September 26, 2010: "Downton Abbey" Premieres

September 26, 2010: Bob's Burgers premieres on Fox, Shameless premieres on Showtime, and Downton Abbey premieres on PBS.

Created and co-written by Julian Fellowes, show was set on the titular country estate, in Yorkshire in the North of England, between 1912 and 1926. The Abbey was "played" by Highclere Castle, in Hampshire, in the South of the country.

The Abbey is home to the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants. Over the course of the show, they react to the sinking of the Titanic, the events of World War I, the Spanish Flu epidemic, the Irish struggle for independence, and British politics after those events. The show chronicles the effects of these events on both levels of class shown.

Like previous shows Upstairs, Downstairs and Brideshead Revisited, it presented these contrasts in a way that gained fans both in Britain and, through PBS' Masterpiece Theatre, in America.

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September 26, 2010 was a Sunday. This was also the day that the Internet series Epic Rap Battles of History premiered. I have a separate entry for that event.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium. Baseball's greatest rivalry: It's epic, it's had some "rapping," it's been a battle, and there's been plenty of history. This time, Juan Miranda took a bases-loaded walk from Hideki Okajima to win it in the bottom of the 10th inning. This made a winning pitcher out of Boone Logan (to my shock), in relief of Phil Hughes. Alex Rodriguez hit a home run. Derek Jeter went 0-for-4, but did draw a walk.

* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-2 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-2 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 9-3 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-1 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-7 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Florida Marlins, 7-1 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-2 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-3 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Diego Padres, 12-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 16-9 at the Oakland Coliseum.

And these games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants lost to the Tennessee Titans, 29-10 at the New Meadowlands Stadium (now MetLife Stadium).

* The New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins, 31-23 at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills, 38-30 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat their replacements in their former hometown, the Cleveland Browns, 24-17 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Carolina Panthers, 20-7 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 28-3 at EverBank Field (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville, Florida.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 38-13 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat their arch-rivals, the New Orleans Saints, 27-24 at the Superdome in New Orleans. It was the only overtime game of the week, and Matt Bryant won it with a 46-yard field goal with 1:55 left.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions, 24-10 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Rams beat the Washington Redskins, 30-16 at the Edward Jones Dome (now The Dome at America's Center) in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers, 31-10 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the other Texas team, the Houston Texans, 27-13 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Denver Broncos, 27-13 at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Oakland Raiders, 24-23 at University of Phoenix Stadium (now State Farm Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the San Diego Chargers, 27-20 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

* And the next night, on Monday Night Football, the Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 20-17 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago. 

September 5, 1976: "The Muppet Show" Premieres

Top row, left to right: Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Uncle Deadly,

Waldorf, Statler, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Teeth, Beaker.

Second row: Lew Zealand, Animal, Floyd Pepper, Rowlf.

Third row: Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Camilla.

Bottom row: Gonzo the Great, Kermit the Frog, Scooter.

September 5, 1976: The Muppet Show premieres on British network ITV. Joel Grey is the guest star. In America, it aired in syndication, debuting on September 13, with the episode featuring Rita Moreno. Given that the show took place in a theater, it made sense that, either way, the 1st guest star was a Broadway legend, as well as a Hollywood star.

It surprised me, as a kid who watched Sesame Street, that the only Muppet to cross over to this show (with rare exceptions) was Kermit the Frog, who hosted. I was being introduced to a bunch of Muppets I'd never seen before, and didn't know. But I came to know them: Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Rowlf the piano-playing dog, Kermit's nephew Robin, and the two old guys heckling from the corner box, Statler and Waldorf, named for old New York hotels.

The band was Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Dr. Teeth played piano, a hippie chick named Janice played guitar, Floyd Pepper played bass, Zoot played saxophone, and, of course, the drummer was Animal.

Floyd wore a military jacket and was meant to evoke the Beatles' character Sgt. Pepper. I didn't notice that at the time, but I did notice that all of the Muppets, including the bandmembers, were lefthanded. Eventually, I learned that this was not simply a coincidence: The reason was that the puppeteers would use their right hands to move the faces, and their left hands to move the hands.

