🎉𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗘𝗔𝗡𝗦! 🫘 #OnThisDay 1987, Fox presented one of the most gloriously offbeat shows from its earliest days: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙙𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝘽𝙖𝙭𝙩𝙚𝙧, created by Savage Steve Holland.

📺 #OnThisDay 1984: 𝙒*𝘼*𝙇*𝙏*𝙀*𝙍 aired on CBS. Unsold pilot that attempted to continue the story of Gary Burghoff's Radar O'Reilly from 𝙈*𝘼*𝙎*𝙃. Only...don't call him Radar. A post-Voyagers Meeno Peluce and a pre-SNL Victoria Jackson also appear.

Following Hal Williams' passing, here's the second appearance of Officers Smitty & Swanny on Sanford and Son. Before Hoppy, Noam Pitlik's uptight Swanny was used in the classic gag of Smitty translating his official copspeak into "jive" for Fred and Lamont. RIP, Hal. ❤️

𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗔𝗟 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗠𝗦 (𝟭𝟵𝟯𝟰-𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲) 🕊️ Hal Williams, the versatile actor who was a fixture in our living rooms for over five decades, has passed away at the age of 91. Well-remembered from Sanford and Son, Private Benjamin, 227, The Sinbad Show.

Before there was a theme or footage, NBC had to sell Star Trek with a painting. This promo relied entirely on dramatic pans and zooms across a promotional painting commissioned from legendary illustrator James Bama.

🚗 #OnThisDay 1985: 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙮 debuted on NBC. Nick Mancuso drove a black 1965 Corvette Sting Ray around helping people that responded to a coded newspaper ad. Of course, this was from producer Stephen J. Cannell.

🧀 Time for Timer! 🎵 When my get-up-and-go has got up and went... 🎵 Most of us remember Timer as "the cheese guy." Funny enough, this was only 1 of 7 ABC Time for Timer PSAs. He was actually the self-proclaimed "Keeper of Body Time"—an anthropomorphic circadian rhythm.

Actor Sam Neill has died at age 78, according to an official statement from his family. Known for a wide variety of roles, from 𝙊𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙄𝙄𝙄: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙩 (1981), to 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙍𝙚𝙙 𝙊𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙧 and 𝙅𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙠 and more.

𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘 𝗕𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥 (𝟭𝟵𝟯𝟮-𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲) 🕊 Known to TV fans for iconic guest appearances in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘡𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘬, and many more in a career that spanned 40 years.

#OnThisDay 1980: 𝙊𝙝! 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝘿𝙤𝙜 Bizarre take on the Benji franchise with a surprising amount of adult humor. The gimmick of the dog's thoughts being narrated also made it to NBC's 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 later that year for one episode, then the show was pulled for 10 months before it returned.

Playing #OnThisDay 1970 at Baytown's magnificent Brunson Theatre: Pufnstuf! The 1,510-seat Art Deco movie palace later became the subject of the documentary When the Lights Went Down. Hear its incredible story on my Forgotten TV special The Popcorn Kid. 🍿

𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗜𝗦𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗥 (𝟭𝟵𝟯𝟵–𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲) 🕊 The iconic 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙣, 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙖𝙣 actress has died at age 87 with a career spanning the Broadway stage, iconic films, and late-night television.

#OnThisDay 1975: Joey & Dad debuted on CBS. Joey Heatherton teamed with father Ray "The Merry Mailman" Heatherton, for a 4-week summer variety series. The premiere featured Gary Burghoff, Henny Youngman, Captain & Tennille. Only 4 eps—no known video recordings survive.

#OnThisDay 1989: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙨 debuted on NBC. It almost ended there. NBC wasn't sold on the "show about nothing," but executive Rick Ludwin believed enough to fund 4 more episodes from his own budget. The show was retooled, became 𝙎𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙙, and TV history was made.

