Today in History: Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Television:
CBS sitcom “Green Acres” concluded in 1971, which was part of the so-called “rural purge.” In search of a more sophisticated urban audience, the network also axed “The Beverly Hillbillies,” “Mayberry, R.F.D.” and “Hee Haw” that season, and “Petticoat Junction” one year earlier…NBC drama “Operation: Runway,“ starring “Brady Bunch” patriarch Robert Reed, debuted in 1978. It aired for only four episodes…Part one of three-part ABC miniseries “The Shining,” starring Steven Weber and Rebecca De Mournay, opened in 1997…The final telecast of the CBS police drama “Brooklyn South,” from “Hill Street Blues” creator Steven Bochco, aired in 1998. It ran for just one season…Made-for television reunion “The Patty Duke Show Rockin’ in Brooklyn Heights” premiered on CBS in 1999. Featured alongside Patty Duke were the returns of William Schallert (Martin), Jean Byron (Natalie), Paul O’Keefe (Ross) and Eddie Applegate (Richard). Cindy Williams also appeared…Inspirational CBS drama “Touched By An Angel” ended its nine season run in 2003…“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”, the late-night talk and news show hosted by John Oliver, premiered on HBO in 2014.

Music:
Amy Grant’s “Baby Baby” hit No. 1 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1991…George Harrison released single “Love Comes to Everyone” in 1979…Paul McCartney’s solo rock band Wings disbanded in 1981…Ariana Grande’s first single from her second debut album, “Problem” featuring Iggy Azalea, was released in 2014.

News:
U.S. President Barack Obama, coerced by incessant false “birther” accusations, publicly released a copy of his birth certificate in 2011.

Technology:
Xerox PARC introduced the computer mouse in 1981.
 
Books:
John Lennon’s “In His Own Write” was published in 1964.

Sports:
Babe Ruth Day was celebrated at Yankee Stadium and throughout the United States in 1947.

Celebrity Birthdays:
Actor Douglas Sheehan (“Knots Landing”) is 72; singer Sheena Easton is 62; New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is 52; “America’s Next Top Model” judge Nigel Barker is 49; rapper Lizzo is 33.

-Did You Know?
ABC had expressed interest in a fourth season of sitcom “The Patty Duke Show,” which aired from 1963 to 1966. The network wanted to shift the show’s production permanently to Los Angeles, but Duke refused and the production company, United Artists Television, did not want to switch the series from black and white to color...CBS may have canceled “Hee Haw,” but it was far from over. The weekly variety hour debuted in first-run syndication in 1971 and remained there through 1993. In an attempt to give it a more contemporary feel, “Hee Haw” was revamped in January 1992, with a new cast of young unknowns and the cornfield backdrop replaced by a city street and a shopping mall. But viewers fled and the series concluded at the end of that season…”Hee Haw” spun-off sitcom “Hee Haw Honeys,” which was set in a Nashville nightspot and featured Kathie Lee Johnson (pre-morning talker “Live! with Regis & Kathie Lee”). It aired in the 1978-79 TV season...Sheena Easton appeared in five episodes of NBC’s “Miami Vice” as Caitlin Davies in the 1987-88 season…After his five-season stint on “Knots Landing,“ Douglas Sheehan headlined NBC sitcom “Day By Day” from 1987-88. The series co-starred Linda Kelsey (“Lou Grant”) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.