Baby, it's cold outside

The wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) is a small, terrestrial North American amphibian famous for its ability to survive being frozen solid during the winter.



Their hearts stop beating, and ice forms through most of their body water, but they thaw and hop away in spring.


Today is National Punctuation Day (!,?.)

It's a celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotation marks and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the every mysterious ellipsis.



(The Interrobang is a combination of both the exclamation point and a question mark, used thusly: “What are you doing[insert interrobang. Unfortunately, the interrobang isn’t standard in font sets and can’t easily be used in typing.] By just thinking about it, I've declassified documents. ” )


September 24, 1046 -
You might know that today is the feast day of St. Gerard Sagredo of Hungary and he was not having a great day today.

During mass, hordes of heathens, stormed his church, bundled him up and wheeled him to the top of Gellert Hill, in Hungary (but you don't care.) Those heathen hordes shoved the cart down the hill, then beat him to death on this date

(but I'm sure this is all meaningless to you because there's no Feast of St. Gerald Sagredo festival in your neighborhood.)


September 24, 1933 -
The Merrie Melodies short, The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon, directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, was released on this date.



The audio of Wilber crying for help in Bosko at the Beach was recycled for the lady dish's distress calls.


September 24, 1938 -
One of the craziest cartoons Looney Tunes shorts ever produced, Porky in Wackyland, directed by Bob Clampet, and starring Porky Pig, was released on this date. You need to watch it a few times to really get everything that's going on in this one.



Among the crazy characters Porky encounters is a creature with three heads arguing amongst themselves. From the haircuts on the three heads, it is clear that this is a parody of The Three Stooges. The character then faces the camera and leans into it in such a way that their round heads form a triangle, and a small character explains to the audience that, "He says his mother was scared by a pawnbroker's sign!"


September 24, 1938 -
The Merrie Melodies short, A Feud There Was, directed by Tex Avery, and starring Elmer Fudd/ Egghead was released on this date.



Although The Isle of Pingo Pongo promoted the character as Elmer on its lobby card, this is the first cartoon to feature the name Elmer Fudd on-screen.


September 24, 1945 -
Michael Curtiz' tense film noir, Mildred Pierce, starring Joan Crawford and her enormous shoulder pads, was released on this date.



There were conflicts between Michael Curtiz and Joan Crawford. He wanted her canned, claiming she was altering the look and interpretation of the character to make her more glamorous. There were the inevitable arguments over shoulders, with Crawford tearfully (and not altogether truthfully) claiming her dowdy off-the-rack Sears dresses were unpadded. Curtiz started referring to her as "Phony Joanie" and "the rotten bitch," laying into her mercilessly in front of cast and crew. Crawford wanted the director fired and replaced "with a human being."


September 24, 1958 -
Ladies (and some men), don't you always wears heels, pearls and chic frocks to do the housework? The Donna Reed Show premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



The first season opening credits of The Munsters were an outrageous parody of the opening credits of The Donna Reed Show, which always began with Donna Reed lovingly passing out lunches to her departing family members as they left the house one by one. Yvonne De Carlo, as Lily Munster, did the same thing.


September 24, 1960 -
The Merrie Melodies short, The Dixie Fryer, directed by Bob McKimson, and starring Foghorn Leghorn,was released on this date.



Pappy's beak being dislocated after Elvis accidentally blasts him is similar to Daffy Duck suffering the same thing in the "Hunting" trilogy


September 24, 1961 -
Students of Great Comedy lined up around the block to enroll in Whatsamatta U when The Bullwinkle Show moved to primetime on NBC TV on this date.



The Bullwinkle Show incurred the wrath of no less a Hollywood heavyweight than Walt Disney. Each prime time episode was "introduced" by Bullwinkle himself (as a hand puppet, voiced by Bill Scott ), and social commentary was often sprinkled in with the gags. Disney had recently changed his own weekly show's name from Disneyland to Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color and was appearing on screen to relentlessly promote the sale of color TV sets, still a relatively newfangled phenomenon. Bullwinkle, taking note, told his audience there was no need to buy an expensive new set, telling them instead to think of all the nasty things Walt Disney had said about their old black and white TVs. "Now then," he said, "don't you see red?"


