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“Bonanza”: The Old West in Living Color
On this date in 1959, the television show “Bonanza” premiered. Here are some things you may not have known about the landmark Western program. The series focused on Ben Cartwright and his three sons. Each of the sons was by a different wife. The oldest son was Adam, whose mother died in childbirth. He was…
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MTV: Music on Television? That’ll Never Work
With the song “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles, MTV went on the air for the first time 35 years ago today. Here are some things you may not have known about MTV. MTV billed itself as the first 24-hour music channel, however it was not the first to experiment with music videos. In 1970,…
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Sports Broadcasting: Spreading the News Since 1921
On this date in 1939, the first live television broadcast of a sporting event in the United States happened. Here are some things you may not have known about the early days of sports broadcasting. If a fan couldn’t get to the stadium to see their team in action, traditionally they would have to wait…
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Julia Child: Bon Appetit!
On this date in 1963, “The French Chef,” a cooking show starring Julia Child premiered on public television in the United States. Here are some things you may not have known about Julia Child and her television show. While her show was an early pioneer of the cooking-show format, it wasn’t the first one to…
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“Today” Show: A Morning News Pioneer
Today is the 64th anniversary of NBC’s “Today” show. Here are some things you may not have known about “Today” and the morning news shows that followed. The show was created by NBC vice president Pat Weaver, who is the father of actress Sigourney Weaver. One of the proposed names for the show was “The…