Category Archives: The Little Screen (Television)

White Christmas

White Christmas

The film was released in theaters October 14, 1954.

White Christmas is a 1954 movie starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye that featured the songs of Irving Berlin, including the titular White Christmas.

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Anniversary of The Flintstones

The Flintstones

The Flintstones is an animated American television sitcom that ran from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966 on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones is about a working class Stone Age man’s life with his family and his next door neighbor and best friend. It has since been re-released on both DVD and VHS.

Critics and fans alike agree that the show was an animated imitation of The Honeymooners with rock puns thrown in. William Hanna admitted that “At that time “The Honeymooners” was the most popular show on the air, and for my bill, it was the funniest show on the air. The characters, I thought, were terrific. Now, that influenced greatly what we did with “The Flintstones”… “The Honeymooners” was there, and we used that as a kind of basis for the concept.” However Joseph Barbera disavowed these claims in a separate interview, stating that “I don’t remember mentioning “The Honeymooners” when I sold the show, but if people want to compare “The Flintstones” to “The Honeymooners,” then great. It’s a total compliment. “The Honeymooners” was one of the greatest shows ever written.” Its popularity rested heavily on its juxtaposition of modern-day concerns in the Stone Age setting

Happy Birthday, Jim Henson

James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was the most widely known American puppeteer in modern American television history.

He was the creator of The Muppets and the leading force behind their long creative run. Henson brought an engaging cast of characters, innovative ideas, and a sense of timing and humor to millions of people. He is also widely acknowledged for the ongoing vision of faith, friendship, magic, and love which was infused in nearly all of his work.

Jim Henson StatueStatue of Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog, on display outside of Adele H. Stamp Student Union in College Park, Maryland.
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Anniversary of The Jetsons

Jetsons

On September 23, 1962, the Jetsons premiered on ABC.

The Jetsons is a prime-time animated American sitcom that was produced by Hanna-Barbera, originally airing from 1962–63 and again from 1985–87. It was Hanna-Barbera’s Space Age counterpart to The Flintstones, a half-hour family sitcom projecting contemporary American culture and lifestyle into another time period. While the Flintstones live in a world with machines powered by birds and dinosaurs, the Jetsons live in a futuristic utopia in the year 2062 of elaborate robotic contraptions, aliens, holograms, and whimsical inventions.

The original incarnation of the series aired Sunday nights on ABC from September 23, 1962, to March 3, 1963. It comprised 24 episodes, and was re-run on Saturday morning for decades. At the time of its debut, it was the first program ever to be broadcast in color on ABC-TV (as The Flintstones, while always produced in color, was broadcast in black-and-white for its first two seasons). Its continuing popularity led to further episodes being produced for syndication between 1985 and 1987.

 Wikipedia Link

RIP George C. Scott

George C. Scott

George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999)

 

George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, and as Ebenezer Scrooge in a television adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

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Happy Birthday, Chuck Jones

Charles Martin “Chuck” Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Brothers cartoon studio.

In 1966, he produced and directed the TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

He directed the Rudyard Kipling book adaptation of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi“, which was released on January 9, 1975.

He would have been 100 years old this year!

Happy Birthday, Batman

 

Adam West (Batman)

William West Anderson (born September 19, 1928), better known by the stage name Adam West,

is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series (1966–1968) and the film of the same name.

Anniversary of the Debut of M*A*S*H

MASH

The series premiered on September 17, 1972, and ended February 28, 1983, with the finale becoming the most-watched television episode in U.S. television history.

Premier of Hogan’s Heroes

Cast of Hogan's Heroes

Hogan’s Heroes premiered on September 17, 1965, and quickly became the most popular new show of the year. In fact, for several seasons it ranked in TV’s top 20 programs …but it never escaped the controversy it premise engendered: Was it immoral to portray history’s most evil killers as bumbling -even lovable- buffoons week after week, just to make a buck?

It ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to July 4, 1971, on the CBS network. Bob Crane starred as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, coordinating an international crew of Allied prisoners running a Special Operations group from the camp. Werner Klemperer played Colonel Wilhelm Klink, the incompetent commandant of the camp, and John Banner was the inept sergeant-of-the-guard, Hans Schultz.

168 Episodes, America must have decided it was ok… 🙂

Happy Birthday, John Ritter!

John Ritter

Jonathan Southworth “John” Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003)

 

John Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three’s Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively. He is also known for being the voice of the title character Clifford in the PBS television series Clifford the Big Red Dog. Don Knotts called him the “Greatest physical comedian on the planet”.

From starring on The Waltons, to 8 Simple Rules, we enjoyed his smile, humor, and style. He even guest starred on M*A*S*H!

Wikipedia Article

RIP John Ritter

John Ritter

Jonathan Southworth “John” Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003)

 

John Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three’s Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively. He is also known for being the voice of the title character Clifford in the PBS television series Clifford the Big Red Dog. Don Knotts called him the “Greatest physical comedian on the planet”.  Ritter died at the age of 54 from an aortic dissection.

From starring on The Waltons, to 8 Simple Rules, we enjoyed his smile, humor, and style.  He even guest starred on M*A*S*H!

Wikipedia Article

To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before…

Enterprise

On September 8, 1966, “The Man Trap” was first released upon the world. This, the first episode of one of the most famous TV Shows in history, Star Trek.

RIP “Crocodile Hunter”

Stephen Robert Irwin(February 22, 1962 – September 4, 2006)
“The Crocodile Hunter.”

 

Soft Dalek

soft_dalek

Star Trex

star_trex

RIP Merv Griffin

Merv Griffin

The answer is Merv Griffin. The question could be just about anything.

Mervyn Edward “Merv” Griffin, Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American singer, talk-show host, composer, mogul, philanthropist and puzzle fan who created the long-running hit game shows of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.

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RIP Robin Williams (No more nanu nanu)

 

Robin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014)

Robin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014)

Robin McLaurin Williams was an American actor, voice actor, and stand-up comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork & Mindy (1978-1982), Williams went on to establish a successful career in both stand-up comedy and feature film acting. His film career included such acclaimed films as Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989), Awakenings (1990), The Fisher King (1991), and Good Will Hunting (1997), as well as financial successes such as Popeye (1980), Hook (1991), Aladdin (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Jumanji (1995), The Birdcage (1996), Night at the Museum (2006), and Happy Feet (2006).

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Miss you already Roddy

I am here to chew bubblegum and kick ass… and I’m all outta bubblegum.

R.I.P Roddy Piper (April 17, 1954 – July 30, 2015)

RIP Gilligan

Bob Denver

Robert Osbourne “Bob” Denver (January 9, 1935 – September 2, 2005) was an American comedic actor known for his roles as Gilligan on the television series Gilligan’s Island and the beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 TV series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Rumor had it that later in life he hated “Gilligan”, the character, and being called “Gilligan.”  After all the great memories I have of the show, the laughter, I’d like to think that he wouldn’t mind me calling him “Gilligan” one more time…

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RIP James Garner

James Garner as Bret Maverick

James Garner as Jim Rockford

James Garner (born James Scott Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American film and television actor. He starred in several television series over more than five decades, which included such popular roles as Bret Maverick in the 1950s western-comedy series Maverick and Jim Rockford in the 1970s detective drama The Rockford Files.

Garner starred in more than 50 films including The Great Escape (1963), Paddy Chayefsky’s The Americanization of Emily (1964), Grand Prix (1966), Blake Edwards’ Victor Victoria (1982), Murphy’s Romance (1985) for which he received an Academy Award nomination, and The Notebook (2004).

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