September 24, 1964 -

We all visited 1313 Mockingbird Lane for the first time when The Munsters premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



The show was shot in black and white because the studio did not want to pay an extra $10,000 per episode for color.


September 24, 1968 -
The TV show Mod Squad premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Clarence Williams III, Michael Cole and Tige Andrews appear in all 123 episodes. Peggy Lipton appeared in every episode with the exception of two.


September 24, 1968 -
Created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, 60 Minutes a television news magazine, originally hosted by Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner, first aired on CBS on this date.



In 2002, 60 Minutes was ranked number six on TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time", and in 2013, it was ranked number 24 on the magazine's list of the "60 Best Series of All Time".


September 24, 1970 -
Garry Marshall brought the Neil Simon hit play to television, when The Odd Couple, starring Tony Randall, and Jack Klugman, premiered on ABC, on this date. It was one of my father-in-law's favorite shows.



Early episodes from the first season were titled "Neil Simon's The Odd Couple". Neil Simon objected to this, having nothing to do with the television series and not wanting to leave the impression left that he did, not knowing the quality of the series' scripts (he did continue to receive a "Based on the Play created by" credit). After seeing the first two seasons of the show he became a fan of the series, and even agreed to appear as himself in a cameo in one episode.


September 24, 1977 -
Everyone got to order their first drink from Isaac when The Love Boat set sail for the first time on ABC-TV on this date.



The former Pacific Princess was scrapped in 2013 at a Turkish ship recycling yard on the Aegean coast. She was 42 years old, and was decommissioned in 2008. The Izmir Ship Recycling Company acquired the former cruise ship for 2.5 million euros ($2.95 million).


September 24, 1991 -
Warner Bros. Records. released the fifth studio album of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, on this date.



Because of the success of the album, the band got a headlining slot on the 1992 Lollapalooza Tour. The gig greatly expanded their fan base and showcased their skills as a very energetic live band, but beneath the surface, all was not well. The band was burned out and feuding; John Frusciante quit in the middle of the tour, and their bass player Flea lapsed into drug addiction when they finally got off the road in October 1992. They took some time to recuperate (Flea kicked his drug habit) and returned in 1995 with the album One Hot Minute.


September 24, 1991 -
(On the same day,) Nirvana's album Nevermind was released 33 years today on this date.



Within a year of the album's release, much of the hair metal and hard rock that had commanded the airwaves was being phased out in favor of the “grunge” style often attached to Nirvana.


September 24, 1995 -
Hearts were all aflutter all over England when BBC One aired the first episode of the six part adaption of Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice, starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, on this date.



Producer Sue Birtwistle particularly wanted Colin Firth, a relatively unknown British actor in his mid-30s at the time, to play the wealthy and aloof Mr. Darcy. Birtwistle had worked with him on the mid-1980s comedy film Dutch Girls, but he repeatedly turned down her offer as he neither felt attracted to Jane Austen's feminine perspective nor believed himself to be right for the role. Birtwistle's persistent coaxing and his deeper looks into the Darcy character finally convinced him to accept the role.


Another little known Monopoly Card


Today in History:
September 24, 1896 -
... It is sadder to find the past again and find it inadequate to the present than it is to have it elude you and remain forever a harmonious conception of memory.

On this date in 1896, a young Minnesota woman gave birth to a depressive, witty young alcoholic named Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. The boy did badly in school and went to train for war in 1917. While training at Camp Sheridan in Alabama, he fell in love with Zelda Sayre, the mentally unstable daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court judge.



The war ended before Fitzgerald could be sent overseas and shot, however, so he went to New York to become rich and famous. He became neither, so Zelda broke off their engagement.

Fitzgerald then moved back to Minnesota. A year later, he became a famous writer. He moved to Connecticut, Zelda married him, and they became drunken celebrity wrecks.



They spent a lot of time in Europe. This lasted until Zelda went mad and died and Fitzgerald became an alcoholic and died.



