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This Day in Comedy History
September 15 - 21
September 15
1918 - Famous as a lightning witted stand-up always quick with a rhyme, which made him a favourite and frequent guest on talk and variety shows (Jack Paar, Carson, Ed Sullivan, The Hollywood Palace, Merv, Mike Douglas, Letterman, Conan), game shows (Match Game, What’s My Line?, To Tell The Truth, Hollywood Squares, Password, The $10,000 Pyramid, The $25,000 Pyramid, The $100,000 Pyramid), and numerous Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, comic Nipsey Russell is born in Atlanta.
1921 - Norma MacMillan is born in Vancouver. Prior to the Simpsons, she was the best known child’s voice in North America. She voiced the daughter on the Grammy winning “First Family” comedy album, and was also the voice of Casper the Friendly Ghost, among others.
1922 - Future Our Gang member and 9 year old Academy Award nominee (for starring in the 1931 comedy Skippy) Jackie Cooper is born in Los Angeles. Cooper would hold the title for youngest Oscar nominee in any category for almost five decades, until 8 year old Justin Henry was nominated as a supporting actor in Kramer vs. Kramer.
1927 - Comic known as “The Master of the Malaprop”, Norm Crosby is born in Boston, Massachusetts. He is remembered for co-hosting the Canadian variety series Everything Goes (1974) and for his numerous appearances on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts.
1946 - Oscar winning actor Tommy Lee Jones, whose movie credits include The Comeback Trail, Man of the House, and playing Agent K in the Men in Black series, is born in San Saba, Texas.
1951 - Peter Sellers gets married for the first time, to Australian actress Anne Howe. He would divorce, and marry, and divorce, several more times - later he would joke that he was a “star of stage, screen and alimony.”
1952 - In one of the most famous comedy scenes of all time, Lucy and Ethel get a job wrapping candies, but have problems with an aggressive conveyor belt, when CBS airs the I Love Lucy episode Job Switching.
1954 - Barry Shabaka Henley is born in New Orleans. The veteran actor is best known as one of the stars of the sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola.
1957 - John Forsythe stars as The Bachelor Father. The sitcom that would run for 157 episodes over five seasons.
1963 - The Imogene Coca sitcom Grindl premieres on NBC.
1964 - Tycoon, a sitcom starring Walter Brennan, premieres on ABC.
1965 – Green Acres premieres on CBS. The wacky Eddie Albert/Eva Gabor series about a New York couple who move out to the sticks was a huge hit, running until 1971.
1965 - Gidget, a sitcom starring Sally Field, premieres on ABC.
1967 – The sitcom Accidental Family premieres on NBC.
1969 - Ed Sullivan releases “The Sulli-Gulli,” his first and only rock record. He was hoping to create a new dance, but judging by the number of people not dancing “The Sulli-Gulli” at every wedding we’ve ever been to, it didn’t catch on quite as much as he’d hoped.
1969 – The sitcom My World and Welcome to It premieres, starring William Windom as a cartoonist.
1970 – The Don Knotts Show premieres on NBC. The variety show, featuring Knotts in his first regular TV role since The Andy Griffith Show, would only last one year.
1970 - On the first episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ second season, the viewing public get their first glimpse of The Ministry Of Silly Walks.
1971 - The sitcom Shirley’s World, starring Shirley MacLaine as a photojournalist and John Gregson as her editor at World Illustrated magazine, premiered on this day in 1971. The single season series aired on NBC in the United States and ITV in England.
1971 - One of the stars of Aaron Sorkin’s series Sports Night, Josh Charles is born in Baltimore, Maryland.
1972 - British stand-up touring machine Jimmy Carr is born in Hounslow, London, England.
1973 - CBS debuts its new Saturday Night super-lineup, comprised of All In The Family at 8:00 PM (Eastern Time), M*A*S*H at 8:30, The Mary Tyler Moore Show at 9, The Bob Newhart Show at 9:30, and The Carol Burnett Show at 10.
1977 - His comedy film credits include RocknRolla, This Means War and Scenes of a Sexual Nature - Thomas Hardy is born in Hammersmith, London, England. His father is British Comedy Award winning writer Edward “Chips” Hardy.
1977 - His comedy film credits include RocknRolla, This Means War and Scenes of a Sexual Nature - Thomas Hardy is born in Hammersmith, London, England. His father is British Comedy Award winning writer Edward “Chips” Hardy.
1978 - Cheech and Chong’s first feature film, Up In Smoke opens in wide release.
1979 - Amy Davidson, who played one of John Ritter and Katey Sagal’s teenaged children in the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules, is born in Phoenix, Arizona.
1979 - Robert Guillaume of the sitcom Benson ponders his appearance on the cover of TV Guide.
1980 - The Alan Thicke Show makes its debut on CTV.
1989 - A promising young student filmmaker travels an indirect route to try to get his first film made. With Kevin Bacon starring and a supporting cast including Jennifer Jason Leigh, JT Walsh and Michael McKean, The Big Picture opens in theatres.
1993 - On the fourth season opener of Law & Order, stand-up icon Robert Klein becomes the second comic (Lewis Black being the first, Samantha Bee, Jim Gaffigan, The Sklar Brothers, Janeane Garofalo, Stephen Colbert being others) to appear on the legal drama, playing against type as the host of a tabloid style talk show called Final Confession who is charged with murder. The episode Sweeps airs on NBC.
1998 - Sleeper British comedy hit Waking Ned Devine - starring Ian Bannen, David Kelly and Fionnula Flanagan as three elderly friends in a tiny Irish village who plot to (kind of) defraud the national lottery - has its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osmPlQXzXXA
2006 - Everyone’s Hero premieres, starring Robin Williams.
2011 - Actress who began her career on CBC Radio in the 1930s, and in her later years became known as “Grandma Hollywood” after appearing as Fonzie’s grandmother on Happy Days, as Adam Sandler’s grandmother in Happy Gilmore, and in a variety of other elderly roles, most famously as "The Marble Rye Lady" on Seinfeld... Canada’s Walk Of Fame inductee Frances Bay passes away at the age of 92.
2020 - Recorded at the London Palladium, stand-up Michael McIntyre’s special Showman is released on Netflix.
2020 - Recorded at the London Palladium, stand-up Michael McIntyre’s special Showman is released on Netflix.
September 16
1916 - Creator and host of the popular hidden camera show Candid Camera, Allen Funt is born in New York City.
1917 - The pioneering syndicated comic strip Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers, by Stuart Carothers and later Elzie C. Segar, ends its run in US newspapers after two and a half years.