Regular sketches included Muppet News Flash; The Dance, with dance marathoners making dumb "quickie" jokes, clearly a lampoon of the Cocktail Party sketch on Laugh-In; The Swedish Chef, whose indecipherable recipes always went wrong; Veterinarians' Hospital, with Rowlf as a doctor assisted by Miss Piggy and Janice; Pigs In Space, with Miss Piggy serving alongside Link Hogthrob as captain ("hamming it up" while sounding like Ted Knight's Mary Tyler Moore Show character Ted Baxter) and Dr. Julius Strangepork (a German-accented homage to Dr. Strangelove and Albert Einstein); Muppet Labs, with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his beleaguered assistant Beaker; and Bear On Patrol, with Fozzie playing a cop reporting to a desk sergeant played by Link.

Jim Henson voiced Kermit, Waldorf, Rowlf, Dr. Teeth, Link, and the Newsman. Frank Oz voiced Miss Piggy, Fozzie (name derived from "F. Oz"), Animal and Sam the Eagle. Dave Goelz voiced Gonzo, Zoot and Bunsen Honeydew. Richard Hunt voiced Scooter, Statler, Janice, Beaker and Sweetums. Jerry Nelson, better known as The Count on Sesame Street, voiced Robin, Floyd, Dr. Strangepork, Gonzo's girlfriend Camilla the Chicken, mad bomber Crazy Harry, and the dragonlike Uncle Deadly (formerly known as Skrid when the Muppets appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show).

The show ran 5 seasons, and was basically what Laugh-In had set itself up as a few years earlier: The last gasp of vaudeville. Not counting guest Muppets from Sesame Street, there were 128 total guest stars in the show's history.

Three married couples appeared together as guests: Roy Rogers & Dale Evans (stayed married 'til death did they part), Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge (divorced) and mimes Robert Shields & Lorene Yarnell (divorced). One pair of siblings appeared, but not together: Country singers Loretta Lynn and her much younger sister Crystal Gayle. One parent-child pair appeared, but not together: Indeed, Candice Bergen appeared before her father Edgar and her "brother," Charlie McCarthy, did.

Since the show was taped at what is now the BBC Studio in Elstree, in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, in the northwest suburbs of London, it was more internationally-oriented than most American TV variety shows. There were 97 Americans, 21 British, 2 Canadians (Doug Henning and Anne Murray), 2 Frenchmen (Charles Aznavour and Jean-Pierre Rampal), 2 Swiss (both of them members of Mummenschanz, which also included an American), a Dane (Victor Borge), a German (Elke Sommer), a Spaniard (Señor Wences) and a Russian (Rudolf Nureyev). The only one born in Asia was Juliet Prowse, born in India while it was a British colony. She was raised in South Africa, also in the British Commonwealth at the time, making her, despite being white, the only African host.

The oldest performer was 86-year-old Señor Wences, younger than George Burns by a few months, but older than Burns was when each appeared on the show -- and Wences beat Burns in final age, 103 to 100. The youngest was a 15-year-old Brooke Shields, the next-youngest being a 28-year-old Christopher Reeve. Zero Mostel was not only the first of the show's guest stars to die, but he died before his episode could air.

There were 69 men and 59 women. There were 9 black guest hosts. In order of appearance: Lena Horne, Pearl Bailey, Harry Belafonte, Lou Rawls, Shirley Bassey, Lola Falana, Leslie Uggams, Gladys Knight and Ben Vereen. There were 4 Hispanics, not counting the Spain-born Señor Wences: Rita Moreno, Raquel (Tejeda) Welch, Joan Baez and Lynda (Cordova) Carter. There were no ethnically Asian guests. There were 5 guests who are now known to have been gay: Elton John was already out, Rudolf Nureyev didn't exactly hide it, Jim Nabors and Joel Grey came out late in life, and Liberace denied it to the end.

Although the guests came from across the spectrum of show business, no guest came from outside show business. And 9 of the guests would also appear in The Muppet Movie in 1978: Edgar Bergen, Milton Berle, James Coburn, Dom DeLuise, Bob Hope, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Steve Martin and Paul Williams. (Charles Durning, who played the film's villain Doc Hopper, was never a Muppet Show guest.)

