December 30, 1952: "The Ernie Kovacs Show" Premieres

December 30, 1952: The Ernie Kovacs Show premieres on NBC. It becomes a landmark in television production.

Up until then, TV production was basically done with what Leonard Nimoy on Star Trek would have called "stone knives and bear skins." Kovacs' visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years after his death.

With his visual tricks, Kovacs has been credited as an influence by many individuals and shows, including Johnny Carson, Laugh-In, Monty Python, Saturday Night Live, and various PBS programs.

The Ernie Kovacs Show was one of only six TV shows broadcast on all four U.S. television networks during the Golden Age of Television. It was on NBC in the 1952-53 season, CBS in 1953-54, DuMont in 1954-55, and, in its return of 1961-62, ABC. The show probably would have continued had it not been for Kovacs' death in a car crash.

The others were: The Original Amateur Hour, Pantomime Quiz, Down You Go, The Arthur Murray Party, and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.

*

December 30, 1952 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. Football season ended 2 days earlier, with the Detroit Lions beating the Cleveland Browns in the NFL Championship Game. There were no college football bowl games scheduled. Nor did the NHL schedule any games for this day.

There were 2 games in the NBA. The Rochester Royals beat their neighboring rivals, the Syracuse Nationals, 106-93 at the Edgerton Park Arena in Rochester, New York. And the Indianapolis Olympians beat the Minneapolis Lakers, 74-69 at the Butler Fieldhouse (now the Hinkle Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

December 27, 1947: "Howdy Doody" Premieres

December 27, 1947: Howdy Doody premieres on NBC. It becomes the most famous children's TV show of all time, until Sesame Street debuts in 1969.

Born in 1917 in Buffalo, Robert Emil Schmidt anglicized his name to Bob Smith, and became a popular figure on Buffalo radio station WGR. This got the attention of parent company NBC, who hired him away to do a morning show on New York flagship station WNBC, which he continued to do into the 1950s, until his TV show began to take up so much of his time.

On his radio show, Smith had a character named Elmer, a country boy, that proved popular enough that Smith was offered a Saturday morning kids' TV show, on the condition that Elmer be a character. So Elmer became a marionette, Howdy Doody, named for the Western-style transformation of the greeting, "How do you do?" into "Howdy do?" or sometimes even just "Howdy."

Smith became "Buffalo Bob," named for his hometown, and wearing Western gear like Buffalo Bill Cody. Howdy was dressed like a cowboy, and famously had 48 freckles on his face, one for every State then in the Union.

A section of seats called the Peanut Gallery was set aside on stage for kids to watch the show. Bob would start every show by sitting down at a piano and asking, "Say, kids, what time is it?" And they would yell, "It's Howdy Doody Time!" And Bob would play the theme song, to the tune of "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay":

It's Howdy Doody time,

It's Howdy Doody time,

Bob Smith and Howdy, too,

Say "Howdy do" to you.

Let's give a rousing cheer

’Cause Howdy Doody's here.

It's time to start the show

So kids, let's go!

Despite his country-boy beginnings, and his similarity to ventriloquist "dummies," Howdy was no fool: Bob made him a stand-in for the kids, and made him pretty smart, to show the kids that he believed they could be smart, too.

The show had other characters, most famously Clarabell the Clown, who, like Harpo Marx, did not speak, except by honking a horn, which Bob and Howdy could translate. Not having a speaking role meant that NBC could pay him less: Networks being budget-conscious was even worse at the dawn of the TV era.

Clarabell He also used the old vaudeville stunt of squirting seltzer from the bottle. The original Clarabell was Bob Keeshan, who was fired in 1952 after hiring an agent to negotiate a better salary. NBC's loss was CBS' gain, as, in 1955, Keeshan began hosting Captain Kangaroo. And he long outlasted Bob and Howdy, as the show ran until 1984.

