Author Archives: dcaligari

June 2, 1989 –Peter Weir’s take on the classic film Goodbye Mr. Chips, Dead Poets Society, written by Tom Schulman, and starring Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, and Ethan Hawke opened in limited release on this date. What attracted Robin Williams to the role of John Keating more than anything else was that John KeatingContinue reading “Dead Poets Society premiered”

June 2, 1983 –The 12-inch remix of The Safety Dance by Men Without Hats goes to #1 on the Billboard Dance chart. MTV begins playing the huzzah-worthy video, and the song soon rose up the Hot 100. Though music fans have often interpreted the song as a metaphor for nuclear war or a call forContinue reading “The Safety Dance topped the charts”

June 2, 1981 –Barbara Walters famously asks Katharine Hepburn “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?”, on this date. After the interview, Walters’ “tree” question was remembered, but the context in which it was asked was not. The so-called “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would youContinue reading “Strangest TV interview question”

It’s Oscar the Grouch’s birthday today. Remember to leave something nice out in the trash today. (Please note: when Oscar first moved into his trash can he was orange. Then the gangrene set in.) June 1, 1926 –Fame will go by and, so long, I’ve had you, fame. If it goes by, I’ve always knownContinue reading “Happy Birthday”

June 1, 1967 –The Beatles blew the collective world’s mind away. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in the UK on this date. The album was quite complex to produced and took 129 days and about 700 hours to complete. The Beatles first album, Please Please Me, was recorded in less than 10Continue reading “It was 56 years ago today,”

June 1, 1954 –In the Peanuts comic strip, Linus‘ security blanket made its debut, on this date. Although one of the things most associated with Linus is his obsessive need for the comfort provided by his security blanket, the intensity of that need clearly ebbs, as he is often (probably most frequently) shown without theContinue reading “Linus gets his blanket”

June is the sixth month of the year and consists of thirty days. The ancient Romans gave it 29 days until 46 BC, when Julius Caesar added the thirtieth for reasons known only to himself (Caesar’s hobbies seem to be conquest of the known world, sleeping with some very rich North African teenager and calendarContinue reading “Summer is a promissory note signed in June”

June 1, 2009 – Coco thought he succeeded Jay Leno when The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien premiered on NBC, on this date. Many members of the Late Night cast and crew made the transition to The Tonight Show. The Max Weinberg 7, the house band from O’Brien’s Late Night, served as the house bandContinue reading “Conan O’Brien’s start on the Tonight Show”

June 1, 1968 –The British television series The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan, had its American premiere on CBS-TV, as a summer replacement for a Jackie Gleason series, on this date. At the end of the run of Secret Agent, there was a party, and some members of Parliament attended. Someone said to McGoohan, “So, whatContinue reading “The Prisoner debuted”

June 1, 1966 –Dick Van Dyke tripped over the ottoman for the last time when CBS aired the last episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Last Chapter on this date. In the show, Rob writes his autobiography and shows it to everyone. At the end of the show Alan decides to buy theContinue reading “The finale of Dick Van Dyke Show”