The last episode aired on March 15, 1981, with guest host Shirley Bassey, who, of course, sang the song for which she is best known: The theme to the James Bond film Goldfinger, in front of a bank vault while Link Hogthrob led a gang robbing it.

The cancellation was Henson's own choice: He wanted to stop making the show before the writing grew stale, or the quality faded. Also, with the The Muppet Movie's success, he wanted to move into movies, and thought it better to concentrate on that instead of the show. The Great Muppet Caper was released to theaters in 1981, and was also successful.

*

September 5, 1976 was a Sunday. Dutch actress Carice van Houten, known for her role as Melisandre on Game of Thrones, was born. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Ross Grimsley Jr. outpitched Jim "Catfish" Hunter. Al Bumbry, one of several Orioles in that period that drove the Yankees nuts, hit a home run. Reggie Jackson, in his only season with the Orioles, went 1-for-4. Thurman Munson went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* The New York Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1 at Shea Stadium. Larry Christenson outpitched Mickey Lolich, for whom the Mets traded Rusty Staub in his prime to Detroit, not knowing Lolich was washed up. Christenson also hit 2 home runs. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-4.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Woodie Fryman pitched a 4-hit shutout, outpitching Jerry Reuss. José Morales, pinch-hitter extraordinaire, batted for Larry Parrish in the bottom of the 8th inning, and reached on an error by Pirate 2nd baseman Rennie Stenett, bringing Bombo Rivera home with the winning run.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-4 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Pete Rose went 0-for-4 with a walk. Johnny Bench went 0-for-5.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Rick Waits outpitched, ironically, Reggie Cleveland. Indians manager Frank Robinson, in his last month as an active player, did not put himself into the game. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Hank Aaron, in his last month as an active player, did not appear in the game. Robin Yount went 0-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ron Fairly singled Lou Brock home with the game's only run in the top of the 11th inning. It made Al Hrabosky the winning pitcher, in relief of John Denny, who went 9 shutout innings. It made Joe Coleman Jr. the losing pitcher, in relief of Rick Reuschel, who went 8 shutout innings. Over 11 innings, the Cards allowed just 5 hits.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 18-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. The Twins scored 10 runs in the 5th inning. They got home runs from Roy Smalley and Dan Ford. Rod Carew went 4-for-5.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 1-for-4.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros, 4-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. Doug Rau pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The California Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Nolan Ryan went the distance, allowing 3 hits and striking out 8.

* And a doubleheader was split at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The San Francisco Giants won the opener, 5-0. John Montefusco pitched a 4-hit shutout. The San Diego Padres won the nightcap, 6-1.

August 22, 1964: "Match of the Day" Premieres

August 22, 1964: Match of the Day is first broadcast on BBC1. It becomes British television's most popular TV program -- or "programme," as it would be "spelt" over there.

The 1st game was at Anfield, home stadium of Liverpool Football Club, defending Champions of the Football League Division One, who beat Arsenal Football Club, of North London, 3-2.

The game is not broadcast live: It is filmed, so that it can be shown that night from the BBC's London headquarters. It will be many years before live games are shown, the reasoning being that it would hurt attendance, and thus gate receipts, by far the main source of teams' income. Eventually, they would figure out that TV broadcast rights would be more lucrative than gate receipts.

But, for many years to come, only a scattered few games would be broadcast live, including the annual FA Cup Final. And so, on Saturday nights, MOTD became what Americans would later call "must-see TV." In 1968, ITV, the BBC's main rival, would introduce a show for Sunday afternoons, The Big Match. It, too, becomes a must-watch for footie fans. Both shows are still run today.

*

August 22, 1964 was a Saturday. Tennis player Mats Wilander was born. So was Trey Gowdy, right-wing fanatic Republican Congressman turned Fox News host. And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees and their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, split a doubleheader at Fenway Park in Boston. The Red Sox won the opener, 5-3. They scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th, off Al Downing, making a winner of Dick Radatz in relief of Bill Monbouquette. Elston Howard hit a home run for the Yankees, Lee Thomas for the Red Sox.