Robert Nicholson, the show's musical director, took over the role of Clarabell, and also played a farmer named J. Cornelius Cobb. In 1954, Lew Anderson took over the role of Clarabell, and played it for the remainder of the show's run, while Nicholson continued to direct the music and play "Corny" Cobb. For his own show, Keeshan may have based Hugh Brannum's character Mr. Green Jeans on Cobb.

This was not a good time for the portrayal of Native Americans in the American media. Bill Le Cornec played Chief Thunderthud, Chief of the Ooragnak tribe. Though it sounds like the Norse legend "Ragnarok," it's actually "kangaroo" spelled backwards. With no sensitivity whatsoever, him speak in broken English.

He also introduced an expression of excitement or happiness to the American lexicon: "Kowabunga!" This word would be adopted by Southern California surfers, and, in his comic strip Peanuts -- named by his national syndicator, against his will, in honor of Howdy Doody's peanut gallery -- the dog Snoopy would yell it when he went surfing. The word has also been adopted by Sesame Street's Cookie Monster, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Bart Simpson on The Simpsons.

In 1950, Chief Thunderthud got a girlfriend, Princess Summerfall Winterspring. She was played by Judy Tyler, only 18 at the time. She stayed on the show until in 1956, to film Jailhouse Rock with Elvis Presley. Coming back from Hollywood, intending to go to New York where she'd gotten an offer for a Broadway musical, she and her new husband, Gregory Lafayette, were killed in a car crash in Wyoming on July 3, 1957. The character was not recast.

The live characters lived in the Western town of Doodyville, which, in hindsight, was probably not a good choice of name. In addition to Howdy, the puppets included Heidi Doody, a girl who (how, was never explained) saved Buffalo Bob's life, and was adopted as Howdy's sister (not his girlfriend); Phineas T. Bluster, Mayor of Doodyville, a skinflint and the show's main antagonist; Dilly Dally, a friend of Howdy's who took on the dumb hick role of the former Elmer character; twin bears named Hyde and Zeke (like "hide and seek"); and Flub-a-Dub, who had a duck's bill, a cat's whiskers, a cocker spaniel's ears, a giraffe's neck, a dachshund's body, a seal's flippers, a pig's tail and an elephant's memory.

By August 1948, the show was enough of a hit that it was moved to Monday through Friday, at 5:30 PM Eastern Time. In September 1954, Smith suffered a heart attack, and his doctors ordered home recuperation. Allen Swift did Howdy's voice, and continued to do it for the rest of the show's run. Western movie star Gabby Hayes and then New York disc jockey Ted Brown, as Bison Bill, filled in for him, explaining that Buffalo Bob was "vacationing at Pioneer Village." The kids seemed to accept this.

The sponsors did not. They made a lot of money with Smith advertising their products, and wanted him back sooner than his doctors did. So NBC set up a studio in his house, making a room into "Pioneer Village," where he could do commercials. In September 1955, Smith was given the go-ahead to return, but, soon thereafter, partly to accommodate his health, the show was scaled back to Saturday mornings only. And they stopped doing it live, but this enabled them to record it on color videotape, not that many households yet had color TV.

All good things must come to an end, and, on September 24, 1960, the final episode of Howdy Doody aired. It was a retrospective of the show's history, and, at the end, Anderson revealed a big secret: Clarabell actually can talk. So Buffalo Bob asked everyone to be quiet, and listen. The camera closed in on Clarabell, close enough that the TV audience could see that Anderson was crying, and he whispered, just loud enough for the microphone to pick up, "Goodbye, kids."

The 1970s brought on a nostalgia wave for the 1950s, and the Baby Boomers had grown up. But Buffalo Bob still meant something to them. He visited troops in Vietnam, and battle-weary young men joyously sang along with him. He made an appearance on Happy Days, a show set in 1950s Milwaukee, in a storyline where Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) wins a Howdy lookalike contest. Smith did a 40th Anniversary TV special in 1987, with Anderson, LeCornec and Nicholson in character, and Swift voicing Howdy. He proved popular doing appearances at shopping malls.

