Today in History: Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Television
“Ivan the Terrible,” the Moscow-set comedy that parodied American attitudes towards the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, debuted on CBS in 1976. The sitcom, which starred Lou Jacobi and Christopher Hewitt, lasted only five weeks.

“Games People Play,“ the offbeat sports version of “Real People” hosted by Bryant Gumbel premiered in 1980 on NBC. Although it lasted one year, it helped popularize participant Mr. T who twice won “America’s Best Bouncer” competition. He would go on to star in the film “Rocky III” and the TV series “The A-Team.“

“Barbra Streisand: The Concert,” the special documenting the legendary singer’s first concert tour in 28 years and that spanned 26 cities, debuted on HBO in 1994… Season seven of the Fox drama “Beverly Hills, 90210” began in 1996. It ran for 10 seasons and was rebooted twice to-date, first “90210” on Fox (2008-13) and as “BH90210” on Fox in the summer of 2019…Lesley Stahl of the CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes” was named host of the network’s “48 Hours” in place of Dan Rather in 2002…HBO drama “Six Feet Under” concluded its five-season run in 2005. A total of 63 episodes were produced.

Movies:
Walt Disney’s animated movie “Bambi,“ based on the book by Felix Salten, was released on this day in 1942.

Horror comedy “An American Werewolf in London” directed by John Landis and starring David Naughtion, Jenny Agutter and Griffin Dunne was released in 1981.

Romance classic “Dirty Dancing” starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey opened in 1987…Vampire action flick “Blade“, based on the Marvel comics superhero, starring Wesley Snipes premiered in 1998.

Music:
Linda Ronstadt opened in musical “Pirates of Penzance” on Broadway in 1980…“How You Remind Me” single was released by Nickelback in 2001. It was named the Billboard Song of the Year in 2002….Reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart: “Lean Back” by Terror Squad in 2004.

News:
In 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation that officially allowed Hawaii into the union as the United States of America’s 50th state.

Sports:
In 1931, New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth became the first Major League Baseball player to reach 600 career home runs. Only eight other players have ever have since achieved this feat.

Celebrity Birthdays
Singer Jackie DeShannon is 83; actress Patty McCormack (“The Ropers”) is 79; actress Loretta Devine (“Boston Public”) is 75; former CBS Morning Show anchor Harry Smith is 73; two-time Heisman Trophy-winning running back Archie Griffin is 70; actress Kim Cattrall (“Sex and the City”) is 68; Sister Sledge singer Kim Sledge is 67; actress Cleo King (“Mike & Molly”) is 62; actress Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix”) is 59; Google co-founder Sergey Brin is 51; Joe Gorga of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” is 45; singer Kelis is 45; Tarek El Moussa of HGTV’s “Flip or Flop” is 43; reality star Brody Jenner is 41; Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is 38; country singer Kacey Musgraves is 36; “Nashville” star Hayden Panettiere is 35; actor RJ Mitte (“Breaking Bad”) is 32.

Did You Know?
When “Beverly Hills, 90210” began on Fox in 1990, one of the high school students, Gabrielle Carteris as Andrea Zuckerman, was 29 years old in real life. No wonder she was valedictorian of West Beverly High!