1922 - A star from Hollywood’s Golden Age, Janis Paige is born Donna Mae Tjaden in Tacoma, Washington. She had her own sitcom, It’s Always Jan (1955-1956), and starred in many films, including Romance on the High Seas, Two Gals and a Guy, Silk Stockings with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, with Doris Day and David Niven in Please Don't Eat the Daisies, and in Bachelor in Paradise with Bob Hope.
1927 - While best known for for his multi-Emmy winning character on Columbo, he was also known for the films Robin and the 7 Hoods, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The In-Laws, The Cheap Detective and The Princess Bride, Peter Falk is born in The Bronx, New York. FUN FACT: He actually won his first Emmy 10 years before winning for Columbo, taking home the hardware for an appearance on The Dick Powell Show.
1934 - Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner whose comedy roles include the films Two and Two Make Six (1962), Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967), The Mona Lisa Has Been Stolen (1965) and The Girl Rush (1955), George Chakiris is born in Norwood, Ohio.
1948 - Four time Emmy Award nominee for her role on L.A. Law, Susan Ruttan is born in Oregon City, Oregon. She also appeared in many comedy films and sitcoms, most famously in The Jeffersons as the scheming wife of George Jefferson's dry-cleaning archrival, Gil Cunningham.
1949 - Prolific film, TV and stage actor and activist, whose credits include Arrested Development, This Is Spinal Tap, She-Devil, Waiting For Guffman, Best In Show, Transylvania 6-5000, Pineapple Express, What’s Your Number? and Ghostbusters (2016), Ed Begley, Jr. is born in Los Angeles. His father - we’re making an educated guess here - is Oscar winning actor Ed Begley, Sr.
1953 - Rowdy stand-up who starred in his own series Lenny, and also from Rescue Me, The John Larroquette Show, Are You There, Chelsea? and the documentary When Stand Up Stood Out, Lenny Clarke is born in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1953 - Known for his roles on Murphy Brown, Reba, and Boston Legal, Christopher Rich is born in Dallas, Texas.
1958 - American-born Canadian screen and stage actress of Jennifer Tilly is born Jennifer Ellen Chan in Los Angeles. An Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actress for the dark comedy Bullets over Broadway (1994), she’s also known for her many other film roles and for voicing Bonnie Swanson on the animated comedy series Family Guy.
1959 - Actor from the Canadian series The Newsroom, Made in Canada, The Red Green Show, Meet the Family and Slings and Arrows, as well as the US sitcoms Seinfeld and Cheers , Peter Keleghan is born in Montreal.
1962 - It's a Man's World premieres on NBC TV.
1964 - SNL cast member who starred in both the sketch and the film Superstar as well as appearing in Never Been Kissed, Serendipity, Shallow Hal, Evan Almighty and Talladega Nights - The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby, Molly Shannon is born in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
1964 – Mickey Rooney’s sitcom, Mickey, premieres on NBC. It only lasts one season.
1965 – The Dean Martin Show premiered on NBC. The comedy-variety series ran until 1974, ariing 274 episodes. Also premiering that night on NBC: the sitcom Mona McCluskey, starring Juliet Prowse.
1968 - Six weeks before the election, Republican Richard Nixon becomes the first presidential candidate to appear on a TV comedy show, offering up a stilted version of the catchphrase “Sock it to me!” on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-in. Later the producers regretted the move, thinking it helped normalize the divisive figure and get him elected. Luckily no comedy shows would ever make that mistake again.
1968 - The final episode of The Andy Griffith Show airs. Andy Griffith decided to leave the show to pursue other projects, making it just the second series to end its run as the #1 show on television - following I Love Lucy. That feat has only been matched by one other show since: Seinfeld.
1969 – The sitcom The Debbie Reynolds Show premieres on NBC.
1971 - Second City alumni, one of the founders of the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe and theatre, SNL cast member and Weekend Update host, star of Parks and Recreation and lots of films, and Tina Fey’s BFF, the lovable and hilarious Amy Poehler is born in Newton, Massachusetts.
1972 - The Bob Newhart Show premieres on CBS. The MTM produced series would be hugely successful and run for six seasons.
1975 - Jackie Joyner-Kersee in the ABC TV sitcom The Neighbors, and Hayley in Castle, actor Toks Olagundoye is born in Lagos, Nigeria.
1978 - The cast of Monty Python begin shooting Life of Brian a little bit down the M-20, in Monastir, Tunisia.
1981 - Rory Gilmore in Gilmore Girls (2000–2007) and Lena Kaligaris in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies, Alexis Bledel is born in Houston, Texas, probably already exchanging pages and pages of dialogue with Lauren Graham.
1984 - On the second season debut of the talent showcase Star Search, John Kassir wins in the comedy category, the first of five straight weeks he would remain the current champion until being knocked out by Rosie O’Donnell.
1984 - In Yorba Linda, CA, Reba Sabrina Hinojos is born - but she’s better known by her performing name, Sabrina Bryan, as a member of the girl group The Cheetah Girls in the Disney Channel’s trilogy, The Cheetah Girls, The Cheetah Girls 2 and The Cheetah Girls: One World.
1985 - Grace in the CBS sitcom The Nanny (1993–1999) and Mia in Showtime’s Californication (2007–2011), Madeline Zima is born in New Haven, Connecticut.
1986 - Sitcom and movie actor Kyla Pratt is born in Los Angeles. She is best known for starring as the voice of Penny Proud in Disney Channel’s The Proud Family and The Proud Family Movie, as well as starring in Dr. Dolittle, Dr. Dolittle 2, Dr. Dolittle 3, Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief, and Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts. Other sitcom credits include Fox’s Call Me Kat and UPN’s One on One.
1989 - The sitcom Homeroom premieres. ABC produced the show as a vehicle for stand-up comedian Darryl Sivad after his appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Unfortunately, it fared poorly in the ratings against Murder She Wrote and My Two Dads and was canceled before the end of the season.
1989 - The sitcom Sister Kate premieres on NBC.
1989 - Bailey De Young is born in Sacramento, CA. She is known for her comedy TV work, playing the characters Ginny Thompson on Bunheads, Lauren Cooper on Faking It, and Imogene Cleary on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
1992 - When he’s not singing with his brothers, he’s playing ‘Seaplane’ McDonough in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level. Nick Jonas is born in Dallas, Texas. Other credits include Ugly Dolls and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
1993 - Kelsey Grammer takes his Frasier Crane character out of the Cheers bar in Boston, and settles in on the home front in Seattle. The show Frasier debuts on NBC, and, like its predecessor, it would become a long-lasting hit.
