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 -
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 -
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.
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.
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
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