Top Ten #431

1) Home Box Office: The premium of all premium pay cable services launched 55 years ago today with a screening of...Beastmaster. No, it was Sometimes a Great Notion. For more on the network's legacy and programming, check out our episode from earlier this year!

2) Gone with the Wind: 50 years ago tonight, NBC ran part 2 of its epic presentation of the legendary film. The event, part of NBC's "Big Event" series, set viewership records and led to a GWTW craze of sorts.

3) Three's Company: Castmates Joyce DeWitt and Richard Kline joined other celebs for a stage reading of the show's pilot to benefit the John Ritter Foundation. Hijinks ensued when Mr. Furley, listening just behind the curtain, thought he was overhearing a We've Got It Made reading.

4) Police Squad! Do I know why Netflix decided to add all 6 episodes of this 1982 cult sitcom? I do not. Am I going to complain? Nope! Between this and SCTV, Netflix is on a decent run lately. Hey, maybe they could honor recent documentary subject Martin Mull by adding Fernwood 2Night!

5) Webster: The Eighties cute-com is now on Prime Video, but half the episodes are missing, including the one I have wanted to see for years--the one where Web accidentally burns the place down.

6) The Mouse and the Motorcycle: Part 1 of an adaptation of the Beverly Cleary book debuted 40 years ago today on ABC Weekend Special.

7) Lucy and Ellen canned: In the news 40 years ago today, ABC had announced it canceled the new sitcoms of Lucille Ball and Ellen Burstyn and that the shows' would be pulled after another two airings. Burstyn's show is mostly forgotten; Ball's show is one many wish they could forget.

8) Happy birthday: Entertainment Tonight star Mary Hart turns 75 today, and Leif Garrett turns 65. Leif, of course, is best known for his role in the CHiPs episode "Roller Disco."

9) Dean Martin's Red Hot Scandals of 1926: 50 years ago tonight, NBC continued its night of nostalgia by going back 50 years in time with this Dean Martin special featuring Jonathan Winters, Abe Vigoda, and more. What, no Foster Brooks with a prohibition sketch?

10) Saturday Night Live: The show aired a rare pretaped episode this night in 1986 with guests Rosanna Arquette and Ric Ocasek. Two weeks earlier, Game 6 of the World Series ran long, causing the preemption and a taping instead of a live broadcast. The Jay Leno Show special had run in the 11:30 timeslot on November 1. NBC apparently won't let people upload the beginning of the episode, in which Ron Darling explains what happened, but here is a promo that aired several weeks earlier: