Author Archives: dcaligari

In the 1960s, the CIA launched “Operation Acoustic Kitty,” an effort to train cats to become foreign spies by implanting microphones in their ears and radio transmitters at the base of their skulls. The hope was to train the cats to sit near foreign officials to capture any private conversations. The operation came to aContinue reading “Amazingly, someone thought this would work”

September 9, 1966 –The cult favorite series, The Green Hornet, starring Van Williams, Bruce Lee, and William Dozier (as the narrator), premired on ABC-TV on this date. Van Williams became good friends with Bruce Lee and repeatedly negotiated with the show’s producers to give Lee more screen time and lines. Bruce Lee once said thatContinue reading “Bet you didn’t know that Bruce Wayne and Britt Reid were rivals as youngsters”

September 9, 1966 – ABC-TV released, at the time, the highest budgeted science fiction series, The Time Tunnel, Rendezvous with Yesterday, on this date. The series starred James Darren and Robert Colbert. Many episodes made extensive use of stock footage from the 20th Century Fox film library, which allowed Irwin Allen to do shows againstContinue reading “This was Irwin Allen’s favorite show”

September 5, 1933 – The Looney Tunes short, Buddy’s Day Out, directed by Tom Palmer and starring Buddy, was released on this date. The first Warner Bros. cartoon that Leon Schlesinger is served as the head president without Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, who also got fired for signing the contract by losing the rightsContinue reading “Buddy’s Day Out premiered”

September 5, 1939 – The Looney Tunes short, Sioux Me, directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton , was released on this date. This cartoon has not been shown on American television since the 1980s due to heavy stereotyping of Native Americans.

September 9, 1992 –During a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, Nirvana played Lithium, ending in a grand finale where bassist Krist Novoselic tosses his instrument high into the air. When he tries to catch it, he misses, and the bass whacks him in the head. Nirvana wanted to play Rape Me at theContinue reading “I’m so happy, ’cause today I found my friends”

Today is International Literacy Day. This years theme is: Promoting literacy for a world in transition: Building the foundation for sustainable and peaceful societies. Please read a newspaper, a magazine, the back of an oil stained envelope with a recipe from your grandmother, at the very least, you could read the crap I purport toContinue reading “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

September 8, 1966 – We all took the train in from Brewster, NY when the first episode of That Girl – Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There starring Marlo Thomas and Ted Bessell, premiered on ABC-TV on this date. Marlo Thomas‘ father Danny Thomas would often make cameo appearances on the show. One episode notContinue reading “Diamonds, Daisies”

September 8, 1975 –The second spin-off from the Mary Tyler Moore universe, Phyllis, starring Cloris Leachman, Henry Jones, Jane Rose’ Judith Lowry, Lisa Gerritsen, Barbara Colby, and Richard Schaal, premiered on CBS-TV on this date. Barbara Colby played Julie Erskine in the first three episodes of the series. She and her friend James Kiernan wereContinue reading “Who makes the fog around the Golden Gate simply disappear?”

September 8, 1951 – The Looney Tunes short, Lovelorn Leghorn, directed by Bob McKimson and starring Foghorn Leghorn, was released on this date. This is the first pairing of Foghorn Leghorn and Miss Prissy, who debuted in the Porky Pig cartoon An Egg Scramble the previous year. Initially in these cartoons, Miss Prissy has aContinue reading “Lovelorn Leghorn premiered”