Khrushchev was ready for his close-up

June 2, 1957 –Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was interviewed on US television for the very first time when CBS’s Face the Nationaired on this date. With Cold War tensions running high, some government officials accused CBS of putting out Communist propaganda. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, love god of Carol Burnett, refused to watchContinue reading “Khrushchev was ready for his close-up”

She really did ask the question

June 2, 1981 –Barbara Walters famously asks Katharine Hepburn “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?”, on this date. After the interview, Walters’ “tree” question was remembered, but the context in which it was asked was not. The so-called “If you were a tree, what kind of tree would youContinue reading “She really did ask the question”

It would probably boast it invented romance.

June is the sixth month of the year and consists of thirty days. The ancient Romans gave it 29 days until 46 BC, when Julius Caesar added the thirtieth for reasons known only to himself (Caesar’s hobbies seem to be conquest of the known world, sleeping with some very rich North African teenager and calendarContinue reading “It would probably boast it invented romance.”

Let’s all say it together … I am NOT a number …

June 1, 1968 –The British television series The Prisoner, starring Patrick McGoohan, had its American premiere on CBS-TV, as a summer replacement for a Jackie Gleason series, on this date. At the end of the run of Secret Agent, there was a party, and some members of Parliament attended. Someone said to McGoohan, “So, whatContinue reading “Let’s all say it together … I am NOT a number …”

Conan’s first night hosting The Tonight Show

June 1, 2009 – Coco thought he succeeded Jay Leno when The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien premiered on NBC, on this date. Many members of the Late Night cast and crew made the transition to The Tonight Show. The Max Weinberg 7, the house band from O’Brien’s Late Night, served as the house bandContinue reading “Conan’s first night hosting The Tonight Show”