It's Star Trek day here at BOTNS, too. The Original Series (the one that matters as far as this humble podcaster is concerned) premiered on NBC on this day in 1966.
The show is outside our standard 1970s and 1980s timeframe, but in rerun form it was a big part of our television experience in the era. And don't forget The Animated Series!
So far we have "welcomed" Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner on the podcast. Could James Doohan be next if we do Jason of Star Command? Or could Nimoy or Shatner return to the show sooner than you might think?
In what may well become a new BOTNS tradition, to celebrate Labor Day, here's a picture of independent working man David Bradford on a construction site:
1) Ed McMahon: I think our contract with you, our listeners/readers, should be that whenever someone posts a cool commercial with BOTNS superstar Ed McMahon, we put him in the top 10.
2) Tom Seaver: R.I.P. to the former host of Greatest Sports Legends...oh, and also one of the greatest starting pitchers of the 20th century.
3) Coach: IMDB TV added all seasons this month. The show began in 1989, so it is technically eligible for the podcast!
4) The Harlem Globetrotters: Check out this sweet (Georgia Brown) clip of the former TV mainstays doing their thing on The Ed Sullivan Show:
5) National Read a Book Day: We suggest Hailing Taxi by Lovece and Franco, but you could also read a book that's not about a television show.
6) The Ghost Busters: The Saturday morning live-action comedy debuted on this day in 1975.
7) Susan Powell: On this day in 1980, Powell was named the 1981 Miss America in the annual pageant as it was broadcast on NBC. The trained opera singer also hosted Home Matters for Discovery networks.
8) Jane Curtin: The SNL and Kate&Allie star was born this day in 1947.
9) Swoosie Kurtz: Happy birthday to the star of Love, Sidney!
10) Every streaming service that is free: Nice of Disney to give people access to Mulan, but 30 bucks on top of a monthly fee? Makes me appreciate that I can watch old Unsolved Mysteries for freeon about 10 different channels if I so desire.
50 years ago today, at 8:00 P.M., NBC reran the 1968 special Dear Mr. Gable. The hourlong tribute to the late screen legend, who died in 1960, is narrated by Burgess Meredith. The presentation combines interviews with people knew him, movie clips, and home movies showing Gable and Carole Lombard.
Here is a look at Mary Lou Metzger singing "Dear Mr. Gable" on The Lawrence Welk Show in 1981:
40 years ago, on September 3, 1980, CBS led off the evening at 8 with Riding for the Pony Express, a failed pilot for a Western series. The show spotlights the action of two young men who...ride for the Pony Express. John Hammond, who would go on to star in The Blue and the Gray miniseries, co-stars with Harry Crosby. Yes, Crosby is the son of...Kathryn Grant. Oh, and Bing Crosby.
Happy 72nd birthday to NFL Hall of Famer, Steeler legend, and Battle of the Network Shows subject Terry Bradshaw!
In Season 6, our look at Greatest Sports Legends included baseball Hall of Famer and fellow Pittsburgh icon Willie Stargell interviewing Bradshaw as part of a spotlight on the quarterback.
45 years ago, Gunsmoke ended its 150-year run (duration approximate) in prime time on the CBS television network with a rerun of "The Busters," its final first-run episode which premiered in March of 1975. We bring this up because, hey, can you believe Gunsmoke is actually a program from our Battle of the Network Shows era?
It sure is. In fact, the long-long-long-running oater (and there you have the other reason we bring this up: so I can write "oater") aired five seasons in the 1970s. Let's just look at our most recent season of the podcast and discount the specials and movies. Gunsmoke's 1970s run alone is longer than the entire runs of Miami Vice, What a Country, Soap, Spider-Woman, and The Transformers. The Fourth Doctor appeared in 172 Doctor Who episodes; Gunsmoke ran 120 in its 5 Seventies seasons. OK, that last one goes against the point, but remember Gunsmoke was an hour long at that point!
Legend has it that CBS' William Paley saved the show at the last minute in 1967 after his wife lobbied for it and Gilligan's Island got canned instead. Then the series was spared again several years later in the midst of the infamous rural purge. Gunsmoke was still a respectable ratings earner in its 20th and final season and was then just two seasons removed from a string of top ten finishes.
So don't be surprised if someday you see us cover Gunsmoke. In the meantime, if you want to see the series itself, just turn it to Me-TV or TV Land, and you'll likely find it at any given time.
