CHILD OF TELEVISION

This Week in Television History: April 2026 PART I

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 6 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0700

April 12, 1941
Life of Riley radio show debuts.
An unrelated radio show with the name Life of Riley was a summer replacement show heard on CBS from April 12, 1941 to September 6, 1941. The CBS program starred Lionel Stander as J. Riley Farnsworth and had no real connection with the more famous series that followed a few years later staring William Bendix as a bullheaded family man. The show ran for 10 years on radio and about six years on television.

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Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: March 2026 PART V

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0700

March 30, 1966

Barbra Streisand's "Color Me Barbra" special aired on CBS-TV.

April 3, 1956

**Elvis sings his first RCA recording, "Heartbreak Hotel," on NBC's Milton Berle Show.
An estimated 25 percent of America's population saw him sing that night; by April 21, the song had become Elvis' first No. 1 single.

April 4, 1971
The final episode of Hogan's Heroes aired.**
Rockets Or Romance: Three mobile rocket launchers are aimed at London and awaiting detonation, or destruction. With radio detection trucks patrolling the area and one rocket sitting inside Stalag 13, directing the Allied bombers could turn into a suicide mission. Timeline: Klink tells Hogan the Germans will stop the Allies from Capturing Munich-which was captured in March 1945.

April 4, 1986

**The final episode of Knight Rider aired.**
Voo Doo Knight: Michael tries to stop a voodoo woman who is using mind control on innocent people and forcing them to commit crimes for her.

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Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: March 2026 PART IV

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Happy 100th Birthday, Gene Shalit!

March 26, 1971
Cannon the CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin primered.

Frank Cannon was a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, however he retired after the deaths of his wife and son in a car accident and later became a private detective. The series begins at the point where Cannon is just beginning this new career (the pilot film picks up after Cannon has just spent 2 1/2 months overseas on an investigation). The cause of death of Cannon's wife and child was not clear through the first four seasons of the show. However, the first episode of the fifth and final season revolves around Cannon's investigation of the deaths, and he finally finds out the reason they were killed.
The noticeably overweight Frank Cannon had expensive tastes, especially in food and cars. (His primary vehicle was an ice-blue '72Lincoln Continental Mark IV.)During the series' run, his car would range from a Lincoln 1971 Mark III to a 1976 Mark IV in various color schemes, all dark over light blue exteriors, with interiors ranging from red velour to dark-blue leather... Cannon's investigations were mostly for clients in the Southern California area, although on occasion he was called in for investigations much farther away (e.g., New Mexico in the pilot).
Cannon occasionally would get hurt (shot or beaten) and knocked unconscious. He carried a gun for self-defense, usually a snub-nosed.38 Special revolver (which appeared to be a Colt Detective Special). Sometimes he used other guns (Including an M1911 and a B.A.R). He was known to subdue suspects with karate chops, judo holds, and occasionally he would thrust and knock down adversaries with his huge abdomen.

In the first two seasons Cannon was a pipe smoker. In the third season, the pipe was seen occasionally; it was subsequently dropped altogether.

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Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: March 2026 PART III

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0700

March 18, 1981
The Greatest American Hero flew onto the small screen for the first time.
The series that aired for three seasons from1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour pilot movie on March 18, 1981.The series features William Katt as teacher Ralph Hinkley ("Hanley" for the latter part of the first season), Robert Culp as FBI agent Bill Maxwell, and Connie Sellecca as lawyer Pam Davidson.
The series chronicles Ralph's adventures after a group of aliens gives him a red suit that grants him superhumanabilities. Unfortunately for Ralph, who hates wearing the suit, he immediately loses its instruction booklet, and thus has to learn how to use its powers by trial and error, often with comical results.

The main character's name was originally Ralph Hinkley, but after the assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, Jr. on March 30, 1981, the character's last name was changed to "Hanley". For the rest of the first season, he was either "Ralph" or "Mister H". In the episode where Ralph is given a promotion and his own office space, we see the name "Ralph Hanley" on the door plaque. At the start of season two, the name had changed back to Hinkley. In the season three episode "Live At Eleven", Ralph is given a name tag at a political rally with his last name spelled "Hunkley" and Ralph gives up saying "it's close enough for politics".
March 20, 1931
Hal Linden is born Harold Lipshitz in New York City.
He is the youngest son of Frances (née Rosen) and Charles Lipshitz, a Lithuanian Jew who immigrated to the United States in 1910 and later worked owned his own printing shop. His older brother, Bernard, became a professor of music at Bowling Green State University. Raised in The Bronx, Linden attended the High School of Performing Arts and went on to study music at Queens College, City University of New York. He later enrolled in City College of New York where he received a Bachelor of Arts in business.
During his youth, Linden aspired to be a big band bandleader. Before embarking on a career in music, he decided to change his name stating, "'Swing and Sway with Harold Lipshitz' just didn't parse." During the 1950s, he toured with Sammy Kaye, Bobby Sherwood, and other big bands of the era. Linden played the saxophone and clarinet and also sang. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1952 where he was sent to Fort Belvoir and played in the United States Army Band. While in Fort Belvoir, a friend recommended that he see the touring production of Guys and Dolls playing in Washington, D.C. After seeing the show, Linden decided to become an actor. Linden found success on Broadway when he replaced Sydney Chaplin in the musical Bells Are Ringing. In 1971, he won a Best Actor Tony Award for his portrayal of Mayer Rothschild in the musical The Rothschilds.
In 1975, Linden landed the starring role in the ABC television police comedy Barney Miller. Linden portrayed the titular captain of the beleaguered 12th Precinct in bohemian Greenwich Village, dealing with mordant wit, compassion and occasional frustration at the comedy-of-manners misfits brought in for arrest or questioning, or who came to lodge a complaint or stop by on bureaucratic business or to just say hi. He earned seven Emmy Award nominations for his work on the series, one for each season. Linden also earned four Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. The series aired from 1975 to 1982. During the series' run, Linden also hosted two educational series, Animals, Animals, Animals and FYI. He won two special Daytime Emmy Awards for the latter series. Linden won a third Daytime Emmy Award for a guest starring role on CBS Schoolbreak Special in 1995. Linden has since continued his career on the stage, in films and guest starring roles on television. He released his first album of pop and jazz standards, It's Never Too Late, in 2011.
After Barney Miller ended its run, Linden appeared in several television films including I Do! I Do! (1982), the television adaptation of the musical of the same name, and Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land (1983). In 1984, he co-starred in the television film Second Edition. The film was intended to be a series but was not picked up by CBS. The following year, Linden portrayed studio head Jack Warner in the television biopic My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn.
Linden returned to episodic television in the NBC series Blacke's Magic in 1986. He played the lead character, Alexander Blacke, a magician who solves mysteries with the help of his assistant Leonard (Harry Morgan). The series was canceled after 13 episodes. In 1988, he co-starred in the romantic comedy A New Life, directed by Alan Alda. In 1992, Linden tried his hand at television again with the leading role in the comedy-drama series Jack's Place. In the series, Linden portrayed Jack Evans, a retired jazz musician who ran a restaurant that was frequented by patrons who learned lessons about love. The show was often compared to the The Love Boat by critics as it featured a different weekly guest star. The series premiered as a mid-season replacement but did well enough in the ratings for ABC to order additional episodes. Viewership soon declined and ABC chose to cancel the series in 1993. The next year, Linden appeared in the CBS sitcom The Boys Are Back. That series was also low rated and canceled after 18 episodes. In 1995, Linden won his third Daytime Emmy Award for his 1994 guest starring role as Rabbi Markovitz on CBS Schoolbreak Special.^]
In 1996, Linden had a supporting role in the television film The Colony, opposite John Ritter and June Lockhart. The role was a departure for Linden as he played the villainous head of a home owner's association of a gated community. He continued his career in the late 1990s and 2000s with guest roles on Touched by an Angel, Gilmore Girls, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Hot in Cleveland. He also narrated episodes of Biography and The American Experience, and voiced the role of "Dr. Selig" on the animated series The Zeta Project. In 2002, Linden received a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars.
Linden continues to have an active stage career. He appeared in the Toronto production of Tuesdays with Morrie in 2009. In July 2011, he appeared opposite Christina Pickles in the Colony Theatre's production of On Golden Pond. Linden also starred in Under My Skin, which premiered at the Pasadena Playhouse on September 19, 2012 and ran through October 2012. In 2013, Linden guest starred in an episode of comedy series The Mindy Project.
After the success of Barney Miller, Linden decided to revive his music career with a night club act. In his act, Linden plays the clarinet, performs pop and Broadway standards backed by a big band, and discusses his life and career. He has continued touring with various night club and cabaret acts since the early 1980s.

In March 2011, he began touring with his cabaret show An Evening with Hal Linden: I'm Old Fashioned. The show, which ran through 2012, was later released on DVD. In April 2011, Linden released his first album, It's Never Too Late. The album features a collection of jazz, Broadway and pop standards that Linden began recording around the time he was touring in the early 1980s. Due to a lack of interest, he shelved the songs. Linden decided to finish the album on the advice of his tour booker. Linden is the spokesperson for the Jewish National Fund, a position he has held since 1997. Linden met dancer Fran Martin while doing summer stock in 1955. They married in 1958 and had four children. Martin died in 2010.
March 22, 1931

William Shatner was born. The Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, author and film director.
He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T. Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise, in the science fiction television series, Star Trek, from 1966 to 1969; Star Trek: The Animated Series from 1973 to 1974; and in seven of the subsequent Star Trek feature films from 1979 to 1994. He has written a series of books chronicling his experiences playing Captain Kirk and being a part of Star Trek, and has co-written several novels set in the Star Trek universe. He has also authored a series of science fiction novels called TekWar that were adapted for television.

Shatner also played the eponymous veteran police sergeant in T. J. Hooker from 1982 to 1986. Afterwards, he hosted the reality-based television series, Rescue 911 from 1989 to 1996, which won a People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Dramatic Series. He has since worked as a musician, author, producer, director and celebrity pitchman. From 2004 to 2008, he starred as attorney Denny Crane in the television dramas The Practice and its spin-off Boston Legal, for which he won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award

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Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: March 2026 PART II

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 9 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0700

March 9, 1976

**ABC premiered Family, a weekly prime-time drama about a Pasadena California suburban family.**
The show was created by novelist and screenwriter Jay Presson Allen, directed by film director Mark Rydell, and produced by film director Mike Nichols, as well as television moguls Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg.
The show featured James Broderick and Sada Thompson as Doug and Kate Lawrence. Doug was an independent lawyer, and Kate was a housewife. They had three children: Nancy (portrayed by Elayne Heilveil in the original mini-series and later by Meredith Baxter Birney), Willie (Gary Frank), Letitia, nicknamed "Buddy" (Kristy McNichol) and the family later adopted a girl named Annie Cooper (Quinn Cummings). The show attempted to depict the "average" family, warts and all. Storylines were very topical, and the show was one of the first to feature shows to be termed as "very special episodes." In the first episode, Nancy, who was pregnant with her second child, walked in on her husband Jeff (John Rubinstein) making love to one of her friends. Other topical storylines included Kate having to deal with the possibility that she had breast cancer. In the later seasons, there were instances in which Buddy had to decide whether or not to have sex (She always chose to wait, most notably in an episode with guest star/teen idol Leif Garrett). One episode featured guest-star Henry Fonda as a visiting elderly relative who was beginning to experience senility.

