Friday late-night time slot following “The Tonight Show” on NBC in 1973. Wolfman Jack served as the show’s announcer and frequent guest host. The program ran for eight years…Special “The Honeymooners Second Honeymoon” aired on CBS in 1976. In the hour, the Kramdens (Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows) celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Ralph and Alice planned on renewing their vows in a special ceremony at the Raccoon lodge, but the celebration is put on hold when Ralph believes Alice is pregnant…TV movie “The Scarlet and the Black”, starring Gregory Peck and Christopher Plummer, aired on CBS in 1983. Based on J. P. Gallagher’s book “The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican”, the film tells the story of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, a real-life Irish Catholic priest who saved thousands of Jews and escaped Allied POWs in Rome…NBC’s “Seinfeld” reached the 100-episode mark in 1995…Dick Wolf’s revival of “Dragnet,” starring Ed O’Neill, opened on ABC in 2003. The series was re-titled “L.A. Dragnet” in its second – and final – season…Competition series “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, hosted by RuPaul, debuted on Logo in 2009.

Music:
B.B. King’s “3 O’Clock Blues” hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard’s R&B hit parade in 1952 to become his first national hit…Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were” rose to #1 on the U.S. Billboard charts in 1974…”I Want to Know What Love Is” by Foreigner reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1985…Jennifer Lopez single “All I Have” rose to #1 for three consecutive weeks in 2003…Music superstar Prince was the primary guest star of the post-Super Bowl episode of Fox comedy “New Girl” in 2014. The telecast drew 26.3 million viewers…Rapper Lil Wayne was the first celebrity booted off of the third season premiere of Fox reality competition “The Masked Singer” in 2020. Wayne’s costume was that of a robot and he performed Lenny Kravitz‘s “Are You Gonna Go My Way?” The episode aired immediately following Super Bowl LIV...Opera singer Renee Fleming in 2014 and pop singer Demi Lovato in 2020 each performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” preceding each of those year’s respective Super Bowl games…The artists who performed in their respective Super Bowl halftime shows: Bruno Mars and Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2014; Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, J Balvin and Bad Bunny in 2020.

Sports:
The first-ever Super Bowl to take place in an outdoor stadium in a cold-wearer city occurred for Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. The Seattle Seahawks earned their first-ever Super Bowl championship, dominating the Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos 43-8…In 2020, the Kansas City Chiefs achieved their first Super Bowl title in 50 years by winning Super Bowl LIV 31-20 over the San Francisco 49ers. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was named the game’s most valuable player.

Celebrity Birthdays:
Comedian Tom Smothers is 86; musician Graham Nash is 81; “Barefoot Contessa” Ina Garten is 75; actor Brent Spiner (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) is 74; actor Jack McGee (“Rescue Me”) is also 74; Duane Chapman (“Dog the Bounty Hunter”) is 70; model Christie Brinkley is 69; actress Kim Zimmer (“Guiding Light”) is 68; pop singer Shakira is 46; actress Zosia Mamet (“The Flight Attendant”) is 35.

Did You Know?
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”, to-date, has spanned thirteen seasons and inspired the spin-off shows “RuPaul’s Drag U”, “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” and “RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race.“