Fitzgerald is best remembered for having said the rich were different, even though Hemingway kept telling him to act like a man and strip down, grease himself up and get into a boxing ring.



Oh yeah, he also wrote several books.

... All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.


September 24, 1936 –
When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there.



James Maury Henson, puppeteer, producer, actor and director was born on this date.


September 24, 1947 -
Majestic 12, a secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials, was allegedly established by a secret executive order issued by President Harry Truman (who may or may not have been sober at the time) to investigate UFO activity in the aftermath of the Roswell incident.



Conspiracy theorists consider the Majestic 12 major evidence supporting the government-cover-up theories. The FBI has since attempted to debunk any documents associated with the committee. Debate continues to this day about whether or not the committee existed.

(And remember, you didn't read any of this here.)


September 24, 1964 -
The Warren Commission report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, (which had occurred on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas,) was presented to President Lyndon B. Johnson on this date.



The report did little to quiet conspiracy theories, but it documented that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone and that the Secret Service had made poor preparations for JFK’s visit to Dallas, had failed to sufficiently protect him, and was not part of a larger-scale plot.

But, I've said too much already.


September 24, 1969 -
The trial of the "Chicago Eight" (later seven) began on this date. Demonstrations began outside the court house, with the Weatherman group proclaiming the "Days of Rage" in protest of the trial. The Chicago Eight staged demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to protest the Vietnam War and its support by the top Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey. These anti-Vietnam War protests were some of the most violent in American history as the police and national guardsmen beat antiwar protesters, innocent bystanders and members of the press.



Five defendants (Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger and Rennie Davis) were convicted of crossing state lines to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention; the convictions were ultimately overturned.


September 24, 1970 -
Luna 16 was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a sample to Earth. An automatic drilling rig was deployed and 101 grams of lunar soil was collected.



The samples were returned to Earth on this date and marked the first time lunar sampled were recovered by an unmanned spacecraft.


September 24, 1991 -
Theodor Seuss Geisel, an American writer and cartoonist best known for his classic children's books under the pen name Dr. Seuss, including The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, died on this date.



No greater tribute was given to the Doctor than when the Reverend Jesse Jackson appeared on SNL following his death.



And so it goes

So are they told to stop stomping on their food and just eat?

Butterflies can taste with their feet, using something called chemoreceptors to help them identify plants.



Females select the correct leaf on which to lay eggs by "drumming" it with their feet to release juices.


September 23, 1927 -
F. W. Murnau's silent classic, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, directed by, starring George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor, premiered in NYC on this date.



F.W. Murnau wanted Camilla Horn (with whom he had worked in Germany on Faust) for the part of "The Wife," but she was under contract to the German studio UFA at the time and they refused to loan her out, so the part went to Janet Gaynor.


September 23, 1933 -
The Merrie Melodies short, I've Got to Sing a Torch Song, directed by Tom Palmer, was released on this date.



This is the first Merrie Melodies cartoon in which a character says "That's all, folks!" at the end. This line had only previously been spoken at the end of Looney Tunes cartoons, while "So long, folks!" had been the closing line for Merrie Melodies cartoons.


September 23, 1939 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Land of the Midnight Fun, directed by Tex Avery, was released on this date.



This cartoon seldom airs on American television due to Inuit stereotypes.


September 23, 1939 -
The Looney Tunes short, Jeepers Creepers, directed by Bob Clampett and starring Porky Pig, was released on this date.



This is the first of four Warner Bros. cartoons in which Porky Pig is a police officer. The others are: Daffy Doodles, Riff Raffy Daffy and Corn on the Cop.


September 23, 1944 -
Frank Capra's screwball comedy, Arsenic and Old Lace, starring Cary Grant, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson, Priscilla Lane. Peter Lorre, Edward Everett Horton, James Gleason, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, and John Alexander, finally gets it US general release on this date. The film was based on a hit play and had to wait to be released until after it Broadway run had ended.



Director Frank Capra enlisted in the U. S. Army Signal Corps in 1941 during filming. He received an extension of his order to report for active duty until late January 1942 so he could finish editing the picture.


