Today in Television History, November 6

1965 - The Rolling Stones appeared on "Shindig!" This was a TV show that featured popular music and young people dancing. Other similar shows over the years included "Hullaballoo", "American Bandstand" with Dick Clark and "Soul Train" with Don Cornelius. This type of show was the subject of the John Waters film "Hairspray".

1967 - Phil Donahue began a TV talk show in Dayton, OH. The show, "Donahue," was on the air for 29 years. Many feel that Donahue's show was an important precursor to Oprah Winfrey's long running show. Phil Donahue is married to actress Marlo Thomas, whose father, Danny Thomas, founded the St. Jude's Children's Cancer Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

2001 - The FOX TV show "24" aired for the first time, starring Keifer Sutherland.

2004 - The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh re-opened. One of the main attractions was the expanded 'Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.' The iconic children's show was taped at WQED-TV in Pittsburgh. Actor Michael Keaton was once a stagehand on the show. Mr. Rogers was earned degrees in music and theology. In an interview with CNN in his later years, Rogers stated, "I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there's some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who would watch and listen."


*Information from:

http://www.on-this-day.com/cgi-bin/otd/tvotd.pl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers.

A Swing and a Miss for Mary

Mary Tyler Moore was incredibly successful with her roles on The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She had an outstanding role in the film Ordinary People, directed by Robert Redford. But, in 1978 she launched a variety show on CBS, called simply Mary, that only aired for 3 episodes. Variety shows were all the rage in the 1970s with the successes of programs like Sonny and Cher, Donny and Marie and The Carol Burnett Show. The crazy thing is that Mary's show had a cast that included Michael Keaton, Swoosie Kurtz and David Letterman. There is a You Tube clip of the cast singing and dancing. From the look on Letterman's face, it makes me think he was embarrassed to be involved in the show. Before having his own TV shows for NBC, (his morning show then his late night show), Dave worked in Los Angeles as a stand up comedian and actor. In 1979 he was in an episode of Mork and Mindy.

Watch the cringe-worthy clip of the variety show here.

* Some information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Tyler_Moore, eyesofageneration.com and http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001468/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1#actor.