Today in History: Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Television
Chet Huntley and David Brinkley teamed up for “The Huntley-Brinkley Report” in 1956, which was NBC’s flagship evening news program until July 31, 1970…On ABC’s prime time animated series “The Flintstones” in 1964, Fred must spend one night in a haunted house in order to inherit his uncle’s property…”Look What Happened to Rosemary’s Baby,” the follow-up to the 1968 theatrical thriller about the son of Satan, premiered on ABC in 1976. It starred Patty Duke and Donna Mills…Sitcom “Gimme Break!” starting Nell Carter as a housekeeper for a widowed police chief and his three daughters opened its six-season run on NBC in 1981. Joey Lawrence joined the show in season three as a foster son.

Sitcom reboot “The New Odd Couple” starring Ron Glass and Desmond Wilson premiered on ABC in 1982. It ran for only one season.

The short-lived series version of “Dirty Dancing,” based on the 1987 film and starring Melora Hardin and Patrick Cassidy premiered on CBS in 1988. This was another McLean Stevenson clinker.

Dick Van Dyke switched from comedy to detective drama in “Diagnosis Murder” on CBS, which opened its eight-season run in 1993…NBC sitcom “Mad About You” hit the 100 episode mark in 1996. It concluded after seven seasons on May 24, 1999 and recently returned in a revival on streamer Spectrum Originals.

Movies:
“Quantum of Solace,“ the 22nd James Bond film starring Daniel Craig and Olga Kurylenko, premieres in London in 2008.

Music:
Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson released single “Girl is Mine” in 1982… the Barry Gibb-penned “Islands in the Stream” performed by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton reached No. 1 in the U.S. Billboard hot 100 in 1983…Pink Floyd finished their final concert tour at Earls Court in London in 1994.

News:
In 1929, the New York Stock Exchange plummeted in what would be known as the Crash of ’29 or Black Tuesday, ending the Great Bull Market of the 1920s and beginning the Great Depression in the United States… in 1945, Reynolds introduced the first commercially successful ballpoint pen at Gimbels department store for $12.50 (almost $200 in today’s value)… the Sega Genesis home video game console was released in 1988… in 1998, then-77 year old John Glenn became the oldest person ever to travel into space.

Sports:
Cassius Clay’s (Muhammad Ali) first professional fight was against Tunney Hunsaker in 1960, who he beat on points in 6 rounds in Louisville, Kentucky.

Celebrity Birthdays:
Actress-singer Melba Moore is 79; actor Richard Dreyfuss is 77; actress Kate Jackson (“Charlie’s Angels”) is 76; the voice of Homer Simpsons, Dan Castellaneta, is 67; actress Joely Fisher (“Ellen”) is 57; “Stranger Things” star Winona Ryder is 53; “black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross is 52.

Did You Know?
“Diagnosis Murder” was spun-off from CBS crime solver “Jake and the Fatman.“ Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan made his first appearance on the series in a season four episode (on March 20, 1991), which led to a series of TV movies and then the weekly television series.