Nicholson died in 1993, LeCornec in 1997, Smith in 1998, Keeshan in 2004, Anderson in 2006, and Swift in 2010. Howdy Doody lives: He is still a point of reference, for people born long after the original show stopped, and the most-used puppet of him now rests in the television exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., alongside such pieces as Archie Bunker's chair from All in the Family and Fonzie's original leather jacket from Happy Days.

*

December 27, 1947 was a Saturday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL Championship Game was played the next day: The Chicago Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles. One college football game was played on this day: The University of Montana played the Hawaii All-Stars, 28-14 at Honolulu Stadium.

Three games were played in the Basketball Association of America, the league that would become the NBA for the 1949-50 season:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Chicago Stags, 79-70 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Providence Steam Rollers, 74-63 at the Rhode Island Arena in Providence.

* And the Washington Capitols beat the Philadelphia Warriors, 72-70 at the Uline Arena (now the Washington Coliseum).

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

And in English soccer, Liverpool FC beat Arsenal, 2-1 at Highbury in North London. 

December 24, 1951: The 1st Hallmark Christmas Movie

When was the 1st "Hallmark Christmas Movie"? It seems like a recent phenomenon. Indeed, the Hallmark Channel has made the sappy, holiday-themed romance films a regular feature of its October, November and December programming since 2009.

But before there was a Hallmark Channel, there was the anthology TV series Hallmark Hall of Fame. And the 1st one of those goes back a lot further than that. It's not a sappy romance story. And it's not an original story, either. Unless you mean a variation on the original Christmas story.

December 24, 1951: Amahl and the Night Visitors is broadcast on NBC, live from Studio 8H at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York. It is the 1st program in the Hallmark Hall of Fame series, sponsored by the Hallmark greeting-card company.

It is an opera, the 1st ever composed specifically for television, by Gian Carlo Menotti. He was born in 1911, in Cadegliano-Viconago, in Lombardy near the Italian border with Switzerland. In the booklet for the original cast recording, Menotti wrote:

This is an opera for children because it tries to recapture my own childhood. You see, when I was a child I lived in Italy, and in Italy we have no Santa Claus. I suppose that Santa Claus is much too busy with American children to be able to handle Italian children as well. Our gifts were brought to us by the Three Kings, instead.

I actually never met the Three Kings -- it didn't matter how hard my little brother and I tried to keep awake at night to catch a glimpse of the Three Royal Visitors, we would always fall asleep just before they arrived. But I do remember hearing them. I remember the weird cadence of their song in the dark distance; I remember the brittle sound of the camel's hooves crushing the frozen snow; and I remember the mysterious tinkling of their silver bridles.

(In fact, Italy does have a version of Santa Claus, although he's closer to St. Nicholas, the original bishop form of the character, known as Father Christmas in Britain, Père Noël in France, and, in Italy, Babbo Natale.)

The lead character is Amahl, a boy who, like Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, can walk only with a crutch. He compensates for his disability by telling tall tales. His mother does not believe him when he tells her there is an amazing star "as big as a window" outside over the roof of their house in Bethlehem.

After bedtime, there is a knock at the door and the mother tells Amahl to go see who it is. He is amazed when he sees three splendidly dressed kings, the Magi. (The Bible does not specifically call them kings. Nor does it specify the number of "wise men.") At first, the mother does not believe Amahl, but when she goes to the door to see for herself, she is stunned.

The Three Kings tell the mother and Amahl they are on a long journey, to give gifts to a wondrous Child, and they would like to rest at their house, to which the mother agrees, saying that all she can offer is "a cold fireplace and a bed of straw." The mother goes to fetch firewood, and Amahl seizes the opportunity to speak with the kings.

King Balthazar answers Amahl's questions about his life as a king, and asks what Amahl does. Amahl responds that he was once a shepherd, but his mother had to sell his sheep. Now, he and his mother will have to go begging.