September 23, 1949 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Each Dawn I Crow, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Elmer Fudd, was released on this date.



The dramatic structure, with a sinisterly toned narrator addressing the protagonist ("You think you've gotten away with it, don't you John?"), is a take-off on a then popular radio drama series, The Whistler.


September 23, 1950 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Bunker Hill Bunny, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam, was released on this date.



The gag of an opponent of Bugs yelling "I got it, I got it, I got it!" and then a sign reading "He Got It" was previously used in Baseball Bugs.


September 23, 1961 -
The Looney Tunes short, Daffy's Inn Trouble, directed by Bob McKimson and starring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, was released on this date.



This was the last Porky Pig cartoon directed by Bob McKimson.


September 23, 1962 -
The Jetsons debuted on ABC-TV's Sunday night's prime time lineup on this date. It was the network's first program ever to be broadcast in color.



The design of the Jetsons' flying car was inspired by a 1954 Ford concept car, the FX-Atmos, notable for its all-glass bubble canopy, dashboard radar screen and jet-plane-like tailfins.


September 23, 1967 -
The Box Tops' first and most successful single, The Letter was No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date.



This song is about a guy who gets a letter from his former love telling him that she wants him back, and the guy wants to fly out and see her immediately. The Nashville songwriter Wayne Carson Thompson wrote the song after his father gave him the line, "Give me a ticket for an aeroplane."


September 23, 1968 -
Lucille Ball's third TV series, Here's Lucy premiered on this date.



The series dropped out of the top 10 Nielsen ratings in its fifth season. This was the first time that a series starring Lucille Ball was not in the top 10. Because of this, Ball wanted to end the series, and a final episode was filmed. But CBS convinced Ball to return for one more season.


September 23, 1969 -
The first of the ABC Movie of the Week, Seven in Darkness, starring Milton Berle, Dina Merrill, Barry Nelson, Arthur O'Connell, Alejandro Rey, and Lesley Ann Warren first aired on ABC TV, on this date.



Despite the title of the movie, there are actually eight visually impaired survivors of the crash.


September 23, 1968 -
ABC Pictures moving drama, Charley, based on the short story Flowers for Algernon, starring Cliff Robertson, Claire Bloom, Lilia Skala, Leon Janney, Dick Van Patten and Barney Martin premiered on this date.



The reason that Cliff Robertson was not at the Oscars to receive his Best Actor award was because he was in the middle of filming the movie Too Late the Hero in the Philippines. The director Robert Aldrich would not allow him to attend the ceremony, as a flight from the Philippines to Los Angeles and back would be too time-consuming due to budgetary restraints. Robertson pleaded with Aldrich, even offering to pay out of pocket for any costs associated with his absence, but to no avail. After Robertson won the Oscar, the crew of Too Late the Hero presented him with a mock statuette made out of wood. According to Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne, after the Philippine location shooting was over, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences president Gregory Peck greeted the cast as they disembarked at Los Angeles International Airport. Robertson was holding his fake Oscar when he got off the plane. As he was approached by Peck with the real statuette, Robertson threw the wooden "Oscar" over his shoulder. The fake statuette hit Michael Caine in the forehead, causing him to bleed profusely.


September 23, 1969 -
Marcus Welby MD, starring the not terribly sober Robert Young, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Elena Verdugo, who played Welby's nurse/assistant Consuelo on all but one episode of the series, got her start as a "femme fatale" in 1940s Westerns and horror films. Her most prominent role before Welby was as Wolf Man Larry Talbot's love interest in The House of Frankenstein.


September 23, 1970 -
The only American film Akira Kurosawa almost directed, Tora! Tora! Tora!, was released on this date. Akira Kurosawa agreed to direct the Japanese part of the film only because he was told that David Lean was to direct the American part. This was a lie, David Lean was never part of the project. When Kurosawa found out about this, he tried to get himself fired from the production - and succeeded.



The Japanese airplanes flown in the movie were all converted American trainers. No genuine Japanese warbirds could be found in flying condition at the time. Several American planes had to be rebuilt at a cost of about $30,000 each. They were later sold at auction for about $1,500 each, and most are still flying in private hands.


