Today in History: Thursday, September 21, 2023

Television 
Series premieres: “Perry Mason” on CBS in 1957, “Adam-12” on NBC in 1968, “Hotel” on ABC in 1983; “Evening Shade” on CBS in 1990; “N.Y.P.D. Blue” on ABC in 1993; NBC’s “Profiler” in 1996; NBC’s “Will & Grace” and CBS’ “The King of Queens” both in 1998; “Raising Hope” on Fox in 2010; Fox’s “The X Factor” and ABC’s “Revenge” both in 2011; CBS drama “Madam Secretary” in 2014; NBC’s “Blindspot” and CBS’ “Life in Pieces” both in 2015; Fox’s “Lethal Weapon“, ABC’s “Speechless” and ABC’s “Designated Survivor” all in 2016…Also debuting was “Monday Night Football” on ABC in 1970 with Keith Jackson, Don Meredith and Howard Cosell providing play-by-play commentary…Remember the fuss when then Vice President Dan Quayle criticized Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown for being a single parent? “Murphy Brown” the sitcom responded to his comments in the fifth season-opener in 1992 in the episode titled “You Say Potatoe, I Say Potato.“…Notable cast additions on NBC series: George Clooney on “The Facts of Life” in 1985; Sandy Duncan on “Valerie’s Family” (formerly called “Valerie” and later “The Hogan Family”) in 1987;  Sam Waterston on “Law & Order” in 1994…In 2004, Drew Daniel defeated Michael “Cowboy” Ellis by a 4-3 jury vote to win the fifth season of CBS reality competition “Big Brother.” One of the twists of the season featured Ellis and fellow houseguest Jennifer “Nakomis” Dedmon discovering they were half-siblings and had the same father. Nakomis concocted the first-ever backdoor plan of the Big Brother series — preventing their target from playing in the Power of Veto competition for the purposes to evict that target soon thereafter.
 
Movies:
“Glitter“, featuring Mariah Carey‘s first (and only) lead role in a film, opened in 2001… “Into the Wild” starring Emile Hirsch is released in 2007.

Music:
Green Day released their album “American Idiot” in the U.S. in 2004.

Celebrity Birthdays
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is 80; actress and frequent “Match Game” panelist Fannie Flagg is 79; horror novelist Stephen King is 75; Oscar nominee Bill Murray is 72; “Friends” co-creator Marta Kauffman is 67; writer-director Ethan Coen of the Coen Brothers is 66; “Full House” star Dave Coulier is 64; actor David James Elliott (“JAG”) 63; actress Nancy Travis (“Last Man Standing”) is 62; actor Rob Morrow (“Northern Exposure”) is 61; former New York Yankees infielder and 1996 World Champion Cecil Fielder is 60; actress Cheryl Hines (“Curb Your Enthusaism”) is 58; country singer Faith Hill is 55; actress-former daytime TV talk show host Ricki Lake is also 55; Emmy-winning actor Billy Porter (“Pose”) is 54; actor James Lesure (“Las Vegas”) is 53; “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and “Dancing With the Stars” host Alfonso Ribeiro is 52; actor Luke Wilson is also 52; actor Paulo Costanzo (“Royal Pains”) is 45; actress Autumn Reeser (“The O.C.”) is 43; TV personality Nicole Richie (“The Simple Life”) is 42; “Lost” star Maggie Grace is 40; rapper Olubowale Victor Akintimehin aka Wale is 39; R&B singer Jason Derulo is 34.

Did You Know?
“Will & Grace” is only one of four sitcoms historically where all of the lead actors won Emmy Awards. The other three are “All in the Family”, “The Golden Girls” and “Schitt’s Creek”…An estimated 70 million viewers tuned into to hear what Candice Bergen as “Murphy Brown” had to say to Dan Quayle, which at the time was the highest-rated series episode since the one-hour “Cheers” 200^th anniversary special on NBC on Nov. 8, 1990.