January 9, 1997: "Antiques Roadshow" Premieres on PBS

January 9, 1997: Antiques Roadshow premieres on PBS, based on the original British version that premiered in 1979. Both versions are still running.

The show goes to antiques conventions around the country. Visitors, predominantly from the area being visited by the show, bring along their possessions to be evaluated for authenticity and interest -- especially related to the venue -- and an approximate valuation is given. The production team selects the items whose appraisal is to be televised.

Often, the professional evaluators give a rather in-depth historical, craft, or artistic context to the item, adding a very strong cultural element to the show. This increases the show's appeal to people interested in the study of the past or some particular crafts, or certain arts, regardless of the monetary value of the objects. At the core, however, the focus of the production is on the interplay between the owner and the evaluator.

Sometimes, the value offered is significantly more than the owner expected, resulting in surprise and delight. Sometimes, it's significantly less, resulting in disappointment.

On an episode of Frasier, the show (with the title changed to avoid copyright issues) became the one thing that brought brothers Frasier and Niles together with their father Marty. The difference was, the brothers, both snooty academic psychiatrists, loved the discussion of the antiques; while the father, a retired policeman, considered it a game show, based on the guesses of the items' prices.

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January 9, 1997 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between Playoff rounds. There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 110-107 at the Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Orlando Magic, 97-92 in overtime at the Orlando Arena.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Utah Jazz, 110-96 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 102-86 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

And there were 8 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Washington Capitals, 2-0 at the USAir Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-4 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1 at the CoreStates Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Ottawa Senators, 2-0 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-4 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix. Igor Larionov scored the winning goal, 58 seconds into overtime.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Hartford Whalers, 3-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the St. Louis Blues beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-3 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).