1994 - While not the first series to feature the Steve Coogan character, it is the first one where he stars. The char show parody Knowing Me Knowing You With Alan Partridge debuts on BBC Two.
2002 - Dean Martin’s boss in the Matt Helms film series, also from F-Troop, Million Dollar Duck, The Main Event and The Strongest Man in the World, but best known for playing Deputy Inspector Frank Luger on the sitcom Barney Miller, actor James Gregory passes away of natural causes aged 90.
2005 - The sitcom Twins, starring Sara Gilbert and Molly Stanton, premieres.
2012 - Typical story of a widowed mother who starts selling marijuana to help support her family that runs for 8 seasons on TV. The final episode of the Mary-Louise Parker series Weeds airs on Showtime.
2016 - Shot at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, Cedric the Entertainer: Live from the Ville is released on Netflix.
2019 - A spokesperson for Lorne Michaels announces that upcoming new cast member Shane Gillis has been fired from the show following revelations he had previously made several racist remarks about Chinese people, for which he offered what was criticized to be a “non-apology”.
September 17
1904 - Bob Hope’s radio sidekick through the 40’s and 50’s, who also appeared in several of the Hope/Crosby “Road To….” films, as well as Andy Hardy Comes Home, Meet Me In Las Vegas, It’s In The Bag!, The Gale Storm Show, McHale’s Navy and The Monkees, as well as his own namesake series, actor and musician Jerry Colonna is born in Boston.
1921 - Silent film star Fatty Arbuckle is arrested and arraigned on charges of manslaughter. He would ultimately be exonerated, but only after three highly publicized trials. The resulting scandal ruined his career.
1948 - John Ritter, of Three’s Company, 8 Simple Rules, Problem Child and Bad Santa fame, is born in Burbank California.
1949 - The first ever pairing of the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, the Chuck Jones/Michael Maltese Looney Tunes cartoon Fast and Furry-ous is released.
1951 - Cassandra Peterson is born in Manhattan, Kansas… but you’ll know her better as her horror hostess character Elvira, who had her own television series and movie, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark.
1953 - Comedian Rita Rudner is born in Miami, Florida.
1957 - Sitcom The Eve Arden Show premieres on CBS.
1960 - Kevin Clash is born in Baltimore, Maryland. He’s a puppeteer for various Muppets productions, most notable for playing Elmo.
1961 - “Car 54, Where Are You?” I’m not sure where it is now, but on this day in 1961 it was premiering on NBC TV.
1962 - Creator of the series Freaks and Geeks, actor from Heavyweights, The Jackie Thomas Show and Sabrina: The Teenage Witch, but likely best known for directing Arrested Development, The Office, Nurse Jackie, Bridesmaids, Spy, Ghostbusters (2016) and A Simple Favour, Paul Feig is born in Mount Clemens, Michigan.
1964 – Bewitched premieres on ABC. The “magical” sitcom would stay on the air until 1972.
1965 - Actor Kyle Chandler, best known for starring in the sitcom What About Joan? (2001) and the CBS series Early Edition (1996-2000), is born in Buffalo, New York.
1965 – The sitcom Camp Runamuck premieres on NBC. Also premiering on NBC that night was the military sitcom Mister Roberts, though it couldn’t compete with its rival army-related sitcom, also premiering that night on CBS: Hogan’s Heroes, which would spend the next six years and 168 episodes showing the world how funny Nazi POW camps were.
1965 – The sitcom Tammy premieres on ABC, starring Debbie Watson and Denver Pyle.
1966 – The western sitcom Pistols 'n' Petticoats premieres on CBS.
1967 - The Doors performed “Light My Fire” on The Ed Sullivan Show. Jim Morrison had been asked to change the line “Girl, we couldn’t get much higher,” but he sang it anyway. We’re pretty sure Ed Sullivan didn’t mind though - he was a pretty easy-going guy about such things…
1967 - While Jim Morrison is getting The Doors banned from The Ed Sullivan Show, The Who create some problems of their own on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Drummer Keith Moon sets a flash powder explosion in his drum kit, unaware that technicians had already done so. The resulting explosion sends a cymbal into Moon’s leg and singes Pete Townshend’s hair.
1968 – The sitcom Julia, starring Diahann Carroll in the title role, debuts on TV. It is notable as the first network series to star an African-American woman in a non-stereotypical role (until now they mostly played servants/housekeepers), and ran for 86 episodes.
1969 – Sitcom The Courtship of Eddie's Father premieres.
1970 – Two comedy shows premiere on NBC. The sitcom Nancy stars Renne Jarrett as the President's daughter, who falls for and marries a veterinarian while vacationing in Iowa. It couldn’t compete with The Odd Couple in the ratings and lasted just 17 episodes. The second series had much more success: The Flip Wilson Show, which was #2 in the ratings for its first two years, picking up Emmys for Best Variety Series and Best Writing in a Variety Series, and ran until 1974... More significantly, it was the first successful network variety series starring an African-American. Comedian Wilson’s characters Geraldine Jones and Reverend Leroy became very popular and even spawned catch phrases… maybe because “the devil made him do it!”
1971 – Sitcom The Jimmy Stewart Show premieres on NBC. 24 episodes air in its first season, but Stewart decides not to return to network TV for a second.
1971 - The Chicago Teddy Bears premieres on CBS. The prohibition-era sitcom stars Dean Jones and John Banner (of Hogan’s Heroes fame) as a nephew and uncle who run a speakeasy. Jamie Farr played a bodyguard, and the series was intended to be a comeback vehicle for Ann Sothern (who hadn’t had a series since the much-maligned My Mother the Car), but she was written out after the pilot. Due to poor ratings, the show was canceled after 13 episodes.
1971 - Stand-up and sketch actor from MADtv, also known for Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, Pineapple Express, The Awesomes and Splitting Up Together, Bobby Lee is born in San Diego, California.
1972 - Destined to become one of the best comedy television series ever, M*A*S*H debuts on CBS. The show would last eleven seasons, more than three times as long as the actual Korean War, and its eventual finale remains the highest rated scripted television program of all time. FUN FACT: The pilot is the only episode where you’ll see the role of Father Mulcahy played by George Morgan instead of William Christopher.
