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Television
Larry King had his first radio broadcast in 1957…Elvis Presley wed Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas, Nev. in 1967…NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” started broadcasting from its then-new home in Burbank, California in 1972…The short-lived offbeat “Future Cop,” starring Ernest Borgnine, premiered as a TV movie on ABC in 1976.
The famous toy Rubik’s Cube was first released in the United States in 1980…Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval) discovered Kristin Shepard’s (Mary Crosby) body floating in the Southfork pool on the fourth season finale of CBS’s “Dallas” in 1981. The prime time soap was the No. 1 show on television for that 1980-81 season.
On NBC in 1983, the six-season run of NBC police drama “CHiPs” concluded, and the science fiction miniseries “V” had begun…CBS detective drama “Magnum, P.I.” with Tom Selleck concluded in 1988 after eight seasons. Originally a Thursday night staple, “Magnum, P.I.” was shipped to Wednesday in 1986 to avoid the then “Cosby Show” juggernaut on NBC. The reboot of “Magnum, P.I.,” starring Jay Hernandez, ran for five seasons.
Also in 1988 was the premiere of TV movie “Splash Too” starring Amy Yasbeth on ABC, the sequel to the 1984 theatrical film “Splash”…”Brewster Place“, the short-lived drama starring Oprah Winfrey spun-off from the hit 1989 miniseries “The Women of Brewster Place,” premiered on ABC in 1990.
The final episode of Fox sitcom “Martin” aired in 1997. It had aired for five seasons…Also in 1997, AOL Instant Messenger was released. The communication platform was most popular in the 2000s but got overshadowed by the rise of social media networks like Facebook and Twitter in the 2010s. Its service was discontinued at the end of 2017…Animated classic “SpongeBob SquarePants” debuted on Nickelodeon in 1999. The series has won a variety of awards, including six Annie Awards, eight Golden Reel Awards, two Emmy Awards, 12 Kids’ Choice Awards, and two BAFTA Children’s Awards.
CBS crime solver “The District,” starring Craig T. Nelson, ended its four season run in 2004.
Movies
“Citizen Kane,“ the first feature film directed by Orson Welles, and also starring Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane, premiered in New York in 1941. Originally, the movie was going to be based on the life of Howard Hughes with Joseph Cotten in the lead. But Welles felt few would believe most of the stuff Hughes had done, so he decided to make Kane a media baron instead. William Randolph Hearst was so angered by the film that he accused Welles of being a Communist in order to keep the movie from being released.
News
Amtrak went into service in 1971…The Disney-MGM Studios theme park, now known as Disney’s Hollywood Studios, opened at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Fla. in 1989.
Songs
The Bellamy Brothers‘ “Let Your Love Flow” hit No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1976,
Celebrity Birthdays
Singer Judy Collins is 85; singer Rita Coolidge is 79; “Absolutely Fabulous” star Joanna Lumley is 78; TV personality Paul Teutul Sr. (“American Chopper”) is 75; singer Ray Parker Jr. is 70; “The People’s Court” judge Marilyn Milian is 63; country singer Tim McGraw is 57; director Wes Anderson (“The Royal Tenenbaums”) is 55; actress Julie Benz (“Dexter”) is 52; “Impractical Jokers” personality James “Murr” Murray is 48; actor Darius McCrary (“Family Matters”) is also 48; actor Jamie Dornan (“Fifty Shades of Grey”) is 42.
Did You Know?
“Magnum, P.I.” was originally to be set in San Pedro, California (near Los Angeles), but was moved to Hawaii because CBS did not want to close its recently remodeled Hawaii production offices and sound stages for the original “Hawaii Five-O.”