September 23, 1976 -
The first episode for a very short lived series (the series only lasted 11 episodes.) Gemini Man, starring Ben Murphy, William Sylvester, and Katherine Crawford, premiered on this date.



The series was conceived as a second attempt to adapt H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man into a spy series, following the failed attempt starring David McCallum in The Invisible Man.


September 23, 1977 -
ABC Records breathed a huge sigh of relief when they were finally able to release the much delayed sixth studio album of the ultra-perfectionists Steely Dan's Aja on this date.





The album is pronounced "Asia," and was inspired by the continent. Steely Dan have several songs with a Far East influence, since Donald Fagen believes it is a symbol of sensuality. He told Rolling Stone magazine that the title came from a high school friend whose brother was in the army and came back with a Korean wife named Aja, although he wasn't sure how she spelled it.


September 23, 1977 -
David Bowie released one of his signature hits (co-written with Brian Eno,) Heroes on this date. The track features King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp.



Featured in this song are not only Brian Eno's synthesizer and Robert Fripp's guitar, but also producer Tony Visconti banging on a metal ashtray that was lying around the studio. Bowie released versions of this song in English, German, and French. The German version is called Helden; the French is Héros.


September 23, 1978 -
The comedy series series, The American Girls, starring Priscilla Barnes and Debra Clinger aired on CBS TV on this date.



Seven of the 11 episodes that were produced were actually aired.


September 23, 1979 -
The short lived comedy set at a white-shoe law firm, The Associates, starring Wilfrid Hyde-White, Martin Short, Alley Mills, Joe Regalbuto, Shelley Smith, and Tim Thomerson, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



While the series only had 13 episodes (and only nine of them aired), The Associates was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards.


September 23, 1989 -
The seventh studio album by the group Eurythmics, We Two Are One, was No. 1 on the U.K. Billboard Charts on this date.



The We Too Are One album was the duo's last album that the duo put out together for 10 years. The relationship between Lennox and Stewart was becoming increasingly strained and they needed to spend time apart.


September 23, 1990 -
Ken Burns' powerful 11 hour miniseries The Civil War premiered on PBS on this date.



The series took six years to make. The war itself lasted four years.


September 23, 1992 -
NBC first introduced us to Paul and Jamie Buchman (and Murray) when Mad About You first premiered on this date.



Paul Reiser's production company is called Nuance Productions, after a line in the first film he appeared in, Diner: "You know what word I'm not comfortable with? Nuance. It's not a real word. Like "gesture". Gesture's a real word. With gesture you know where you stand. But nuance? I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong."


September 23, 2009 -
ABC-TV first introduced us to Jay Pritchett, his children and their families when the mockumentary Modern Family first premiered on this date.



Upon reading the script the first time, Ed O'Neill, himself a sitcom veteran after starring in Married... with Children for 11 seasons, exclaimed that he knew that the script was a winner, and that the show would last for at least 10 years.


Another episode of ACME's Little Known Animal Facts


Today in History:
September 23, 480 BC -
It's the birthday of the Greek poet Euripides, born near Athens on this date.

Euripides has the greatest number of plays that have survived for the modern reader -19 of them—including Medea.

Remember - he also said, Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. Tragedy isn't getting something or failure to get it; it's losing something you already have. Waste not fresh tears over old griefs.


September 23, 63 BC -
Gaius Octavius Thurinus (Augustus Caesar) was born on this day. The first real Roman Emperor, Caesar introduced the famous Pax Romana. This was a political policy which stated that any country which did not object to being conquered by Rome would be conquered by Rome.



Countries not wishing to be conquered by Rome stood in violation of this policy, and were therefore invaded until they agreed to be conquered. This ensured peace throughout the world.


September 23, 1779 -
During the Revolutionary War, while on break from Led Zeppelin, the American navy under Scotsman John Paul Jones (Robert Stack), commanding from Bonhomme Richard, defeated and captured the British man-of-war Serapis on this date. Jones, chose to name the ship after Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard’s Almanac.



