January 4, 1964: "The Hollywood Palace" Premieres

January 4, 1964: The Hollywood Palace premieres on ABC. It was a taped, West Coast, Saturday night counteroffer to CBS' live, New York-based, Sunday night Ed Sullivan Show.

The El Capitan Theatre opened in 1927, under the name The Hollywood Playhouse, with a seating capacity of 1,500 that has always been maintained. In 1952, it hosted Richard Nixon's "Checkers Speech." At that point, it was owned by NBC, and was the filming location for The Colgate Comedy Hour, The Lawrence Welk Show, which switched to ABC in 1955; the game show Truth Or Consequences, which launched host Bob Barker to stardom; and one of the earliest TV reality shows, This Is Your Life.

ABC bought the building in 1963, and renamed it The Hollywood Palace, broadcasting a variety show of the same title there from 1964 to 1970. Bing Crosby hosted the 1st and last shows, and 30 others in between. Once, his former film partner and fellow golf fanatic, NBC icon Bob Hope appeared, and said he found the theater due to Bing's initials being on it: "ABC: Antique Bing Crosby." (In fact, Bing was only 26 days older: He was born on May 3, 1903, and Bob on May 29.)

The show is probably best remembered for its June 13, 1964 episode. Dean Martin was the host, and the Rat Pack singer-actor was terribly uncomfortable with having to introduce, in their 1st U.S. TV appearance, The Rolling Stones. Their rendition of Willie Dixon's blues song "I Just Want to Make Love to You" didn't help: Dean may have been "The King of Cool," but he thought Mick Jagger and company were terribly vulgar. (As if the Rat Pack weren't, during their stage acts in Las Vegas, but they watched their mouths on TV.)

On October 18, 1969, The Jackson Five, including Michael Jackson, made their national television debut on The Hollywood Palace. They were introduced by fellow Motown Records star Diana Ross, and her boss -- and, secretly, her boyfriend -- Berry Gordy Jr. falsely told the media that Diana had "discovered" them.

ABC moved Welk's show back to the building, but sold the building in 1978. On August 6, 1996, The Ramones played what turned out to be their last show there. Since 2004, the theater has operated as a dance club under the name Avalon Hollywood. It is at 1735 N. Vine Street, across from the Capitol Records Tower, 1 block from the famous corner of Hollywood & Vine, and 10 blocks east on Hollywood Boulevard from Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

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January 4, 1964 was a Saturday. Baseball was in the off-season. The NFL had played its Championship Game the preceding Sunday, December 29, 1963, and the Chicago Bears beat the New York Giants, 14-10. The American Football League played its Championship Game the next day, January 5, and the San Diego Chargers clobbered the New England Patriots, 51-10.

There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Cincinnati Royals, 125-116 at the Old Madison Square Garden. Oscar Robertson scored 41 points for the Royals.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Baltimore Bullets, 123-113 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now known as the CFG Bank Arena). Hal Greer scored 37 points for the Sixers. (If you're wondering about Wilt Chamberlain, he was still with the San Francisco, formerly Philadelphia, Warriors until January 15, 1965.)

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics, 125-118 in overtime at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Jerry West scored 36 points. This was a rematch of the last 2 NBA Finals, but the Lakers would not beat the Celtics in the Finals until 1985.