Author Archives: dcaligari

June 7, 1969 –The Johnny Cash Show, a summer replacement for ABC’s Hollywood Palace variety program, premiered on this date, with performances by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. Dylan, who met Cash at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, was making his first public performance since the Woody Guthrie benefit in January 1968. He performed IContinue reading “The man in black was on TV”

June 7, 1946 –The final installment in the Sherlock Holmes series, Dressed to Kill, directed by Roy William Neill and starring Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce and Patricia Morrison, opened on this date. Irene Adler, mentioned by Dr. Watson, was a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A formerContinue reading “Dressed to Kill premiered”

June 7, 1952 – The Looney Tunes short, The Hasty Hare, directed by Chuck Jones, starring Bugs Bunny and Marvin the Martian, debuted on this date. The science professor’s note of resignation reads: SHALOMAR OBSERVATORY I resign! When I begin to see things like this, it’s time to take up turkey farming. I. Frisby DIRECTOR.

June 7, 1941 – The Merrie Melodies short, Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt, directed by Friz Freleng, starring Bugs Bunny, debuted on this date. Due to pressure from Warner Bros., this cartoon was one of 11 pulled from rotation by the Cartoon Network for its 2001 “June Bugs” marathon, which was to show the complete chronology ofContinue reading “Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt premiered”

June 7, 1974 –The Kinks were hosts on The Midnight Special on this date. Bunkies this was music on TV before MTV.

June 6, 1942 – The Merrie Melodies short, Hold the Lion, Please , directed by Chuck Jones, starring Bugs Bunny, debuted on this date. This is one of a handful of Bugs Bunny shorts that do not feature the words Bugs, Bunny, Rabbit/Wabbit, or Hare in the title.

June 6, 1999 –Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen), on this date. As I move follow (read: age) this silly tune becomes more and more poignant to me. Actor Lee Perry read the narrative. The backing is the choral version of ‘Everybody’s FreeContinue reading “Attention Class of 2026”

June 5, 1964 – The Looney Tunes short, War and Pieces, directed by Chuck Jones, starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, debuted on this date. The was the last cartoon directed entirely by Chuck Jones before he was fired from Warner Bros. Pictures in July 1962 for writing UPI’s Gay Purr-ee. He andContinue reading “War and Pieces premiered”

June 5, 1953 –The Looney Tunes short, There Auto Be a Law, directed by Bob McKimson, starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, debuted on this date. After the man siphons gas out of the car, he begins making car start up noises. This is Mel Blanc imitating Jack Benny’s Maxwell car.

June 5, 1942 –The Looney Tunes short, Hobby Horse Laffs, directed by Norman McCabe, debuted on this date. Porky appears on a wooden fence in the opening credits, a departure from his usual pose. He is not featured in the short, however.