Amahl then talks with King Kaspar, who is childlike, eccentric, and a bit deaf. Kaspar shows Amahl his box of magic stones, beads, and licorice, and offers Amahl some of the candy. The mother returns. He defends himself, saying "They kept asking me questions," when of course it has in fact been Amahl asking the kings questions. Amahl is told to go fetch the neighbors, so the kings may be fed and entertained properly.

After the neighbors have left and the kings are resting, the mother attempts to steal for her son some of the kings' gold that was meant for the Christ Child. She is thwarted by the kings' page. When Amahl wakes to find the page grabbing his mother, he attacks him. Seeing Amahl's defense of his mother and understanding the motives for the attempted theft, King Melchior says she may keep the gold, as the Holy Child will not need earthly power or wealth to build his kingdom.

The mother says she has waited all her life for such a king and asks the kings to take back the gold. She wishes to send a gift but has nothing to send. Amahl, too, has nothing to give the Child except his crutch. When he offers it to the kings, his leg is miraculously healed. With permission from his mother, he leaves with the kings to see the Child, and give his crutch in thanks for being healed.

Thomas Schippers conducted the orchestra. Chet Allen, then 12 years old, played Amahl. Rosemary Kuhlmann played the Mother, Andrew McKinley played King Kaspar, David Aiken played King Melchior, Leon Lishner played King Balthazar, and Francis Monachino played the page. Melissa Hayden, Glen Tetley and Nicholas Magallanes played "Dancing Shepherds."

Amahl and the Night Visitors was the 1st network television Christmas special to become an annual tradition. Until 1963, Amahl was nearly always presented with many of the same singers and production staff. From 1951 until 1966 it was presented every year on NBC on or around Christmas Eve. A 1978 production of Amahl also premiered on NBC, before it went to cable television in the early 1980s. A British film version was made in 1996.

Nicholas Magallanes and later Thomas Schippers died in 1977. Chet Allen became depressed over his failing career, and died by suicide in 1984. Leon Lishner died in 1995, Andrew McKinley in 1996, Francis Monachino in 2003, Melissa Hayden in 2006, Glen Tetley and later Gian Carlo Menotti in 2007, David Aiken in 2011, and Rosemary Kuhlmann was the last survivor of the cast, living until 2019.

Studio 8H has been the home of NBC's Saturday Night Live since 1975. Most of Menotti's work is forgotten. Arturo Toscanini, NBC's Italian-born main conductor, knew it when he heard the rehearsal for Amahl, telling him, "This is the best you've ever done."

*

December 24, 1951 was a Monday. Baseball was out of season. No games were scheduled in the NBA or the NHL And the NFL Championship Game was played the previous day, with the Los Angeles Rams beating the Cleveland Browns, 24-17 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. So there were no scores on this historic day.

December 17, 1977: Elvis Costello On "Saturday Night Live"

December 17, 1977: Saturday Night Live airs on NBC. The show was honoring the winner of an "Anyone Can Host" contest. The winner was Miskel Spillman, an 80-year-old German immigrant and grandmother from New Orleans. She remains the only non-celebrity to host, and was the oldest host in the show's history until 2010, when Betty White hosted at age 88.

Mrs. Spillman participated in a marijuana-themed sketch with John Belushi, and remained a fan of the show until her death in 1992. But she's not the main reason this episode of SNL is remembered.

The musical guest was supposed to be British punk rock band The Sex Pistols, then touring the U.S. But they canceled. So another British rock band was hired, although they were more in the realm of what would come to be called "New Wave": Elvis Costello & The Attractions.

The band's leader was Declan Patrick MacManus, then 23. He was the son of a jazz trumpeter of some renown in London, who had taken to calling himself Day Costello. He would later play on some of his son's albums. With his hair, horn-rimmed glasses, and sharp suits, Declan looked a lot like Buddy Holly, the American rock and roll pioneer who died in a plane crash in 1959, and was always more popular in Britain.