The Yankees won the nightcap, 8-0. Mel Stottlemyre pitched a 6-hit shutout. Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Johnny Blanchard hit home runs. Over the 2 games, Mantle went 2-for-7 with a walk and 3 RBIs, Maris went 2-for-6 with 2 walks and 3 RBIs, and Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-6 with a walk.

* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-4 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Roberto Clemente went 3-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Washington Senators, 6-2 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in 1969.)

* The Cleveland Indians swept a doubleheader from the Los Angeles Angels, 1-0 and 5-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Sonny Siebert pitched a 5-hit shutout in the 1st game.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Houston Colt .45s beat the Milwaukee Braves, 5-4 at Colt Stadium in Houston. Hank Aaron went 3-for-5, and Joe Torre went 2-for-4. The following year, the Astrodome opened, and the Colts became the Houston Astros.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Don Drysdale pitched 8 innings for the Dodgers, Joey Jay 10 for the Reds, and neither ended up as the winning pitcher. Frank Robinson went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Leo Cardenas drew a bases-loaded walk on Howie Reed in the top of the 15th inning.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Mays went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Lou Brock went 1-for-5 with 2 stolen bases.

* And the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins were rained out at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Twins won the 1st game, 6-5. The Tigers won the 2nd game, 5-2. Over the 2 games, Al Kaline went 1-for-7 with 2 walks, and Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-7 with 2 walks.

April 15, 1984: Tommy Cooper Dies On Live TV

April 15, 1984: Comedian Tommy Cooper dies, on live British national television.

Thomas Frederick Cooper was born on March 19, 1921 in Caerphilly, Wales, outside the Welsh "national" capital of Cardiff. When he was 3 years old, the family moved to Exeter, Devon, not far from his mother's hometown, and he developed a "West Country" English accent instead of the Welsh one his father had. At the age of 8, an aunt bought him a magic set, and that was his start in show business.

During World War II, he served in the British Army's Royal Horse Guards, and he joined a performing-arts troupe similar to America's USO. His service brought him to Cairo, Egypt, and he was supposed to wear a pith helmet in his act. But he forgot it. He saw a waiter, and took the waiter's fez (a type of hat common in Egypt and Turkey), put it on his own head, and got a laugh. After he was discharged (or "demobilised," as the British would say), he kept up the magic and comedy act, and continued wearing a fez, advertising himself as "Cooper the Trooper."

In 1947, he married Gwen Henty, although from 1967 onward, he had an extramarital relationship with his personal assistant, Mary Fieldhouse. He and Gwen had 2 children. Son Thomas John became an actor, under the name Thomas Henty. 

He also had a daughter named Victoria, who said, "Dad had a list of jokes, so he would sit at the dining table. And he used to get me to go through the jokes, and mark them, red, amber or green. He loved laughing. That's all he wanted to do, make people laugh. He got such joy when people laughed."

An imposing presence at 6-foot-4, he liked to take the stage wearing a tuxedo and a fez, and say, "Good evening," and then turn to the stage manager and say, "Have we got time for more?" Like American comedian Carl Ballantine, part of his act was being a bad magician, although he would occasionally throw in a trick that worked to keep the audience on their toes. He was also famously a bad juggler, and used many other props in his act. Like American comedian Chevy Chase, one thing he was good at was pratfalls.

Like American comedians George Carlin and Jackie Vernon, he was adroit with wordplay and puns:

* "Two fish in a tank, one says to the other, "You drive, I’ll man the guns."

* "Police arrested two kids. One was drinking battery acid, the other was eating fireworks. They charged one, and let the other off."

* "I slept like a log last night. I woke up in the fireplace."

* "My wife and I were married in a toilet. It was a marriage of convenience." (In Britain, a "toilet" is the entire restroom, not just the bowl and tank.)

* "I went to buy some camouflage trousers, but I couldn’t find any." (Sounds like a Steven Wright joke.)

