Today in History: Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Television
Sunday morning public affairs program “This Week” with host David Brinkley launched on ABC in 1981. It succeeded the long-running “Issues and Answers“. Brinkley remained on the show for 15 years. George Stephanopoulos, Martha Raddatz and Jonathan Karl are the program’s current lead anchors…The 200th episode of the original “Dallas” on CBS aired in 1985 as the Ewing clan grieved Bobby’s “death.” Once Patrick Duffy returned the following fall, everything you saw that season was part of Pam’s (Victoria Principal) dream…Time Warner introduced cable’s first all-comedy channel, simply called The Comedy Channel, in 1989… Jimmy Smits joined the cast of ABC police drama “NYPD Blue” as Detective Bobby Simone in 1994…Action drama “Day Break” starring Taye Diggs debuted on ABC in 2006. It was canceled after six episodes. The remaining seven episodes of its run aired on cable network TV One in the spring of 2008.

Movies
Musical western “Love Me Tender”, with Elvis Presley in his acting debut, opened in theaters in the U.S,. in 1956. The movie was originally to be titled “The Reno Brothers”, but when advanced sales of Presley’s “Love Me Tender” single passed one million — a first for a single — the film’s title was changed to match it…In 2019, “Joker”, starring Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix, was the first R-rated film to earn $1 billion worldwide.

Music
The Beastie Boys released their debut album “Licensed to Ill”  in 1986, which was the first rap album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard charts…Carrie Underwood released her debut album “Some Hearts” in 2005. It was won the Billboard Album of the Year and the Grammy Award for Best New Artist…“Take Care”, the second studio album by Drake, was released in 2011. It won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album…Country singer and “The Voice” coach Blake Shelton was named People Magazine’s sexiest man alive in 2017.

Technology
Microsoft released Xbox, a video game console system in 2001. The original device was the first video game console offered by an American company after the Atari Jaguar stopped sales in 1996.

Celebrity Birthdays
Singer Petula Clark is 91; actor Sam Waterston (“Law and Order”) is 83; singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad of ABBA is 78; actor Bob Gunton (TV’s “24,” film’s “The Shawshank Redemption”) is also 78; actress Beverly D’Angelo (“National Lampoon’s Vacation”) is 72; actor-director James Widdoes (“Animal House”) is 70; news correspondent John Roberts is 67; bandleader Kevin Eubanks (“The Tonight Show With Jay Leno”) is 66; comedian Judy Gold is 61; actor Jonny Lee Miller (“Elementary,” “Eli Stone”) is 51; actor Sydney Tamiia Poitier-Heartsong (“Veronica Mars”) is 50; singer Chad Kroeger of Nickelback is 49; actor Sean Murray (“NCIS”) is 46; rapper B.o.B is 35; actor Shailene Woodley is 32; Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns is 28.

Did You Know?
Barbara Bel Geddes, who returned to “Dallas” in season nine after a one season absence as the family was mourning Bobby, was only nine years older in real life than her TV son Larry Hagman.