Fierce fighting ensued, and when Richard began to sink, Serapis commander Richard Pearson called over to ask if Richard would surrender and Jones responded, "I have not yet begun to fight!"--a response that would become a slogan of the U.S. Navy. Pearson surrendered and Jones took control of Serapis. Imagine the amount of rum consumed (it was an American Ship - I'm sure there was no sodomy!)



The Bonhomme Richard sank two days after the battle.


September 23, 1869 -
Mary Mallon was born on this date. Infamously known as 'Typhoid Mary', she was a household cook who was responsible for major outbreaks of typhoid in the New York City area in 1904, 1907, and 1914.



She was immune to typhoid herself, but was a carrier of the bacillus, and spread it wherever she worked as a household cook.


September 23, 1939 -
Sigmund Freud was not having a good day. He had been suffering from the late stages of cancer of the jaw when he decided to commit suicide with the help of his personal physician, Max Schur on this date.



The good doctor administered 21 mg of morphine -- a lethal dose, in three large doses in the space of several hours. Sometimes 21 mg of morphine is just 21 mg of death.


September 23, 1949 -
Happy Birthday Bruce!







If you are of a certain age, at one point, Bruce meant everything to you.


September 23, 1950 -
Congress passes the McCarran Act, also known as The Internal Security Act of 1950, overriding Harry Truman's veto. The act provides for severe restrictions on civil liberties, suspension of free speech, and placing of undesirable Americans in concentration camps.

Much of the Act has been repealed, but some portions remain intact.

So watch it, bub.


Today we commemorate some of the greatest political pooches our country has ever known. On September 23, 1952, responding to accusations that he diverted $18,000 in contributions into his pocket, Senator Richard M. Nixon rescues his candidacy for Vice President by insisting that he had never accepted any money.

Although Nixon does admit he accepted a cocker spaniel named Checkers for his daughter Tricia. The televised monologue rescues his political career.



Little is know about this political operative, Checkers. Recently unclassified FBI documents reveal that Checkers advised Nixon not to shave just prior to his famous televised debate with Kennedy. Checkers was also recorded on his deathbed in late '64 advising associates of Nixon about creating a list of enemies of the future President.


September 23, 1969 -
An article in the Northern Illinois University student newspaper propagated the rumor that Paul is dead.



And if you play I'm so Tired from the White Album (and smoke an enormous amount of dope,) you hear Paul McCartney Is Dead.



And so it goes

If Only Alexa Could Rake the Leaves

Autumn began at 5:05 p.m. EDT today.



Joyfully, it's also the first day of Fall.



Many people in the northern hemisphere are disturbed by the changes they see around them at about this time each year. It gets darker earlier, temperatures drop, leaves change color and die and the Red Sox tend to drop out of playoff contention.

There have been myths about the changing of the seasons as long as there have been children to lie to. Some primitive peoples believed that leaves changed color because Nature was pining for her abducted daughter; others blamed it on the seasonal absence of sunlight-fed chlorophyll, allowing xanthophyll, carotene, and antocyanin to determine leaf color. We may never know the truth.



The first day of Autumn is sometimes also referred to as the Autumnal Equinox (the autumnal equinox is when the Sun appears to cross the celestial equator from north to south.) The autumnal equinox brings the fall season to the Northern Hemisphere. Don't be alarmed by the title. It's just Fall.



There are 100 days remaining in 2026.



There are 39 days until Halloween,



42 days until the Midterm Election,



65 days until Thanksgiving



and 94 days until Christmas.



With intestinal fortitude and some heavy drinking, we can get through this thing.


September 22, 1928 -
Considered to be one of his best films, The Camerman directed by Edward Sedgwick and Buster Keaton, and starring Buster Keaton and Marceline Day, was released on this date.



The film was almost lost forever. The only known copy at the time was destroyed in a fire at Storage Vault No. 7 at MGM in August 1965. The existing master copy of it was made using a print that was found in Paris in 1968, and a master positive copy of nearly the entire film, found in 1991. In modern copies of the film, the quality of the image varies dramatically; the scenes with best quality were obtained from the material found in 1991.


September 22, 1951 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Tweety's S.O.S., directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Tweety Bird and Sylvester the Cat, was released on this date.



One of the few times Tweety is heard singing, even if he is off screen.


September 22, 1957 -
The comedy-western series Maverick, premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



James Garner claimed that during filming one day, they had less than an hour until overtime would have to be paid, but they still needed to shoot a complicated fight scene. Spying a group of tall weeds, he suggested that he throw his opponent into the weeds and have the fight proceed with much shaking of the weeds, and people being ejected from the weeds, only to immediately run back in. The results were extremely funny, and thus the cast and crew began to look for "funny" ways to cut corners, turning the show into a semi-comedy.


September 22, 1958 -
The private eye series, Peter Gunn, starring Craig Stevens premiered on this date



This was one of the first television shows to have its own original score, and it was the first to feature modern jazz for a soundtrack. Previously, producers used generic music scores that were used in many television productions. RCA released an album of music from this show featuring the title song and other pieces. It reached number one on the Billboard chart, stayed there ten weeks, and stayed on the list for the next two years. It was so successful, that RCA put together a sequel. Henry Mancini received an Emmy nomination for the theme, and won two Grammys for the album.


September 22, 1962 -
The Looney Tunes short, The Jet Cage, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Tweety Bird and Sylvester the Cat, was released on this date.



This was the final time the oft-used Raymond Scott piece Powerhouse was featured in a Looney Tunes cartoon.


September 22, 1964 -

Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, who kept the world safe on The Man from U.N.C.L.E, made their first appearance on NBC-TV on this date.



Originally, Will Kuluva was to play the head of U.N.C.L.E., but was replaced by Leo G. Carroll. After the pilot was screened for the network executives, they told the producers to "get rid of the foreign guy". They really meant for David McCallum's Russian character Ilya Kuriyakin to get the axe, but the producers thought they meant Kuluva.


September 22, 1969 -
A new weekly TV show The Music Scene aired on ABC in the US for the first time, on this date.



The show began with six co-hosts (David Steinberg, Chris Bokeno, Larry Hankin, Paul Reid Roman, Christopher Ross and Lily Tomlin) who would also do comedic skits between musical numbers. This format lasted for 6 episodes. Beginning with the first episode in November, David Steinberg became the sole host with different special guest hosts. Unfortunately, this format change did not bring new viewers, and the show was canceled less than three months later.


September 22, 1982 -
America first welcomed the Keaton family into their homes on this date when Family Ties, starring Michael J. Fox, Michael Gross, Meredith Baxter-Birney, Justine Bateman, Tina Yothers, and Brian Bonsall, premiered on NBC-TV.



Michael J. Fox added the P. in Alex P. Keaton as an ad-lib in his audition, the writers loved it and kept it. Michael J. Fox almost didn't get the role of Alex, due to the fact that NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff didn't find it believable that Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross would have a son who was so short.


September 22, 1986 -
Aaron Spelling's crime drama Charlie's Angels starring Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, David Doyle and John Forsythe premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



John Forsythe was called in at the last minute to voice Charlie, when the original actor (Gig Young) who had been cast turned out to have a drinking problem. Producer Aaron Spelling called Forsythe past midnight on a Friday, and begged him to come to the studio immediately, as the pilot was to be broadcast after the weekend. Forsythe ended up recording his first voice-over in his pajamas.


September 22, 1986 -
For some reason ABC-TV felt the need to introduce America to the Tanner Family and Gordon Shumway when ALF (an acronym for Alien Life Form) premiered on this date.



The Alf puppet was operated from various "trap doors" hidden within the set, making filming more hazardous than a normal sitcom. The cast had to remember where the doors were so they could avoid them.


September 22, 1990 -
The Coen Brothers' take on the classic gangsters film, Miller's Crossing, premiered in NYC on this date.



Although he was a native Irishman playing a lieutenant to an Irish mobster, the Coens did not originally want Gabriel Byrne to use his own accent in the film. Byrne argued that his dialogue was structured in such a way that it was a good fit for his accent, and after he tried it, the Coens agreed. Ultimately, both Byrne and Albert Finney used Irish accents in the film.