* "Two aerials meet on a roof, fall in love and get married. The ceremony was rubbish, but the reception was brilliant." (Sounds like the old joke about the danger of drinking varnish: "It'll be a sad end, but a great finish.")

* "A man said to the doctor: 'I've broken my arm in several places.' The doctor said, 'Well, don't go there any more." (Sounds like another old joke: First man: "I'm stiff in the joints." Second man: "Well, stay out of those joints!")

Unfortunately, like Chase, Carlin, and so many other comedians, he was a substance abuser. He drank more than Dean Martin and Foster Brooks combined seemed to do (Martin actually didn't drink much, and Brooks swore he never touched a drop in real life), and he smoked more cigars than Groucho Marx and George Burns. By the 1970s, he was one of the most famous comedians in the world, but his health had already begun to suffer. British network Thames Television dropped his show in 1980.

But Thames' weekend counterpart, London Weekend Television -- both absorbed into ITV in 2002 -- was still willing to work with him. On April 15, 1984, he was booked on the variety show Live from Her Majesty's, which, as the title suggests, was broadcast live from Her Majesty's Theatre in Westminster, London. An audience of 12 million people watched.

Its host, as usual, was the Liverpool-based comedian Jimmy Tarbuck. The way the act was supposed to work, Tarbuck would hide behind the curtain, and hand Cooper the props he needed. Tommy's son Thomas was also backstage. A beautiful blonde handed him a robe, and he put it on over his tux, and said, "Thank you, love."

They turned out to be his last words. After fastening the robe, he held his arms out, as if to begin his act. Then he fell backwards, and landed on his rear end, leaning against the curtain. The audience thought it was another pratfall, and laughed. A few seconds later, he fell from a sitting to a lying position. Still, the audience laughed.

Finally, Tarbuck realized it wasn't part of the act, and signaled to the show's director, Alasdair MacMillan. MacMillan cued the orchestra to play for an unscripted commercial break. The screen went blank, while LWT's master control contacted stations to start transmitting commercials.

Cooper was taken to Westminster Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He was 63 years old. Although his death was not revealed to the evening news broadcasts, the incident was the leading item on them. His death was officially reported the next morning.

In 1988, Thomas Henty died at age 32, as a result of hemophilia. Gwen died in 2002. In 2014, a documentary was broadcast, suggesting that, in addition to carrying on a parallel relationship with his personal assistant, Tommy Cooper was an abusive husband and father. His daughter Vicky, having refused all interview requests for 30 years, finally spoke up, saying that the documentary described a man she never knew. She knew about the affair and the drinking, but said he was never abusive.

The age of 63 is too young to die, and no one should have to die with 12 million people watching. On the other hand, Tommy Cooper was still making people laugh as he left this world. He literally died while doing what he loved. Nearly 40 years later, watching old clips on television and the Internet, people are still laughing at his act. He would have loved that.

*

April 15, 1984 was a Sunday. England's Football League would have played the day before, except this was a week of an international break, when national teams played each other, later to be known as an "Interlull."

But in America, there were Major League Baseball games played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-1 at Yankee Stadium. Ken Griffey Sr. drove in both Yankee runs, near the game's beginning and at its end: He doubled home Willie Randolph after a leadoff single in the bottom of the 1st inning, and singled home Toby Harrah and Lou Piniella in the bottom of the 10th inning. Dave Righetti was the winning pitcher, in relief of Ron Guidry.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-5 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Eddie Murray went 0-for-2 with 2 walks and an RBI. Cal Ripken Jr. went 3-for-3 with 2 walks, but no RBIs.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The only run came in the bottom of the 1st, when George Hendrick grounded to 2nd, allowing Lonnie Smith to score. Bob Forsch (4 1/3rd innings), Dave Rucker (2), Jeff Lahti (1) and Bruce Sutter (1 2/3rds) combined on a 7-hit shutout.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Robin Yount went 0-for-3 with a walk. Paul Molitor appeared as a pinch-runner, for Ted Simmons, who went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. George Brett was injured, missing the 1st 20 percent of the season, including this game.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers, 2-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-4 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-6 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Jack Clark and Jeffrey Leonard both hit home runs off Fernando Valenzuela in the 6th inning. Both teams scored 2 runs in the 9th inning. Chili Davis led off the top of the 11th with a double, and was singled home by Joel Youngblood for the winning run.