1976 - The Woody Allen starring film The Front opens in theatres. Unlike most of his movies, he didn’t write or direct this one, Martin Ritt handled direction and Walter Bernstein wrote the screenplay. Set in the 1950’s, it's the story of a small time bookie whose friend is a big TV writer who has just been blacklisted and needs someone to front for him, also starring Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi and Lloyd Gough. Interesting enough on its surface, it gets even more intriguing when the credits roll and you learn that Ritt, Bernstein, Mostel, Bernardi and Gough had all actually been blacklisted in the 1950s.
1983 - Hosted by Ed McMahon, the talent showcase Star Search debuts offering shots at stardom to promising singers, dancers, spokesmodels and comedians. Over the show’s run Comedy winners would include John Kassir, Al Lubel, Jenny Jones, Brad Garrett, Felicia Michaels and Vince Champ. Losers would include Dave Chappelle, Adam Sandler, Dennis Miller, Rosie O’Donnell, Sinbad, Norm Macdonald, Martin Lawrence, Ray Romano and Kevin James.
1987 - Eddie Murphy kicks off his Raw tour, with special guest Paul Mooney opening, at the Southern Illinois University Arena in Carbondale.
1989 - Major Dad premieres on CBS, starring Gerald McRaney and Shanna Reed, with Beverly Archer, Matt Mulhern, Jon Cypher, Marisa Ryan, Nicole Dubuc and Chelsea Hertford in supporting roles. The sitcom would last four seasons.
1989 - “Taystee” in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black and Officer Pearle Watson on the HBO Max animated sitcom Close Enough, Danielle Brooks is born in Augusta, Georgia.
1994 - She played Nikki Ortiz on Disney Channel’s Dog With a Blog - actor Denyse Tontz is born.
1995 - After four months of waiting, the largest Simpsons audience in two years tunes in to find out the answer to the question Who Shot Mr. Burns? as 22.6 million viewers watch Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two). And if you missed it, you'll have to watch it yourself to learn who pulled the trigger. There will be no spoilers here :-)
1997 - Comedy legend Red Skelton passes away in hospital in Rancho Mirage, California, near his Palm Springs home, after a long illness. The beloved comedian was 84.
1997 - On the South Park episode Death, fans get their first look at Canadian comedy superstars Terrence and Phillip, whose genius antics would never, ever become predictable.
2001 - Six days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, David Letterman hosts the first late-night talk show since the terrorist attacks on September Eleventh. Letterman opened the show with no jokes, just his thoughts on the matter. Dan Rather was his first guest and broke into tears.
2001 - Also returning to host his show, and unfortunately not taking a page from David Letterman’s book, Bill Maher makes some politically incorrect remarks on Politically Incorrect. In criticizing U.S. foreign policy and reacting to those who branded the terrorist attacks as “cowardly” Maher said: “We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two-thousand miles away, that’s cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it - not cowardly.” Despite the program’s title, the remarks faced stern criticism and lost the show many sponsors which, despite an on-air apology by Maher, were hard to win back, marking the beginning of the end of the show, which ABC pulled the plug on the following June.
2009 - With a cast of Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Ken Jeong, Chevy Chase, and Jim Rash, the series Community premieres on NBC.
2013 - The Fox sitcom Dads premieres on Fox. Starring Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi as two video game developers whose fathers, Martin Mull and Peter Riegert, come to live with them, the show would last for 19 episodes.
2013 - The Andy Samberg cop comedy Brooklyn Nine Nine debuts on Fox. The initial season would go on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy. Anyway, we love this guy:
2014 - The NBC police comedy-drama The Mysteries of Laura premieres. It would run for two seasons, and stars Debra Messing, Laz Alonso and Josh Lucas.
2021 - Both “Swollen Balls” and “No Vaseline” are trending on Twitter, for some stupid reason.
September 18
1905 - Comic who began in vaudeville while in his teens, who gained fame playing Jack Benny’s valet Rochester from 1937 on radio until 1965 on television, Eddie Anderson is born in Oakland, California.
1920 - Character actor from Shampoo, Heaven Can Wait, Being There, Bullets Over Broadway, Problem Child, Dirty Work and The Great Muppet Caper, Jack Warden is born in Newark, New Jersey.
1933 - Second City Chicago alumni who came to the public’s attention for playing sidekick Jerry Hubbard on Fernwood 2 Night, also known for Everybody Loves Raymond, Modern Family, Roseanne, the Christopher Guest films This is Spinal Tap, Waiting For Guffman, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration, as well as the Anchorman films, Fred Willard is born in Cleveland, Ohio.
1947 - In the first ever New York appearance by stars of The Grand Ole Opry, Ernest Tubbs looks out from the stage of historic Carnegie Hall, and opens with the observation: “Boy, this place sure could hold a lot of hay!”
1949 - Character actor best known for her recurring role as Beverly Janoszewski in the series The Mindy Project, Beth Grant is born in Gadsden, Alabama.
1949 - Character actor Frank Morgan, who was twice nominated for Academy Awards - for Best Actor in The Affairs of Cellini (1934) and for Best Supporting Actor in Tortilla Flat (1942) - passes away in Beverly Hills of a heart attack, while filming the western comedy Annie Get Your Gun (1950), at age 59. On radio, he co-hosted the comedy-variety series The Frank Morgan-Fanny Brice Show, then his own solo series The Frank Morgan Show. His many other comedy film roles include The Human Comedy (1943), The Shop Around the Corner (1940) and The Great Morgan (1946)... though today he is best remembered for playing the titular man behind the screen in the classic The Wizard of Oz (1939).
1950 - Anna Deavere Smith, who played hospital administrator Gloria Akalitus in the Showtime series Nurse Jackie (2009–15), is born in Baltimore, Maryland.
1954 - The Desilu produced sitcom Willy, starring June Havoc, premieres on CBS.
1959 - Andy Nulman of Just For Laughs is born.
1963 – The Patty Duke Show premieres on ABC. 105 episodes would air before the show ended in 1966.
1964 – The Addams Family premieres on ABC, and runs for two seasons. Also premiering that night on ABC: the sitcom Valentine's Day, starring Peter Franciosa as a swinging Manhattan publishing executive.
1964 - Vanessa Russell on ABC’s sitcom Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and Dr. Malena Ellis on the NBC/WB sitcom For Your Love, Holly Robinson Peete is born in Philadelphia, PA.
1965 – Two classic comedy series premiere on NBC: I Dream of Jeannie, starring Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman, which would run for five seasons and 139 episodes, and Get Smart, created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, a secret agent spoof starring Don Adams, Barbara Feldon and Edward Platt, which would run until 1970.
