Author Archives: dcaligari

October 1, 1971 –The comedy-variety sketch series, The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine, starring, Marty Feldman, Spike Milligan, John Junkin, Hugh Paddick, Frances de la Tour, and Barry Levinson, was released in the UK on this date. Terry Gilliam’s animation contributions for this series were the opening and closing credits. The opening was a production lineContinue reading “The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine debuted”

October 1, 1955 – The Honeymooners half hour episodes premiered on this date. The show was shot “as live” (filmed before an audience, edited and shown later). If you ever notice Jackie Gleason patting himself on the stomach, it was a sign that he had forgotten his line.

October is the tenth month of the year and its name is therefore derived from Octo, the Latin word for eight (as the vegetables in V8 well knows.) October is often preceded by September and sometimes followed by November There are 31 days in October, many of which are Wednesdays. (Wednesday is the fourth dayContinue reading “A symphony of permanence and change”

September 30, 2011 –Pearl Jam wrapped up Late Night with Jimmy Fallon’s week-long performance tribute to Pink Floyd by performing Mother from the legendary British rock band’s classic 1979 album The Wall. Their performance was the coda to a week of Pink Floyd tribute performances, which featured The Shins performing Breathe , Roger Waters andContinue reading “Mother, do you think they’ll drop the bomb?”

September 30, 1965 – Gerry Anderson’s supermarionation take on The Tracy family business, Thunderbirds premiered on this date in the UK. The five Tracy brothers were named after astronauts from the Mercury programme: Scott Tracy after Scott Carpenter. Virgil Tracy after Gus Grissom whose real first name was Virgil. Alan Tracy after Alan Shepard. GordonContinue reading “Elon Musk wishes he was this rich”

September 30, 1960 –The first prime-time animated series aimed at adults, The Flintstones, premiered on ABC-TV on this date. Fred and Wilma Flintstone were the first animated married couple ever shown on American television in the same bed together. They have been mistaken as the first couple ever shown in bed together on any AmericanContinue reading “The first time we got to meet the Flintstones”

September 30, 1944 – The Merrie Melodies short, Lost and Foundling, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Sniffles, was released on this date. The labels of two bottles read GRIB and BROEK respectively – the surname of Robert Gribbroek, who was a layout man and background artist at Warner Bros. Cartoons.

September 30, 1938 – RKO Studios released the eighth Marx Brothers film, Room Service, on this date. This is the only film The Marx Brothers made at RKO. During salary negotiations with the studio, erstwhile member Zeppo Marx represented The Marx Brothers, threatening to rejoin the group if their demands weren’t met. This was theContinue reading “Jumping butterballs!”

September 30, 2011 –The TV drama, Pan Am, starring Christina Ricci, Margot Robbie, Karine Vanasse, Kelli Garner, Michael Mosley, and Mike Vogel, premiered on ABC-TV, on this date. The average career for a Pan Am Stewardess in the 1960’s averaged around 18 months due to the strict weight, age, marital status and childlessness requirements. PanContinue reading “Nope, don’t remember this one at all”

Even though your bubble gum WILL lose it’s flavor on the bedpost overnight, today is National Chewing Gum. William Wrigley, founder of Wrigley’s Gum, invented direct mail marketing because of chewing gum. In 1915 he mailed a pack of gum to every person in the phone directory in the United States. People are even tryingContinue reading “Basically, gum is an adult pacifier”