He eventually took up his father's stage surname, and used his own initials, becoming D.P. Costello. In March 1977, his manager suggested changing it to Elvis Costello, in honor of Elvis Presley, who died soon after. I'm presuming there was no connection.

The Attractions were: Lead guitarist Costello, bass guitarist Bruce Thomas, drummer Pete Thomas (no relation) and organist Steve Nieve. Nick Lowe, who later became a rock star in his own right, produced Costello's 1st album, My Aim Is True, which featured not the as-yet-unformed Attractions, but a Los Angeles-based band named Clover. It was released on July 22, 1977, and was a hit. The title came from a line in his 1st single from the album, "Alison."

The album also included "Less Than Zero," which became the title of a 1985 novel by Bret Easton Ellis, and the 1987 film based on it. Costello explained: "'Less Than Zero' was a song I had written after seeing the despicable Oswald Mosley being interviewed on BBC television. The former leader of the British Union of Fascists seemed unrepentant about his poisonous actions of the 1930s. The song was more of a slandering fantasy than a reasoned argument."

Indeed, Britain had seen a rise in right-wing sentiment in the 1970s, culminating in the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister in 1979, and the recruitment of young British men into groups like the openly neo-Nazi National Front, particularly at soccer games. (Or, as they would say over there, football matches. Costello was a Liverpool FC fan.) Mosley, who falsely claimed in a memoir, "I am not, and never have been, a man of the right. My position was on the left and is now in the centre of politics," died in 1980, at age 84.

But by December 1977, "Less Than Zero" had yet to hit the American singles charts. U.S. audiences didn't get it, because they weren't familiar with British politics, current or otherwise. Many listeners heard the name "Mr. Oswald, with the swastika tattoo" in the opening line, and thought it referenced Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of John F. Kennedy, even though that Oswald had been a Communist rather than a Fascist.

On Saturday Night Live, Elvis and The Attractions played "Watching the Detectives," which was not included on the album. His label, Stiff Records (owned by Columbia Records), insisted that he also play "Less Than Zero." Instead, he wanted to play "Radio Radio," also not on My Aim Is True. It was a song which smacked the British media establishment. Columbia told him not to play it.

SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels also told him not to play it, not because of the song's anti-media bias, but because Michaels was a stickler for order, and did not put up with disobedience of any kind. Elvis Costello did not put up with being given orders.

So Elvis played "Less Than Zero" -- for 6 seconds. Then he turned to The Attractions, waved his arms, and said, "Stop! Stop!" They did. Then he turned to the audience, and said, "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen. There's no reason to do this song here." He turned back to the band, and told them to play "Radio Radio." They did, and the audience liked it.

Michaels didn't. Furious, he banned Costello from the show. The ban lasted a little over 11 years. On March 25, 1989, Costello appeared again, without incident. He and original castmember Chevy Chase are the only performers ever to have bans from SNL rescinded.

On September 27, 1999, SNL aired its 25th Anniversary special. The Beastie Boys played the 1st 10 seconds of their song "Sabotage," then stopped. Costello walked onto the stage, waited for a standing ovation to stop, and, once again, said, "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen. There's no reason to do this song here." Together, he and the Beasties played "Radio Radio." Michaels, who had left and returned as executive producer, planned it with them beforehand, so it was all on the up-and-up.

In 2003, Elvis Costello & The Attractions -- the entire band -- were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As of December 17, 2022, Elvis Costello, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Steve Nieve and Nick Lowe are all still alive.

*

December 17, 1977 was, obviously, a Saturday. Baseball was out of season. Three games were played in the NFL, with the rest of the weekend's games being played the next day or the following night:

* The Washington Redskins beat the Los Angeles Rams, 17-14 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Buffalo Bills, 31-14 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

* And the Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions, 30-21 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.

There was 1 college football game played that day, the Independence Bowl, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech beat the University of Louisville, 24-14.

