COMMERCIAL BREAK
The familiar “valentine” logo at the beginning and ending of I Love Lucy wasn’t added until the show went into syndicated reruns. When the show first aired in the 1950s, it was sponsored by Philip Morris, and began with Lucy and Ricky dancing around a huge pack of cigarettes. The show’s ending had Lucy lighting Ricky’s cigarette, chirping, “You see how easy it is to keep a man happy? Why not give your husband a carton of Philip Morris cigarettes?”
Dinah Shore won Emmys five years in a row (1955–59) in four different categories.
TAKING A SPIN (OFF)
The fifth season of Superman-based Smallville introduced another superhero, Aquaman (played by Justin Hartley), that producers intended to spin off into a new series. A pilot was filmed (costarring Ving Rhames and Lou Diamond Phillips) that TV insiders called one of the best of the year. But when the fall 2006 schedule was announced, there was no Aquaman. Why? The WB network was merging with another network, UPN, and in consolidating their programming, had left a lot of shows on the sidelines, including Aquaman. Later that year, the pilot was quietly made available on iTunes and became its most-downloaded TV show. (It still never became a series.)
Longest-running music series of all time: Soul Train, 35 years.
THANKS, TELEVISION!
In 1998, after Katie Couric’s husband died of colorectal cancer, Couric became a vocal advocate for cancer awareness. She even had a colonoscopy on Today in 2000. After that, according to studies, 10 percent more American women underwent the procedure.
Bruce Lee was passed over for the lead in Kung Fu. (He was considered “too Asian” for US TV.)
No comments:
Post a Comment