It's a good day to stay inside

Bunkies, please take the warnings about the Nor'easter seriously

Stay in and catch up on some of our older postings. Hey why not make some pancakes for the family.


You wouldn't be mistaken to be a tad confused when you heard today is National Pancake Day.



Sometimes, it happens on Februay 28th, sometimes it's March 4th (either time could be Ash Wednesday, wihich makes some sort of sense.) Whenever you celebrate, (the girls and I are on the upper East Side indulging this morning,) grab a stack and enjoy. Remember to use plenty of real maple syrup and butter.


September 26, 1580 -
Francis Drake returned to Plymouth, England, on this date, ending a three-and-a-half year journey around the world. Drake was knighted and awarded a prize of 10 thousand pounds (which he probably invested in his delicious snack cake company.)



It was almost four centuries, however, before The Beverly Hillbillies premiered on CBS-TV (on this day in 1962).



The lengthy lapse between these watershed events has never been explained.


September 26, 1955 –
The little remembered but very popular syndicated series, in it's time, The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Richard Greene, Archie Duncan, Alexander Gauge, and Bernadette O'Farrell, premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Blacklisted in Hollywood, Ring Lardner Jr. and Ian McLellan Hunter, wrote almost the entire first season of this British-filmed series under a variety of pen-names. The show's British producers were fully aware of this deception, but Lardner and Hunter still changed pseudonyms every few episodes to keep the American syndication executives from asking to meet the series' writers.


September 26, 1962 -
The cult film Carnival of Souls, starring Candace Hilligoss, and Sidney Berger, premiered on this date



Director/writer Herk Harvey thought up the idea of the film after driving past the Saltair Amusement Park while traveling through Salt Lake City.


September 26, 1964 -
S. S. Minnow started it's three hour tour (and lasted 98 shows) when Gilligan’s Island premiered on CBS-TV, on this date.



Alan Hale Jr. was on location in Utah filming a movie when he got a call to come back to Los Angeles to do a test for the series. He rode a horse to a nearby highway, hitchhiked to Las Vegas and flew to L.A. to test with Bob Denver.


September 26, 1968 -
(The real) Hawaii Five-O moved to it regular broadcast night on CBS TV on this date.



McGarrett's office was in the Iolani Palace, the actual palace used by the last Kings and Queens of Hawaii. In 1969, the Palace had fallen into disrepair after years of abuse and neglect. It has since been restored.


September 26, 1969 -
An unsuspecting American public is forced to deal with the vaguely incestuous family comedy series The Brady Bunch which premiered on ABC-TV on this date. Remember, the Bradys were so good, clean and wholesome that didn't even go to the bathroom (you never saw the toilet.)



During the series run, Florence Henderson lobbied the producers constantly to allow Carol Brady to get out into the workforce. Henderson thought this would be more in line with how she was in real life. The producers kept the character of Carol Brady unemployed, though she frequently did volunteer work and fundraising for charity.


September 26, 1969 -
The Beatles release the Abbey Road album in London, on this date.





It was their 13th album in the U.K. It was also their last album together as a group.


September 26, 1976 -
The TV crime drama, Delvecchio, starring Judd Hirsch, Charles Haid, Michael Conrad, and Mario Gallo, premiered on CBS-TV, on this date



Charles Haid and Michael Conrad would later go on to star in Hill Street Blues.


September 26, 1980 -
The concert film of Bette Mildler's 1979 tour, Divine Madness, was released on this date.



The 94 minute theatrical cut of this film was edited from around 185 hours of footage equating to about one million feet of exposed film.


September 26, 1982 -
Gloria, yet another spin-off of All In The Family, starring Sally Struthers, Burgess Meredith, Jo de Winter, Lou Richards, and Christian Jacobs, first aired on CBS-TV, on this date.



After this pilot was taped, the production of the show was moved from CBS Television City (where All in the Family and all of its previous spin-offs were produced) to Universal Studios with an all new production and writing staff. This did not sit well with Carroll O'Connor who refused to take part in the revamped pilot or the series in any way.