There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Chicago Bulls, 112-103 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 129-116 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Michael Campanella "Campy" Russell, later to play for the Knicks, scored 38 points.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Detroit Pistons, 126-122 in double overtime at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Randy Smith scored 31. Bob Lanier scored 36 in a losing effort.

* The Kansas City Kings beat the New Orleans Jazz, 115-93 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City. "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 34 in a losing effort.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Houston Rockets, 101-97 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Washington Bullets, 117-104 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. In spite of this, the Bullets would replace the Blazers as NBA Champions.

The entire NHL, all 18 teams, were in action:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Cleveland Barons, 4-2 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio. In spite of this, the Barons were bankrupt. Before the 1978-79 season began, they would be merged with another bankrupt team, the Minnesota North Stars, keeping that team's name. The Barons remain the last major league sports team in North America to go out of business.

* The New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins, 4-1 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Atlanta Flames, 4-3 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 7-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2 at the St. Louis Arena, or the Checkerdome as it was then known.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-1 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 2-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Vancouver Canucks and the Buffalo Sabres played to a tie, 5-5 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

And there were 2 games in the World Hockey Association. The Winnipeg Jets beat the New England Whalers, 6-3 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena). And the Soviet All-Stars, in an ill-fated experiment for the WHA, beat the Cincinnati Stingers, 5-4 at the Riverfront Coliseum (now the Heritage Bank Center).

And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal went to the West Midlands, and beat Coventry City, 2-1 at Highfield Road.

December 16, 1951: "Dragnet" Premieres

December 16, 1951: Dragnet premieres on NBC-TV, after some success on their radio network since 1949. It set the standard for all police dramas to follow.

A "dragnet" is any system of coordinated measures for apprehending criminals or suspects; including road barricades and traffic stops, widespread DNA tests (not yet possible when the series aired), and general increased police alertness. The term derives from a fishing technique of dragging a fishing net across the sea bottom, or through a promising area of open water.

Jack Webb created the series, produced it through his Mark VII Productions, wrote some episodes, and starred as Detective Sergeant Joe Friday. The show would begin with Walter Schumann's composition, which became perhaps the most famous TV theme song of all time, with a photograph of Friday's badge, featuring the image of Los Angeles City Hall, and the number 714.

The common explanation for Friday's badge number is that Webb was a fan of baseball legend Babe Ruth, who hit 714 home runs. That had nothing to do with it. Another story was that Webb wanted 777, because 7 is considered a lucky number; but, for some reason or another, the LAPD wouldn't authorize that, but that they let him have 714, which was fine with Webb, since 14 is a multiple of 7. The real story is that there was a Sergeant Dan Cooke who helped Webb with material for the show, and he wore badge 714.

George Fenneman would begin each episode with this narration: "The story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed, to protect the innocent." And Webb would begin to narrate, over a sweeping overhead shot of downtown: "This is the city: Los Angeles, California." He would set up the case with some mild exposition, and then say, "I was working the (day/night) shift out of (whatever the division was, which was unusual, as most detectives stay in one division). My partner is Frank Smith. My name's Friday. I carry a badge." And then the story would begin.

Friday's 1st partner, carried over from radio, was Sergeant Ben Romero, played by Barton Yarborough. But he died of a heart attack just 3 days after the pilot episode aired, and had completed only 1 other episode. For the rest of the 1951-52 TV season, Friday's partner was Sergeant Ed Jacobs, played by Barney Smith. Thereafter, Friday's partner was Sergeant Frank Smith, played first by Herb Ellis, then, for most of the show, by Ben Alexander.

Starting in Season 2, Olan Soule played Ray Pinker, the show's forensic scientist, a precursor to such roles on shows like Quincy and the CSI and NCIS franchises. Soule would go on to voice Batman in the 1970s Super Friends cartoons.

At the end of each show, "mug shots" would be shown, explaining the crimes with which the arrestees were charged, the verdicts in their trials, and, if convicted, their sentences. Their names were changed from the real stories, "to protect the innocent" -- not just the defendants, in case they were wrongly convicted, but their loved ones, who did not deserve to have viewers seek them out in anger.