During its five seasons Family received fourteen Emmy Award nominations, three of them for Outstanding Drama Series. The show won four awards all in acting categories: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Sada Thompson in 1977), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Kristy McNichol in 1976 and 1978) and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Gary Frank in 1976).

March 9, 1996

Comedian George Burns dies at age 100.
Born Nathan Birnbaum in New York City, Burns was one of 12 children. As a young child, he sang for pennies on street corners and in saloons, and at age 13, he started a dance academy with a friend. In 1922, Burns was performing the latest in a string of song-and-dance acts in Newark, New Jersey, when he teamed up with a fellow performer, Gracie Allen. Though Allen began as the straight one in their partnership, her natural comedic ability prompted Burns to rewrite their material to give her most of the punch lines. From then on, Burns played the straight man to Allen’s ditz, with hilarious results.

By the time Burns and Allen married in 1926 (his brief first marriage, to the dancer Hannah Siegel, ended in divorce), they had already become known on the vaudeville circuit. The 1920s were a golden era for vaudeville performers, and Burns and Allen were only two of a number of greats--their peers included Milton Berle, Al Jolson, Fanny Brice, Bert Lahr and Jack Benny (Burns’ close friend)--who successfully made the transition to other forms of entertainment. After making their radio debut in 1929, the pair landed a regular show, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, which aired from 1932 to 1950 on the NBC network. In the late 1930s, the program’s audience numbered more than 40 million people and NBC paid Burns and Allen $10,000 per week, an enormous sum for the time. The couple also played themselves on the big screen in a number of films, including International House (1933), Many Happy Returns (1934), A Damsel in Distress (1937) and College Swing (1938).

In 1950, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show made a seamless transition to television, airing on CBS and becoming one of the top-ranked programs for the duration of the decade. The Burns-Allen team remained in the public eye until Allen’s retirement in 1959. She died of a heart attack in 1964, at the age of 58. Though Allen was a Roman Catholic, Burns buried her with Episcopal rites, explaining that as a Jewish man he couldn’t be buried in Catholic-consecrated ground, and he wanted to be buried beside her.

After Burns underwent major heart surgery in 1975 at the age of 79, his career got a second wind. That year, he played a retired vaudevillian in the film adaptation of Neil Simon’s play The Sunshine Boys, co-starring Walter Matthau and Richard Benjamin. Burns won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role. After that, there was no shortage of movie parts for the octogenarian actor, who played God in Oh God! (1977) and its sequels, Oh God! Book II (1980) and Oh God! You Devil (1984), in which Burns was featured as both God and the Devil. He also starred in Just You and Me, Kid (1979), Going in Style (1979) and Eighteen Again (1988).

In 1988, Burns won an award for lifetime achievement from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He wrote two best-selling autobiographical works, including Gracie: A Love Story (1988) and All My Best Friends (1989), along with eight other books that earned him his well-deserved reputation as an invaluable first-hand observer of the history of 20th century entertainment.

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Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: March 2026 PART I

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 2 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0800

March 3, 1986
**The pilot episode of Matlock aired on NBC.**
The show centers on widower Benjamin Leighton "Ben" Matlock, a renowned, folksy and popular though cantankerous attorney. Usually, at the end of the case, the person who is on the stand being questioned by Matlock is the actual perpetrator, and Matlock will expose him, despite making clear that his one goal is to prove reasonable doubt in the case of his client's guilt or to prove his client's innocence.
Matlock studied law at Harvard, and after several years as a public defender, established his law practice inAtlanta, living in a modest farmhouse in a neighboring suburb. He is known to visit crime scenes to discover clues otherwise overlooked and come up with viable, alternative theories of the crime in question (usually murder). Matlock also has conspicuously finicky fashion sense; he generally appears in court wearing a trademark light gray suit and, over the series' entire run, owned three generations of the Ford Crown Victoria—always an all-gray model (Griffith's character had always driven Ford products in his 1960s series, The Andy Griffith Show). Some Mayberry alumni—Don Knotts, Aneta Corsaut, Betty Lynn, Jack Dodson and Arlene Golonka—made guest appearances on Matlock.
Matlock is noted for his thrift and a fondness for hot dogs. After the series ended, his penchant for hot dogs was explained in the 1997 episode "Murder Two" of Joyce Burditt's Diagnosis: Murder. Matlock blames Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) for recommending a disastrous investment in 8-track cartridges, in which he lost his savings of $5,000 in 1969, forcing him into wearing cheap suits and living on hot dogs. Despite his thrift, Matlock's standard fee is $100,000, usually paid up front, but if he or his staff believe strongly enough in the innocence of a client, or if the client is unable to pay immediately (if at all), he will have them pay over time, or will reduce the fee significantly or waive it entirely, albeit reluctantly in some cases. He will also, reluctantly, take a pro bono case occasionally, and at least on one occasion, he has worked as the prosecuting attorney in a trial.
These traits, and the demands he placed upon his investigators, were often points of comic relief in the series. Andy Griffith's prior career as a comic often showed through in things Matlock did or said.

Matlock generally defended his clients in the Fulton County Courthouse, which was actually the Second Church of Christ, Scientist located at 948 West Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles.
March 4, 1996

Minnie Pearl dies.
A longtime fixture of Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, comedian Minnie Pearl dies on this day. Pearl was famous for her comic monologues about hillbilly life, and was featured on the long-running syndicated show Hee Haw from 1970 to 1990.
March 5, 2006
Jon Stewart hosts 78th annual Academy Awards ceremony.
By early 2006, Jon Stewart, the irreverent host of The Daily Show, a fake television news program on Comedy Central, had seen the ratings for his show jump dramatically as a result of its coverage of the 2004 presidential election. The show spawned a popular spin-off, The Colbert Report, starring Daily Show regular Stephen Colbert, and a best-selling parody of a social studies textbook, America (The Book). On March 5, 2006, however, Stewart took on his highest-profile gig to date--hosting the 78th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.
In preparation for the Oscars, Stewart enlisted a team of writers from The Daily Show led by Ben Karlin, a former editor of the satirical newspaper The Onion and the then-executive producer of both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. After the stars swanned down the red carpet, the ceremony began with a filmed segment suggesting Stewart was the last possible choice for the hosting gig and showing a series of former hosts refusing the job.
While Stewart’s deadpan humor might have had audiences laughing at home, his constant poking fun at Hollywood and the stars themselves seemed to meet with a less friendly reception from the Kodak Theatre audience. Jokes about Scientology and Hollywood’s liberal politics fell flat, but the audience did warm up to Daily Show-style fake ads mocking Oscar-campaigning tactics and Stewart’s ad-libbed running joke about the exuberant acceptance speech given by the rap group Three 6 Mafia, who won an Oscar for Best Song for “It’s Hard Out There For a Pimp” (from Hustle & Flow).
In the post-show media analysis the next morning, the consensus seemed to be that Stewart struggled; his hosting performance and its reception by the audience was compared with less-successful hosts from the past, such as David Letterman and Chris Rock, as opposed to Oscar favorites like Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg. He was praised, however, for poking fun at the bloated, self-important nature of the Academy Awards ceremony itself, with its often-overdone production numbers and political posturing by the stars themselves. Stewart earned a second Oscars hosting gig--and better reviews--in 2008, in the wake of Hollywood’s writers’ strike and in the midst of the presidential campaign season.

The 78th annual Oscars were also memorable for the surprising upset victory of the ensemble drama Crash in the Best Picture category. After the Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee took home the Best Director Oscar for Brokeback Mountain, that film’s string of awards seemed to have given it the front-runner’s momentum to win Best Picture, the last statuette of the night. The New York Times called Crash’s selection as Best Picture a “stunning twist” to the evening, while Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times observed that some Academy voters may have been uncomfortable with the subject matter of Brokeback Mountain, which starred Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as sheepherders who fall in love while working in Wyoming in the early 1960s. Acting awards went to Rachel Weisz (Best Supporting Actress for The Constant Gardener), George Clooney (Best Supporting Actor for Syriana), Reese Witherspoon (Best Actress for Walk the Line) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Best Actor for Capote).
March 7, 1986
**The final episode of Different Strokes was aired.**
Arnold's feature story about his high school football team threatens to turn into a controversial expose for the school newspaper when he witnesses team members buying steroids.

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Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: February 2026 PART IV

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

February 28, 1931
Gavin MacLeod is born Allan George See.
Character actor, mayor, and ship's ambassador, who in his six decades of television is notable for playing Joseph "Happy" Haines on McHale's Navy, Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and for his lead role as Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat.

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Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: February 2026 PART III

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

February 20, 1946
Sandra Kay "Sandy" Duncan is born.
The singer, dancer, comedienne and actress of stage and television, recognized through a blonde, pixie cut hairstyle and perky demeanor. She is best known for her performances in the Broadway revival of Peter Pan and in the sitcom The Hogan Family.

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Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: February 2026 PART II

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 9 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

February 9, 1971
The 1971 San Fernando earthquake (also known as the Sylmar earthquake).
The quake occurred in the early morning of in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in southern California. The unanticipated thrust earthquake had a moment magnitude of 6.5 or 6.7 (as determined by several independent institutions) and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). The event was one in a series that affected the Los Angeles area in the late 20th century, and a study of the Sierra Madre Fault during that time indicated that more substantial thrust earthquakes had occurred near the Transverse Ranges in the past. Damage was locally severe in the northernSan Fernando Valley, and surface faulting was extensive to the south of the epicenter in the mountains, as well as urban settings along city streets and neighborhoods. Uplift and other effects affected private homes and businesses.
February 10, 2006
Final episode of Arrested Development airs on Fox.
Celebrated by critics and beloved by its relatively small but devout fan base, the Fox television series Arrested Development airs its last episode on this day in 2006. Arrested Development, created by Mitchell Hurwitz, premiered in November 2003. It was almost universally acclaimed by critics, who praised its sharp, complicated writing and stellar acting, as well as the multi-layered plotlines and interesting camera work that set it apart from run-of-the-mill network sitcoms.
Arrested Development was narrated by Ron Howard, the former Happy Days star-turned-Oscar-winning movie director (2001’s A Beautiful Mind), in an uncredited performance. Jason Bateman starred as Michael Bluth, by far the most responsible member of a madcap family whose patriarch, George Bluth Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor), has been sent to jail for dubious accounting procedures. With George Sr. in prison, Michael is forced to take over management of the Bluth Company and provide a much-needed stabilizing force for the rest of the Bluth clan: his manipulative mother (Jessica Walter); his magician older brother (Will Arnett); his self-obsessed sister (Portia de Rossi) and her aspiring actor husband (David Cross); and his child-like youngest brother (Tony Hale), who still clings to the hem of his mother’s fur coat. Rounding out the comedy, Michael’s sensitive son (Michael Cera) harbors a crush on his cousin (Alia Shawkat), with whom he is forced to share a room after the clan starts sharing a model home on one of the Bluth Company’s developments.
At the 2004 Emmy Awards, Arrested Development won no fewer than four statuettes-- for directing, writing, casting and for Outstanding Comedy Series. Bateman also won a Golden Globe Award in 2005 for Best Actor in a Television Series--Musical or Comedy. Despite critics’ rapture and the enthusiasm of its fan base, the series earned low ratings from the beginning. While Fox renewed Arrested Development for a second season, it shortened its run to only 18 episodes--a fact that was worked into the jokes on the show, along with jokes about its corporate sponsor, Burger King, and jokes about its much higher-rated Sunday-night competition (ABC’s Desperate Housewives). A few of the memorable guest stars during the show’s three-year run included Liza Minnelli, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Henry Winkler, Scott Baio and Charlize Theron.
During its third season, Arrested Development’s audience averaged around 4 million viewers, compared with 6 million during the previous season. With the threat of cancellation hovering, rumors flew that Arrested Development might be picked up by HBO or Showtime--either of which might have been a better fit for its offbeat, often racy humor. References to these rumors were also worked into the script.
In February 2006, to the dismay of fans, Fox pulled the plug on Arrested Development for good. The following month, it was reported that Hurwitz had closed long-running negotiations with Showtime and determined that Arrested Development as a TV series was over. With the program named as one of the 100 Best Shows of All Time by Time magazine, buzz began to grow about an Arrested Development movie--exciting news for the show’s loyal fans.
February 11, 1926

Leslie William Nielsen, was born on in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Nielsen appeared in over 100 films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career beginning with dramatic roles on television appearing in almost 50 live programs in 1950 alone during what is now known as "The Golden Age".

