Author Archives: dcaligari

April 17, 1987 – The final episode of Remington Steele, Steeled With a Kiss, starring Stephanie Zimbalist, Pierce Brosnan, Doris Roberts, James Read, Janet DeMay, and Jack Scalia, aired on this date. The series was cancelled at the end of season four, on May 15, 1986, with a 60-day option left on the show. ThatContinue reading “Pierce is still pissed about this”

April 11, 1964 –Needing one more song for his album, Dean Martin recorded Everybody Loves Somebody, which his friend Frank Sinatra recorded in 1947 and several other singers tried in the ‘50s, on this date. Dean Martin hadn’t had a substantial pop hit since his version of Volare went to #12 in 1958. In 1962,Continue reading “Everybody falls in love somehow …”

A mid-1950s construction worker involved in the demolition of the J. C. Wilber Building finds a box inside a cornerstone. He opens it to reveal a singing, dancing frog (that came to be called Michigan J. Frog,) complete with top hat and cane. According to the cartoon, One Froggy Night (1955), the box also containsContinue reading “A little known ACME fact”

April 15, 1955 – The Looney Tunes short, The Hole Idea, directed by Robert McKimson, debuted on this date. This short is one of a handful of Warner Bros. animated shorts not to feature any anthropomorphic animal characters.

April 15, 1950 – The Looney Tunes short, Porky’s Five & Ten, directed by Bob Clampett, debuted on this date. This cartoon uses the song Hooray for Hollywood, with one part of the lyrics changed from “Go out and try your luck, you might be Donald Duck” to “Go on and try your luck, youContinue reading “Porky’s Five & Ten premiered”

April 16, 1973 –In order to fulfill a contractual obligation with Lew Grade, Paul McCartney appeared in his first TV special (since the disastrous Magical Mystery Tour,) James Paul McCartney, on this date. Although it was very highly anticipated – McCartney received a cover story on TV Guide – the reviews were dreadful. The NewContinue reading “They can’t all be hits”

April 16, 2010 –The very funny comedy (which received mixed reviews when originally released) Death at a Funeral, directed by Neil LaBute and starring Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, Peter Dinklage, James Marsden, Tracy Morgan, Loretta Devine, Zoë Saldaña, Columbus Short, Luke Wilson, Keith David, Ron Glass and Kevin Hart, opened onContinue reading “Death at a Funeral premiered”

April 16, 2003 – The comedy action film, Bulletproof Monk, directed by Paul Hunter in his feature film directorial debut, and starring Chow Yun-fat, Seann William Scott, and Jaime King, opened on this date. At the time the film was released, it received poor reviews and underplayed at the box office. But it has sinceContinue reading “Bulletproof Monk premiered”

April 16, 1178 BC –… The sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world. – Theoclymenus A solar eclipse may have marked the return of Odysseus, legendary King of Ithaca and one of the most recurrent characters in Western literature, to his kingdom after the Trojan War on thisContinue reading “Home is the sailor, home from the sea”

April 16 1912 –The remains of the R.M.S. Titanic came to rest at the bottom of the sea on this date. The unsinkable ship sank after being torn by iceberg. Of a total of 2,208 people, only 712 survived; 1,496 perished. If the lifeboats had been filled to capacity, 1,178 people could have been saved.Continue reading “Way down below the ocean”