Today in History – Thursday, January 7, 2021

Television and Radio
George Burns and Gracie Allen were married in 1926…“The Newlywed Game”, hosted by Bob Eubanks, debuted on ABC in daytime in 1967…”Fame,” based on the movie of the same name, launched on NBC in 1982. After a one and one-half season run, the musical drama headed to first-run syndication effective on October 10, 1983 and stayed on the air for another four seasons…“The Dukes of Hazzard” on CBS reached the 100-episode mark in 1983. It ran through Feb. 8, 1985, producing 147 episodes in total…”Talk Soup“, the weekly comedic recap of daytime talk shows, debuted on E! in 1991. It initially was hosted by Greg Kinnear. After Kinnear left for an NBC late-night gig in 1995, John Henson took over. Hal Sparks and then Aisha Tyler followed. “Talk Soup” ran thru 2002; then, it was renamed as “The Soup” (to recap reality shows) with Joel McHale as host from 2004-15; revived in early 2020 with Jade Catta-Preta…The revival of 60’s detective mystery “Burke’s Law” starring Gene Barry and Peter Barton debuted on CBS in 1994. It aired for 27 episodes across two short seasons… NBC late night program “Last Call with Carson Daly” premiered in 2002. It ran for 18 seasons ..Oprah Winfrey won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Golden Globes in 2018.

Movies:
“The King’s Speech”, starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, was released in the United Kingdom in 2011. The film won 4 Oscars including Best Motion Picture of the Year and Firth for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.

Sports:
Tom Seaver and Rollie Fingers were elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1992…The US female Figure Skating championship was won by Tonya Harding in 1994.
 
News:
Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky signed an affidavit denying she had an affair with President Bill Clinton in 1998…Clinton’s Impeachment trial began in the US Senate in 1999 after the House voted to impeach him for lying about his affair with Lewinsky…In 2019, Amazon overtook Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable listed company for the first time, worth $797 billion.

Celebrity Birthdays:
“Rolling Stone” magazine founder Jann S. Wenner is 75; Singer Kenny Loggins is 73; actress Erin Gray (“Silver Spoons”) is 71; actor David Caruso (“CSI: Miami”) is 65; former “Today” news anchor Katie Couric is 63; Oscar winner Nicholas Cage is 56; actor Douglas Bourne aka Doug E. Doug (“Operation Dumbo Drop”) is 51; Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker”) is 49; actor Dustin Diamond (“Saved By The Bell”) is 44; OneRepublic lead singer-songwriter Ryan Tedder is 42; F1 auto racer Lewis Hamilton is 36; actress Lauren Cohan (“The Walking Dead”) is 39; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is 24.

Did You Know?
The origins of NBC’s former “Must See TV” Thursday night line-up began in the fall of 1982 with its line-up of “Fame,“ sitcoms “Cheers” and “Taxi,“ and crime drama “Hill Street Blues.“ The network acquired multiple Emmy award winner “Taxi” for one final fifth season after ABC canceled it…“Enos”, starring Sonny Shroyer, was spun-off from “The Dukes of Hazzard” and aired for one season from 1980 to 1981. When “Enos” was canceled, Shroyer returned to “The Dukes of Hazzard”.