Nielsen first appeared in films in 1956 when he made his feature film debut in the Michael Curtiz-directed musical film The Vagabond King. His lead roles in the films Forbidden Planet (1956) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) received positive reviews as a serious actor.
Although Nielsen's acting career crossed a variety of genres in both television and films, his deadpan delivery as a doctor in Airplane! (1980) marked a turning point in his career, one that would make him, in the words of film critic Roger Ebert, "the Olivier of spoofs." Nielsen enjoyed further success with The Naked Gun film series, based on his short-lived television series Police Squad!.

His portrayal of serious characters seemingly oblivious to (and complicit in) their absurd surroundings gave him a reputation as a comedian. He was recognized with a variety of awards throughout his career and was inducted into both the Canada and Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nielsen married four times and had two daughters from his second marriage. Nielsen died in his sleep in a Fort Lauderdale, Florida hospital of complications from pneumonia.
February 11, 1936

Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is born.
Actor, director and voice artist. Some of his notable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Charlie B. Barkin in All Dogs Go to Heaven, Paul Crewe then Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and Jack Horner in Boogie Nights.

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Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: February 2026 PART I

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 2 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0800

February 6, 1966

The final episode of "Mr. Ed" aired on CBS.

Wilbur pleads with Ed to stick to being a horse, especially when Ed wants to go to college to become a Doctor.
February 8, 1996
The U.S. Telecommunications Bill was signed into law.
The bill included provisions that required TV manufacturers to install V-chip devices in all television sets with a 13 inch screen or larger. The chips would allow consumers to block "sexual, violent, and other material about which parents should be informed before it is displayed to children".
February 8, 2006

Kelly Clarkson became the first participant on "American Idol" to win a Grammy.
The awards were for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Since U Been Gone" and Best Pop Vocal Album for "Breakaway". She also performed "Because of You" at the show.

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Demond Wilson

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 18:07:00 -0800

Sanford and Son' transcended politics and race.

It was a show about a son and a father who have a love-hate relationship but yet need one another to get by in life.

-Demond Wilson

Grady Demond Wilson

October 13, 1946 – January 30, 2026

Demond Wilson was born in Valdosta, Georgia, on October 13, 1946, and grew up in New York City, where he studied tap dance and ballet. He made his Broadway debut at age four and danced at Harlem's Apollo Theater at age 12. Wilson was raised as a Catholic and served as an altar boy. He would spend summers with his grandmother Ada Mitchell, who was Pentecostal. Wilson briefly considered becoming a Catholic priest. At age 13, Wilson's appendix ruptured, almost killing him, but he vowed to serve God as an adult in some ministerial capacity.

He served in the United States Army from 1966 to 1968 and was in the 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam, where he was wounded. Upon returning home in the late 1960s, Wilson was featured in several Broadway and off-Broadway stage productions before moving to Hollywood, where he performed guest roles on several television series such as Mission: Impossible and All in the Family and acted in films such as The Organization (1971) and Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1972).

Later in 1971, after appearing as a robber on All in the Family with Cleavon Little, Wilson won the role of Lamont Sanford in the NBC sitcom Sanford and Son. Johnny Brown was considered for that role, but because of his commitment to Laugh-In, Wilson got the role instead. Wilson played Lamont through the run of the series, and became the star when Redd Foxx walked off the show in 1974 over a salary dispute with the producers and his character was written out for the rest of the season. Foxx returned the following year, and the pair worked together until 1977 when the show was cancelled. In 1980–1981, Foxx attempted to revive the show with the short-lived sitcom Sanford, but Wilson refused to reprise his role for the new series.

When asked in 2014 if he kept in touch with anybody from Sanford & Son, especially Foxx (who died on October 11, 1991), he responded:

No. I saw Redd Foxx once before he died, circa 1983, and I never saw him again. At the time I was playing tennis at the Malibu Racquet Club and I was approached by some producers about doing a Redd Foxx 50th Anniversary Special. I hadn't spoken to him since 1977, and I called the club where (Redd) was playing. And we met at Redd's office, but he was less than affable. I told those guys it was a bad idea. I never had a cross word with him. People say I'm protective of Redd Foxx in my book (Second Banana, Wilson's memoir of the Sanford years). I had no animosity toward Foxx (for quitting the show in 1977) because I had a million dollar contract at CBS to do Baby... I'm Back!. My hurt was that he didn't come to me about throwing the towel in - I found out in the hallway at NBC from a newscaster. I forgave him and I loved Redd, but I never forgot that. The love was there. You can watch any episode and see that.

Wilson also appeared in the films Full Moon High (1981), Me and the Kid (1993), and Hammerlock (2000).

Wilson later starred as Raymond Ellis in the short-lived CBS comedy series Baby... I'm Back! and as Oscar Madison, opposite actor Ron Glass (who co-starred as Felix Ungar) in the ABC sitcom The New Odd Couple, a revamped black version of the 1970–75 series The Odd Couple on the same network which starred Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, which was in turn based on the 1965 play.

Wilson wrote several Christian books concerning the New Age Movement and the hidden dangers he believed it holds for society. New Age Millennium was released by CAP Publishing & Literary Co. LLC on December 1, 1998. Wilson, who also authored children's books, called the book an "exposé" of certain New Age "symbols and slogans".

His memoir Second Banana: The Bittersweet Memoirs of the Sanford & Son Years was released on August 31, 2009. Wilson said, "It's just a documented truth, behind the scenes factual account of what happened during those years. Redd (Foxx) and I were making history back in those days. We were the first Blacks to be on television in that capacity and we opened the door for all those other shows that came after us."

Wilson also made numerous guest appearances on the Praise the Lord program aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, and was a good friend of Clifton Davis. He also appeared as a guest star on the UPN sitcom Girlfriends, playing Lynn's biological father.

In the summer of 2011, Wilson started appearing with actress Nina Nicole in a touring production of the play The Measure of a Man by playwright Matt Hardwick. The play is described as "a faith-based production" and is set in a small town in south Georgia.

Wilson began work in 2010 to produce and act in a melodramatic family film based on the play Faith Ties. Says Wilson of the project: "I play a broken down old drunk whose wife and daughter are killed and he's given up on life. The protagonist is a pastor who is in the middle while he watches the lives of people crumbling around him."

Good Night Mr. Wilson

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Catherine O'Hara

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 11:18:00 -0800

I'm pretty much a good Catholic girl at heart and I believe in family. I also have a basic belief that God takes care of me.

I believe in prayer, even though I'm not that religious.

I just have that foundation from my family.

I mean when you think that you're just a human being and one of God's creatures, you can't take anything that seriously.

-Catherine O'Hara

Catherine Anne O'Hara

March 4, 1954 – January 30, 2026

Catherine O'Hara started her career in the sketch comedy series Second City Television (1976–1984) where she won the Primetime Emmy Award.

She gained acclaim acting in films such as After Hours (1985), Heartburn (1986), Beetlejuice (1988), Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).

She collaborated with Christopher Guest acting in his mockumentary films Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006). She also voiced roles in films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Chicken Little (2005), Over the Hedge (2006), Monster House (2006), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), Frankenweenie (2012), and Elemental (2023).

She gained a career resurgence for her role as Moira Rose in the CBC sitcom Schitt's Creek (2015–2020), earning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. She was Emmy-nominated for her portrayal of Temple Grandin's aunt in the HBO film Temple Grandin (2010). She also acted in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under (2003–2005), the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017–2018), the Apple TV+ comedy series The Studio (2025), and the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us (2025).

Good Night Catherine

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: January 2026 PART IV

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0800

January 26, 1926

John Logie Baird gave the world's first demonstration of true television before 50 scientists in an attic room in central London.
In 1927, his television was demonstrated over 438 miles of telephone line between London and Glasgow, and he formed the Baird Television Development Company. (BTDC). In 1928, the BTDC achieved the first transatlantic television transmission between London and New York and the first transmission to a ship in mid-Atlantic. He also gave the first demonstration of both colour and stereoscopic television.
January 27, 1976