* The California Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 12-8 at the Oakland Coliseum. The Halos got home runs from Reggie Jackson, Brian Downing, Rob Wilfong and Juan Beníquez. Rod Carew went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-4 and didn't steal any bases, but drove in a run with a groundout.

* The Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers were rained out at Fenway Park in Boston. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 6. The Tigers won the opener, 9-7. The Red Sox won the nightcap, 10-2.

* The New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs were rained out at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 7. The Cubs swept, 8-6 and 8-4.

* The Montreal Expos and the Philadelphia Phillies were also rained out, at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. (It didn't have a permanent roof yet.) This also became an August 7 doubleheader. The Phils won the opener, 6-2. The Expos won the nightcap, 3-2. Between the 2 games, Mike Schmidt went 2-for-7 with a home run, 2 walks and 3 RBIs. Pete Rose, in his brief time with the Expos, only appeared in the opener, as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

There were 3 games played in the United States Football League. The New Jersey Generals lost to the Arizona Wranglers, 20-3 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. The Philadelphia Stars beat the Chicago Blitz, 41-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. And the Birmingham Stallions beat the Michigan Panthers, 28-17 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

The NBA was between the regular season and the Playoffs. There were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Washington Capitals, 3-1 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat their Provincial rivals, the Quebec Nordiques, 2-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-1 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat their arch-rivals, the Calgary Flames, 3-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

January 7, 1961: "The Avengers" -- The Spies, not the Superheroes -- Premieres

Patrick Macnee as John Steed (left), and Diana Rigg as Emma Peel

January 7, 1961: The Avengers premieres on British TV network ITV. The franchise it produced would have no connection to the later Marvel Comics franchise of the same name, save for the name itself.

The show was produced by ABC Weekend TV, which provided the weekend service in the Midlands and Northern England regions of the Independent Television (ITV) network from 1956 to 1968. The letters stood for Associated British Cinema, and had no connection with either the American Broadcasting Company or the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which also used the letters ABC.

At first, The Avengers would bear little resemblance to the show that the British, and later the Americans, would know. The 1st episode was titled "Hot Snow": Dr. David Keel, played by Ian Hendry, investigates the murder of his fiancée and receptionist, Peggy. The murder is tied to a drug ring -- a storyline that would have struggled to get past American censors at the time -- which is also being investigated by John Steed, played by Patrick Macnee.

It takes 2 episodes to "avenge" Peggy. That done, Steed asks Keel to partner with him, as needed, to solve crimes. Hendry was considered the star of the new series, receiving top billing over Macnee, and Steed did not appear in two of the series' episodes.

Production of the first series was cut short by a strike. By the time production could begin on the second series, which premiered on September 29, 1962, Hendry had quit to pursue a film career. Macnee was promoted to star and Steed became the focus of the series, employed by the British government, initially working with a rotation of three different partners.

One of these, the one that stuck, was Honor Blackman, as Dr. Cathy Gale, a self-assured, quick-witted anthropologist who was skilled in judo, and had a passion for leather clothes. Widowed during the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya, she was the "talented amateur" who saw her aid to Steed's cases as a service to her nation. Gale was in her early-to-mid 30s during her tenure (Blackman was already 37 when she debuted in the role), in contrast to female characters in similar series who tended to be younger.

Steed was transformed from a rugged trenchcoat-wearing agent into the stereotypical English gentleman, complete with Savile Row suit, bowler hat and umbrella, which were soon revealed to be full of tricks, including a sword hidden within the umbrella handle and a steel plate concealed in the hat. With his impeccable manners, old-world sophistication and vintage car, but also with the toughness that came from having served in World War II, Steed came to represent the traditional Englishman of an earlier era.

By contrast, Steed's partners were youthful, forward-looking, and always attired in the latest mod fashions. Gale's innovative leather outfits suited her many athletic fight scenes, as would be the case with her successor. After the 3rd season, in 1964, Blackman left the series, and played Pussy Galore in the James Bond film Goldfinger.

