Author Archives: dcaligari

October 13, 1947 –Kids, back when the earth cooled and formed a hard crust, there was a very popular TV series featuring two puppets and a very polite lady that ad-libbed the entire show – Junior Jamboree – a version which ultimately became Kukla, Fran and Ollie premiered on this date. (this is not theContinue reading “Junior Jamboree premiered”

October 13, 1968 –Melvin, what are you going to do with that gun! Bea Benaderet, radio and television actress and voice actress, died on this day.

October 12, 1950 –One of the first comedy series to make the successful transition from radio to television The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, premiered on CBS-TV on this date. George Burns is regarded as being the first entertainer to step out of character and “break the fourth wall” by directly addressing the televisionContinue reading “We said Good Night to Gracie for the first time”

October 12, 1972 –Motown Productions and Paramount Pictures released the Sidney J. Furie, Billie Holiday bio-pix, Lady Sings The Blues, starring Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, and Scatman Crothers, on this date. Dorothy Dandridge was to star in the role of Billie Holiday in an earlier proposed film version of the singer’s autobiographyContinue reading “Lady Sings The Blues premiered”

October 12, 1968 –The second studio album by Big Brother and the Holding Company, Cheap Thrills, reached number one on the charts for eight nonconsecutive weeks on this date. It was their last album with Janis Joplin as lead singer before she started a solo career.

October 12, 1492 –Christopher Columbus, not the brightest bulb in the explorers club, reached America, making his first landing in the New World on one of the Bahamas Islands. Columbus believed he had reached India. It was discovered that Columbus‘ ships really landed on the 13th of October, 1492, he was persuaded by Dutch sailorContinue reading “… Columbus sailed the ocean’s blue …”

October 11, 1975 –The long running (some say too long running) comedy variety show started at 11:30 PM, on this date, with George Carlin as its host. It was called NBC’s Saturday Night, because ABC featured a program at the same time titled Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell. After ABC canceled the Cosell programContinue reading “It was 50 years ago today”

October 11, 1981 –The surprise art-house hit, My Dinner With Andre, starring Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory (sitting around, eating and talking,) opened on this date. The low-budget flick was shot in an abandoned hotel in Virginia – in the winter. “Since we didn’t have the money to heat the hotel, (producer Beverly Karp) broughtContinue reading “My Dinner With Andre premiered”

October 11, 1962 –We all got to follow the wacky adventures of the crew of PT-73 when McHale’s Navy set sail for the first time on this date on ABC-TV. During an interview, Ernest Borgnine related that when he was initially approached by his agent with an offer to star in the pilot for theContinue reading “Starring the man who taught Ethel Merman the language of love”

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. Hopefully your sins areContinue reading “Gmar chatima tova”