The Happy Days spin-off Laverne and Shirley, featuring two Milwaukee women who work on a brewery assembly line preimers.
The show starred Penny Marshall, sister of producer Garry Marshall, and Cindy Williams. Fierce rivalry erupted between the two stars, and Williams left the show in 1982. The show lasted only one more season before its cancellation in 1983.
January 28, 1936
Alan Alda is born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo.
A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his roles as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series MASH and Arnold Vinick in The West Wing. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Journalism and a member of the advisory board of The Center for Communicating Science.
Family and early life
Alda was born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo in The Bronx, New York City. His father, Robert Alda (born Alphonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo), was an actor and singer, and his mother, Joan Browne, was a former showgirl. His father was of Italian descent and his mother was of Irish ancestry. His adopted surname, "Alda," is a portmanteau of ALphonso and D'Abruzzo. When Alda was seven years old, he contracted poliomyelitis. To combat the disease, his parents administered a painful treatment regimen developed by Sister Elizabeth Kenny that consisted of applying hot woollen blankets to his limbs and stretching his muscles. Alda attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York. In 1956, he received his Bachelor of Science degree in English from Fordham College of Fordham University in the Bronx, where he was a student staff member of its FM radio station, WFUV. Alda's half-brother, Antony Alda, was born the same year and would also become an actor.
During Alda's junior year, he studied in Paris, acted in a play in Rome, and performed with his father on television in Amsterdam. In college, he was a member of the ROTC, and after graduation, he served for a year at Fort Benning, Georgia, then joined the U.S. Army Reserve, and served for six months as a gunnery officer. A year after graduation, he married Arlene Weiss, with whom he has three daughters: Eve, Elizabeth, and Beatrice. Two of his 7 grandchildren are aspiring actors. The Aldas have been longtime residents of Leonia, New Jersey. Alda frequented Sol & Sol Deli on Palisade Avenue in the nearby town of Englewood, New Jersey—a fact mirrored in his character's daydream about eating whitefish from the establishment, in an episode of MASH in which Hawkeye sustains a head injury.
Career
Early acting
Alda began his career in the 1950s, as a member of the Compass Players comedy revue. In 1966, he starred in the musical The Apple Tree on Broadway; he was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Actor in a Musical for that role.
Alda made his Hollywood acting debut as a supporting player in Gone are the Days! – a film version of the highly successful Broadway play Purlie Victorious, which co-starred veteran actors Ruby Dee and her husband, Ossie Davis. Other film roles would follow, such as his portrayal of author, humorist, and actor George Plimpton in the film Paper Lion (1968),^[4] as well as The Extraordinary Seaman (1969), and the occult-murder-suspense thriller The Mephisto Waltz, with actress Jacqueline Bisset. During this time, Alda frequently appeared as a panelist on the 1968 revival of What's My Line?. He also appeared as a panelist on I've Got a Secret during its 1972 syndication revival.
MASH Series (1972–83)
In early 1972, Alda auditioned for and was selected to play the role of "Hawkeye Pierce" in the TV adaptation of the 1970 film MASH.^[4] He was nominated for 21 Emmy Awards, and won five. He took part in writing 19 episodes, including the finale, and directed 32. When he won his first Emmy Award for writing, he was so happy that he performed a cartwheel before running up to the stage to accept the award. He was also the first person to win Emmy Awards for acting, writing, and directing for the same series. Richard Hooker, who wrote the novel on which MASH was based, did not like Alda's portrayal of Hawkeye Pierce (Hooker, a Republican, had based Hawkeye on himself, whereas Alda and the show's writers took the character in a more liberal direction).^[^{citation
needed}^] Alda also directed the show's 1983 2½-hour series finale "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", which remains the single most-watched episode of any television series.^[4] Alda is the only series regular to appear in all 251 episodes.
The cast of MASH from Season 2, 1974 (clockwise from left): Loretta Swit, Larry Linville, Wayne Rogers, Gary Burghoff, McLean Stevenson, and Alda
The cast of MASH from Season 8 onwards (clockwise from left): Mike Farrell, William Christopher, Jamie Farr, David Ogden Stiers, Loretta Swit, Alda, Harry Morgan
Alda commuted from Los Angeles to his home in New Jersey every weekend for 11 years while starring in MASH. His wife and daughters lived in New Jersey, and he did not want to uproot his family to L.A., especially because he did not know how long the show would last.
Alan Alda, father Robert Alda, and half-brother Antony Alda appeared together in an episode of MASH, "Lend a Hand", during Season 8. Robert had previously appeared in "The Consultant" in Season 3.
During the first five seasons of the series, the tone of "MASH" was largely that of a traditional "service comedy", in the vein of shows like "McHale's Navy". However, as the original writers gradually left the series, Alda gained increasing control, and by the final seasons had become a producer and creative consultant. Under his watch, MASH retained its comedic foundation, but gradually assumed a somewhat more serious tone, openly addressing political issues. As a result, the 11 years of MASH are generally split into two eras: the Larry Gelbart/Gene Reynolds "comedy" years (1972–1977), and the Alan Alda "dramatic" years (1977–1983).
In his 1981 autobiography, Jackie Cooper (who directed several early episodes) wrote that Alda concealed a lot of hostility beneath the surface, and that the two of them barely spoke to each other by the time Cooper’s directing of MASH ended.
During his MASH years, Alda made several game-show appearances, most notably in The $10,000 Pyramid and as a frequent panelist on To Tell the Truth.
His favorite episodes of MASH are "Dear Sigmund" and "In Love and War".
In 1996, Alda was ranked #41 on TV Guide's "50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time".
Writing and Directing Credits
The following is a list of MASH episodes written and/or directed by Alda.
Season One

Episode 19: "The Long John Flap" (Written)

Season Two

Episode 5: "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde" (Written with Robert Klane)

Episode 23: "Mail Call" (Directed)

Season Three

Episode 16: "Bulletin Board" (Directed)

Season Four

Episode 4: "The Late Captain Pierce" (Directed)

Episode 7: "Dear Mildred" (Directed)

Episode 8: "The Kids" (Directed)

Episode 16: "Dear Ma" (Directed)

Season Five

Episode 2: "Margaret's Engagement" (Directed)

Episode 7: "Dear Sigmund (Written and Directed)

Episode 12: "Exorcism" (Directed)

Episode 19: "Hepatitis" (Written and Directed)

Season Six

Episode 2: "Fallen Idol" (Written and Directed)

Episode 4: "War of Nerves" (Written and Directed)

Episode 7: "In Love and War" (Written and Directed)

Episode 12: "Comrades in Arms, Part 1" (Written; Directed with Burt Metcalfe)

Episode 13: "Comrades in Arms, Part 2" (Written; Directed with Burt Metcalfe)

Season Seven

Episode 5: "The Billfold Syndrome" (Directed)

Episode 8: "Major Ego" (Directed)

Episode 14: "Dear Sis" (Written and Directed)

Episode 16: "Inga" (Written and Directed)

Episode 25: "The Party" (Written with Burt Metcalfe)

Season Eight

Episode 3: "Guerilla My Dreams" (Directed)

Episode 11: "Life Time" (Written with Walter D. Dishell, M.D.; Directed)

Episode 15: "Yessir, That's Our Baby" (Directed)

Episode 20: "Lend a Hand" (Written and Directed)

Episode 22: "Dreams" (Teleplay; Story with James Jay Rubinfier; Directed)

Season Nine

Episode 4: "Father's Day" (Directed)

Episode 12: "Depressing News" (Directed)

Episode 15: "Bottoms Up" (Directed)

Episode 20: "The Life You Save" (Written with John Rappaport; Directed)

Season Ten

Episode 6: "Communication Breakdown" (Directed)

Episode 10: "Follies of the Living—Concerns of the Dead" (Written and Directed)

Episode 16: "Where There's a Will, There's a War" (Directed)

Season Eleven

Episode 1: "Hey, Look Me Over" (Written with Karen Hall)

Episode 16: "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" (Written with Burt Metcalfe, John Rappaport, Dan Wilcox, Thad Mumford, Elias Davis, David Pollock and Karen Hall; Directed)

Post-MASH
Alda's prominence in the enormously successful MASH gave him a platform to speak out on political topics, and he has been a strong and vocal supporter of women's rights and the feminist movement.^[4] He co-chaired, with former First Lady Betty Ford, the Equal Rights Amendment Countdown campaign. In 1976, The Boston Globe dubbed him "the quintessential Honorary Woman: a feminist icon" for his activism on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment.^[13] As a liberal and often progressive activist, he has been a target for some political and social conservatives.
Alda played Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman in the play QED, which had only one other character. Although Peter Parnell wrote the play, Alda both produced and inspired it. Alda has also appeared frequently in the films of Woody Allen, and was a guest star five times on ER, playing Dr. Kerry Weaver's mentor, Gabriel Lawrence. During the later episodes, it was revealed that Dr. Lawrence was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Alda also had a co-starring role as Dr. Robert Gallo in the 1993 TV movie And the Band Played On.
During MASH's run and continuing through the 1980s, Alda embarked on a successful career as a writer and director, with the ensemble dramedy The Four Seasons being perhaps his most notable hit. Betsy's Wedding is his last directing credit to date. After MASH, Alda took on a series of roles that either parodied or directly contradicted his "nice guy" image.^[4] His role as a pompous celebrity television producer in Crimes and Misdemeanors was widely seen as a self-parody, although Alda has denied this.
In 1993, he co-starred with Woody Allen (also the director), Diane Keaton, and Anjelica Huston in the comedy/mystery Manhattan Murder Mystery. The four play a quartet of amateur crime solvers who become entangled in a murder plot possibly perpetrated by Keaton and Allen's neighbor. Alda's character is Ted, a playwright secretly in love with Keaton's character Carol, but who eventually falls for Huston's character Marcia.
In 1995, he starred as the President of the United States in Michael Moore's political satire/comedy film Canadian Bacon. Around this time, rumors circulated that Alda was considering running for the United States Senate in New Jersey, but he denied this. In 1996, Alda played Henry Ford in Camping With Henry and Tom, based on the book by Mark St. Germain, and Ben Stiller's father in the comedy film Flirting with Disaster.
Beginning in 2004, Alda was a regular cast member on the NBC program The West Wing, portraying Republican U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Arnold Vinick, until the show's conclusion in May 2006. He made his premiere in the sixth season's eighth episode, "In The Room," and was added to the opening credits with the thirteenth episode, "King Corn." In August 2006, Alda won an Emmy for his portrayal of Arnold Vinick in the final season of The West Wing. Alda had been a serious candidate, along with Sidney Poitier for the role of President Josiah Bartlet, before Martin Sheen was ultimately cast in the role.
In 2004, Alda portrayed conservative Maine Senator Owen Brewster in Martin Scorsese's Academy-Award winning film The Aviator, in which he co-starred with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Throughout his career, Alda has received 31 Emmy Award nominations and two Tony Award nominations, and has won seven People's Choice Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, and three Directors Guild of America awards. However, it was not until 2005, after a long acting career, that Alda received his first Academy Award nomination, for his role in The Aviator.
Alda also wrote several of the stories and poems that appeared in Marlo Thomas's television show Free to Be... You and Me.
Alda starred in the original Broadway production of the play 'Art', which opened on March 1, 1998, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The play won the Tony Award for best original play.
Alda also had a part in the 2000 romantic comedy What Women Want, as the CEO of the advertising firm where the main characters worked.
In the spring of 2005, Alda starred as Shelly Levene in the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Throughout 2009 and 2010, he appeared in three episodes of 30 Rock as Milton Greene, the biological father of Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin).
In 2011, Alda was scheduled to guest star on Law & Order: LA, portraying former police and naval officer John Winters, the father of the former main character Rex Winters. It is unknown whether he filmed his role before the series was redesigned and Rex Winters written off.
After the release of the movie Tower Heist, Alda was devastated when on December 7, 2011, he lost his idol and decades-long friend Harry Morgan, who played opposite Alda as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on MASH. Upon Morgan's death, Alda released a statement: "We had just a wonderful time reminiscing. That was the last time I saw Harry."
Charitable work and other interests
Alda has done extensive charity work. He helped narrate a 2005 St. Jude's Children's Hospital produced one-hour special TV show Fighting for Life.^[15] He and his wife, Arlene, are also close friends of Marlo Thomas, who is very active in fund-raising for the hospital her father founded. The special featured Ben Bowen as one of six patients being treated for childhood cancer at Saint Jude. Alda and Marlo Thomas had also worked together in the early 70s on a critically acclaimed children's album entitled Free to Be You and Me, which featured Alda, Thomas and a number of other well-known character actors. This project remains one of the earliest public signs of his support of women's rights.
In 2005, Alda published his first round of memoirs, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: and Other Things I've Learned. Among other stories, he recalls his intestines becoming strangulated while on location in Chile for his PBS show Scientific American Frontiers, during which he mildly surprised a young doctor with his understanding of medical procedures, which he had learned from MA*SH. He also talks about his mother's battle with schizophrenia. The title comes from an incident in his childhood, when Alda was distraught about his dog dying and his well-meaning father had the animal stuffed. Alda was horrified by the results, and took from this that sometimes we have to accept things as they are, rather than desperately and fruitlessly trying to change them.
In 2006, Alda contributed his voice to a part in the audio book of Max Brooks' World War Z. In this book, he voiced Arthur Sinclair Jr., the director of the United States Government's fictional "Department of Strategic Resources (DeStRes)".
His second memoir, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, weaves together advice from public speeches he has given with personal recollections about his life and beliefs.
Alda also has an avid interest in cosmology, and participated in BBC coverage of the opening of the Large Hadron Collider, at CERN, Geneva, in September 2008.
After years of interviews, Alda helped inspire the creation of the Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University in 2009. He remains on the advisory board as of 2012.
Alda has been a feminist activist for many years. He co-chaired, with former First Lady Betty Ford, the Equal Rights Amendment Countdown campaign. In 1976, The Boston Globe dubbed him "the quintessential Honorary Woman: a feminist icon" for his activism on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Religious views
In Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, Alda describes how as a teen he was raised as a Roman Catholic and eventually he realized he had begun thinking like an agnostic or atheist:
For a while in my teens, I was sure I had it. It was about getting to heaven. If heaven existed and lasted forever, then a mere lifetime spent scrupulously following orders was a small investment for an infinite payoff. One day, though, I realized I was no longer a believer, and realizing that, I couldn’t go back. Not that I lost the urge to pray. Occasionally, even after I stopped believing, I might send off a quick memo to the Master of the Universe, usually on a matter needing urgent attention, like Oh, God, don’t let us crash. These were automatic expulsions of words, brief SOS messages from the base of my brain. They were similar to the short prayers that were admired by the church in my Catholic boyhood, which they called “ejaculations.” I always liked the idea that you could shorten your time in purgatory with each ejaculation; what boy wouldn’t find that a comforting idea? But my effort to keep the plane in the air by talking to God didn’t mean I suddenly was overcome with belief, only that I was scared. Whether I’d wake up in heaven someday or not, whatever meaning I found would have to occur first on this end of eternity.
Speaking further on agnosticism, Alda goes on to say:
I still don't like the word agnostic. It's too fancy. I'm simply not a believer. But, as simple as this notion is, it confuses some people. Someone wrote a Wikipedia entry about me, identifying me as an atheist because I'd said in a book I wrote that I wasn't a believer. I guess in a world uncomfortable with uncertainty, an unbeliever must be an atheist, and possibly an infidel. This gets us back to that most pressing of human questions: why do people worry so much about other people's holding beliefs other than their own?
Alda made these comments in an interview for the 2008 question section of the Edge Foundation website.
January 28, 1956