Enjoy this 1976 clip from Charo's only TV special, an unsold ABC variety pilot produced during the Bicentennial year. After telling young Jimmy (Phillip Mancini) about coming to America, she sings "America the Beautiful." There is zero information out there about the kid... Does anybody know him?

𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗬𝗗 𝗕𝗔𝗨𝗠𝗘𝗦 (𝟭𝟵𝟯𝟵-𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲) 🕊️ The creative force developed #TheLoveBoat ⚓️produced #WonderWoman 🌟 and other shows, often working with Douglas S. Cramer. A true legend of the small screen...

After 6½ years, NBCUniversal has taken down my upload of the Whiz Kids pilot. Universal has never released it, and only 10 of 18 eps survive in the studio archives. The remaining exist only because viewers recorded them. We would gladly buy or stream the series...if it was available.

🚀 As Star Trek approaches its 60th anniversary, here's one of NBC's original promos: "At the edge of the universe, 400 men and women are probing the immeasurable blackness of space..." The eerie music is "Lunar Landscape" by Roger Roger and His Orchestra.

How does an 80s sitcom that ran 101 eps simply disappear? The New Leave It to Beaver survived Disney canceling it, w/ Ted Turner ordering 74 more eps. Its disappearance since? A bizarre story involving collapsed media company Qintex, an international fugitive, and murky rights issues.

This week in 1963: Leave It to Beaver ended its original run...except it never disappeared. A 1983 reunion led to The New Leave It to Beaver, which ran 101 eps. Why has it disappeared? The answer is one of TV's strangest rights stories ever, involving an international fugitive!

🚀 Captain Video tidbit/Forgotten TV exclusive: The Video Ranger model appearing on the comic was unknown or mis ID'd. A 2020 interview identified him as Bruce Porter—father of Todd Porter, who later played Ham Parker on Whiz Kids. Some TV connections take decades to uncover.

🚀 Happy 77th Anniversary to Captain Video and His Video Rangers! America's first TV sci-fi series in 1949 had a $25/week prop budget and TV's first sci-fi robot, I TOBOR. Sadly, most of its 1,537 live episodes were later dumped in the East River. Expanded article up on Patreon!

#OnThisDay 1980: 𝙉𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮'𝙨 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 debuted on ABC. Ron Moody starred as a bumbling Scotland Yard detective transferred to San Francisco. ABC delayed it over title similarity to Hart to Hart, burning off the 8 eps in summer. #80sTV #ForgottenTV

June 23, 1993: Family Dog debuted on CBS. The beloved Amazing Stories short by Brad Bird (with Tim Burton designs) became a series—without Bird. Production delays, animation problems, improvised dialogue, and poor reviews followed. Still got an SNES game, though. 🐶

#OnThisDay 1978: Free Country debuted on ABC. Rob Reiner as 89-year-old immigrant Joseph Bresner and his younger self in this unusual comedy-drama about a Lithuanian family building a new life in New York. Only 5 eps were made and thought lost, but an ep has surfaced on YouTube.

#OnThisDay 1983: ABC aired 𝙒𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙢𝙖𝙣. Promoted as "a new lovable creature," Wishman was actually a genetically engineered quasi-human who mostly communicated by saying: "Ahhhh!" Writer John Stern got exactly one more TV credit afterward... an ep of Partners in Crime. "Ahhhh!" 🤖😬

#OnThisDay 1976: Logan's Run was released. One of the last major pre-Star Wars sci-fi films, it belonged to an era of dystopian futures and social commentary rather than laser battles. "In the 23rd Century, life lasts 30 years..." 50 years later, it's still running. 🏛️

We've literally had decades of movies warning us about all this...just look at what came out 50 years ago today to see what AI might decide to do with us...

Long ago, in a remote corner of the Internet, an ancient blog was born with a gift for mankind...𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗧𝗩. For nearly 20 years, it has searched through newspaper archives, TV Guides, home recordings, and fading memories to preserve the stories of television's past. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚𝙨...