Television

“Winner Take All” (CBS, 1948-51, NBC, 1952) was the first Mark Goodson-Bill Todman TV game show production. Other Goodson-Todman hits have included “Beat the Clock,” “I’ve Got a Secret,” “To Tell the Truth,” “Password,” “The Match Game,” and “What’s My Line.”

Constance Good played Maya Angelou in the TV movie based on her memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” (CBS, 1979).

Jim Henson and the Muppets were regulars on “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 1975) in 1975-76.

Voice expert June Foray provided the voice for Rocky the Flying Squirrel on “The Bullwinkle Show”. He also provided the voices on the show for Dudley Do-Right’s girlfriend Nell, and for others.

The the cab company on the TV series “Taxi” (ABC, 1978-83) was called The Sunshine Taxi Company, in New York City.

Walter Cronkite, anchor of the “CBS Evening News” could be heard intoning “And that’s the way it is . . .” from April 16, 1962, to March 6, 1981.

Larry Hagman and Donna Mills, future stars of “Dallas” (CBS, 1978-91) and “Knots Landing” (CBS, 1979) played the married butler and cook for millionaire David Wayne in “The Good Life” (NBC, 1971-72).

“Mirror, Mirror,” where Leonard Nimoy portrays an evil Spock in a barbaric parallel universe, features Spock with a beard.

The Flintstone family car ran through the courtesy of Fred’s two feet in “The Flintstones”.

Two actors have played Mickey Spillane’s detective Mike Hammer on TV: Darren McGavin, in “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” (synd., 1957-59); and Stacy Keach in “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” (CBS, 1984-87).

David Hartman was the first host of “Good Morning America” (ABC, 1975).

Kenneth Clark’s “Civilisation,” first broadcast on BBC2 in 1969, was the first British “educational blockbuster” miniseries to be carried by PBS. It was followed by Alistair Cooke’s “America” (BBC, 1972) and Jacob Bronowski’s “Ascent of Man” (BBC, 1974).

The real name of the hospital nicknamed “St. Elsewhere” was St. Eligius in Boston. It received its nickname because other hospitals dumped their unwanted patients there.

Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion (1965), was the basis for the TV show “Daktari” (CBS, 1966-69) , with Betsy Drake and Marshall Thompson.

Bullwinkle J. Moose lived in Frostbite Falls, Minnesota.

Daniel J. Travanti and JoBeth Williams played Adam’s parents John and Reve Walsh, who became crusaders for missing children after their child Adam was kidnapped and murdered in the TV movie “Adam” (1983). A sequel, “Adam: His Song Continues” (1986) followed, with Travanti and Williams reprising their roles.

The Alka-Seltzer mascot’s name was Speedy, a puppet, who has been around since 1953.

Appearing long before “Peyton Place” (ABC, 1964-69), the first prime-time soap opera was “A Woman to Remember,” starring Patricia Wheel. The series, which was based on a daytime serial, ran on the DuMont network from May to July, 1949.

The name of the “Love Boat” on the TV series was the Pacific Princess, with Captain Merrill Stubing (Gavin MacLeod) at the helm.

Barbara Walters was the first female national news anchor. She co-hosted “The ABC Evening News” with Harry Reasoner from 1976 to 1978.

The first “All in the Family” (CBS, 197179) aired on January 12, 1971, at 9:30 P.M.

It was eleven-year-old Robert Strom, who won $192,000 on the game show “The $64,000 Question” (CBS, 1955-58).

The syndicated TV program “Wheel of Fortune” with Pat Sajak and Vanna White has been on the air since September, 1983.

Denise Crosby was Lieutenant Tasha Yar, the security officer who was killed off on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”.

Ian Carmichael was the original Lord Peter Wimsey on the PBS TV series. Edward Petherbridge has also played the role. The “Lord Peter Wimsey” stories originally aired on the BBC in Great Britain (1972-75, 1987) and have been carried by PBS on “Masterpiece Theatre” (1971) and “Mystery!” (1981).