Young country-rock singer Elvis Presley makes his first-ever television appearance on the TV musical-variety program Stage Show.
Presley sang "Heartbreak Hotel," which quickly became a hit single. In total, Elvis appeared on six shows. The program was hosted by swing band leaders Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. Elvis went on to appear on Ed Sullivan's immensely popular variety show, Toast of the Town, in the fall of 1956. The appearance made Elvis a household name.

January 28, 1986
Challenger explodes
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when the NASA Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger (OV-099) (mission STS-51-L) broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members, which included five NASA astronauts and two Payload Specialists. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39 EST (16:39 UTC). Disintegration of the vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it sealed, allowing pressurized burning gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB aft field joint attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the right-hand SRB's aft field joint attachment and the structural failure of the external tank.Aerodynamic forces broke up the orbiter.

January 28, 1996
Jerry Siegel, creator of Superman, dies at age 81.
Writer Sisgel created Superman with artist friend Joe Shuster when they were both teenagers in the 1930s. All the major newspaper syndicates rejected the character, who was born on the doomed planet Krypton and bundled off by his parents in a space capsule to Smallville USA, where he's raised by kindly earthlings. In 1938, however, Seigel and Shuster finally landed a comic book deal, and Superman's adventures as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent moonlighting as the Man of Steel became an instant hit. The comic book spawned a newspaper strip that ran for 28 years, as well as a radio series that ran from 1940 to 1951.
The character, along with his friends cub reporter Jimmy Olson and ace newswoman Lois Lane, who never seem to penetrate Superman's Clark Kent disguise, appeared in movie serials from 1948 to 1950, and in a feature film in 1951. A popular Superman TV series ran from 1951 to 1957. Filmed on a shoestring budget, the show's special effects were limited to Superman crashing through walls, flying around, and witnessing fiery explosions. The same flying sequences were used repeatedly. Actor George Reeves was so well-known as Superman that he couldn't find other work when the series ended.
The Man of Steel reappeared on the big screen in 1978, with Christopher Reeves in the role. The hit film launched three follow-ups. In 1993, Superman appeared again in the TV comedy Lois and Clark.

February 1, 1951

TV Shows Atomic Blast, Live.

For the first time, television viewers witness the live detonation of an atomic bomb blast, as KTLA in Los Angeles broadcasts the blinding light produced by a nuclear device dropped on Frenchman Flats, Nevada. One of a hundred above-ground nuclear tests conducted between 1951 and 1962 in the Nevada desert, the A-bomb telecast found its way into the history books (and blogs) when cameramen secretly positioned on top of a Las Vegas hotel focused on the blast. The images were relayed to the station’s transmitter on Mount Wilson Observatory about 200 miles away, and early-bird viewers saw their television screens fill with white light at 5:30 in the morning.

Witnessing the blast telecast first-hand was KTLA reporter Stan Chambers. In a YouTube interview, Chambers described how station manager Klaus Landsberg pulled off the unauthorized broadcast. “We couldn’t get near the field, because it was all top secret. Klaus sent a crew to Las Vegas and put them on top of one of the hotels…. They kept the camera open for the flash of light that would come on when the blast went off.”
Los Angeles viewers tuned in for the one-off event. “We had a rating that was very large for 5:30 in the morning,” Chambers recalled. In the pre-videotape era, there were of course no replays as newsmen Gil Martin, anchoring from Las Vegas, and station staffer Robin Lane at Mount Wilson reported the incident. Chambers continued:
We stayed on the air, they waited for the right time, and all of a sudden there was the flash. The people watched it, Gil described it, Lane talked about it, and that was our telecast. That one flash. You just see this blinding white light. It didn’t seem real. We didn’t have videotape. You couldn’t say, “Let’s look at it again.”
1951’s Ranger Easy bomb was designed to test compression against critical mass in the Demon core, so-called because the plutonium mass became unstable and caused the radiation-poisoning death of a Los Alamos scientist. A B-50 bomber plane dropped the test weapon above the Nevada Test Site about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Part of the Department of Energy’s Operation Ranger program, “Easy” delivered a 1-kiloton payload.
In the decade that followed Operation Ranger, A-bomb tests from Buster-Jangle, Tumbler-Snapper, Upshot-Knothole, Plumbbob, Nougat, Sunbeam and other programs became so commonplace that watching mushroom clouds turned into a Las Vegas tourist attraction.

In 1952, KTLA set up the first live, national feed for a Nevada atomic bomb explosion. That one was carried by the major networks.
February 1, 1976
Sonny and Cher resumed on TV despite a real life divorce.
In February 1976, the bitterness of their divorce behind them, the couple reunited for one last try with The Sonny and Cher Show. This incarnation of the series was produced by veteran musical variety-show writers, Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth. It was basically the same as their first variety series but with different writers to create new sketches and songs. The duo's opening conversations were markedly more subdued and made humbled references to the couple's divorce and Cher's subsequent marriage to Gregg Allman (during production Cher was pregnant with and eventually bore Allman's son, Elijah). (Some jokes would get awkward. In one opening segment Cher gave Sonny a compliment and Sonny jokingly replied "That's not what you said in the courtroom.") Despite these complications, the revived series garnered enough ratings to be renewed for a second season, finally ending its run in 1977. (By this time, the variety show genre was already in steep decline, and Sonny and Cher was one of the few successful programs of the genre remaining on the air at the time.)

Some of the guests who appeared on The Sonny and Cher Show included Frankie Avalon, Muhammad Ali, Raymond Burr, Ruth Buzzi, Charo, Barbara Eden, Neil Sedaka,Farrah Fawcett, Bob Hope, Don Knotts, Jerry Lewis, Tony Orlando, The Osmonds, Debbie Reynolds, The Smothers Brothers, Tina Turner, Twiggy, and Betty White.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: January 2026 PART III

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0800

January 25, 1949

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presents its first industry award at the Hollywood Athletic Club in Los Angeles. The Emmy for most popular program went to Pantomime Quiz Time, and puppeteer Shirley Dinsdale and her puppet Judy Splinters won an award for Outstanding TV Personality. Most of the awards were for programs produced by TV station KTLA. The station also won an award for Outstanding Overall Achievement.

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Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: January 2026 PART II

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0800

January 12, 1926
Original Amos n Andy debuts on Chicago radio
The two-man comedy series "Sam 'n' Henry" debuts on Chicago's WGN radio station. Two years later, after changing its name to "Amos 'n' Andy," the show became one of the most popular radio programs in American history.
Though the creators and the stars of the new radio program, Freeman Gosden and Charles Carrell, were both white, the characters they played were two black men from the Deep South who moved to Chicago to seek their fortunes. By that time, white actors performing in dark stage makeup--or "blackface"--had been a significant tradition in American theater for over 100 years. Gosden and Carrell, both vaudeville performers, were doing a Chicago comedy act in blackface when an employee at the Chicago Tribune suggested they create a radio show.
When "Sam 'n' Henry" debuted in January 1926, it became an immediate hit. In 1928, Gosden and Carrell took their act to a rival station, the Chicago Daily News' WMAQ. When they discovered WGN owned the rights to their characters' names, they simply changed them. As their new contract gave Gosden and Carrell the right to syndicate the program, the popularity of "Amos 'n' Andy" soon exploded. Over the next 22 years, the show would become the highest-rated comedy in radio history, attracting more than 40 million listeners.
By 1951, when "Amos 'n' Andy" came to television, changing attitudes about race and concerns about racism had virtually wiped out the practice of blackface. With Alvin Childress and Spencer Williams taking over for Gosden and Carrell, the show was the first TV series to feature an all-black cast and the only one of its kind for the next 20 years. This did not stop African-American advocacy groups and eventually the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from criticizing both the radio and TV versions of "Amos 'n' Andy" for promoting racial stereotypes. These protests led to the TV show's cancellation in 1953.

The final radio broadcast of "Amos 'n' Andy" aired on November 25, 1960. The following year, Gosden and Carrell created a short-lived TV sequel called "Calvin and the Colonel." This time, they avoided controversy by replacing the human characters with an animated fox and bear. The show was canceled after one season.
January 12, 1966
Batman aired it’s first episode.
Based on the DC comic book character of the same name, which stars Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin, two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network for two and a half seasons from January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968. Despite its short run, a total of 120 episodes were produced based on having two weekly installments for most of its tenure.
In the early 1960s, Ed Graham Productions optioned the TV rights to the comic strip Batman, and planned a straightforward juvenile adventure show, much like Adventures of Superman and The Lone Ranger, for CBS on Saturday mornings.Mike Henry was set to star as Batman. Reportedly, D.C. Comics commissioned publicity photos of Henry in a Batman costume. Around this same time, the Playboy Club in Chicago was screening the Batman serials (1943's Batman and 1949's Batman and Robin on Saturday nights. It became very popular, as the hip party goers would cheer and applaud the Dynamic Duo, and boo and hiss at the villains. East coast ABC executive Yale Udoff, a Batman fan in childhood, attended one of these parties at the Playboy Club and was impressed with the reaction the serials were getting. He contacted ABC executives Harve Bennett and Edgar J. Scherick, who were already considering developing a TV series based on a comic strip action hero, to suggest a prime time Batman series in the hip and fun style of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. When negotiations between CBS and Graham stalled, DC quickly re-obtained rights and made the deal with ABC, who farmed the rights out to 20th Century Fox to produce the series.
In turn, 20th Century Fox handed the project to William Dozier and his Greenway Productions. ABC and Fox were expecting a hip and fun—yet still serious—adventure show. However, Dozier, who loathed comic books, concluded the only way to make the show work was to do it as a pop art camp comedy. Originally, espionage novelist Eric Ambler was to write the motion picture that would launch the TV series, but he dropped out after learning of Dozier's camp comedy approach. By the time, ABC had pushed up the debut date to January 1966, thus foregoing the movie until the summer hiatus, Lorenzo Semple, Jr. had signed on as head script writer. He wrote the pilot script, and generally kept his scripts more on the side of pop art adventure. Stanley Ralph Ross, Stanford Sherman, and Charles Hoffman were script writers who generally leaned more toward camp comedy, and in Ross' case, sometimes outright slapstick and satire. Instead of producing a one-hour show, Dozier and Semple decided to have the show air twice a week in half-hour installments with a cliffhanger connecting the two episodes, echoing the old movie serials. Eventually, two sets of screen tests were filmed, one with Adam West and Burt Ward, the other with Lyle Waggoner and Peter Deyell, with West and Ward winning the roles.
The typical story began with a villain (often one of a short list of recurring villains) committing a crime, such as stealing a fabulous gem or taking over Gotham City. This was followed by a scene inside Commissioner Gordon's office where he and Chief O'Hara would deduce exactly which villain they were dealing with. Commissioner Gordon would press a button on the Batphone, a bright red telephone located on a pedestal in his office. The scene then cut to stately Wayne Manor where Alfred the butler would answer the Batphone, which sat like a normal everyday telephone on the desk in Bruce Wayne's study. Frequently, Wayne and his ward, Dick Grayson, would be found talking with Dick's Aunt Harriet, who was completely unaware of Bruce and Dick's identities as Batman & Robin, respectively. Alfred would discreetly interrupt so they could excuse themselves and go to the Batphone. Upon learning which criminal he would face this time, Bruce would push a button concealed within a bust of Shakespeare that stood on his desk causing a bookcase to slide back and revealing two poles. "To the Batpoles!" Wayne would exclaim, at which he and Grayson would slide down to the Batcave, activating an unseen mechanism on the way that dressed them as their alter egos. The title sequence often began at this point.
Similar in style and content to the 1940s serials, they would arrive in the Batcave in full costume and jump into the Batmobile, Batman in the driver's seat. Robin would say, "Atomic batteries to power...turbines to speed." Batman would respond, "Roger, ready to move out." And the two would race off out of the cave at high speed. As the Batmobile approached the mouth of the cave, actually a tunnel entrance in Los Angeles's Bronson Canyon, a hinged barrier dropped down to allow the car to exit onto the road. Scenes from the Dynamic Duo sliding down the batpoles in the Batcave, to the arrival at Commissioner Gordon's building via the Batmobile (while the episode credits are shown), are reused footage that is used in nearly all part 1 and single episodes.
After arriving at Commissioner Gordon's office, the initial discussion of the crime usually led to the Dynamic Duo conducting their investigation alone. During the investigation, a meeting with the villain would usually ensue, with the heroes getting involved in a fight and the villain getting away, leaving a series of unlikely clues for the Duo to investigate. Later, the Duo would face the villain again, and he or she would capture one or both of the heroes and place them in a deathtrap with a cliffhanger ending which was usually resolved in the first few minutes of the next episode.
The same pattern was repeated in the following episode until the villain was defeated in a major brawl where the action was punctuated by superimposed onomatopoeic words, as in comic book fight scenes ("POW!", "BAM!", "ZONK!", etc.). Not counting five of the Penguin's henchmen who disintegrate or get blown up in the associated Batman theatrical movie, only three criminal characters die during the series: the Riddler's moll Molly (played by Jill St. John in Episode 2) who accidentally falls into the Batcave's atomic pile, and two out-of-town gunmen who shoot at the Dynamic Duo toward the end of the "Zelda The Great/A Death Worse Than Fate" episode, but end up killing each other instead. In "Instant Freeze," Mr. Freeze freezes a butler solid and knocks him over, causing him to smash to pieces, although this is implied rather than seen, and there is a later reference suggesting the butler survived. In "Green Ice," Mr. Freeze freezes a policeman solid; it is left unclear whether he survived or not. In "The Penguin's Nest," a policeman suffers an electric shock at the hands of the Penguin's accomplices, but he apparently survived as he appeared in some later episodes. In "The Bookworm Turns," Commissioner Gordon appears to be shot and falls off a bridge to his death, but Batman deduces that this was actually an expert high diver in disguise, employed by The Bookworm as a ruse (implying that the diver survived the fall).
Robin, in particular, was especially well known for saying "Holy (insert), Batman!" whenever he encountered something startling.
The series utilized a narrator (producer William Dozier, uncredited) who parodied both the breathless narration style of the 1940s serials and Walter Winchell's narration of The Untouchables. He would end many of the cliffhanger episodes by intoning, "Tune in tomorrow — same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!"
Only two of the series' guest villains ever discovered Batman's true identity: Egghead by deductive reasoning, and King Tut on two occasions (once with a bug on the Batmobile and once by accidentally mining into The Batcave). Egghead was tricked into disbelieving his discovery, as was Tut in the episode when he bugged the Batmobile. In the episode when Tut tunnelled into the Batcave, he was hit on the head by a rock which made him forget his discovery and jarred him back into his identity as a mild-mannered Professor of Egyptology at Yale University. (He didn't even recognize Batgirl, asking her, "Why are you wearing that purple mask, lady?")
In Season 1, the dynamic duo, Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward), are super crime-fighting heroes, contending with the villains of Gotham City. It begins with the two-parter, "Hi Diddle Riddle" and "Smack in the Middle", featuring Frank Gorshin as The Riddler.
In Season 2, the show suffered from repetition of its characters and formula. In addition, critics noted that the series' delicate balance of drama and humor that the first season maintained was lost as the stories became increasingly farcical. This, combined with Lorenzo Semple Jr. contributing fewer scripts and having less of an influence on the series, caused viewers to tire of the show and for critics to complain, "If you've seen one episode of Batman, you've seen them all."
By Season 3, ratings were falling and the future of the series seemed uncertain. A promotional short featuring Yvonne Craig as Batgirl and Tim Herbert as Killer Moth was produced. The short was convincing enough to pick up Batman for another season, and introduced Batgirl as a regular on the show in an attempt to attract more female viewers. Batgirl's alter ego was Barbara Gordon, a mild-mannered librarian at the Gotham Library and Commissioner Gordon's daughter.^[3] The show was reduced to once a week, with mostly self-contained episodes, although the following week's villain would be in a tag at the end of the episode, similar to a soap opera. Accordingly, the narrator's cliffhanger phrases were eliminated, but most episodes would end with him saying something to the effect of "Watch the next episode!"
Aunt Harriet was reduced to just two cameo appearances during the third season because of Madge Blake's poor health. (Aunt Harriet was also mentioned in another episode, but was not seen; her absence was explained by her being in shock upstairs.) The nature of the scripts and acting started to enter into the realm of the surrealistic. For example, the set's backgrounds became mere two-dimensional cut-outs against a stark black stage. In addition, the third season was much more topical, with references to hippies, mods, and distinctive 1960's slang, which the previous seasons avoided.

Near the end of the third season, ABC planned to cut the budget even further by eliminating Robin and Chief O'Hara, and making Batgirl Batman's full-time partner. Both Dozier and West vetoed this idea, and ABC cancelled the show. Weeks later, NBC offered to pick the show up for a fourth season and even restore it to its original twice-a-week format, if the sets were still available for use. However, NBC's offer came too late: Fox had already demolished the sets a week before. NBC had no interest in paying the $800,000 for the rebuild, so the offer was withdrawn.
January 12, 1971
The controversial situation comedy All in the Family debuts.
The show, which was one of TV's top hits for much of its run, starred Carroll O'Connor as bigoted Archie Bunker; Jean Stapleton as his wife, Edith; and Sally Struthers and Rob Reiner as the couple's liberal daughter and son-in-law. The show changed the course of television by portraying the harsh realities of bigotry and racism and dealing with controversial subjects like birth control, rape, and politics. The show changed its name to Archie Bunker's Place in 1979, when the action shifted from the Bunkers' living room to the bar Archie owned.

January 12, 1981
Dynasty premieres on ABC.
The oil tycoon Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) prepares to marry his former secretary, the beautiful and innocent Krystle (Linda Evans), in the three-hour television movie that kicks off the prime-time ABC soap opera Dynasty.
Over the next eight years, the Carringtons, a rich Denver oil clan, and another wealthy family, the Colbys, would form the center of the campy, glamorous universe that was Dynasty. Envisioned as bitter rivals, in the style of the Montagues and Capulets of Romeo and Juliet, the two families intermarried and plotted against each other with equal enthusiasm. At the beginning of the second season, as buzz around the show began to grow, the British actress Joan Collins entered the mix as Blake Carrington’s evil ex-wife, Alexis; her clash with the good girl Krystle became one of the central plotlines of the show. In one of the series’ more memorable moments, Alexis and Krystle had a catfight in a lily pond.
Dynasty’s elaborately melodramatic plot lines resembled those of the daytime soap operas (kidnappings, amnesia, characters returning from the dead, etc.) and its style fit perfectly with the over-the-top excesses of the 1980s. It was no wonder, as the show was produced partially by Aaron Spelling, the man behind such hit shows as The Mod Squad, Charlie’s Angels, The Love Boat, Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place. By the end of the 1982-83 season, Dynasty was fifth in the top-rated programs; it climbed to third place in 1983-84 and grabbed the number one spot in 1984-85. Its success spawned a short-lived spin-off, Dynasty II: The Colbys, and an entire line of licensed products such as clothing, bedding and perfume.

The over-the-top cliffhanger ending to the fourth season in May 1985 marked the beginning of the end, as the entire Carrington family gathered for a wedding in the fictional country of Moldavia. The festivities were disrupted by a terrorist attack, and while all of the main characters emerged unscathed, the show’s ratings began to drop precipitously. During its final season, 1988-89, Dynasty fell to a dismal 57th place and was unceremoniously dropped from the ABC lineup. Various plot lines were left unresolved, but disappointed fans got their long-awaited closure two years later, when ABC aired a two-part movie Dynasty: The Reunion in October 1991.
January 13, 1966

Elizabeth Montgomery’s character, Samantha, on Bewitched, had a baby. The baby's name was Tabitha.