The show ran 8 seasons, until August 23, 1959. It was the 1st police drama that real cops thought bore any resemblance to actual police work. There weren’t a lot of sensational car chases, and Webb had a rule that each cop could fire his gun a maximum of once per episode. Most of it was actual detective work: Interviewing complainants, suspects, and witnesses, and tracking down leads, before making the case. Friday frequently asked for "the facts," sometimes, "just the facts." He never once used the exact words so often attributed to him: "Just the facts, ma'am."

A Dragnet feature film, the first installment of the franchise in color, was released in 1954. In 1967, Webb, Mark VII and NBC relaunched the series in color. Alexander was on another police series on ABC, Felony Squad, and thus unavailable. So Harry Morgan, a veteran of the sitcoms December Bride and Pete and Gladys, and later the commanding officer Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H, became Friday's new partner, Bill Gannon.

The show took advantage of advances in technology, and took on the social issues of the late 1960s, including gangs, drugs, and teenage runaways coming to the Pacific Coast for the "Summer of Love" atmosphere. It ran for 3 seasons.

In 1968, Webb appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and parodied his show, telling of a theft at the Acme School Bell Company, whose boss Carson played. It became known as "The Copper Clapper Caper," and the ability of Webb and Carson to keep straight faces with all the alliteration made it one of the funniest bits in Tonight Show history. It is one of the few bits from Carson's New York years (1962-72) that has been preserved in color.

Webb died in 1982. The LAPD subsequently retired badge number 714. The badge and ID that Webb used as Friday were real LAPD equipment, and are on display at the city's police academy.

In 1987, a Dragnet film was released, with Dan Cooke as a technical advisor, but it was a comedy, almost a parody of the series. Morgan returned as Gannon, now a Captain. Dan Aykroyd played Sgt. Joe Friday, the nephew and namesake of the original. (The original Friday was famously a bachelor, the kind of man who was "married to his work," unlike Frank Smith, who frequently mentioned his own wife.) Tom Hanks played his unwanted new partner, Pep Streebeck, a slob -- an "Oscar Madison" to Joe's "Felix Unger." This dynamic would be reversed 2 years later, as Hanks played a neat-freak cop who had to take on a lovable but ill-behaved, messy dog in Turner & Hooch.

In 1989, The New Dragnet ran in syndication, but with entirely new characters. You might say the names had been changed, to protect the legendary. It didn't catch on, and was canceled less than a year after the pilot. In 2003, ABC paired with Dick Wolf, the producer of the Law & Order franchise, to create L.A. Dragnet, with Ed O'Neill as Joe Friday and Ethan Embry as Frank Smith. This didn't work, either, and after 22 episodes, albeit spread over almost 2 full years, it was canceled.

*

December 16, 1951 was a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was in the final week of its regular season, and these games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the New York Yanks (not "Yankees"), 27-17 at Yankee Stadium.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-9 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Washington Redskins, 20-10 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Chicago Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 24-14 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Green Bay Packers, 42-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* And the San Francisco 49ers beat the Detroit Lions, 21-17 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.

The following week, the Rams beat the Browns in the NFL Championship Game at the L.A. Coliseum, avenging their loss to the Browns in the previous year's title game.

There were 5 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks beat the Fort Wayne Pistons, 80-71 at North Side High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Yes: Until the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum opened the following September 28, an NBA team was playing home games in a high school gymnasium. This was a long time ago.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia Warriors, 92-90 in overtime at the Boston Garden.

* The Indianapolis Olympians beat the Syracuse Nationals, 96-92 at the Onondaga County War Memorial (now the Upstate Medical University Arena) in Syracuse, New York.

* The Rochester Royals beat the Baltimore Bullets, 99-95 at the Edgerton Park Arena in Rochester, New York.

* And the Minneapolis Lakers beat the Milwaukee Hawks, 99-52 at the Minneapolis Auditorium.

