Today in History: Thursday, July 27, 2023

Television:
Serial drama “The Hamptons,” starring Michael Goodwin and Leigh Taylor-Young, debuted on ABC in 1983. Its limited five-episode run, recorded on videotape in lieu of film, was all that was produced for this project…”Our Time,” the summer nostalgia series that harkened back to the 1960’s and was hosted by Karen Valentine and Harry Anderson, debuted on NBC in 1985…Science-fiction drama “Stargate SG-1,” starring Richard Dean Anderson, premiered on Showtime in 1997. It was based on the 1994 film “Stargate.” The first five seasons aired on Showtime; its latter five were on Sci-Fi Channel.

Movies
The cartoon character Bugs Bunny made his official debut in the animated short “A Wild Hare” in 1940. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject Cartoons but lost to “The Milky Way”…”The Amityville Horror,” starring James Brolin, Margot Kidder and Rod Steiger, opened in 1979…Rock musical drama “Purple Rain,” starring Prince, premiered in theaters in 1984. The film’s soundtrack featured the hits “When Doves Cry“, “Let’s Go Crazy“, “I Would Die 4 U” and the title track…”Three’s Company” star John Ritter found box office success with the family comedy “Problem Child” that opened in 1990. It also starred Jack Warden, Gilbert Gottfried, Michael Richards and Amy Yasbeck…In 2007, “The Simpsons Movie” opened, ultimately grossing over $527 million worldwide.

Music:
Broadway musical “Little Shop of Horrors” opened Off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre in New York City…Madonna‘s self-titled debut studio album was released in 1983. It featured the hit songs “Everybody“. “Burning Up“, “Holiday“, “Lucky Star” and “Borderline“…“Victor/Victoria” closed at Marquis Theater NYC after 738 performances in 1997…The second studio album for Destiny’s Child (the R&B girl group featuring Beyoncé Knowles and Kelly Rowland) entitled “The Writing’s on the Wall” was released in 1999. It produced the hits “Bills, Bills, Bills“, “Say My Name” and “Jumpin, Jumpin“… Reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100: “Everytime You Go Away” by Paul Young in 1985; “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” (from the film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves“) by Bryan Adams in 1991; “You’re Makin’ Me High” by Toni Braxton in 1996.

News
Zsa Zsa Gabor began a three day jail sentence for slapping a police officer in Beverly Hills in 1990…A pipe bomb exploded at Olympic Park in Atlanta, Ga. during the Summer Games in 1996, killing 2 and injuring 111 people. Security guard Richard Jewell was initially named as the perpetrator but was later exonerated. A man named Eric Rudolph confessed to the crime… Comedian Bob Hope passed away in 2003 at the age of 100.

Sports
Queen Elizabeth II and Daniel Craig (as James Bond) starred in the Opening Ceremony of the 30th Summer Olympics in London, England in 2012. Nearly 41 million viewers tuned in to the event on NBC.

Celebrity Birthdays
Legendary television producer Norman Lear is 101; actor John Pleshette (“Knots Landing”) is 81; country singer Bobbie Gentry is 79; actress Betty Thomas (“Hill Street Blues”) is 76; American gold medalist figure skater Peggy Fleming is 75; singer Maureen McGovern is 74; comedienne Carol Leifer is 67; actor Julian McMahon (“Nip/Tuck”, “FBI: Most Wanted”) is 55; professional wrestler Paul Michael Levesque (aka Triple H) is 54; “Game of Thrones” star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is 53; “SNL’s” Maya Rudolph is 51; former Mariners and Yankees infielder Alex Rodriguez is 48; professional wrestler Nicholas Theodore Nemeth aka Dolph Ziggler is 43; actor Lou Taylor Pucci (“Thumbsucker”) is 38; Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill is 35: golfer Jordan Spieth is 30.

Did You Know?
Zsa Zsa Gabor was married nine times. She was divorced seven times, and one marriage was annulled. She passed away on December 18, 2016 at the age of 99…Bug Bunny’s nonchalant stance, first witnessed in animated “A Wild Hare” in 1940, came from the 1934 movie “It Happened One Night.“ It was from the scene where Clark Gable’s character is leaning against a fence eating carrots more quickly than he is swallowing (as Bugs would later do), giving instructions with his mouth full to Claudette Colbert’s character.