Author Archives: dcaligari

December 11, 1967 –The Beatles’ Apple Music signs its first group – Grapefruit, on this date. With unwise business decisions like this, I’m sure the Beatles must have gone broke very shortly after this.

December 11, 1982 –Toni Basil’s surprise hit Mickey reached No. 1 of the Billboard charts on this date. This was originally recorded as Kitty by a group called Racey, which released it in 1979. In the original lyric, Kitty is a girl. Toni Basil changed the title from Kitty to Mickey and the gender fromContinue reading “Oh Mickey, you’re so fine”

December 11, 1980 – Hawaiian shirts and free mustache rides abound when Magnum PI, starring Tom Selleck, first aired on CBS-TV on this date. This is one of a very small number of shows in which an actor “breaks the fourth wall” and looks right into the camera. Thomas Magnum does this on occasion whenContinue reading “The original Magnum PI premiered”

December 11, 1968 – Filming begins on The Rolling Stones‘ Rock And Roll Circus movie. Conceived by Mick Jagger, the event was comprised of two concerts on a circus stage and included such acts as John Lennon and his fiancée Yoko Ono performing as part of a supergroup called The Dirty Mac, along with EricContinue reading “This almost never aired”

December 11, 1931 –Rita Moreno, winner of an Peabody, Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, was born on this date. She is currently one of only three PEGOT winners; she is the only Puerto Rican PEGOT winner.

Every year, Christmas decorating sends nearly 15,000 people to the ER. In fact, the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that 14,700 people visit hospital emergency rooms each November and December from holiday-related decorating accidents. So please, be careful when you’re putting up the holly and the ivy.

It been 40 years since Do They Know It’s Christmas, the charity single by the all-star group Band Aid, was released. As of the last check, The Band Aid/ Live Aid initiatives have raised over $250 million dollars. Not bad for basically a very crappy tune.

December 10, 1955 –The Mighty Mouse Playhouse began a long-standing ‘Saturday Morning Cartoon’ tradition on CBS-TV, on this date. Terrytoons Studios produced 80 theatrical Mighty Mouse cartoons between 1942 to 1961, which were shown on this cartoon TV series on Saturday mornings. Each episode contained three Mighty Mousetheatrical cartoons and a one-shot one (especially withContinue reading “The first time he came to save the day (on TV)”

December 10, 1982 –A paean to B movies, It Came from Hollywood, opened in the US on this date. (Do yourself a favor; find some time today to watch the whole film if you haven’t seen it.) Sadly this was never released on DVD. Paramount had planned to release the film on DVD in 2002.Continue reading “It Came from Hollywood premiered”

December 10, 1974 –Another Rankin/Bass animated holiday special The Year Without A Santa Claus first aired on ABC-TV on this date. Another Rankin/Bass animated holiday special The Year Without A Santa Claus premiered on ABC-TV on this date. The names of the reindeer are consistent with the Clement Moore poem and other sources. Vixen isContinue reading “The Year Without A Santa Claus premiered”