Today in History: Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Television
The original “Hawaii Five-0” ended on CBS in 1980 after 12 seasons…Fox Broadcasting Company officially launched in 1987 with Sunday night comedies “Married with Children” and “The Tracey Ullman Show.” The latter series, of course, was the original home of those animated characters named the Simpsons…Also in 1987 was CBS made-for television movie “Still Crazy Like a Fox,” which reunited Jack Warden and John Rubinstein as a father and son team of private detectives from 1984-86 detective drama “Crazy Like a Fox”…A not so Sweet 16: Sixteen short-lived series debuted: 1) NBC boxing drama “The Duke” in 1979 starring Robert Conrad; 2 and 3) CBS sitcoms “Report to Murphy” (with Michael Keaton) and “Making the Grade“, both in 1982; 4) sitcom “The Robert Guillaume Show” on ABC in 1989; 5) Dick Wolf’s science fiction police drama “Mann & Machine” on NBC in 1992; 6) Fox sitcom “Stand By Your Man“, the American adaptation of British comedy “Birds of a Feature” starring Melissa Gilbert and Rosie O’Donnell in 1992; 7) Fox sitcom “South Central” starring Larenz Tate in 1994; 8) cooking show “Everyday Italian” on Food Network hosted by Giada De Laurentiis in 2003; 9) rap group Three 6 Mafia docuseries “Adventures in Hollywood” on MTV in 2007; 10) fashion docuseries “Pregnant in Heels” on Bravo in 2011; 11) Showtime satirical dramedy “HAPPYish” starring Steve Coogan and Kathryn Hahn in 2015; 12 and 13) “The Bible” follow-up “A.D.: The Bible Continues” and Peter Horton‘s spy thriller “American Odyssey“, both on NBC in 2015; 14 and 15) reality competitions TBS’ “America’s Greatest Makers” and BET’s “Chasing Destiny“, both in 2016; and 16) Cinemax martial arts drama “Warrior” in 2019… Several short-lived series concluded: comedy-drama “Against the Law” on Fox in 1991; teen sitcom “Just Jordan” on Nickelodeon in 2008; animated “Legion of Super Heroes” on The CW in 2008; boxing drama “Lights Out” on FX in 2011; superhero dramedy “No Ordinary Family” on ABC in 2011; MTV comedy “I Just Want My Pants Back” in 2012; CW drama “Cult” in 2013…Katie Couric was officially named co-host of NBC’s “The Today Show” alongside Bryant Gumbel in 1991…Peter Jennings made his final appearance on ABC’s “World News Tonight” in 2005 via recorded message informing viewers he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Jennings passed away four months later…Fantasy animated series “Adventure Time” debuted on Cartoon Network in 2010. It ran for ten seasons and 283 episodes (each of which averaged 11 minutes in running time) across eight years…Shonda Rhimes‘ political thriller “Scandal” starring Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn and Scott Foley debuted on ABC in 2012. The series, which helped establish ABC’s successful “TGIT” (Thank God It’s Thursday) block with other Rhimes’ series “Grey’s Anatomy” and “How To Get Away With Murder“, ran for seven seasons… “Brockmire“, the comedy starring Hank Azaria as a baseball play-by-play announcer whose career got sidetracked by his on-air meltdown about his wife’s infidelity, debuted on IFC in 2017. The character of Jim Brockmire was created by Azaria and made its initial appearance on the web series “Funny or Die” back in 2010. The series, which also starred Amanda Peet, and ran for 32 episodes across four condensed seasons…”Jersey Shore: Family Vacation“, the docuseries that brought back the original “Jersey Shore” cast including Angelina but excluding Sammi “Sweetheart”, premiered on MTV in 2018. The series, currently in its fourth season, is routinely among Thursday’s top cable telecasts according to key young adult demos…In 2019, Kathie Lee Gifford left NBC’s “The Today Show” after an 11-year stint as co-host of its fourth hour with Hoda Kotb…Also in 2019, the series finale of musical comedy “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” starring Rachel Bloom aired on The CW. Despite its anemic linear TV ratings, it ran for four seasons (thanks to its following on Netflix) and netted Bloom a Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2016.

Music:
Elvis Presley recorded his debut single “That’s All Right” in 1954.

Books:
Kitty Kelly published a book knocking former First Lady Nancy Reagan in 1991.

News:
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, atomic spies, were sentenced to death in 1951… Dish Network purchased bankrupt video rental chain Blockbuster Inc. for $320 million at auction in 2011… in 2017, multichannel video programming distributor YouTube TV launched in NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and the Bay Area (San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose)… A Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner was pulled in 2017 after being criticized for trivializing demonstrations.

Sports:
The Fox broadcast network televised its first National Hockey League game in 1995. Fox aired the NHL thru 1999 and was most famous for introducing the “glow puck” which aimed to have TV audiences better follow the fast-moving puck on the ice by highlighting it in a bright color.
 
Celebrity Birthdays:
Gore filmmaker Roger Corman is 96; actor Michael Moriarty (“Law & Order”) is 81; actor Max Gail (“Barney Miller”) is 79; actor Mitch Pileggi (“The X-Files”) is70; syndicated court show judge Greg Mathis is 62; rapper-actor Christopher “Kid” Reid (“House Party”) is 58; singer Paula Cole is 54; actress Krista Allen (“Days of Our Lives”) is 51; singer Pharrell Williams is 49; actor Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”) is 46; “Agent Carter” star Hayley Atwell is 40; “Downton Abbey” star Lily James is 33.

Did You Know?
The remainder of Fox’s Sunday night line-up in that first season consisted of drama “21 Jump Street,” starring Johnny Depp, and comedies “Mr. President” with Oscar winner George C. Scott and “Duet.” On July 11, 1987, Fox rolled out its Saturday night schedule with the premiere of supernatural drama “Werewolf,” which began with a two-hour pilot movie. The three other series added to the Saturday line-up were half-hours “The New Adventures of Beans Baxter,” “Karen’s Song” and “Down and Out in Beverly Hills.”