Author Archives: dcaligari

October 19, 1984 –One of the greatest concert movies, the Talking Heads film Stop Making Sense, dirested by Jonathon Demme opens in the US on this date. Jonathan Demme wanted to shoot additional performance footage on a soundstage made to recreate the Pantages Theater. The band vetoed this idea because they thought the lack ofContinue reading “Stop Making Sense premiered”

October 19, 1973 –David Bowie released his seventh album Pin Ups, which features supermodel Twiggy on the front cover, is released on this date. The album is a collection of cover versions of some of the singer’s favorite songs, including tracks by Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things, The Who, The Yardbirds and The Kinks.

October 18, 1968 – The Star Trek episode Is There in Truth No Beauty? premiered on this date. In it, the Enterprise travels with an alien ambassador who must travel inside a special black case because his appearance causes insanity. The Vulcan IDIC was inserted into the script and into the episode at the behestContinue reading “Is There in Truth No Beauty? premiered”

October 18, 1975 – The second-ever episode of Saturday Night Live was notable for the reunion of Simon & Garfunkel on this date. This show marked the first public appearance of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel together since 1972. There are 10 musical performances in this episode, the most ever for the show. The NotContinue reading “Simon and Garfunkel on SNL”

October 18, 1988 – Poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, sex, menstruation, birth control, teenage pregnancy, masturbation, obesity, abortion, race, social class, domestic violence, and homosexuality – some of the topics dealt with on the series, Roseanne (which premiered on this date.) Early during the first season, Roseanne frequently butted heads with the show’s creator Matt Williams.Continue reading “Roseanne premiered”

Today is National Pasta Day. Pasta is one of America’s favorite foods. Last year, 1.3 million pounds of pasta were sold in American grocery stores. The first American pasta factory was opened in Brooklyn, New York, in 1848, by a Frenchman named Antoine Zerega. Mr. Zerega managed the entire operation with just one horse inContinue reading “Cooked pasta waits for no one”

October 17, 1966 – The 23rd Street Fire was an incident that took place in the Flatiron District neighborhood of New York City, on this date. A group of firefighters from the New York City Fire Department responding to a fire at 7 East 22nd Street entered a building at 6 East 23rd Street asContinue reading “A little remembered tragedy”

October 17, 2005 – Stephen Colbert brilliant takes on cable-news punditry, The Colbert Report premiered on Comedy Central on this date. The word “truthiness“, which Stephen debuted during the first episode of the show, was entered into the official Websters Dictionary in 2006. It was also named “Word of the year” by the American DialectContinue reading “The Colbert Report premiered”

October 17, 1958 –What is considered a comeback special, An Evening with Fred Astaire premiered on NBC-TV on this date. The special was the first color show pre-recorded on videotape at NBC’s new state-of-the-art ‘Color City‘ studios in Burbank, California.

October 17, 1988 –The Traveling Wilburys release their debut single, Handle With Care, (the B-side is Margarita,) on this date. The group made a music video for this song that proved quite popular on VH1. Directed by David Leland, it has a sepia tone to give it a dusty, old-timey feel as we see theContinue reading “Handle With Care dropped”