Columns

IT WAS MAY 22nd … when Jack Benny signed off his last live network radio broadcast after a run of 23 years… When the Seattle-based Brothers Four sang “Greenfields” on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show. And Canada’s Wayne & Schuster did a skit from the Old West called “Frontier Psychiatrist” … When the game show 'To Tell the Truth' aired its last weekly show on CBS-TV ... When New Westminster-born actor Raymond Burr (pictured) starred in the title role as the last original Perry Mason episode titled ‘The Case Of The Final Fade-Out’ began filming…. ..and when ABC-TV’s ‘Hart to Hart’, and the NBC-TV sitcom ‘3rd Rock from the Sun’ , as well as ‘The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,’ aired their finales. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS MAY 21st … when Kamloops B.C. got its first FM station as CFFM 98.3 signed on … When CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show aired from Montreal’s Expo 67, and featured Petula Clark and The Seekers, with comedian Alan King… When after 18 years of losing Susan Lucci finally won Best Daytime Actress Emmy .... When after a 5 year run, the final episode of ‘Miami Vice’ aired on NBC-TV… .. and when after 8 seasons the finale of the sitcom ‘Newhart’ was seen on CBS-TV. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS MAY 20th … when the Canadian Marconi Company station X-W-A, later CFCF, in Montreal aired a musical concert, the first scheduled radio broadcast in North America, and possibly the world… When CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show featured Peggy Lee, The Brothers Four (from Seattle), and retired baseball great Jackie Robinson …. When the 25th Emmy Awards gave top honors to The Waltons, All in the Family & Mary Tyler Moore… ..and when the final episodes of ‘Barney Miller’ and the original run of 'Roseanne' aired on ABC-TV… and the 'Cheers' finale was seen on NBC. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS MAY 19th ….when the 20th Annual Emmy Awards gave top honours to Get Smart, Mission Impossible & best actress Barbara Bain … When NBC-TV celebrated the 50th anniversary of Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater with the 2-hour special “Motown Returns To The Apollo”… When the final episode of LA Law aired on NBC, after a wildly successful 8 year run… When Rosie O'Donnell and Tom Selleck sparred over gun control on Rosie's syndicated TV talk show ... ..and when the final episode of Angela Lansbury’s “Murder, She Wrote” aired on CBS, after 12 seasons. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS MAY 18th … when radio’s espionage adventure drama Counterspy premiered on the Blue Network, beginning a 15-year run… When 18-year-old singer Jackie DeShannon made her network television debut on CBS-TV’s Jackie Gleason Show… When the final episode of “Baretta” aired on ABC TV, and the last “Murphy Brown” ran on CBS … ..and when after 50 years with the station Jack Cullen aired his final “Owl Prowl” on CKNW as it moved to a fulltime news/talk format. ALL the milestones for May 18th INSIDE.

IT WAS MAY 16th … when the quiz show for the intelligentsia “Information Please!” began its 10-year run on radio, the first 2.5 years on the NBC Blue Network… When the final episode of Groucho’s radio/TV quiz show “You Bet Your Life” was taped … When the Elton John TV special “Say Goodbye To Norma Jean And Other Things” aired on ABC… When Barry Manilow guested on the season finale of ‘Murphy Brown’ on CBS-TV … ..and when NBC-TV paid $5 million for the rights to air the 1939 movie blockbuster “Gone with the Wind” just one time. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS MAY 16th … when the first radio broadcast of the Kentucky Derby was heard via Louisville’s WHAS … When the popular radio thriller ‘The Whistler’ debuted on Columbia’s West Coast network, sponsored by Signal Oil … When ‘Cross Canada Check Up,’ the national open line show, debuted on CBC Radio. It has continued for 55 years so far… When ABC aired what turned out to be the final TV special from The Carpenters … When the popular series ‘In the Heat of the Night,’ ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ and ‘Baywatch Nights’ ended their first runs on US national TV. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS MAY 13th ….when “Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch” ended its 16 years as a Sunday afternoon staple on CBS Radio (Gene is pictured)… When the ‘Kraft Music Hall,’ now starring Milton Berle, ended a record 26 years on NBC radio & TV …. When the game-changing ‘Pat Burns Hotline’ debuted on AM 600 CJOR in Vancouver … When the 200th episode of the sitcom 'Murphy Brown' aired on CBS TV .... ..and when the CBC’s flagship TV news shows The National and The Journal were moved from 10 pm to 9 pm. (The move was a failure & was soon reversed.) ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS MAY 12th .. when syndicated gossip columnist Walter Winchell (pictured) made his radio debut on New York’s WABC… When after 46 years Toronto-born Morley Safer announced his retirement from CBS TV's 60 Minutes ... When Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley (just back from his military service in Germany) appeared on the ABC TV special ‘Welcome Back Elvis”… When CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show was headlined by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, along with comedians Richard Pryor and Rodney Dangerfield … When shares in CHUM Radio were first traded on the Toronto stock exchange ... ..and when the final episode of “The Incredible Hulk” was first telecast on CBS. ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.

IT WAS MAY 11th …. when the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement (BBM) was formed as a non-profit Canadian radio ratings service… When the pioneering kids TV show, The Pinky Lee Show, aired for the final time on NBC-TV… When Buddy Holly and the Crickets auditioned for CBS-TV’s “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts,” but were rejected and didn’t get to the air… When the Monty Python comedy troupe was formed in the UK…. ..and when John Lennon appeared (with wife Yoko Ono) on ABC TV’s “Dick Cavett Show” (pictured). ALL the milestones for the date INSIDE.