1968 - Reprising her Broadway role, Barbara Streisand plays early comedy star Fanny Brice in the film version of Funny Girl, which premieres on this date at New York’s Criterion Theatre. It would go on to be the top grossing movie in the U.S. for 1968.
1970 – The Headmaster, a comedy-drama starring Andy Griffith in his first role since leaving The Andy Griffith Show, premieres on CBS.
1970 - Comedian and actress Aisha Tyler is born in San Francisco. She voices Lana Kane in the series Archer, and on the big screen played Mother Nature in the Santa Clause trilogy.
1971– Sitcoms The Partners and The Good Life (starring Larry Hagman and Donna Mills) premiered on NBC.
1971 – The musical sitcom Getting Together, starring Bobby Sherman and Wes Stern as a song writing duo, premiered on ABC on this date in 1971.
1971 – Dick Van Dyke made his return to series television on CBS with The New Dick Van Dyke Show on this date in 1971. The show would last until 1974.
1971 - Actress from The Cosby Show spinoff A Different World and the films The Nutty Professor (the Eddie Murphy one), Bad Moms, Magic Mike XXL and Girls Trip, Jada Pinkett Smith is born in Baltimore, Maryland.
1973 - Legendary stage actress of Old Vic, West End and Broadway fame who also appeared in such films as Raising a Riot (1955), Law and Disorder (1958), The Captain's Table (1959) and Say Hello to Yesterday (1970), Nora Nicholson passes away in London, England at the age of 80.
1973 - Film credits include Hairspray (2007), Sex Drive (2008), Enchanted (2007), Hop (2011), 27 Dresses (2007), The Best of Me (2014), and Sonic the Hedgehog (2020). He also co-stars in the Netflix series Dead to Me. James Marsden is born in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
1974 - She played "New Christine" in CBS’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006–10). Emily Rutherfurd is born in New York City.
1974 - Travis Schuldt is born in Topeka, Kansas. He’s known for his recurring roles in comedy series: as Keith Dudemeister in Scrubs, Rick (aka “Subway”) in Community, and Ben Smith in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
1975 - SNL cast member also known for the films Horrible Bosses and its sequel, We’re the Millers, The Campaign and Hall Pass, and TV’s 30 Rock, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Portlandia and his own series Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis is born in Fairfax, Virginia.
1977 - Broadway and TV actor Barrett Foa is born in Manhattan, NYC. His Broadway credits include Mamma Mia! and Avenue Q.
1978 - WKRP in Cincinnati premieres on CBS.
1978 - Comedian and actor Billy Eichner is born in New York City. He hosts his own Funny or Die game show, Billy on the Street, which also aired on truTV. He is also known for co-starring in Difficult People and playing Craig Middlebrooks on the sitcom Parks and Recreation.
1980 - With his album No Respect on the charts, the film Caddyshack in theatres, and his career in full resurgence, Rodney Dangerfield makes the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
1989 - Two sitcoms, The Famous Teddy Z (starring Jon Cryer) and The People Next Door (starring Jeffrey Jones), premiere on CBS. Both would be canceled before the end of the season.
1993 - Actor from Moxie, Grown Ups 2, Stuck in Love and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse - and whose dad could literally Terminate you with his bare hands - Patrick Schwarzenegger is born in Santa Monica, CA.
1998 - The first in the series of Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker buddy cop flicks, Rush Hour opens on North American screens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMiFsFQcFLE
2004 - Martin Short’s creation Jiminy Glick interviews celebrities and gets caught up in a murder in his feature film, Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, premiering on this day at the Toronto International Film Festival.
2006 - The Late Show With David Letterman kicks off Ventriloquist Week. Jay Johnson, Ronn Lucas and Jeff Dunham would follow later, but the first night opened big. “Our next guest tonight is a legendary ventriloquist who has been entertaining audiences for 30 years, please welcome to the first night of Ventriloquist Week, Willie Tyler and Lester, everybody”.
2008 - Rolling Stone magazine has a fold out cover highlighting the new golden age of comedy.
2012 - Kattpacalypse is released. It’s Katt Williams’ fourth album.
2018 - Jack Black gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
2018 - The stand-up special D.L. Hughley: Contrarian is released on Netflix.
2018 - SNL’s Colin Jost and Michael Che host the 70th Emmy Awards from LA’s Microsoft Theater where the big winner on the night is The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which would become the first ever streaming TV show to win Outstanding Comedy Series. The show would also win for Outstanding Writing, Direction, Supporting Actress (Alex Borstein) and Lead Actress (Rachel Brosnahan). Other winners include Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Saturday Night Live, and Bill Hader and Henry Winkler as Lead and Supporting Actors, for Barry.
September 19
1931 - The third Marx Brothers film, Monkey Business opens.
1948 - “Triple Crown of Acting” winner (Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe wins) Jeremy Irons is born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. Comedy credits include Being Julia (2004), The Pink Panther 2 (2009) and Their Finest (2016).
1949 - Twiggy is born Lesley Hornby in Neasden, Middlesex, England. She won two Golden Globes for her performance in The Boy Friend (1971), Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy and New Star of the Year, and was nominated for a Tony Award for her Broadway debut in My One and Only (1983). She also starred opposite Robin Williams in Club Paradise (1986) and had a cameo appearance in Blues Brothers (1980).
1952 - His breakthrough was playing Danny’s rival caddy Tony D'Annunzio in Caddyshack (1980), but he reached greater comedy stardom two years later when he played Brian Schwartz in Bob Clark’s smash hit Canadian sex comedy Porky's (1982), a role which he reprised in Porky's II: The Next Day (1983) and Porky's Revenge! (1985). Scott Colomby is born in Brooklyn, New York.
1955 - Broadway (Grease) and movie (The Pirates of Penzance) actor Rex Smith is born in Jacksonville, Florida.
1958 - Director of the films Strictly Business and Fled, Kevin Hooks is born in Philadelphia, PA.
1959 - Hanna-Barbera’s Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy, a Huckleberry Hound spinoff, premieres on US television.
1960 - Pete and Gladys premieres on CBS. The sitcom stars Harry Morgan and Cara Williams, and runs until September, 1962.
1960 - The Tab Hunter Show’s first episode airs on US television. Tab Hunter stars as a comic strip artist trying to find romance.
1962 - Hired by SNL out of The Groundlings and debuting on the show at the same time as her Groundlings colleagues Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan, and also known for the films Liar Liar, Scary Movie and Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, comic Cheri Oteri is born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
1964 – Kentucky Jones airs its first episode. The comedy-drama stars Dennis Weaver as a widowed rancher raising an adopted Chinese son.
