Author Archives: dcaligari

September 10, 1955 – Gunsmoke premiered on CBS-TV on this date. The television series ran from September 10, 1955 until September 1, 1975 on CBS for 635 episodes. It had the longest run of any scripted series with continuing characters in American primetime television. William Conrad was the first choice to play Marshall Matt DillonContinue reading “Gunsmoke moved from radio to TV”

easy enough to give but dreadful uneasy to take. It’s Cheap Advice Day, celebrates low cost counselors everywhere, whether they are a professional in the psychiatric industry or that friend who just can’t help but offer their unsolicited advice. This holiday originates from an episode of Charles M. Shultz’ Peanuts on September 10, 1992 whereContinue reading “Advice is like castor oil …”

September 9, 1978 –A Taste of Honey’s song Boogie Oogie Oogie was No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date. The band got the idea for this song when they played a show at a military base. It was a tough crowd, and the audience was not responding to their songs. Lead singer HazelContinue reading “Boogie Oogie Oogie topped the charts”

September 9, 1890 –134 years ago today a little boy named Harland was born in Kentucky. When Harland was six, his father died and his mother was forced to go to work. Little Harland did most of the cooking for his younger siblings. By the age of seven he was a master of the localContinue reading “Harland Sanders”

September 9, 1947 –At the Naval Weapons Center in Dahlgren, Virginia, Grace Murray Hopper records the discovery of the first actual computer “bug” by the computer’s operators at 3:45pm in her log book with the explanation, “First instance of actual computer bug being found.” The bug is literally just that, a moth which had becomeContinue reading “The corollary to a fly in the ointment”

September 9, 1966 – ABC-TV premiered, 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 “lost in the swirling maze of past and future ages”

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 “Britt Reid is the grand-nephew of John Reid, the Lone Ranger.”

September 8, 2001 –Kylie Minogue released the single Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, with a “la la la” chorus that does indeed burrow into the brain, on this date. For most Americans, this was the first they heard from Minogue since 1988, when her cover of The Loco-Motion hit #3. She became anContinue reading “(Ear worm alert -)”

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, debuted 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 “Phyllis premiered”

September 8, 1966 –That Girl starring Marlo Thomas debuted on ABC-TV on this date. The train in the opening sequence of the series was shot at Secaucus Junction, in Secaucus, NJ. It was filmed out of the back of the train as it headed northwest, then the film was reversed, making it appear to beContinue reading “First time we took the train in from Brewster”