The announcement of President Kennedy’s assassination was made on TV at 1:40 P.M. EST on Friday, November 22, 1963. On CBS, “As the World Turns” was interrupted by Walter Cronkite with the news bulletin. Actress Helen Wagner had just been saying, “I gave it a great deal of thought, Grandpa,” when the episode was cut … Read more

“The Richard Pryor Show” (NBC) ran for five episodes, from September to October, 1977.

Lucille Ball (Lucy) died on April 26, 1989, at age 77. Desi Arnaz (Ricky) died December 2, 1986, at age 69. Vivian Vance (Ethel) died on August 17, 1979, at age 72. William Frawley (Fred) died on March 3, 1966, at age 79.

Dorothy (Beatrice Arthur) was a teacher; Rose (Betty White) was a counselor; Blanche (Rue McClanahan) was an art-gallery assistant on the TV series “The Golden Girls” (NBC, 1985-92).

The full name of Khan, the “Star Trek” villain was Khan Noonian Singh (Ricardo Montalban). He was seen on the TV series (NBC, 1966-69) in an episode called “Space Seed” and in the theatrical movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).

The four Lennon Sisters were Diane, Peggy, Kathy, and Janet. They were regulars on “The Lawrence Welk Show” (ABC, 1955-71) from 1955 to 1968.

The name of the bear that played “Gentle Ben” (CBS, 1967-69) was Bruno.

The TV game show “The $64,000 Question” (CBS, 1955-58) cost only a small fraction of that to produce each week, about $15,000 per weekly episode. This was much cheaper than another top-rated half-hour show of the period, “The Jack Benny Show” (CBS, NBC, 1950-65), which cost $42,000 an episode.

Hans Conried played Danny Thomas’s Uncle Tonoose on the TV series “Make Room for Daddy” (ABC, CBS, 1953-64).

Jack Kingman had small parts on Ed Norton’s favorite TV series, “Captain Video,” (DuMont, 1949-55).

Marlon Brando played American Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell in “Roots: The Next Generation” (ABC, 1977).

Lucy’s character’s name on “I Love Lucy” (CBS, 1951-57) was Lucy McGillicuddy Ricardo. On “The Lucy Show” (CBS, 1962-68) it was Lucy Carmichael. On “Here’s Lucy” (CBS, 1974) it was Lucy Carter.

Lalo Schifrin wrote the catchy theme song for “Mission: Impossible” (CBS, 1966-73). He was also the composer for Clint Eastwood movies like Dirty Harry (1971) and Magnum Force (1973).

Barth Gimble, played by Martin Mull on the TV show “Fernwood 2-Night” (synd., 1977). He was the twin brother of Garth Gimble, a character on “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” (synd., 1976-78).

Barbara Stanwyck starred in two TV shows: “Barbara Stanwyck Theater” (NBC, 1960-61), a drama anthology that she hosted and in which she regularly performed; and “The Big Valley” (ABC, 1965-69), in which she played Victoria Barkley, matriarch of the Barkley clan.

Willard Scott join the “Today” cast in March 1980. Before then he was the weatherman at NBC’s Washington affiliate.

Mr. Magoo’s full name was Quincy Magoo. His voice in the 1964-65 comedy series, “The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo” (NBC), was provided by Jim Backus.

According to the sign that flashes on the screen in the opening credits of the TV series, the population of “Twin Peaks” is 51,201.

Charles Kuralt’s “On the Road” feature has appeared on “The CBS Evening News” since October 1967.

Howard Cosell and Don Meredith were the original hosts of “NFL Monday Night Football” (ABC, 1970).

Yes, Jodie Foster has starred in a TV series. During the 1974-75 season, she played Addie Pray on “Paper Moon,” an ABC sitcom based on the 1972 Peter Bogdanovich movie.

The hugely popular show “Roller Derby” ran on ABC for two years, from March 1949 to August 1951.

Charo’s real name is Maria Rosario Pilar Martinez. Among her TV credits is the role of Aunt Charo in the series “Chico and the Man” (NBC, 1974-78).

“Queen for a Day” ran from 1955-59 on NBC and from 1959-64 on ABC.

The “G.E. College Bowl” ran from 1959 to 1970 on CBS and NBC, and was hosted until 1963 by Allen Ludden and after that by Robert Earle.

