Today in History: Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Television and Radio
On a two-hour episode of CBS period family drama “The Waltons” in 1978, an old coal mine is reopened to foster local employment but disaster struck: a cave-in that trapped John (Ralph Waite), Jim-Bob (David W. Harper), Jason (Jon Walmsley), Ben (Eric Scott) and other workers…”Wings Over the World,“ a made-for television film featuring Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and their band Wings, aired on CBS in late night in 1979…In 1980, ABC, NBC and PBS introduced regularly-scheduled closed captioning for hearing-impaired viewers…The premature end of a classic: CBS high school drama “The White Shadow” concluded its series run in 1981. It aired for three seasons (and 54 episodes) and was created by Bruce Paltrow, who one year later introduced medical dramedy “St. Elsewhere”…NBC sitcom “LateLine”, starring Al Franken, debuted in 1998. Three of the 19 episodes produced aired on Showtime after NBC pulled it in season two…Two HBO miniseries launched: the Emmy Award-winning “John Adams” in 2008 starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney; and, David Simon‘s alternate universe drama “The Plot Against America” in 2020…Science fiction drama “Kyle XY” ended its three-season 43-episode run on ABC Family in 2009. The series starred Matt Dallas as a mysterious teen savant who gets taken in as a foster child by a psychologist and her family…FX western drama “Justified,” starring Timothy Olyphant, began in 2010. It aired for six seasons…Two short-lived dramas debuted: kidnapping thriller “Crisis” on NBC in 2014 starring Dermot Mulroney and Gillian Anderson; and, “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders“, the second spin-off of procedural “Criminal Minds” on CBS in 2016 starring Gary Sinise… the complete first season of coming-of-age dramedy “On My Block” was released on Netflix in 2018. 28 episodes across three seasons have, thus far, been produced, with its fourth (and final) season upcoming at a to-be-determined date.

Movies and Theater:
The Academy Award gold statuette was first called Oscar in print by Sidney Skolsky in 1934…Beware of taking a shower! Alfred Hitchcock classic “Psycho” starring Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates debuted in theaters in 1960. In the opening scene of “Psycho,” Janet Leigh as Marion Crane is wearing a white bra because Alfred Hitchcock wanted to show her as being “angelic”. After she has taken the money, the following scene has her in a black bra because now she has done something wrong and evil. Similarly, before she steals the money, she has a white purse. After she’s stolen the money, her purse is black.

Music:
“(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968, and became the first-ever posthumous single to be No. 1 in the United States. It was sung by Otis Redding, who had perished in a plane crash just months prior…Mariah Carey recorded her famous “MTV Unplugged” concert episode at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in NYC in 1992. Its most notable performance from that taping was her cover (along with guest singer Trey Lorenz) of The Jackson 5 song “I’ll Be There.“ Carey and Lorenz’s version of “I’ll Be There” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June 1992.

Books:
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” was published by Ticknor, Reed and Fields in Boston in 1850.

News:
Robert F. Kennedy announced his presidential campaign in 1968…Seven members of country singer Reba McEntire’s band were killed in an airplane crash in 1991…Tonya Harding pleaded guilty to a felony attack on Nancy Kerrigan in 1994.

Celebrity Birthdays:
Game show host Chuck Woolery is 80; actor Erik Estrada (“CHiPs”) is 72; actor Victor Garber (“DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” “Alias”) is 72; guitarist Nancy Wilson of Heart is 67; actor Clifton Powell (“Ray,” ″Norbit”) is 65; Univision news anchor Jorge Ramos is 63; Public Enemy rapper William Drayton Jr. aka Flavor Flav is 62; singer Tracy Bonham is 54; actress Lauren Graham (“Parenthood,” ″Gilmore Girls”) is 54; actor Judah Friedlander (“30 Rock”) is 52; actor Alan Tudyk (“Suburgatory”) is 50; actor Tim Kang (“The Mentalist”) is 48; singer Blu Cantrell is 45; game show host Brooke Burns (“Master Minds”) is 43; Brooklyn Nets power forward Blake Griffin is 32; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is 27.

Did You Know?
Lauren Graham is also remembered for her six season stint as Sarah Braverman on NBC family drama “Parenthood.“ But that role was originally offered to Maura Tierney (“The Affair”), who exited to seek treatment for a bout with cancer.