Author Archives: dcaligari

July 12, 1976 –Family Feud, hosted by Richard Dawson, debuted on ABC on this date. It later aired on CBS and then in syndication. There were some objections to Richard kissing strange women on national television. ABC tried to influence the kissing to stop, but Dawson rebelled and said he was going to do it.Continue reading “Family Feud premiered”

July 12, 1991 –John Singleton directorial debut, Boyz N the Hood, starring Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, Larry Fishburne, Nia Long, Regina King, and Angela Bassett, went into general release on this date. (John Singleton’s Oscar nomination for Best Director at the age of 24 made him the youngest director to ever receiveContinue reading “Boyz N the Hood premiered”

Well, it’s my 39th Birthday again – the 24th to be precise. (Thank you Mr. Benny). As some of you may remember, this was a rather strange year for me (I have let surgeons operate on me three times this year. In fact I have a secret tape of one of the medical teams.) IContinue reading “Well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine”

ACME would like to issue this public service announcement concerning Brain Freeze (also known as sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia) – Now to the point at hand – Why bring this up? The date today is 7/11 (at least in this country. Foreigners and other degenerates refer to the day as 11/7 but that’s another story…) The convenienceContinue reading “Line up for that frosty treat”

July 11, 1965 –One of the 60s best Beach movies, Beach Blanket Bingo opened today. In the scene where Don Rickles is doing his comedy routine, everyone in the club is laughing, except Buster Keaton (who can be seen in the background) indicating that he didn’t think Rickles was particularly funny (and didn’t realize heContinue reading “Beach Blanket Bingo premiered”

July 11, 1942 – A classic 40s Merrie Melodies cartoon, Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid was released on this date. The part where Bugs and Killer are temporarily fooled into thinking that the bones are theirs is a reference to a Harold Lloyd film, The Freshman.

July 11, 1970 –Three Dog Night started a two-week run at No.1 in the US with their version of the Randy Newman song Mama Told Me Not To Come, which was also a No.3 hit in the UK. The song was first covered by Eric Burdon on his first solo album in 1966 and gaveContinue reading “Mama Told Me Not To Come topped the charts”

July 10, 1966 –The follow-up to the Japanese science fiction television series produced by Tsuburaya Productions, Ultra Q, Ultraman, first aired in Japan on this date. (I have seen it listed as having first aired one week later July 17, 1966. Who knows, I wasn’t there.) The sequences of Ultraman battling monsters were so expensiveContinue reading “Ultraman premiered”

July 10, 1942 –Orson Welles‘ butchered masterpiece, The Magnificent Ambersons, was released by RKO Pictures, on this date. After a disastrous preview (which occurred a week after the Pearl Harbor attack,) it was clear to the execs at RKO that the film was too long, too dense and too somber. Orson Welles, however, had decampedContinue reading “The Magnificent Ambersons premiered”

July 10, 1856 –Inventor and electromechanical genius Nikola Tesla, the man who invented the 20th Century, was born to Serbian parents in what is now Croatia on this date. Remember, if we could only harness the free floating electricity, we could do away with the electric companies.