The phrase “jump the shark” is now a shorthand we use for the moment a show or a story turns absolutely ridiculous and keeps heading downhill. But why the heck did it happen at all?
Today in 1931, the birthday of William Shatner, Captain Kirk from the original “Star Trek” series. Of course, if a different show he was supposed to star in had gone ahead, Shatner might not have ended up as Captain Kirk.
Today in 1982, the premiere of the short-lived but critically acclaimed cop spoof Police Squad, a show TV executives said was essentially too funny to stay on the air.
There’s an urban legend floating around the web that claims today in 1968, the television industry was briefly stopped in its tracks by the devil. We'll unpack this wild story.
Live broadcasting is a place where a lot can go wrong. Like a 1950s broadcast in the UK in which a key actor in a live drama had a fatal heart attack mid-show.
Today in 1952, the first TV episode of the soap opera Guiding Light. It was one of many hit shows led by a writer and producer sometimes called the “queen of soaps,” Irna Phillips.
Today in 2006, IT job candidate Guy Goma rose to the occasion when a BBC TV producer mistakenly brought him onto a live show to talk about the internet, even though they were actually supposed to interview a different Guy on the air.