January 14, 1976
Bionic Woman debuted on ABC.
The Bionic Woman is an American television series starring Lindsay Wagner that aired for three seasons between 1976 and 1978 as a spin-off from The Six Million Dollar Man. Wagner stars as tennis pro Jaime Sommers who is nearly killed in a skydivingaccident. Sommers' life is saved by Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson) and Dr. Rudy Wells (Martin E. Brooks), by bionic surgical implants similar to those of The Six Million Dollar Man Steve Austin. As the result of Jaime's bionics, she has amplified hearing in her right ear, a greatly strengthened right arm, and stronger and enhanced legs which enable her to run at speeds exceeding 60 miles per hour.

The series proved highly popular worldwide, gaining high ratings in the US and particularly so in the UK (where it became the only Science fiction programme to achieve the No.1 position in the ratings during the 20th Century). The series ran for three seasons from 1976 to 1978 and was first shown on the ABC network and then the NBC network for its final season. Years after its cancelation, three spin-off TV movies were produced between 1987 and 1994. Reruns of the show aired on Sci-Fi Channel from 1997 to 2001. A remake of the series was produced in 2007.
January 15, 1981
Hill Street Blues begins run.
When the series first appeared, the police show had largely been given up for dead. Critics savaged stodgy and moralistic melodramas, and scoffed at lighter fare like Starsky and Hutch. Created by Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll, Hill Street Blues invigorated television, paving the way for more realistic and gritty fare.
Hill Street Blues was set in an anonymous northern city (the exteriors were actually filmed in Chicago) and was the first real attempt by television to portray police officers as fallible human beings. Each episode began with the 7 a.m. roll call led by Sergeant Esterhaus. He closed the roll call with his trademark refrain, "Let's be careful out there."
The series not only changed the way that Americans viewed police officers, it also revolutionized the television drama itself. The show resisted formula and introduced the ensemble cast. Whereas early cop shows like Dragnet and Adam-12 were centered around a couple of officers who always got their man by the end of the hour, the full squad house of regulars on Hill Street Blues rarely resolved cases in one episode.

Hill Street Blues was acclaimed through its entire run. When it ended in May 1987, it had set the records for most Emmys won in a single season and most nominations in one year.
January 16, 1976

Donny and Marie premieres.
Music variety show Donny and Marie premieres, starring 18-year-old Donny Osmond and his 16-year-old sister, Marie. The show ran for only three years, but the brother and sister were reunited in 1998 with a daytime talk show.
January 17, 1966
NBC Television greenlights The Monkees.
The inspiration came from the Beatles, the financing came from Screen Gems, the music came from Don Kirshner and the stars came from an exhaustive audition process that began with this ad in Daily Variety in September 1965:
Madness!!
Auditions
Folk & Rock Musicians-Singers
For Acting Roles in New TV Series
Running Parts for 4 Insane Boys, Age 17-21
The ad drew more than 400 young men to the offices of Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, the young Hollywood producing team that would later make Easy Rider, but who for now were trying to milk the establishment rather than defy it. They spent the next four months shooting, cutting, market-testing, re-cutting and re-market-testing a comedy pilot they hoped would land them a network television deal. They got their green light on January 17, 1966, when the National Broadcasting Corporation ordered 32 episodes of The Monkees for its upcoming fall schedule.
The next eight months were a bit of a whirlwind for Rafelson and Schneider, for the team of songwriters and studio musicians assembled by Don Kirschner and, not least, for the four "insane boys" chosen to become the Monkees. Mickey Dolenz had never played a drum prior to being cast as "Mickey," and Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith had no acting experience prior to becoming "Peter" and "Mike." Davy Jones was already a triple-threat in the areas of acting, singing and being cute, but it had never been Rafelson and Schneider's intention to find such all-around professionals. "We wanted guys who could play themselves," Schneider explained to the press ahead of the NBC premiere of The Monkees in September 1966. "We didn't even look at actors, and we didn't look for experienced rock and roll groups."

The strategy, and indeed the entire grand scheme behind The Monkees, succeeded beyond all expectations. Not only did the television show find success against formidable competition in its time slot from Gilligan's Island, but the group that was a made-for-television knockoff of the Beatles soon had actual records that were outselling the Beatles themselves. Vincent Canby of the New York Times foresaw the commercial success of Rafelson and Schneider's creation the moment he witnessed the reaction of a crowd of preteen girls during a promotional appearance by the Monkees just three days before their network debut. "The Monkees' appearance yesterday afternoon at the Broadway," Canby wrote, "was just part of an elaborate campaign...to capture the teen-age imagination. The thoroughness of the campaign, as shown yesterday, might prompt renewed debate on the age-old question of free will. Do the teen-agers have a chance these days?"

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Lin-Manuel Miranda explains the magic of Three Kings Day

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Tue, 6 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Here is a

"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.

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Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: January 2026 PART I

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Mon, 5 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0800

January 1, 1951

The Zenith Radio Corporation of Chicago demonstrates the first pay television system.
The company sent movies over the airway via scrambled signals, and the 300 families who participated in the test could send telephone signals to decode the movies for $1 each. Three movies were shown in the demonstration: April Showers with Jack Carson, Welcome Stranger with Bing Crosby, and Homecoming with Clark Gable and Lana Turner. During the four-week test, test families ordered more than 2,600 movies.

Simple though it seems, putting movies on TV at all, let alone sending them over the phone, was a technically complex proposition taking years to come to fruition. A motion picture presented 24 frames per second-a rate that created an annoying flicker on TV. The earliest attempts to broadcast movies on TV took place in 1928 and included an extremely blurry hockey game and an excerpt from the movie The Taming of the Shrew. Improvements in technology eventually led to the regular broadcasting of movies on TV.

Despite Zenith's experiments with movies-by-phone, pay movies did not become popular until later in the century, following the spread of cable TV in the 1960s and '70s. Although cable TV had been created in the late 1940s to give rural households better television reception, it was not until the 1960s, when cable became widely available in urban areas, that cable companies began introducing their own networks accessible only to subscribers.

In 1975, cable networks began using satellites to distribute their programming to heavily regulated local cable operators. In the late 1980s and early '90s, the size of the cable industry exploded, and many companies offered more than 100 channels to their clients. Now, more than 10,000 cable systems operate throughout the United States. Their specialized programming features everything from foreign news and shopping clubs to sports coverage and classic movies. Cable companies still also offer an array of pay-per-view movies accessible with a touch of the customer's remote control.

January 1, 1971

Tobacco ads representing $20 million dollars in advertising were banned from TV and radio broadcast.
January 5, 1961
Mr. Ed debuted. The show would run for six years.
Mister Ed is an American television situation comedy produced by Filmways that first aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966. The show's title character is a talking horse, originally appearing in short stories by Walter R. Brooks.
Mister Ed is one of the few series to debut in syndication and be picked up by a major network for prime time.
The stars of the show are Mister Ed, a palomino horse who could talk ("played" by gelding Bamboo Harvester and voiced by Allan Lane), and his owner, an eccentric and enormously klutzy yet friendly architect named Wilbur Post (portrayed by Alan Young). Much of the program's humor stemmed from the fact Mister Ed would speak only to Wilbur, as well as Ed's notoriety as a troublemaker. According to the show's producer, Arthur Lubin, Young was chosen as the lead character because he "just seemed like the sort of guy a horse would talk to". Lubin, a friend of Mae West, scored a coup by persuading the screen icon to guest star in one episode.
In the United States, reruns aired on Nick at Nite from March 3, 1986, to February 1, 1993. Sister station TV Land also reran the show from 1996-98 and again from 2003-06. The series is currently broadcast every morning on This TV, along with sister series The Patty Duke Show. As of January 1, 2011, the first two seasons of the show are available on Hulu.
The show was derived from a series of short stories by Walter R. Brooks, which began with The Talking Horse in the 18-Sep-1937 issue of Liberty. Brooks is otherwise known for the Freddy the Pig series of children's novels, which likewise feature talking animals who interact with humans.
The concept of the show was similar to Francis the Talking Mule, with the equine normally talking only to one person (Wilbur), and thus both helping and frustrating its owner.
The first horse that played Mister Ed for the pilot episode was a chestnut gelding. However, the permanent equine star of the show was Bamboo Harvester (1949–70), a crossbred gelding of American Saddlebred, Arabian and grade ancestry.
Mister Ed the horse was voiced by ex-B-movie cowboy star Allan "Rocky" Lane (speaking) and Sheldon Allman (singing, except his line in the theme song, which was sung by its composer, Jay Livingston).
Ed was voice-trained for the show by Les Hilton. Lane remained anonymous as the voice of Mister Ed, and the show's producers referred to him only as "an actor who prefers to remain nameless," though once the show became a hit, Lane campaigned the producers for credit, which he never received. The credits listed Mister Ed as playing "himself"; however, his family tree name was Bamboo Harvester. Ed's stablemate, a quarterhorse named Pumpkin, who was later to appear in the television series Green Acres, was also Ed's stunt double in the show.
It is often said the crew was able to get Mister Ed to move his mouth by applying peanut butter to his gums in order for him to try to remove it by moving his lips. However, Alan Young said in 2004 that he had started the story himself. In another interview, Young said, "Al Simon and Arthur Lubin, the producers, suggested we keep the method a secret because they thought kids would be disappointed if they found out the technical details of how it was done, so I made up the peanut butter story, and everyone bought it. It was initially done by putting a piece of nylon thread in his mouth. But Ed actually learned to move his lips on cue when the trainer touched his hoof. In fact, he soon learned to do it when I stopped talking during a scene! Ed was very smart."
Others argued that examination of Mister Ed footage shows Ed's handler pulling strings to make him talk, and that this method was at work at least some of the time. Young later said during an interview for the Archive of American Television that a nylon string was tied to the halter and the loose end inserted under his lip to make Ed talk, saying that he had used the peanut butter fable for years in radio interviews instead of telling the truth. The loose thread can be seen tied to the halter, and it is clearly not taut as it would be if it were being pulled. Young also states in the AAT interview that after the first season, Ed didn't need the nylon – Alan and trainer Les were out riding one day and Les started laughing, telling Alan to look at Ed, who was moving his lips every time they stopped talking, as if attempting to join in the conversation. This difference is visible when comparing first season episodes to later ones, as it is clear that early on he's working the irritating string out, sometimes working his tongue in the attempt too, and later on he tends to only move his upper lip, and appears to watch Alan Young closely, waiting for him to finish his lines before twitching his lip.
Young added in the Archive interview that Ed saw the trainer as the disciplinarian, or father figure, and when scolded for missing a cue, would go to Alan for comfort, like a mother figure, which Les said was a good thing.
There are conflicting stories involving of the death of Bamboo Harvester, the horse that played Mr. Ed. By 1968, Bamboo Harvester was suffering from a variety of health problems. In 1970 he was euthanized with no publicity, and buried at Snodgrass Farm in Oklahoma. However, a different version was given by Alan Young. Young wrote that he'd frequently visit his former "co-star" in retirement. He states that Mr. Ed died from an inadvertent tranquilizer administered while he was "in retirement" in a stable in Burbank, California where he lived with his trainer Lester Hilton. Young says Hilton was out of town visiting relatives and a temporary care giver might have seen Ed rolling on the ground, struggling to get up. Young said Ed was a heavy horse and he wasn't always strong enough to get back on his feet without struggling. The theory is the care giver thought the horse was in distress and administered a tranquilizer and for unknown reason, the horse died within hours. The remains were cremated and scattered by Hilton in the Los Angeles area at a spot known only to him.
A different horse that died in Oklahoma in February 1979 was widely thought to be Bamboo Harvester, but this horse was in fact a horse that posed for the still pictures of "Mr. Ed" used by the production company for the show's press kits. After Bamboo Harvester's death in 1970, this horse was unofficially known as Mister Ed, which led to him being reported as such (including sardonic comments on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update) following his own death.
Young said that when the Oklahoma horse death story came out in 1979, he knew it wasn't the real Mr. Ed, but didn't have the heart to "shatter their illusions" that the horse being memorialized wasn't the real Mr. Ed. He believes it was the horse used for early publicity photos.
The other main character throughout the series was Wilbur's tolerant (to a point) young wife, Carol (Connie Hines). The Posts also had two sets of neighbors, whom Ed delighted in making Wilbur appear as eccentric as possible. They included the Addisons, Roger (Larry Keating) and his wife Kay (Edna Skinner), who both appeared from the pilot episode until Keating's untimely death from leukemia in 1963; thereafter, Skinner continued appearing as Kay alone, without mention of Roger's absence, until the neighbors were recast. In the "official" pilot episode — two were filmed because the horse in the first pilot was unruly and difficult to work with — Roger caught Wilbur and Ed "conversing" and realized that Mr. Ed could talk, but since Ed only spoke to Wilbur — Post diffused the potential calamity by sufficiently convincing Addison that he was a ventriloquist and could "throw" Mr. Ed's voice. Following the Addisons, the Posts' new neighbors were Col. Gordon Kirkwood, USAF (Ret.), portrayed by (Leon Ames), Wilbur's former commanding officer, and his wife Winnie (Florence MacMichael). Winnie actually called her husband "Colonel" and referred to him as "The Colonel" in the presence of others; she never called him by his given name. Ames and MacMichael appeared on the series from 1963-65. In 1963, child actor Darby Hinton, cast thereafter as Israel Boone on NBC's Daniel Boone, guest-starred as 'Rocky' in the episode "Getting Ed's Goat." Jack Albertson appeared occasionally from 1961-63 as Kay Addison's older brother Paul Fenton. Mae West and Clint Eastwood also appeared in different episodes as themselves.
For the final season, the show focused strictly on the home life of the Posts, which was made more interesting when Carol's grumpy and uptight father, Mr. Higgins (Barry Kelley), who appeared occasionally throughout the entire series, apparently moved in with Wilbur and Carol during the final episodes. Mr. Higgins loathed Wilbur since Wilbur's quirky eccentricity always clashed with his own emotionless and uptight personality. Carol's father never stopped trying to persuade her to divorce Wilbur, whom he often referred to as a "kook" because of Wilbur's clumsiness. Alan Young performed double-duty during the final season of the series, also directing nearly all of those episodes.
Although Connie Hines retired from acting a few years after the show's cancellation in 1966, she and Alan Young made public appearances together.
The theme song was written by the songwriting team of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans and sung by Livingston. After using only the music to open the first eight episodes, a decision was made to replace the instrumental-only version with one containing the lyrics. Livingston agreed to sing it himself, at least until a professional singer could be found; however, the producers liked the songwriter's vocals and kept them on the broadcast.
A joke/controversy concerning the theme song has existed since at least the 1980s: that the tune contains "satanic messages" if played in reverse. This YouTube video suggests that some portions reverse to "sing this song for Satan" and "Satan is the singer". Over the years, many radio stations have kept this rumor alive, mostly as a parody of the whole "backmasking" controversy.
The series was sponsored from 1961-63 by Studebaker Corporation, an American car manufacturer which stopped manufacturing cars in the United States in 1964 and its Canadian unit stopped producing cars in 1966, but that company survives today in a different field as Studebaker-Worthington Leasing Company. Studebakers were featured prominently in the show during this period. The Posts are shown owning a 1962 Lark convertible, and the company used publicity shots featuring the Posts and Mister Ed with their product (various cast members also appeared in "integrated commercials" for Lark at the end of the program). The Addisons are shown owning a 1963 Avanti. Ford Motor Company provided the vehicles starting at the beginning of 1965. It is also interesting to note that, in the first episode ever aired, the Posts were driving a 1961 Studebaker Lark.

