Today in History – Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Television and Radio
The Beatles made their first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on CBS in 1964. For a look, click here…Oh my nose! On an episode of ABC comedy “The Brady Bunch” in 1973, Marcia (Maureen McCormick) got a swollen nose after Peter (Christopher Knight) accidentally hit her in the face with a tossed football…”The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams” starring Dan Hagerty began as a weekly series on NBC in 1977. Based on the 1974 feature film, Hagerty played the title role of an 1850’s mountain man who fled to the wilderness after being falsely accused of murder. The series version lasted two seasons…ABC special “Heroes of Rock and Roll” aired in 1979. It was narrated by Jeff Bridges…CBS dramedy “The Bradys,” featuring the entire original cast of “The Brady Bunch” with the exception of Maureen McCormick as Marcia (who was replaced) by Leah Ayres, debuted in 1990. The series was created after the success of holiday made-for “A Very Brady Christmas” (on Dec. 18, 1988) and it aired for six episodes…”Beverly Hills, 90210” hit the 100-episode mark on Fox in 1994. The series ultimately aired for 10 seasons and spun-off the original “Melrose Place” and the more recent “BH90210”…NBC fiasco “The Jay Leno Show,” which aired weeknights at 10 p.m. ET, concluded its half season run in 2010. Leno returned as host of “The Tonight Show” on March 1, 2010, replacing then host Conan O’Brien…The series finale of high school football drama “Friday Night Lights” originally aired on DirecTV in 2011. The critically-acclaimed series ran for five seasons; the first two solely on NBC, the latter three on both NBC and DirecTV as the satellite distributor shared in the production costs. NBC re-aired the fifth and final season in the summer of 2011. During its entire run, Kyle Chandler won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Coach Eric Taylor. Co-star Connie Britton was also recognized with multiple award nominations. “FNL” was among the first shows in the careers of Michael B. Jordan, Minka Kelly, Taylor Kitsch, Jesse Plemons, Adrianne Palicki, Jurnee Smollett and Zach Gilford… “Friends” star Matthew Perry attempted to find network comedic success once again with ABC sitcom “Mr. Sunshine” which began in 2011. Unfortunately, the series, which also starred Allison Janney, only aired for nine episodes.

Movies:
In 2020, Korean horror drama “Parasite” became the first non-English language film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. The film earned four Oscars that night including Best Director (Bong Joon-ho), Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film. For acting, Oscars went to Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”), Renée Zellweger (“Judy”), Brad Pitt (“Once Upon A Time in Hollywood”) and Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”).
 
Music:
Madonna’s album “Like A Virgin” went No. 1 on the Billboard charts for 3 weeks in 1985…Nicki Minaj‘s “Pink Friday” album reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart in its eleventh week in 2011…Reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart: “Love’s Theme” by Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1974; “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” by C+C Music Factory featuring Freedom Williams and Martha Wash in 1991…50 years to the night The Beatles made their first American appears on “The Ed Sullivan Show”, CBS aired the 90-minute special “The Beatles: The Night That Changed America — A Grammy Salute” in 2014. Among the guests that performed The Beatles’ greatest hits were Stevie Wonder, Eurythmics, Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Keith Urban, John Mayer, Pharrell Williams, Brad Paisley, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Dave Grohl, and Joe Walsh. Surviving Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr reunited on stage to close the night. The special attracted nearly 14 million viewers despite airing opposite NBC’s Sochi Winter Olympics; to date, it remains the most-watched Grammy tribute concert special.

Sports
Al Michaels joined NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” broadcast with John Madden in 2006… the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics took place in PyeongChang, South Korea in 2018. 28.3 million viewers tuned in to the festivities…The Alliance of American Football (AAF) began operations in 2019. The first game of the professional football league was the Atlanta Legends at the Orlando Apollos and aired on CBS in prime time. Despite decent ratings initially, the AAF — co-founded by Charlie Ebersol (son of former NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol) — quickly ran out of funds and folded after eight weeks, two weeks before the regular season was meant to conclude.
 
News
The first flight of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet was in 1969.
 
Celebrity Birthdays:
Song writer Carole King is 79; Oscar winner Joe Pesci (“Goodfellas”) is 78; actress Mia Farrow (“Rosemary’s Baby”) is 76; “7^th Heaven: star David Gallagher is 36.

Did You Know?
Prior to ABC sitcom “Home Improvement,” Jonathan Taylor Thomas, then known as Jonathan Weiss, played Kevin Brady, Greg (Barry Williams) and Nora’s (Caryn Richman) son on “The Bradys.”