Ian Fleming's Bond novels had begun in 1953, but the Bond films had not by the time The Avengers premiered. Those films' success helped sell The Avengers to America's ABC, which began broadcasting the series with its 4th season, on May 30, 1966, 9 months after its British premiere.

It was decided that Dr. Gale's replacement would have to be, like her, a woman with "man appeal." This was abbreviated to "M. Appeal," and so she was named Emma Peel -- but always "Mrs. Peel." Diana Rigg was cast.

For the American version, an introductory scene was added, with a voiceover: "Extraordinary crimes against the people, and the state, have to be avenged by agents extraordinary. Two such people are John Steed, top professional, and his partner Emma Peel, talented amateur. Otherwise known as The Avengers."

Mrs. Peel was shown to be a scientific genius, and was no damsel in distress: She was shown saving Steed as often as it was the other way around. While Blackman had done judo on the show, Rigg was the 1st television actor, anywhere in the world -- in any format outside of Hong Kong-based films -- to do the Chinese martial art of kung fu. (Bruce Lee, having starred in some of those films, did it as Kato on The Green Hornet the following year.)

Mrs. Peel also favored leather, and sometimes wore miniskirts in this time of "Swinging London." There was a lighter tone to Rigg's episodes than Blackman's, and Mrs. Peel seemed to have an easier relationship with Steed. Unlike Dr. Gale, who was definitely widowed, Mrs. Peel's husband was said to be lost in a plane crash. So she was believed widowed, and the hints that she and Steed were fooling around were accepted.

(The stars did not agree on this. Macnee said that it was a regular thing, and that, whenever you saw them together in Steed's apartment, it was the morning after. Rigg, however, said it was just banter, and the relationship never went anywhere.)

Rigg was soon dismayed to find out that the cameraman was being paid more than she was. She demanded a raise, to put her more on a par with her co-star, or she would leave the show. The producers gave in, thanks to the show's great popularity in the U.S.

The show went to color for its 5th season, in 1967. At the start of the 6th season, in 1968, it was discovered that Mrs. Peel's husband, Peter, is alive. Oops... (Well, maybe he actively cheated on her.) She leaves Steed to go back to him, approving of her replacement, professional agent Tara King, played by Linda Thorson. Like Blackman, Rigg left the series to star in a James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. She played Tracy Draco, a.k.a. Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo, the doomed one and only (so far) Mrs. James Bond.

This 6th season also introduced Steed's boss, the wheelchair-bound man known only as "Mother" -- perhaps a play on "M," Bond's boss. Patrick Newell played the role. But with Rigg's departure, something was lost, and the show was canceled: Its last U.S. airing was on May 8, 1968, with the Tara King season never shown; and its last U.K. airing was on May 17, 1969.

In 1976, ITV aired The New Avengers, starring Macnee as Steed with 2 new partners: Gareth Hunt as Mike Gambit, and Joanna Lumley as "Purdey." It lasted only 1 season, and it was broadcast in America on CBS in 1978-79. In 1985, 21 years after Blackman and 16 after Rigg, Macnee finally appeared in a James Bond film, A View to a Kill, alongside Roger Moore.

In 1998, an Avengers film was released, with Ralph Fiennes as Steed and Uma Thurman as Dr. Emma Peel, now a meteorologist. Like the 1989 reunion film Get Smart Again!, the plot revolves around a weather machine. With tongue embedded in cheek, the villain is played by the original star of the Bond films, Sean Connery.

The film turned out to be a bomb that no Sixties spy hero -- not Bond, not Steed, not Mrs. Peel, not Maxwell Smart, not Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, not Jim Phelps and his Impossible Mission Force, not Derek Flint, not Matt Helm, not Austin Powers -- could defuse. No attempt at a new Avengers film has been announced since.

Ian Hendry died in 1984, Patrick Newell in 1988, Patrick Macnee in 2015, and both Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg in 2020 (neither of COVID). As of January 7, 2022, Linda Thorson is still alive.