January 5, 1971
ABC's Alias Smith and Jones aired for the first time.
Alias Smith and Jones began with a made-for-TV movie of the previous year called The Young Country, about con artists in the Old West. It was produced, written and directed by Roy Huggins, who served as executive producer of AS&J and, under the pseudonym of John Thomas James, at least shared the writing credit on most episodes.
Roger Davis starred as Stephen Foster Moody, and Pete Duel had the secondary but significant role of Honest John Smith. Joan Hackett played a character called Clementine Hale; a character with the same name appeared in two AS&J episodes, played by Sally Field. This pilot was rejected, but Huggins was given a second chance and, with Glen A. Larson, developed Alias Smith and Jones. Both The Young Country and the series pilot movie originally aired as ABC Movies of the Week.
Alias Smith and Jones was made in the same spirit as many other American TV series, from Huggins' own The Fugitive to Renegade, about fugitives on the run across America who get involved in the personal lives of the people they meet. The major difference was that Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry were guilty of the crimes that they were accused of committing, but were trying to begin a non-criminal life.
The series was modeled on the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford (Universal contract player Ben Murphy was offered to the producers because he was considered a Paul Newman lookalike.) There were a number of similarities between the film and the TV series: One of the lead characters in the film was called Harvey Logan (played by Ted Cassidy). In real life Harvey Logan was also known by the nickname of "Kid Curry", Harvey Logan was an associate of the real Butch Cassidy and unlike the TV version, the real Kid Curry was a cold-blooded killer.
The TV series also featured a group of robbers called the Devil's Hole Gang, loosely based on the Hole in the Wall Gang from which Cassidy recruited most of his outlaws. In order to lend them an element of audience sympathy, Heyes and Curry were presented as men who avoided bloodshed (though Curry did once kill in self-defense) and were always attempting to reform and seek redemption for their "prior ways".
The names "Smith" and "Jones" originated from a comment in the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when, prior to one of their final hold-ups, the characters are outside a bank in Bolivia and Sundance turns to Butch and says: "I'm Smith and you're Jones."
January 8, 1966
The final episode of "Shindig!" was broadcast on ABC-TV.
The show featured the Kinks and the Who. Shindig! is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964^]-January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles at the time who also created the show along with his wife Sharon Sheeleyand production executive Art Stolnitz. The original pilot was rejected by ABC and David Sontag, then Executive Producer of ABC, redeveloped and completely redesigned the show. A new pilot with a new cast of artists was shot starring Sam Cooke. That pilot aired as the premiere episode.
Shindig! was conceived as a short-notice replacement for Hootenanny, a series that had specialized in folk revival music. The folk revival had fizzled in 1964 as the result of the British Invasion, which damaged the ratings for Hootenanny and prompted that show's cancellation.
Shindig! focused on a broader variety of popular music than its predecessor and first aired for a half-hour every Wednesday evening, but was expanded to an hour in January 1965. In the fall of 1965, the show split into two half-hour telecasts, on Thursday and Saturday nights.
Shindig!'s premiere episode was actually the second pilot, and featured Sam Cooke, The Everly Brothers and The Righteous Brothers. Later shows were taped in Britain with The Beatles as the guests. The series featured other "British invasion" bands and performers including The Who, The Rolling Stones and Cilla Black. Shindig continued to broadcast episodes from London throughout its run.
Many popular performers of the day played on Shindig! including Lesley Gore, Bo Diddley, and Sonny and Cher, The Beach Boys, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, The Supremes and The Ronettes.
Shindig!'s success prompted NBC to air the similar series Hullabaloo starting in January 1965 and other producers to launch syndicated rock music shows like Shivaree and Hollywood A Go-Go.
In March 1965, Little Eva performed her hit song "The Loco-Motion" in a live but short version of the song. This is the only known video clip of her singing the song.

Shindig! is one of the few rock music shows of the era to still have all of the episodes available to watch.
January 9, 1996
The first episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun aired on NBC.
The premise of the show revolves around an extraterrestrial research expedition attempting to live as a normal human family in the fictional city of Rutherford, Ohio, said to be 52 miles (84 km) outside of Cleveland, where they live in an attic apartment. Humor was principally derived from the aliens' attempts to study human society and, because of their living as humans themselves while on Earth, to understand the human condition. This show reflects human life from the perspective of aliens and many sources of humour are from the learning experiences the alien characters have. Most of the episodes are named after the protagonist "Dick". In later episodes, they became more accustomed to Earth and often became more interested in their human lives than in their mission.

Dick Solomon (John Lithgow), the High Commander and leader of the expedition, is the family provider, and takes a position as a physics professor at Pendelton State University. Information officer Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has been given the body of a teenager and is forced to enroll in high school (later college), leaving security officer Sally (Kristen Johnston) and communications officer Harry (French Stewart) to spend their lives as twenty somethings hanging out at home and bouncing through short-term jobs. The show also revolves around their relationships with humans, mostly their love interests.
January 10, 1971

Masterpiece Theatre debuts.
Among the show's many presentations are Upstairs Downstairs (1974-1977), I, Claudius (1978), and A Tale of Two Cities (1989). Program hosts included Alistair Cooke and Russell Baker.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Barney Miller - Happy New Year

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Thu, 1 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0800

Here is a

"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.

Barney Miller S02E15 Happy New Year

"Happy New Year" is the fifteenth episode of season two of the situation comedy series Barney Miller and the thirty-sixth episode of the series overall. It was directed by Mark Warren with a script written by Reinhold Weege, Chris Hayward and Danny Arnold. It first aired on ABC on Thursday, January 8th, 1976.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

MTV

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 23:59:00 -0800

Parent company Paramount announced on October 10, 2025, that its United Kingdom and Ireland channels MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV, and MTV Live will all stop broadcasting after December 31, 2025. The broadcaster's "flagship" channel, MTV HD, will remain on air, showing reality series such as Dating Naked UK, Teen Mom, and Geordie Shore. North American channels will remain unaffected but will also be evaluated later.

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve - 2026 Star Rise (Puerto Rico)

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 20:00:00 -0800

Here is a

"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.

The Puerto Rico segment is co-hosted by actress/producer Roselyn Sánchez

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: "What Are You Doing New Years Eve?"

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0800

Here is a

"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.

What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

by Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Joseph and Zooey Web

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Christmas 1961 with Steve Allen

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Sat, 27 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0800

Here is a

"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Kwanzaa

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0800

Here is a

"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.

Today is Kwanzaa (until Jan 1st)
and Boxing Day

Kwanzaa
A Short Film
Directed By
Stephen Anthony Bailey

Starring
Kevin Scott Williams
Paige Diaz
Donna Allen
Jon Durnell
JaySin Matlock

Written and Produced By Kevin Scott Williams

Unlimited Destiny Productions
2016

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Christmas Morning - SNL

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0800

Here is a

"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: David Letterman - Darlene Love's 'Christmas' Mash-Up

TDFig@aol.com (Tony Figueroa) — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0800

Here is a

"HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

a little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa