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October 12, 1950 – One of the first comedy series to make the successful transition from radio to television The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, premiered on CBS-TV on this date. George Burns is regarded as being the first entertainer to step out of character and “break the fourth wall” by directly addressing theContinue reading “The first time we could say ‘Goodnight Gracie’ on TV”

October 12, 1968 –The 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.

Today is the last day of International Cephalopod Awareness Days, and we are celebrating International Fossil Day (I’m terribly sorry folks but once again, National Fossil Day was rescheduled to be celebrated yesterday on October 11, according to the National Park Service website, and they don’t appear to have any reason to lie.) But todayContinue reading “So which day is it – I am confused”

October 11, 1980 –The Police’s third studio album Zenyatta Mondatta went to No.1 on the UK album charts, one week after it’s release, on this date. The album features the hits Don’t Stand So Close to Me, Canary in a Coalmine, and De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da and won the band twoContinue reading “Zenyatta Mondatta topped the charts”

October 11, 1975 – The long running (some say too long running) comedy variety show started at 11:30 PM, on this date, with George Carlin as its host. It was called NBC’s Saturday Night, because ABC featured a program at the same time titled Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell. After ABC canceled the CosellContinue reading “I would like to feed your fingers to the wolverines”

October 11, 2006 –One of the funniest shows about TV (other than Mary Tyler Moore) 30 Rock, starring Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, and Tracy Morgan, premiered on NBC-TV on this date. In her 2011 book Bossypants, Tina Fey said that during the early years of the show, Donald Glover was its only black writer. SheContinue reading “30 Rock debuted”

Continuing our salute to International Cephalopod Awareness Days, celebrated October 8th through the 12th – Today is Myths and Legends Day. We here at ACME salute all the fantastical cephalopods of movies, literature and legend.

October 10, 1985 – … A film is never really good unless the camera is an eye in the head of a poet. As to all, cheap wine hawkers, voice-over whores and movie legends, Orson Welles, whose remarkably innovative Citizen Kane was named the best American-made picture of all time in a 1998 American FilmContinue reading “Our songs will all be silenced, but what of it? Go on singing”

October 10, 1958 – The private-eye series 77 Sunset Strip starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes, first aired on ABC-TV on this date. The building in which the detectives’ offices were located was, in real life, the home of the Mary Webb Davis modelling agency. The front of the building, the Dino’sContinue reading “77 Sunset Strip premiered”

October 10, 1968 –One of the silliest movies Jane Fonda (or anyone else, for that matter) ever made, Barbarella, landed in US theatres on this date. Lobby card stills and set photographs survive, showing footage of a seduction scene between Barbarella and the Black Queen on a bed. However, this footage has never appeared inContinue reading “Barbarella premiered”