Clara Peller asked, “Where’s the beef?” for Wendy’s, and Walter Mondale asked it in the 1984 presidential campaign.

The mysterious man who gave away $1 million each week in “The Millionaire” (CBS, 1955-60) was named John Beresford Tipton. He was never seen; his voice was provided by Paul Frees, who also provided the voice of Boris Badenov on “The Bullwinkle Show” (ABC, NBC, 1959-63).

Earl Hamner was the grown-up voice of John-Boy, narrating “The Waltons” (CBS, 1972-81), Jr., the show’s co-executive producer, who based the series on his own recollections of growing up in rural Virginia. Richard Thomas played the young John-Boy.

Penny Singleton did the voice of Jane Jetson in the original run of “The Jetsons”. She played Blondie in the Blondie film series that ran from 1938 to 1950.

Born in 1966, the red-haired, round-faced Mason Reese was perhaps the most widely seen child in TV commercials in the early 1970s. He started making commercials in 1970, and won three Clios. He advertised, among other products, Oscar Mayer bologna. He was also a favorite guest on “The Mike Douglas Show” (synd., 1963-82).

Real-life married couple Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss played Dick and Paula Hollister on the TV series “He and She” (CBS, 1967-68). He was a cartoonist, she a social worker. They lived in New York.

William Shatner a regular on the TV series “For the People” (CBS, 1965) before appearing on “Star Trek” (NBC, 1966-69). Shatner played Assistant District Attorney David Koster.

The applicant must have obtained a public school diploma, must have resided in the United States for the past six months, and must pay a $1.50 initiation fee for membership in the Raccoon lodge on “The Honeymooners”. Ed Norton (Art Carney) objects that because of the residency rule, Anthony Eden could not become a Raccoon.

There were six hundred and thirty-five episodes of “Gunsmoke” (CBS, 1955-75). 409 of them in black and white, 226 in color. The show was the longest-running weekly prime-time series with continuing characters.

Paul Henning produced the CBS “rural sitcoms” of the 1960s including “The Beverly Hillbillies” (1962-71), “Petticoat Junction” (1963-70), and “Green Acres” (1965-71)?.

“The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” (CBS, 1967-69) was canceled on April 1969.

George Gobel was known as “Lonesome George”. His TV series, “The George Gobel Show,” ran from 1954 to 1960 on NBC.

The symbols Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity appeared at the beginning of “Ben Casey” (ABC, 1961-66).

Ted Cassidy’s hand played Thing on the TV series “The Addams Family” (ABC, 1964-66). He also played the butler, Lurch.

In a set of five episodes on the TV series “Wiseguy”, Jerry Lewis played New York garment mogul Eli Sternberg.

Bill Gannon, played by Harry Morgan, was Joe Friday’s partner in the TV series “Dragnet” (NBC, 1952-59, 1967-70) when the TV series was revived in 1967. Jack Webb played Sergeant Joe Friday. Friday’s previous partners were played by Barton Yarborough, Barney Phillips, Herb Ellis, and Ben Alexander.

The TV series “Bridget Loves Bernie” was loosely based on Abie’s Irish Rose (1946), in which an Irish girl named Rosemary (Joanne Dru) marries a Jewish boy named Abie (Richard Norris), leading to family conflict. In the TV show, Meredith Baxter played Bridget and David Birney played Bernie.

Frankie Thomas played the lead in “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet” which was rival to “Captain Video” (DuMont, 1949-55). “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet” ran from 1950 to 1955 and aired successively on all four networks, CBS, ABC, NBC, and DuMont.

The powerhouse Saturday night lineup that baby boomers remembered watching on CBS in the 1973-74 season was: 8:00 “All in the Family”; 8:30–“M*A*S*H”; 9:00 “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”; 9:30—”The Bob Newhart Show”; 10:00 “The Carol Burnett Show.”

Sally Rogers’s (Rose Marie’s) off-and-on boyfriend on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” was Herman Glimscher, played by Bill Idelson. After appearing on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” Idelson became a comedy writer. He also produced many of the episodes of “The Bob Newhart Show” (CBS, 1972-78) in its first year.

