Author Archives: dcaligari

November 17, 1968 –NBC preempted the final 1:05 from a very close Jets-Raiders NFL football game with the TV movie Heidi. Two touchdowns were scored during this missing time. Sports fans everywhere applaud and understand the network’s decision. Oops! And so it goes

November 17, 1951 –… Let justice be done! Tear up that mortgage! Unhand that farmer’s daughter! Cease that… that… Seems awfully breezy in here. Uh, cease that rustling.. Another in the series of Daffy and Porky buddy flicks, Drip-Along Daffy, opened on this date. The cartoon includes an original song (sung by Porky) The FlowerContinue reading “Another classic Daffy/ Porky pairing”

T K Maxx, (apparently our British cousins can save even more money by not using the J) has a bizarre holiday ad. I’m left with so many questions: Were the gifts bought for the animals? If not, did the animals steal them? And how did the animal put on those clothes? Demand Euphoria!

November 17, 1933 –…Well, that covers a lot of ground. Say, you cover a lot of ground yourself. You better beat it – I hear they’re going to tear you down and put up an office building where you’re standing. You can leave in a taxi. If you can’t get a taxi, you can leaveContinue reading “Hail Freedonia”

November 17, 2003 –Let It Be… Naked, a stripped-down version of The Beatles’ Let It Be album, is released. Phil Spector produced the original, and the new release removed his lavish strings and other accoutrements. Rather than being a straightforward remixing project, Let It Be… Naked contained a number of significant differences from the originalContinue reading “The way it was meant to be heard”

November 17, 1979 – The two-part miniseries based on the horror novel of the same name by Stephen King, Salem’s Lot, directed by Tobe Hooper and starring David Soul, James Mason, Lance Kerwin, Bonnie Bedelia, and Lew Ayres, first aired on CBS TV on this date. Director George A. Romero was originally approached to directContinue reading “Salem’s Lot premiered”

November 17, 1978 –The two-hour Star Wars Holiday Special aired for the first and only time on CBS on this date. (I must strongly warn readers not to attempt to watch the entire special in one seating – stronger men have been driven to drink and drugs for less.) George Lucas famously tried (and failed)Continue reading “It’s so bad … it’s not good”

November 16, 1979 –Paul McCartney released what many consider the worst Christmas tune ever, Wonderful Christmastime, on this date. Paul has the last laugh concerning the song, music industry sources estimate that McCartney makes between $400,000 to $600,000 annually from royalties on Wonderful Christmastime alone.

November 16, 1952 –Lucy holds a football for Charlie Brown in the Peanuts cartoon strip for the first time on this date. What was often left out of the cartoon strip by newspaper editors was the last panel where Charlie Brown has the living daylights beaten out of Lucy by angry fans for pulling thatContinue reading “Children everywhere learned the futility of life”

Ah the British and their Christmas supermarket adverts. The first one I want to share is for the chain Sainsbury (and the burning question: What does Santa eat for Christmas dinner?:.) – If you look very closely, that was Rick Ashley, doing a visual Rickroll, but not singing that damn song. The next one isContinue reading “They seem to have a lot of commercials for supermarkets”