September 26, 1982 –
Audiences first got to ride around with Kitt when Knight Rider, starring David Hasselhoff, Edward Mulhare, Patricia McPherson, and the voices of William Daniels, and Richard Basehart, premiered on NBC-TV on this date.



David Hasselhoff and William Daniels (the voice of K.I.T.T.) did not meet until the production's Christmas party, six months after filming season one. Until that point, Hasselhoff had not seen the face behind the voice of the car.


September 26, 1986 -
The episode of Dallas that had Bobby Ewing returning from the dead, his death is attributed to his wife Pam's bad dream, aired on this date.





When Victoria Principal opens the shower door in the infamous Bobby shower scene, actor John Beck was the one in the shower. The shock to Pam was supposed to be that he had been killed. The shot of 'Patrick Duffy' was inserted later. Actually Pam would not have been shocked to see Mark (John Beck) in the shower considering that his character had been brought back during the "dream season" and she had married him earlier in the very same show.


September 26, 1986 -
Columbia Pictures released Blake Edward's family home movie, That's Life, starring Jack Lemmon, Julie Andrews, Sally Kellerman, Robert Loggia, Jennifer Edwards, Rob Knepper, Matt Lattanzi, Chris Lemmon, Cynthia Sikes, Dana Sparks, Emma Walton, and Felicia Farr, on this day.



Four of the members of the families of Jack Lemmon, Julie Andrews, and her husband, Blake Edwards, appeared in this movie. Julie Andrews' stepdaughter, Jennifer Edwards (with Blake Edwards) and daughter Emma Walton Hamilton played her children in this movie. Jack Lemmon's son, Chris, played his movie son "Josh", and Jack's wife Felicia Farr played a fortune teller.


September 26, 1990 -
One of the stranger series in TV history, Cop Rock debuted on ABC-TV on this date.



In a May 2009 poll, this show was voted the fifth worst TV show in broadcast history. Ahead of it were The Gong Show, Friends, The Jerry Springer Show, and My Mother the Car.


September 26, 2006 -
Martin Scorsese's The Departed, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Mark Wahlberg, premieres in New York City, on this date.



Martin Scorsese really wanted Al Pacino for the role of Costello, because he had never worked with Pacino before, but he turned it down. Jack Nicholson was Scorsese's second choice. Pacino would later go on to appear in Scorsese's The Irishman.


September 26, 2010 -
Reportedly, one of Queen Elizabeth II favorite tv shows, Downtown Abbey, starring Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Brown Findlay, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Siobhan Finneran, Joanne Froggatt, Phyllis Logan, Thomas Howes, Rob James-Collier, Rose Leslie, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, and Maggie Smith, in the United Kingdom on ITV, on this date.



The real estate that "plays" Downton Abbey, Highclere Castle, has been the home of the Herbert family since 1679. In 1922, George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert 5th Earl of Carnarvon, co-discovered the Tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. On the show, the names of Lord Robert Crowley, Earl of Grantham's beloved dogs, Pharaoh and Isis, are nods to the real castle's connection to Egyptian history.


September 26, 2014 -
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke releases his second solo album, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes, for just $6 on the peer-to-peer file-sharing platform BitTorrent, on this date.



According to the album's producer, Nigel Godrich, "It could be an effective way of handing some control of Internet commerce back to people who are creating the work." In just over a week, the album averages 1.8 million downloads.

Don't forget to tune in to The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour today.


Today in History:
September 26, 1687 -
Troops laid siege to Athens led by Venetian general Francesco Morosini rained cannon fire down on the Acropolis and the Turkish soldiers garrisoned inside. One cannonball penetrated the Parthenon, which happened to serve as the Turks' gunpowder magazine.



The roof, walls, and 16 columns were blown off by the resulting explosion.

Oops, sh*t happens.


September 26, 1895 (he may have been born in 1901 - who knows) -
George Raft was an American film actor who was most closely identified with his portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s, was born on this date. George may have achieved an unenviable place in Hollywood folklore as the actor who turned down some of the best roles in screen history, most notably High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca and Double Indemnity.



Also, George Raft also gave more actresses and bit players 'the clap' than any other actor during the 30s.What a wonderful way to be remembered.