“The Camel News Caravan” (NBC, 1949-56), with John Cameron Swayze, was the first TV news show to feature newsreel footage. Before then TV news relied mainly on announcers.

Martin Agronsky and John McLaughlin the people behind “Agronsky and Company” (synd., 1969-87) and “The McLaughlin Group” (synd., 1982).

“Marcus Welby, M.D.” (ABC, 1969-76) was the top-rated TV program in 1970.

The bad guys on the TV series “Batman” (1966-68) were: Penguin—Burgess Meredith Catwoman—Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, and Lee Merlwether Joker—Cesar Romero Riddler—Frank Gorshin and John Astin King Tut—Victor Buono Egghead—Vincent Price The Archer—Van Johnson Lola Lasagne—Ethel Merman Lord Marmaduke Ffogg—Rudy Vallee The Siren—Joan Collins Chandel—Liberace Louie the Lilac—Milton Berle

The stars and daytime soap operas: Tom Berenger—”One Life to Live” (ABC, 1968–), playing Tim Siegel Ellen Burstyn—”The Doctors” (NBC, 1963-82), playing Dr. Kate Bartok Robert DeNiro—”Search for Tomorrow” (CBS, NBC, 1951-87) Dustin Hoffman—”Search for Tomorrow” Raul Julia—”Love of Life” (CBS, 1951-80), playing Miguel Garcia Bette Midler—”The Edge of Night” (CBS, ABC, 195684) Susan Sarandon—”A … Read more

Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) on the TV series “Bewitched” worked her magic by wiggling her nose. Jeannie on “I Dream of Jeannie” (NBC, 1965-70) folded her arms in front of her and blinked. Uncle Martin on “My Favorite Martian” (CBS, 1963-66) pointed at objects to levitate them and raised his antennae to become invisible.

George Reeves shot himself on June 16, 1959. The police ruled that the former star of “The Adventures of Superman” (1952-57) had committed suicide, though some have suspected murder. He was planning to be married at the time.

Walt Whitman High School was the high school in the TV series “Room 222” (ABC, 1969-74). In “Welcome Back, Kotter” (ABC, 1975-79)? James Buchanan High School. In “Head of the Class” (ABC, 1986-91)? Millard Fillmore High School.

Redd Foxx’s real name was John Sanford, the same last name as that given Fred Sanford, his character on “Sanford and Son” (NBC, 1972-77).

Some of the “critters” Elly May (Donna Douglas) had on the TV series “The Beverly Hillbillies” (CBS, 1962-71) included a bear, a pigeon, a rooster, a cat, a dog, a skunk, and a hippopotamus.

On “The Flip Wilson Show” (NBC, 1970-74), the name of the boyfriend of the character Geraldine was Killer.

Jay North of “Dennis the Menace” (CBS, 1959-63) and Jon Provost of “Lassie” (CBS, 1957-64), tied at age seven were the youngest actors to play the lead in his own TV series. “Lassie” actually ran from 1954-71, but Provost was not on all those years.

April Dancer, played by Stefanie Powers, in this short-lived TV spoof of NBC’s popular “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (1964-68).

Jesse White, also known as the lonely Maytag Repairman appeared regularly on three series: “Private Secretary” (CBS, NBC, 1953-57), “The Danny Thomas Show” (ABC, CBS, 1953-64), and “The Ann Sothern Show” (CBS, 1958-61).

Jimmy Carter was the first president whom Sam Donaldson covered as ABC’s White House correspondent, beginning in 1977. By the time Carter’s term was over, the departing president wished two bad things on his successor: Menachem Begin and Sam Donaldson.

The show that debuted on CBS in 1973 was “The $10,000 Pyramid.” The ante has subsequently been upped to $20,000, $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000. The show has also appeared on ABC and in syndication.

Walter Cronkite hosted the TV game show “It’s News to Me” (CBS, 1951-54).

Dena Dietrich was Mother Nature in the Parkay Margarine campaign, “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature”. She also appeared in TV series such as “Adam’s Rib” (ABC, 1973) and “The Ropers” (ABC, 1979-80).