Author Archives: dcaligari

Look, don’t get sloppy on me. I might just slug you one.

October 4, 1957 – Leave It To Beaver premiered on CBS-TV on this date. Once again, another show from the 50s where the lead actor (Hugh Beaumont not Jerry Mathers) was a raging alcoholic. Jerry Mathers wore his Cub Scout uniform to his audition. During the audition, he told the casting directors that he wasContinue reading “Look, don’t get sloppy on me. I might just slug you one.”

Why wasn’t the ASPCA contacted?

October 4, 1961 – Dave got to yell at Alvin nationally when The Alvin Show premiered on CBS-TV on this date. While it only lasted one season in prime time, the show was first show to feature the singing chipmunks. The Chipmunks’ names were taken from the names of three executives at Liberty Records, whereContinue reading “Why wasn’t the ASPCA contacted?”

Standing by for action!

October 4, 1964 –Supermarionation was used once again to freak out unsuspecting children when Gerry Anderson’s third series Stingray, premiered in the UK on this date. (It was the first British series to be filmed entirely in Colour: the extra U was particularly expensive.) The total cost of the production for Stingray was approximately £1Continue reading “Standing by for action!”

Another One Bites The Dust topped the charts

October 4, 1980 –Queen started a three week run at No.1 on the Billboard singles chart with Another One Bites The Dust, on this date. Queen were originally reluctant to release this as a single, but backstage after a Queen gig at the Los Angeles forum, a visiting Michael Jackson convinced them it would beContinue reading “Another One Bites The Dust topped the charts”

I wonder what the insurance costs on the set were

October 3, 1961 –The Dick Van Dyke Show premiered on this date. The show wasn’t an immediate success but became a hit. Carl Reiner asked network censors for permission to show Laura and Rob sleeping in one large bed together, reasoning (quite sensibly) that he and his wife did so in real life. The permissionContinue reading “I wonder what the insurance costs on the set were”

The stuff that dream were made of …

October 3, 1941 – John Huston’s first directorial effort, The Maltese Falcon, premiered in NYC on this date. At 357 pounds, 60-year-old British newcomer Sydney Greenstreet was so large that the studio had to specially manufacture his entire wardrobe for the role of Kasper Gutman. The chair in which Greenstreet sits while talking with SamContinue reading “The stuff that dream were made of …”