1965 – The adventure comedy The Wackiest Ship in the Army premieres on NBC, based on the Jack Lemmon movie of the same name.
1970 – Two sitcoms premiere on CBS. Arnie stars Herschel Bernardi as a fish-out-of-water flange company worker turned executive. It would have limited success with a two season run. The other series, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, co-created by James L. Brooks, would become a huge hit and run until 1977.
1970 - Actor Victor Williams is born in Brooklyn, New York City. He’s best known for playing Kevin James’ best friend Deacon in the sitcom The King of Queens.
1971 - The Zalman King comedy-drama You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose That Beat is released.
1971 - Sanaa Lathan, who voiced Donna Tubbs in the Family Guy spinoff The Cleveland Show (2009-2013), is born in New York City. She also appeared in The Best Man (1999) and The Best Man Holiday (2013). Her other film credits include Brown Sugar (2002), Something New (2006) and The Family That Preys (2008).
1974 - In Bay Ridge, New York City, talk show host and comedian who laughed through way too many Saturday Night Live sketches Jimmy Fallon is born.
1975 - A creation of John Cleese and his wife Connie Booth, the series Fawlty Towers makes its debut on BBC2. In polls of the greatest British comedies ever, the sitcom regularly sits atop the list.
1978 - Almost exactly a year to the day since Fonzie infamously jumped a shark on the Happy Days episode Hollywood: Part 3, Fonzie rides a Brahman bull named Diablo, that no one has ever ridden, on the Happy Days episode Westward Ho: Part 3. Immediately following the airing, the show's producers begin to search for dead horses to beat.
1982 - SCTV wins for Best Writing at the 34th Emmy Awards. The award is presented by Milton Berle, who interjects with gags during Joe Flaherty’s acceptance speech until Flaherty tells “Uncle Miltie” to “go to sleep”.
1984 - Kevin Zegers is born in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada. He starred as Josh in the Air Bud film series and played Toby Osbourne in Transamerica (2005). He also had a role in the film It's a Boy Girl Thing (2006).
1987 - Her acting career kicked off with roles in the Disney comedies Stuck in the Suburbs (2004), Sky High (2005) and Read It and Weep (2006), and the remake of Yours, Mine & Ours (2005). Danielle Panabaker is born in Augusta, Georgia. Her other comedy credits include This Isn’t Funny (2015) and Piranha 3DD (2012).
1988 - Katrina Bowden is born in Wyckoff, New Jersey. She is known for playing Cerie in NBC’s sitcom 30 Rock (2006–2013). Film credits include Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Sex Drive, Piranha 3DD, American Reunion, and Scary Movie 5.
1989 - The Library of Congress announce the first 25 of 75 films that they have named to the new National Film Registry. The registry was established to ensure that high-quality copies of films would be preserved. This first group includes the classic comedies Dr. Strangelove, The General, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, Singin’ in the Rain, Modern Times and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
1989 - Doogie Howser, M.D. premieres on ABC, starring Neil Patrick Harris as a brilliant but very... surprisingly... ridiculously young doctor.
1992 - In the new The Larry Sanders Show episode The Flirt Episode, Larry (Garry Shandling) worries that he might cheat on his wife Jeannie (Megan Gallagher) after he flirts with guest Mimi Rogers then invites her back for the next show.
1996 - Rolling Stone magazine puts Conan O’Brien on its cover, to celebrate his “three year overnight success”.
1996 - The Brooke Shields sitcom Suddenly Susan premieres on NBC. It would stay on the air for four years.
2003 - The story of a man who returns to his hometown to revive the local church choir, Cuba Gooding, Jr and Beyonce star in The Fighting Temptations.
2005 - The romantic sitcom How I Met Your Mother premieres on CBS.
2007 - The British sitcom Peep Show debuts on Channel 4.
2011 - The first Two and a Half Men episode with Ashton Kutcher replacing Charlie Sheen, Nice To Meet You, Walden Schmidt airs on CBS and draws almost 29 million viewers, or to give it some context, a higher rating than any episode featuring Charlie Sheen.
2014 - Following the death of Don Pardo, Darrell Hammond is announced as Saturday Night Live’s new announcer. As a cast member (1995-2009), Hammond had appeared in more episodes than anyone else, and had impersonated more than 100 celebrities.
2014 - Film about four siblings forced to return home following their father’s death, and what happens when they have to stay under the same roof, This Is Where I Leave You opens on this date with a cast including Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Adam Driver, Connie Britton, Kathryn Hahn, Corey Stoll, Rose Byrne, Timothy Olyphant and Dax Shepard.
2016 - Actor Angelina Jolie files for divorce from actor Brad Pitt, citing irreconcilable differences.
2017 - Jerry Before Seinfeld is released.
September 20
1914 - British actor from Doctor in the House, who starred in The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw with Jayne Mansfield, as well as Next To No Time and as the lead character in the Father Brown TV series, Kenneth More (CBE) is born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England.
1929 - The Meara part of the famed comedy duo Stiller and Meara, Anne Meara is born in New York City.
1934 - Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe winning actress Sophia Loren, whose comedy resume boasts such films as Marriage Italian Style, It Started in Naples, Houseboat, I Dream of Zorro, Arabesque, Prêt-à-porter (aka Ready to Wear), The Country of the Campanelli, Grumpier Old Men and Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, is born in Rome, Italy.
1943 - Bob Hope’s commitment to the troops overseas puts him on the cover of Time magazine.
1952 - “How Sweet It Is!” The Jackie Gleason Show premieres on CBS. The series would continue in many forms and under different titles until 1960.
1953 - One of the first “comedy game shows”, Dollar a Second, premieres on the DuMont TV Network, hosted by Jan Murray. It bounced around between networks until its final episode aired in 1957.
1955 - Betsy Brantley, best known for playing Neely Pritt in the Rocky Horror sequel Shock Treatment - but also the performance model for Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, is born in New York City.
1955 - You’ll Never Get Rich premieres on CBS, which is later renamed The Phil Silvers Show.
1956 - Actor known for the movies Office Space, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and Pineapple Express, the TV shows Veep and Mixed-ish, and for his voice work (most notably as the title character in Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law on Adult Swim), Gary Cole is born in Park Ridge, Illinois.
1956 - Actor known for the movies Office Space, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and Pineapple Express, the TV shows Veep and Mixed-ish, and for his voice work (most notably as the title character in Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law on Adult Swim), Gary Cole is born in Park Ridge, Illinois.
