Author Archives: dcaligari

October 14, 1978 –The gang finally got off the damn island (sort of) when the first TV movie from a TV series, Rescue from Gilligan’s Island, premiered on CBS-TV with all of the original cast except Tina Louise (who wanted too much money,) on this date. The scene in which the rescued castaways are towedContinue reading “Tina regrets this one”

October 14, 1953 – Possibly the ultimate film noir, Fritz Lang’s The Big Heat opens in NYC on this date. Typical of the heavily sanitized film making of the 40s and 50s, when Thomas Duncan shoots himself in the head with a .38 revolver there’s no wound, no splattering of blood, and in death heContinue reading “The Big Heat premiered”

October 14, 1983 –Cyndi Lauper, formerly a member of the group Blue Angel, issues her first solo album, She’s So Unusual. With the MTV hits Girls Just Want To Have Fun and Time After Time, the album becomes an ‘80s touchstone. On the strength of her breakout solo album She’s So Unusual, Lauper won theContinue reading “Money, money changes everything”

October 13, 1978 –Queen released their double A sided single Fat Bottomed Girls/ Bicycle Race on this date The songs ran together on the album, and were often played that way by radio stations. The year before, Queen released We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions as a double A-side. They are stillContinue reading “You know who makes the rockin’ world go round”

October 13, 1950 – Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s brilliantly caustic valentine to Broadway, All About Eve premiered in NYC on this date. Margo Channing’s famous cocktail dress was an Edith Head creation. To Head’s horror, just as they were about to go film the cocktail party, she found that the dress didn’t quite fit Bette DavisContinue reading “Fasten your seat belts”

October 13, 1947 –Kids, back when the earth cooled and formed a hard crust, there was a very popular TV series featuring two puppets and a very polite lady that ad-libbed the entire show – Junior Jamboree – a version which ultimately became Kukla, Fran and Ollie premiered on this date. (this is not theContinue reading “OK Bunkies, into the wayback machine”

I totally get him – I feel like murdering everyone after a very long and crowded commute. Happy Columbus Never Met An Indigenous Person He Didn’t Kill or Enslave Day! I can’t even imagine how many more indigenous persons Columbus may have murdered if he didn’t have the day off. Columbus Day originated as aContinue reading “Let’s hear it for Columbus”

The second Sunday in October is designated as Father–Daughters Day today, as opposed to (just) Daughters Day. Once again UN negotiators were called in, and after several tense meetings with some not so high priced ACME lawyers, I have been permitted to use the following photo from Julietta’s graduation this past May I am allowedContinue reading “I nearly forgot”

October 12, 1996 –Though they’ve refused to release it on video for 27 years, largely due to dissatisfaction over their own performance, The Rolling Stones finally release their landmark 1968 all-star BBC television special, The Rolling Stones’ Rock And Roll Circus, on this date. This is Brian Jones’s last live performance with The Rolling Stones.Continue reading “Maybe everyone was just a little too high”

October 12, 1968The second studio album by Big Brother and the Holding Company, Cheap Thrills, reached number one on the charts for eight nonconsecutive weeks on this date. It was their last album with Janis Joplin as lead singer before she started a solo career.