Author Archives: dcaligari

September 20, 1969 – The Merrie Melodies short, Injun Trouble, directed by Bob McKimson, was released on this date. This was the last Warner Brothers theatrical cartoon, as the studio had closed their animation division, ending a run that dated back to 1930.

September 20, 1952 – The Merrie Melodies short, Rabbit Seasoning, (the second in the “hunting trilogy”,) directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, was released on this date. Elmer Fudd fires his rifle 19 times. He hits Daffy Duck six times. Bugs escapes completely unscathed, never being struck byContinue reading “Rabbit Seasoning premiered”

September 20, 1941 –The Looney Tunes cartoon Notes To You, directed by Friz Freleng and featuring Porky Pig and a proto-type of Sylvester the Cat premiered on this date. Porky’s home has the very latest cabinet radio. In the days before television, radio was the at home entertainment for Americans, and most of the songsContinue reading “Notes to You premiered”

September 20, 1946 – The first Cannes film festival, the first great international cultural event of the post-war period, begins on this date. Among the selections that year were: Brief Encounter directed by David Lean Wet Paint directed by Jack King, produced by Walt Disney The Bandit (Il bandito) directed by Alberto Lattuada The MagicContinue reading “The first time the stars ascended the March of Glory”

Gmar chatima tova Yom Kippur starts this evening. If you’re celebrating (strange choice of words,) you better hurry up and finish reading this before sundown. May your fast pass easily – Don’t hesitate to contact me if you can’t remember the things you should be atoning for by now. May your fast pass easily. HopefullyContinue reading “The final day of the High Holy Days has arrived”

Right on the heels of yesterday’s Talk Like a Pirate Day, September 20th is National Rum Punch Day. While not a huge fan of the cocktail – I say, get a big bottle of ACME light rum – why not celebrate!

September 20, 1978 –The failed Norman Lear sitcom, In The Beginning, starring McLean Stevenson, and Priscilla Lopez premiered on CBS-TV on this date. It was something of a modern-day adaptation of the classic 1944 Bing Crosby film, Going My Way. While the show’s pilot reportedly received praise from a Catholic audience at both Notre DameContinue reading “After M.A.S.H, McLean never got a break”

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. The holiday is a parody holiday invented in 1995 by John Baur (Ol’ Chumbucket) and Mark Summers (Cap’n Slappy), of Corvallis, Oregon, who proclaimed September 19 each year as the day when everyone in the world should talk like a pirate. Nothing says Piracy (or the BritishContinue reading “Yo, Ho, Blow the man down”

September 19, 1970 –We got to meet the staff of WJM when The Mary Tyler Moore Show, (the greatest sitcom every produced,) starring Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, Gavin MacLeod, Ted Knight, Cloris Leachman, and Valerie Harper premiered on CBS TV on this date. The lyrics to the theme song were rewritten after the firstContinue reading “We first found out how’d we’d make it on our own”

September 19, 1975 – The British sitcom Fawlty Towers, created by John Cleese, and starring John Cleese, Connie Booth, Prunella Scales, and Andrew Sachs, premiered on BBC2 on this date. John Cleese (Basil Fawlty) and Connie Booth (Polly Sherman) were really husband and wife when they created and wrote the scripts for the first series.Continue reading “We were reminded not to mention the war”