1961 - The Joey Bishop Show premieres on NBC, and runs for four seasons (with its final season airing on CBS).
1963 – The Farmer's Daughter premieres on ABC. The sitcom would run for three seasons.
1964 – The sitcom Broadside premieres on ABC.
1964 - On the day they complete their first U.S. tour with a benefit concert, the Beatles appear again on The Ed Sullivan Show.
1967 - Two-time Emmy winner as Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role for playing Sally on 3rd Rock from the Sun, Kristen Johnston is born in Washington, DC. She also had roles in the sitcoms The Exes and Mom, as well as the movies Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000), Ice Age (2002), Music and Lyrics (2007), and Bride Wars (2009).
1968 - Daughter of Gordon, actress from Made in Canada, Escape From The Newsroom, More Tears and Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, Leah Pinsent is born in Toronto.
1970 – The Tim Conway Comedy Hour premieres on CBS, shortly after the cancelation of The Tim Conway Show, which lasted 13 episodes. Despite boasting an impressive list of guest stars, including Lana Turner, David Janssen, Joan Crawford, Audrey Meadows, Carl Reiner, Janet Leigh, Tony Randall, Imogene Coca, Shelley Winters, Carol Burnett and Mickey Rooney, the comedy legend’s sketch/variety series would sadly not fare any better, also getting the axe after 13 episodes.
1974 - Moon Bloodgood (What Just Happened, The Sessions, Conception) is born in Alliance, Nebraska.
1975 - Saturday Night Live premieres, featuring Billy Crystal and musical guest The Bay City Rollers, and a cast headlined by Bill Murray, Bryan Doyle-Murray and Christopher Guest... But no, it’s not the Saturday Night Live you’re thinking of, it's the ORIGINAL Saturday Night Live comedy-variety series, on ABC and hosted by sportscaster Howard Cosell - which probably explains why the show was so short-lived. It would last just 18 episodes despite A-list guests before being canceled in January, 1976. Lorne Michaels’ program, NBC’s Saturday Night, which aired later at night, didn’t premiere until the following month, and its cast was dubbed “The Not Ready For Prime Time Players” in response to Cosell’s cast being credited as “The Prime Time Players.” After Cosell’s show was canceled, Michaels’ show was renamed Saturday Night Live for its second season, and the rest is history.
1976 - Enuka Okuma (Battle of the Sexes, The Sleepover , Eat Wheaties!) is born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
1976 - Dick Van Dyke’s variety series Van Dyke and Company debuts on NBC. The show was cancelled before long due to low ratings, but still won the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series. Meanwhile on ABC, another variety series premieres: The Captain and Tenille, hosted by… well, by The Captain and Tenille. Thanks to the duo’s string of hits and a string of great guests joining them to perform music and comedy sketches, the show did well in the ratings, but after one season the network granted their request to end their contract so they could concentrate on their music careers.
1977 - The Happy Days episode Hollywood: Part 3 airs on ABC, and is best remembered for its infamous scene in which Fonzie jumps over a shark on water skis. The stunt gave birth to the popular phrase “Jumping the Shark,” describing the point where something stopped being good. The episode was the 91st overall of the series. Happy Days would go on to produce 164 more.
1981 - Actor and former Miss America Crystle Stewart, best known for starring in the OWN/TBS series For Better or Worse (2011-2017), is born in Houston, Texas.
1984 - Often referred to as the show that saved the sitcom on network TV, The Cosby Show debuts on NBC.
1989 - The Nutt House premieres on NBC. The sitcom would last only 5 episodes.
1997 - Ladner, BC’s Will Sasso makes his debut as a cast member on MADtv.
2005 - On The Office episode The Dundies, Pam gets drunk and, after winning an award, smooches Jim. It's the first Jim/Pam kiss!
2005 - The Jason Lee series about karma, My Name Is Earl debuts on NBC.
2010 - What would turn out to be a huge hit, launching her to movie stardom, the Melissa McCarthy/Billy Gardell series Mike & Molly debuts on CBS.
2011 - The Zooey Deschanel series New Girl debuts on Fox.
2020 - On the broadcast of the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, Canadian comedy series Schitt’s Creek becomes the first comedy or drama program to sweep all four acting awards, and all seven major categories in Emmy history, all the while taking part virtually from Toronto, masked up and socially distant due to Covid-19.
September 21
1912 - Legendary cartoonist and filmmaker known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts (Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, The Roadrunner, Wile E. Coyote and Daffy Duck ring a bell?), and, after he left Warner Brothers, Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas!, Chuck Jones is born in Spokane, Washington.
1931 - Actor who came to fame as Major Anthony Nelson on I Dream of Jeannie, and later did the films S.O.B., Harry and Tonto, Primary Colors and Up in the Cellar, Larry Hagman is born in Fort Worth, Texas.
1935 - Comic and actor best known for his work on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, and from the films The Blues Brothers, The ‘Burbs and Nashville, Henry Gibson is born in Germantown, Pennsylvania.
1944 - Comedian, author and actress Fannie Flagg is born Patricia Neal. She is best known for her many appearances as a Match Game panelist and for her novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe and her Academy Award nominated screenplay adaptation for the film it inspired, Fried Green Tomatoes (1991).
1948 - One of the first successful examples of American TV broadcasting, Texaco Star Theatre premieres, starring Milton Berle. The hugely successful show would run until 1956, earning Berle the nickname “Mr. Television”.
1950 - Star of Saturday Night Live and too many classic comedies to name them all, Bill Murray is born in Evanston, Illinois.
1953 - The sitcom Marge and Jeff premieres on The DuMont Network.
1957 - “The Party’s Over”, but on this date in 1957 it was just beginning, as comedy/variety series The Polly Bergen Show premiered on NBC.
1957 - The Ethan half of the Coen duo (The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, Fargo, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and more), filmmaker Ethan Coen is born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
1959 - "Cut - it - out!" Stand-up comedian, impressionist/voice actor (Muppet Babies), actor (Full House, Fuller House) and, rumour has it, possibly the subject of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” - Dave Coulier is born in St. Clair Shores, Michigan.
1961 - Actress who starred in the sitcoms Almost Perfect, Last Man Standing, Work With Me and Becker, as well as the Netflix series The Kominsky Method opposite Michael Douglas, Nancy Travis is born in New York City. Film credits include So I Married An Axe Murderer, Greedy and Three Men and a Baby (1987) and Three Men and a Little Lady (1990), Air America (1990), Passed Away (1992), Chaplin (1992), So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) and Greedy (1994).