September 26, 1937 -
The Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith, sustains grave injuries in a traffic accident on US Highway 61 on this date. She is taken to a colored hospital in Clarksdale, Mississippi and her arm amputated. Smith died later that day from blood loss.



According to legend, Bessie had been refused treatment by a closer, whites-only hospital.


September 26, 1945 -
More than 10 years before the Vietnam War would officially begin, US Army Lt. Col. Peter Dewey was shot to death while leading a team sent to gather information and search for lost American pilots.

He was killed driving an unmarked Jeep near the Saigon golf course. He was ambushed by the Viet Minh who may have mistaken him for a French officer.


September 26, 1945 -
Secretly, I wanted to look like Jimi Hendrix, but I could never quite pull it off.









Bryan Ferry (the Lord of Louche) lead singer of the group Roxy Music and solo artist, was born on this date.


September 26, 1960 -
John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon faced off in the first televised presidential debate, on this date. Nixon had been recuperating from illness yet refused to wear makeup for the camera, looking haggard and gray.



Radio viewers gave positive opinions for Nixon's performance but so many people saw the debate televised that Kennedy gained the lead in the polls, ultimately winning the election.

Remember what I said about Checkers, his kids' dog.


September 26, 1983 -
The Soviet Union's early warning system wrongly signaled the launch of a US Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile. Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov, in charge of the system, decided the alarm was false and did not launch a retaliatory strike. (Please remember Col. Petrov, who passed away at age 77 a few years ago, in your prayers tonight for saving the world.)



Because of military secrecy and international policy, Petrov's actions were kept secret until 1998. In 2004 the San-Francisco-based Association of World Citizens presented Petrov a World Citizen Award.


September 26, 2003 -
Robert Palmer, the famous blue eyed soul singer also known for his sharp suits, died in Paris of a heart attack on this date.









Palmer won two Grammy Awards - 1986 Best Male Rock Vocalist (Addicted To Love) & 1988 Best Male Rock Vocalist (Simply Irresistible) - He also won MTV's Best Male Video Award for 1986 (Addicted To Love) and was winner of the Rolling Stone Magazine's 1990 Readers Poll for the category "Best Dressed Rock Star".


Before you go - There are 90 days until Christmas



(and 79 days until the first night of Hanukkah.)



(I'm sure many of you have failed the naughty/ nice test already. Maybe you still have time.)



And so it goes

Celebrate responsibly - listen to only one or two of them at a time.

It's World Pharmacist Day,

and it's also National One Hit Wonder day.

Rockin Robin - Bobby Day




O-o-h Child - Five Stairsteps




Dancing in the Moonlight - King Harvest



Come On Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners



The band's name was inspired by the amphetamine drug Dexedrine, which is commonly known as "Dexys" (Contrary to popular belief, the band's name does not have an apostrophe). The band itself steered away from drinking and drugs, saying nothing should interfere with their dedication to music.


September 25, 1937 -
The Merrie Melodies short, I Wanna Be a Sailor, directed by Tex Avery, was released on this date.



The blabbermouth duck is the same one seen in Porky's Hotel and She Was an Acrobat's Daughter.


September 25, 1943 (I accidentily posted that this premiered on the 18th, but I was wrong.) -
An excellent Merrie Melodies cartoon, A Corny Concerto was released on this date.



For some reason, the identity of the black duckling in this short has prompted much debate among cartoon fans as to whether or not it is in fact Daffy Duck. Supporters of the idea claim it is Daffy due to the character's similar color design (such as the white band around the neck), while naysayers say that if it was supposed to be Daffy then it would have been made a little more clear in his appearance or by having him speak.


September 25, 1948 -
The Merrie Melodies short, Hare Splitter, directed by Friz Freleng, and starring Bugs Bunny, was released on this date.



Daisy Bunny makes a rare appearance here as the romantic interest of both male rabbits.


September 25, 1961 -
One of the greatest sports movies of all time, The Hustler, premiered on this date.



Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason established a friendship on the set. At one point, Newman got a little cocky about his newfound pool skills and challenged the much more experienced Gleason to a $50 bet on a game. Newman broke, then it was Gleason's turn. He knocked all 15 balls in and Newman never got another shot. Gleason recalled that the next day Newman paid him off with 5000 pennies.


September 25, 1964 -
The series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., starring Jim Nabors (who was not married to Rock Hudson) premiered on CBS-TV on this date.



Although the series had a military setting and the Vietnam War was going on at the time it originally aired, the war itself is never discussed. Jim Nabors said that it was always difficult for him to watch the opening of the show because many of the men with whom he is seen marching were killed in Vietnam.


September 25, 1965 -
The Beatles Cartoon Show premiered on ABC-TV on this date. It racked up a 13 score (or 52 share), then unheard of in daytime television.



The series became notorious for its static visual style with the Beatles being depicted in their mop top and suit look from A Hard Day's Night, despite the fact the band had abandoned that look while the series was in production.


September 25, 1970 -
Everybody was implored to 'Get Happy' when The Partridge Family first aired on this date.



Danny Bonaduce would often struggle with his lines, especially during the script readings. It turned out that he was dyslexic. However, he also had an eidetic memory, in which case, he would memorize his own lines as well as everyone else's. He stated that this would often get him on the bad side of his fellow cast members when he would correct them or state their lines for them when they couldn't remember.


September 25, 1975 -
Pink Floyd's ninth studio album Wish You Were Here, goes No. 1 om the Billboard Album Charts on this date.





During the final mixing sessions of this song in June of 1975, Syd Barrett wandered into the studios, ready to help out. He was fat, bald, and as crazy as they remembered, but they let him stay for a while. David Gilmour didn't recognize him at first - they hadn't seen him in years. When someone tried to break the ice by asking Syd how he had put on so much weight, he maniacally replied, "I've got a very large fridge in the kitchen, and I've been eating a lot of pork chops!" That was the last time any of the Pink Floyd members have seen him.


September 25, 1976 -
The TV comedy series Holmes and Yoyo, starring Richard B. Shull, John Schuck, Bruce Kirby, and Andrea Howard premiered on ABC-TV on this date.



Holmes & Yoyo is considered one of the worst television series ever made. It ranked at #33 on TV Guide's "50 Worst TV Shows of All Time" list.


September 25, 1987 -
20th Century Fox releases the Rob Reiner directed film, The Princess Bride, starring Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest, Robin Wright, André René Roussimoff, and Peter Falk, in limited release, on this date.



During the filming of some scenes, the weather became markedly cold for Robin Wright. André René Roussimoff helped her by placing one of his hands over her head; his hands were so large that one would entirely cover the top of her head, keeping her warm.


September 25, 1997 -
We got our first peek into the fashion world when Veronica's Closet first opened, starring Kirstie Alley, Kathy Najimy, Dan Cortese, Wallace Langham, Darryl Mitchell, and Robert Prosky, on ABC, on this date.



The show was known to poke fun at Kirstie Alley's struggle to maintain her weight. In the first episode. after receiving some bad news, she yells for Josh, and he brings her an enormous amount of food to calm her down.


Another unimportant moment in history.


Today in History -
September 25, 1676 -
An imaginary line joining the North and South Poles that is used to locate a position on Earth’s surface in an east–west direction is called a longitudinal line, or meridian. In the 17th and 18th centuries, each country defined its own prime meridian, which typically ran through its capital city. England established its own meridian, which passed through a point at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. The first such meridian was established there, on this date.



This eventually led to the creation of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). GMT, is the annual average of the time each day that the sun crosses the Prime Meridian. Unlike solar time, "mean time" is the standard clock time and does not vary over the course of the year. The modern concept of hours, minutes, and seconds is based on the work of astronomers like John Flamsteed, who in the 17th century developed the first essentially correct tables to convert irregular apparent solar time to uniform mean solar time. Before then, it was known as Greenwich Petulant Time or Greenwich Hangry Time.


On this day in 1789, Congress proposed twelve amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Habeas Corpus Luteum and Freedom from Unreasonably Surging Seashores were ultimately rejected, but the other ten were ratified and became known as the Bill of Rights.