September 22, 1995 -
Depending on your feeling that day, either the worse film ever made or a cult classic, Showgirls, directed by Paul Verhoeven, written by Joe Eszterhas, starring Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon, Glenn Plummer, Robert Davi, Alan Rachins, and Gina Ravera, was released on this date. (Just imagine the budget for the Raymond Burr Nipple Rouge for this movie.)



Gina Gershon said the close ups of her and Elizabeth Berkeley dancing nude in the club were shot on closed sets with just a small crew. But on wider shots, they had to dance naked for hours in front of an actual audience of about 600 people. She said it's the largest group of people she had ever been naked in front of and it was a good thing she isn't shy.


September 22, 1994 -

32 years ago, you could get a cup of coffee at Central Perk for the first time when Friends, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



Many titles were considered and rejected before the show was named as Friends. They included Friends Like Us, Insomnia Cafe and Across the Hall.


September 22, 2004 –
ABC-TV begins airing the strange story of the aftermath of the crash of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, when the Lost pilot premiered on this date.



On Lost, Yunjin Kim's character secretly (at first) speaks fluent English, while Daniel Dae Kim's character is (again, at first) a Korean monolingual. Yunjin's character helps Daniel's learn English over the course of the series. In real life, the situation was almost perfectly mirrored. Yunjin had no previous screen credits where she primarily spoke English rather than Korean, and Daniel had not spoken Korean regularly since his teenage years, with older relatives. Daniel has credited Yunjin with helping him re-acclimate himself to the (Korean) language.


Today's moment of Zen.


Today in History:
September 22, 1761 -
George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz were crowned King and Queen of the Great Britain. Which is funny because George was not British. He was German. He had been Elector of Hanover. (Although he was the first King of England in a very long time that spoke English as his first language, if at all.)



But he ended his days, completely blind, increasingly deaf, pissing blue, and totally insane locked up in Windsor Castle, with his son acting as Regent for the remainder of George III's life.

I've said it before - sometimes it's NOT so good to be King.


September 22, 1776 -
An American Captain was hanged as a spy with no trial by the British, under the orders of General William Howe, in New York City during the Revolutionary War on this date. He was considered as one of the incendiaries of the burning of NYC.



Moments before his execution, he expressed regret that he couldn't be well hung more than once. This remark catapulted him to posthumous fame (but only after his death), and Nathan Hale is revered to this day.


September 22, 1869 -
Richard Wagner's opera Das Rheingold premieres in Munich on this date.



Beer drinkers around the world rejoice!!!


September 22, 1960 (or 1958) -
Joan Marie Larkin, singer/ musician extraordinaire was born on this date.



If you love Rock and Roll, you love Joan


September 22, 1961 -
President John Kennedy took a break from hanging out with Frank Sinatra, shooting speed and having sex with Marilyn Monroe to sign a congressional act establishing the Peace Corps on this date.

The government-funded volunteer organization was created to fight hunger, disease, illiteracy, poverty, and lack of opportunity around the world.

Sometimes it good to be the President (and sometimes it sucks, as Mr. Kennedy would eventually find out.)


September 22, 1966 -
In between inviting the press to watch him use the bathroom and calling a tailor to order pants with extra long zippers, President Lyndon B. Johnson designated Columbus Day a federal public holiday to be celebrated on October 12.

In 1968, he moved it to the 2nd Monday of October. In 2004, President George W. Bush set it to October 11. Columbus Day in 2022 is on Monday, the 10th of October.


September 22, 1975 -
Self-proclaimed revolutionary Sara Jane Moore attempted to kill President Gerald Ford as he walked from a San Francisco hotel on this date.



A bullet she fired slightly wounded a man in the crowd but once again President Ford walks away unscathed.


September 22, 1980 -
In a stunning blow to America's feminine hygiene, consumer products manufacturer Procter and Gamble initiates the largest tampon recall in history, pulling Rely Tampons from store shelves, starting on this date.



The action results from the ongoing Toxic Shock Syndrome controversy.

No comment.



And so it goes