1962 - Following his stint as the hugely popular host of The Tonight Show, The Jack Paar Show debuts on NBC.
1962 - The sitcom Don't Call Me Charlie debuts on NBC. The same night another sitcom premieres on CBS, Fair Exchange starring Eddie Foy Jr.
1962 - Northern Exposure star Rob Morrow is born in New Rochelle, New York.
1963 – The Jerry Lewis Show - at least the first iteration of it - premieres on ABC TV. The comedy/variety/talk show starring the rubber-faced comedian would come back in various forms through 1984.
1964 – The sitcom Many Happy Returns premieres on CBS.
1964 – The sitcom Slattery's People airs its first episode. The show had an all-star cast; Richard Crenna played politician James Slattery, supported by Ed Asner and Tol Avery, with Carroll O’Connor and Warren Oates in recurring roles.
1965 - Star of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm and the ABC sitcom Suburgatory Cheryl Hines is born in Miami Beach, Florida.
1968 - Rowan & Martin of Laugh-in offer straight on and profile options on the cover of TV Guide.
1968 - Actress best known for her work in John Waters films (the original Hairspray, Cry-Baby, Serial Mom, Cecil B. Demented) before becoming an Emmy Award winning daytime show host, Ricki Lake is born in Hastings-On-Hudson, New York. But we here at the WWCAs will always remember her most fondly as the Figurehead in Cabin Boy!
1970 - He co-starred as Calvin in the Ryan Reynolds movie Waiting… (2005), as well as its aptly titled sequel Still Waiting… (2009), Rob Benedict is born in Columbia, Missouri.
1970 - He’s a legendary comedian but wasn’t a very bright pot smuggler. On his 20th birthday, Bill Murray is arrested at Chicago's O'Hare Airport for trying to smuggle 10 pounds of cannabis, which he had allegedly intended to sell. The drugs were discovered after Murray joked to the passenger next to him that he had packed a bomb in his luggage. He would be convicted and sentenced to probation.
1970 - Actor James Lesure is born in Los Angeles. He’s best known for his work in the sitcom For Your Love (1998–2002), and the comedy-dramas Las Vegas (2003–2008), Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce (2017–2018) and Good Girls (2018–2020).
1971 – Sketch comedy series The Funny Side premieres on NBC, and lasts one season.
1971 - One of three acting brothers, this one known for The Royal Tenenbaums, Old School, Legally Blonde, Dog Park, Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, Luke Wilson is born in Dallas, Texas.
1971 - Everyone do "The Carlton Dance!" Because today Alfonso Ribeiro - who starred as Alfonso Spears on Silver Spoons, Maxwell Stanton on In the House, and most important of all, Carlton Banks (creator and chief practitioner of The Carlton) on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air - is born in New York City. He is also one of the hosts of ABC’s long-running “that guy’s pants fell down!” comedy series America’s Funniest Home Videos.
1976 - One of the greatest (and quite arguably the greatest) sketch comedy series of all time debuts, as SCTV is broadcast for the first time. Thanks, Canada!
1976 - Brazilian stand-up and actor Edmilson Filho is born in Fortaleza, Ceara.
1978 - Catherine O’Hara and John Candy host the Canadian Film Awards at the Ryerson Theatre in Toronto.
1978 - Michael Tribbiani in the Friends spinoff Joey, Evan Lawson in Royal Pains, Rubin in the movie Road Trip (2000) and Alexander in the film Josie and the Pussycats, Paulo Costanzo is born in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
1980 - In La Jolla, California, Autumn Reeser is born. She played Lizzie Grant on HBO's Entourage and Katie Andrews on ABC's sci-fi comedy No Ordinary Family. Movie credits include The Girl Next Door (2004), Midnight Masquerade (2014) and So Undercover (2012).
1981 - Paris Hilton’s co-star in The Simple Life (2003–2007), Nicole Richie is born in Berkeley, CA. Her father was reportedly so happy that he was "Dancing on the Ceiling". Yup. We went there.
1983 - Star of Simon Birch (1998), Joseph Mazzello is born in Rhinebeck, NY.
1985 - With Back to the Future killing it at the box office, TV Guide figures it might be a good time to feature Michael J. Fox on their cover.
1986 - Shelley Long and David Letterman host the 38th Emmy Awards from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, where the big winner in comedy was the first year series The Golden Girls who would capture Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Betty White, though Bea Arthur and Rue McClanahan from the show were also nominated) and Outstanding Writing. Outstanding Lead Actor went to Michael J. Fox for Family Ties, while the Supporting categories went to John Larroquette for Night Court, and Rhea Perlman for Cheers. Also, Lucille Ball presented the Governor’s Award to Red Skelton.
1992 - 250 million households tuned in to Murphy Brown to see the show’s rebuttal to Vice President Dan Quayle’s highly publicized “family values” speech, in which Quayle criticized the show’s title character for having a baby out of wedlock.
1998 - The Kevin James/Leah Remini series King of Queens debuts on CBS.
2005 - The Corner Gas Live! Tour hosted by series star Brent Butt and featuring stand-up performances, clips from the show, and interviews with various cast members kicks off at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, BC.
2006 - Dennis Miller returns to Fox News with a two-and-a-half-minute commentary on illegal immigration, a segment called “Real Free Speech”, on Hannity & Colmes.
2006 - David Bowie guests on the Ricky Gervais/Stephen Merchant series Extras where, after hearing Andy (Gervais) go through the disappointments he is having on his new sitcom, composes a song that mocks the “Little Fat Man Who Sold His Soul”. https://www.facebook.com/thedailystar/videos/1235790066437854
2007 - Actress who often played a worrisome character who guest starred on countless sitcoms from the 1960’s through the 90’s (Get Smart, The Golden Girls, The Odd Couple, Dharma And Greg, Maude, One Day At A Time, Friends, Chico And The Man, Bewitched, Hogan’s Heroes, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman etc) and is remembered for the films The Graduate, Grease, With Six You Get Eggroll, Rabbit Test and The Odd Couple II, Alice Ghostley passes away following a series of strokes aged 84.
2009 - It’s Playbill Magazine’s 125th Anniversary event in New York. Participants include Michael McKean, Annette O'Toole, Bernadette Peters, Gina Gershon and John Stamos.
2010 - The Martha Plimpton, Garret Dillahunt, Shannon Woodward, Lucas Neff, Cloris Leachman series Raising Hope debuts on Fox.
2018 - Brazil’s Rafinha Bastos has his special Ultimatum released on Netflix.