Tonight in 1968 — Peter Falk made his debut as COLUMBO in PRESCRIPTION: MURDER on NBC.
He would play the character for 35 years.
“He was perfect,” co-creator William Link said. "And then he got better.”
#Columbo #1970sTV #1960sTV #ClassicTV
classictv
"I’m ambivalent about my career. I like it the way it is, because it doesn’t interfere with my life." — Barbara Feldon (in 1976)
Agent 99 is 91 today.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY "says that it doesn’t matter what you’re like outside, it’s inside that counts. That’s why people who are sometimes disowned by society like the show so much."
John Astin is 94 today.
#TheAddamsFamily #1960sTV #ClassicTV
Tonight in 1974 — James Garner made his debut as Jim Rockford in THE ROCKFORD FILES.
“He was a role model for me,” co-star Lindsay Wagner told me in 2022. “Observing who he was while working, being around the crew. I saw him treat everyone the same. He was just a real stellar man.”
#JamesGarner #1970sTV #ClassicTV
Developed as Ian Fleming's SOLO starring Robert Vaughn, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. soon became a duo after its debut on this date in 1964.
“The part of Ilya was 5 lines," David McCallum said in 2021. “But the writers saw the relationship...and it grew.”
All episodes are on Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/search?query=The+Man+from+Uncle+Season+1+season+2+season+3+season+4
#ClassicTV #1960sTV #DavidMcCallum #TheManFromUNCLE
This month in 1962 — THE BUGS BUNNY SHOW debuted on Saturday mornings on ABC.
A primetime version (1960-62) preceded it, but the Saturday show became the longest, continuously-running morning children's program in network TV history.
MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS debuted on the BBC #OTD in 1969.
“Literally nothing was funny," TV GUIDE’s Cleveland Amory wrote when it aired on PBS in 1975. "And the less funny something was—such as a Spanish Inquisition sketch with three cardinals—the more you saw of it."
#ClassicTV #montypython #BritishTV
Lara Parker (1938-2023) born on this date.
As Angelique on DARK SHADOWS, she was the chief tormentor (and true love) of vampire Barnabas Collins.
Her chemistry w/ star Jonathan Frid is a key component of the show's enduring appeal. And Frid sensed it in her audition, giving her tips that helped win the role.
#ClassicTV #1960sTV #DarkShadows
Art Carney and Jackie Gleason in THE HONEYMOONERS episode "The Worry Wart," originally broadcast 70 years ago this month.
Lynda Carter as WONDER WOMAN punched her first Nazi on this date in 1975.
50 years later, she's still a hero to us all. 🇺🇸
JoAnna Cameron (1948–2021) was born on this date.
As ISIS on CBS in 1975, she was the first woman star of a live action superhero TV show.
#ClassicTV #1970sTV #JoannaCameron
Marty Krofft (1937-2023) was born on this date.
With brother Sid — center, still with us at 96 — he created memorably trippy kids shows like H.R. PUFNSTUF, SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS, LAND OF THE LOST and more.
The 1970s was a great time to be a kid, and these guys were a big part of why.
COLUMBO starring Peter Falk debuted as a series tonight in 1971.
“He was perfect,” co-creator William Link said. "And then he got better.”
“There is nothing in the dark that isn’t there when the lights are on.”
— Rod Serling
THE TWILIGHT ZONE debuted tonight in 1959.
Farewell to Sid Krofft (1929-2026).
He spent decades as a puppeteer — including opening for stars like Judy Garland — before he and brother Marty (1937-2023) created + produced some of the most memorable kids shows of the 1970s.
“I get a dream, and Marty gets it done,” Sid said of their partnership.
“I have always called myself a character woman. You get the juicer parts that way.”
Farewell to Ruth Buzzi (1936-2025) — Emmy-nominated star of LAUGH-IN, animation voice artist, and character actor extraordinaire.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2025/05/02/ruth-buzzi-laugh-in-dies/
#RuthBuzzi #RIPRuthBuzzi #ClassicTV
#twilightzone
s1 ep 5, Oct 30, 1959 - Walking Distance
closing narration (abridged):
"Martin Sloan... perhaps across his mind there'll flit a little errant wish, that a man might not have to become old, never outgrow the parks and the merry-go-rounds of his youth, he'll smile then, because he'll know it is just an errant wish, some wisp of memory not too important really, some laughing ghosts that cross a man's mind, that are a part of the Twilight Zone." #classictv #classicsciencefiction
Twilight Zone, s1 episode 7, Nov 13, 1959 - The Lonely
closing narration:
On a microscopic piece of sand that floats through space is a fragment of a man's life. Left to rust is the place he lived in and the machines he used. Without use, they will disintegrate from the wind and the sand and the years that act upon them. All of Mr. Corry's machines, including the one made in his image, kept alive by love, but now obsolete—in The Twilight Zone.
The Twilight Zone, s1 episode 8, Nov 20, 1959 - Time Enough at Last
closing narration:
The best-laid plans of mice and men ... and Henry Bemis, the small man in the glasses who wanted nothing but time. Henry Bemis, now just a part of a smashed landscape, just a piece of the rubble, just a fragment of what man has deeded to himself. Mr. Henry Bemis, in the Twilight Zone.
#twilightzone #TheTwilightZoneTVProgram #thetwilightzone1959 #classictv #classicsciencefiction #besttvshows