In honor of this grand occasion, I’ve chosen to celebrate my favorite amendment, in the hopes that it might also soon become yours. I am speaking, of course, of the Ninth Amendment. Like Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the Constitution’s Ninth is the standard against which all others must be measured. Unlike Beethoven’s, however, it doesn’t climax with a resounding choral tribute to Joy - though I’d argue Congress missed a real opportunity there.



Here is the Ninth Amendment in all its glory:

“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”



This vital clause should not be neglected just because of a few awkwardly placed commas (though, let’s face it, James Madison could have used Grammarly).



For example, under the First Amendment, I have the enumerated right to say any stupid thing that pops into my head. (This should not be confused with the responsibility to do so, which is reserved for journalists and late-night comedians. Donald Trump seems very confused on this point.) My right not to listen to anyone else’s idiotic opinion, however, is unenumerated - but no less crucial.



Under the Second Amendment, I am granted the right to stockpile dangerous weapons to preserve peace and order. My unenumerated but equally sacred right is not to be caught in the crossfire while you unload a couple of clips at a Sunday school picnic. (The NRA seems to have skimmed that part.)



The Eighth Amendment guarantees I cannot be drawn and quartered, boiled in pitch, burned at the stake, or - most mercifully - forced to watch the movie Cats. What it doesn’t guarantee is my right to be properly entertained, which frankly should have been spelled out.



So today, let us give thanks to the Ninth Amendment, that unsung hero, which preserves us not only from the tyranny of government, but from the far more dangerous tyranny of one another.


September 25, 1890 -
The "1890 Manifesto", sometimes simply called "The Manifesto", was a statement which officially ceased the practice of plural marriage in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Announced by church president Wilford Woodruff on this date, the Manifesto was a dramatic turning point in The Mormons renounced the practice of polygamy after six decades in exchange for statehood for Utah. This was a great day in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as many of the church leaders are finally able to sleep with both eyes closed.


September 25, 1919 -
President Woodrow Wilson became seriously ill and collapsed after a speech to promote the League of Nations in Pueblo, Colorado, on this date. On October 2, 1919, Wilson suffered a serious stroke that almost totally incapacitated him, leaving him paralyzed on his left side and blind in his left eye. For at least a few months, he was confined to a wheelchair. Afterwards, he could walk only with the assistance of a cane. The full extent of his disability was kept from the public until after his death on February 3, 1924.



Remarkably, Wilson was, with few exceptions, kept out of the presence of Vice President Thomas R. Marshall, his cabinet or Congressional visitors to the White House for the remainder of his presidential term. His second wife, Edith, would continually tell people for the next five years that the President was in the bathroom and couldn't be disturbed. This was, as of 2020, the most serious case of presidential disability in American history and was later cited as a key example why ratification of the 25th Amendment and a large supply of TP at the White House was seen as important.


September 25, 1956 -
Transatlantic Telephone Cable System 1 (TAT-1) was inaugurated on with a three-way telephone conversation between New York, Ottawa, and London. Many distinguished guests participated in this first official call over the new circuit, the first Atlantic cable of its generation.



Before TAT-1, voice was carried across the Atlantic on unreliable and expensive radio channels. Text messaging was carried on submarine telegraph cables (the technology of the previous 90 years) which were reliable, but slow and expensive. The call was nearly ruined when the President of AT&T, Frederick Kappel, asked Dr. Charles Hill, the Postmaster General of England, if he had Prince Albert in a can?


September 25, 1980 -
John Bonham, drummer for the seminal rock band, Led Zeppelin, actually did choke to death in his sleep on a regurgitated ham sandwich on this date.



The coroner's report concludes that it was his own vomit and no one else's.


September 25, 1981 -
Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court when she was sworn in as the 102nd justice on this date.



She had been nominated the previous July by President Ronald Reagan. (One of my faithful readers was one of her law clerks.)


Before you go - Today is nine months after Christmas.



And three months before Christmas.


One more thing - After intense negotiations, I have been allowed to note that today is National Daughters Day.

This is not to say that I am in any way related to these two young ladies



And so it goes

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