*

January 7, 1961 was a Saturday. John Thune, later to be a U.S. Senator, a Republican from South Dakota, was born.

In The Avengers' homeland, the North London soccer team I would go on to support, Arsenal, lost to Sunderland, 2-1 at Roker Park in Sunderland, in the North-East, in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup. Arsenal's local rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, beat South London team Charlton Athletic, 3-2 at White Hart Lane. "Spurs" went on to win the Football League and the FA Cup, to win "The Double."

At the time, though just 4.7 miles from Arsenal's Highbury, "The Lane" was outside the city, in Middlesex. The London Government Act 1963 redrew the boundaries of the city of London (not to be confused with "The City of London"), so that the Tottenham area was within the city's limits, making Spurs truly a London team, and a North London team, for the first time.

In America, baseball and football were out of season. There was 1 game in the NBA: The New York Knicks beat the Syracuse Nationals, 120-117, in a game that, for some reason, was played on neutral ground, at the Rochester War Memorial (now the Blue Cross Arena) in Rochester, New York. Dolph Schayes scored 36 for the Nats, but the Knicks got 28 from Willie Naulls and 27 from Richie Guerin.

There were 2 games in the NHL. The New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 6-3 at the Montreal Forum. And the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins, 4-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Black Hawks were not scheduled.

January 2, 1975: “The Sweeney” Premieres

January 2, 1975: The Sweeney premieres on British network ITV. The name comes from "Cockney rhyming slang." The Metropolitan Police unit, which deals with armed robbery and other violent crimes in London, is called the Flying Squad, and this got rhymed into "Sweeney Todd," or "The Sweeney" for short.

It starred John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan, and Dennis Waterman as his partner, Detective Sergeant George Carter. A Manchester native like his portrayer, Regan had been in London for several years, and was frequently frustrated by his department's red tape. He is unwilling to cheat for either personal or professional gain, but will bend the rules to gain a desired result. He is divorced with a daughter.

Carter is a South London native. He is married, but his wife is murdered in Season 2. In spite of this, he never loses his idealism, and is usually the "good cop" to Regan's "bad cop."

The show ran for nearly 4 years. Its popularity led to 2 feature films: Sweeney! in 1977, and Sweeney 2, both starring Thaw and Waterman. In 2012, there was a film reboot, starring Ray Winstone as Regan and Ben Drew as Carter.

The show ran for nearly 4 years. Thaw later became known in America for starring as the title character in the ITV and PBS series Inspector Morse. He died in 2002. As of January 2, 2022, Waterman is still alive. (UPDATE: He died on May 8, 2022.)

*

January 2, 1975 was a Thursday. Baseball pitcher Jeff Suppan and actor Dax Shepard were born.

Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between its regular season and its Playoffs. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Phoenix Suns, 117-113 in overtime at Madison Square Garden. Walt Frazier scored 32 points.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the New Orleans Jazz, 99-95 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Bob Lanier had 36 points.

* And the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 116-111 at the Milwaukee Exposition and Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA (now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 52 points.

There were 3 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The Spirits of St. Louis beat the Virginia Squires, 112-88 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 122-104 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* And the Memphis Sounds beat the Utah Stars, 95-88 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. Ron Boone scored 33 points in defeat for the Stars. Stew Johnson led the Sounds with 25.

There were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Washington Capitals, 5-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Montreal Canadiens and the Atlanta Flames played to a tie, 1-1 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Minnesota North Stars, 6-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Los Angeles Kings at The Forum outside Los Angeles in

Inglewood, California.

* The St. Louis Blues beat their cross-State never-quite-rivals, the Kansas City Scouts, 2-1 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City.

* And the New York Rangers, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Detroit Red Wings, the Chicago Black Hawks, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Oakland Seals were not scheduled.

And there were 3 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Cleveland Crusaders, 4-1 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Houston Aeros beat the Michigan Stags, 6-3 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.) Just 16 days later, the Stags folded, and were moved to become the Baltimore Blades. They folded at the end of the season.

* And the Vancouver Blazers beat the Phoenix Roadrunners, 3-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.