And the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2 at the Boston Garden.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

December 14, 1957: The Hanna-Barbera Empire Begins

esv

Joseph Barbera (left) and William Hanna

December 14, 1957: The Ruff and Reddy Show premieres on NBC. It was the 1st animated series made by Hanna-Barbera Productions, beginning a cartoon empire.

The series follows the adventures of Ruff, a smart and steadfast cat; and Reddy, a good-natured, brave, but not overly bright dog. It runs for 3 seasons, and is not nearly as well-remembered as some other Hanna-Barbera creations.

William Denby Hanna (1910-2001) grew up in Los Angeles. Joseph Roland Barbera (1911-2006) grew up in Brooklyn, and moved to Los Angeles as a young man. They met in 1937, while working in the animation department at Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. They worked on the Tom & Jerry cartoons in the 1940s and '50s, and founded their own production company on July 7, 1957, when MGM shut their animation department down. It would eventually show cartoons on all 3 major networks then in operation: NBC, CBS and ABC.

The Ruff and Reddy Show was a blip on the history of animated television. In 1958, Hanna-Barbera premiered The Huckleberry Hound Show. In addition to the titular hillbilly dog, it included segments starring Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks, two mice and a cat; and Yogi Bear. In 1959 game The Quick Draw McGraw Show, which also included Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy.

In 1960, they created The Flintstones, a caveman-era ripoff of The Honeymooners. In 1961, they gave Yogi Bear his own show, which also debuted the lion Snagglepuss; and premiered Top Cat. In 1962, they debuted the space-age series The Jetsons. In 1963 came The Magilla Gorilla Show; in 1964, Jonny Quest and The Peter Potamus Show; in 1965, The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show. In 1966, they debuted their 1st superhero, Space Ghost. In 1968, they introduced The Banana Splits, 4 guys in big animal costumes, who ran skits and introduced previously-produced Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

In 1968, The Wacky Races was launched. Three of the 11 cars in the races saw their occupants appear in spinoffs debuting the next year. The Perils of Penelope Pistop featured the titular Southern belle in a parody of silent-film "damsel-in-distress" serials, aided by another group of Wacky Racers, the Ant Hill Mob, dwarves who were parodies of 1920s gangsters. And Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines featured the Races' chief villain and his not-so-faithful dog, apparently set in World War I, fighting for Germany, trying to stop an American messenger -- a bird known as the Yankee Doodle Pigeon.

The Wacky Races and its spinoffs began a new era for Hanna-Barbera, highlighted in 1969, with Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The cowardly Great Dane and his 4 crime-fighting teenage cohorts started a trend in cartoons, with talking animals and people working together. In 1970, with The Archies already a cartoon hit, Hanna-Barbera merged that concept with Scooby-Doo, and premiered Josie and the Pussycats: A cartoon teenage rock band, animals, and crime-fighting.

This would be followed by such shows as a series based on the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team (with fanciful stories involving them fighting crime), The Funky Phantom in 1971, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan in 1972 (inspired by the Charlie Chan stories), Speed Buggy in 1973, Hong Kong Phooey in 1974, and Jabberjaw in 1976.

In 1975, they brought back their first project, with The New Tom & Jerry/Grape Ape/Mumbly Show. Mumbly was a dog in a trenchcoat who solved crimes, and, except for his coloring, was just like Dick Dastardly's dog Muttley. The problem was, while they had gained the legal rights to Tom & Jerry, they had lost the rights to Dastardly and Muttley. So a new character had to be created.

In 1976, they launched The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour. In addition to new adventures for Scooby and the gang, it introduced a new superhero. As he had for Space Ghost, the great Los Angeles disc jockey Gary Owens (best known as the announcer for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) voiced the Blue Falcon, a Batman ripoff who built his own Robin, a robot dog named Dynomutt, voiced by Frank Welker, who voiced Fred on Scooby-Doo and lots of cartoon dogs, including Astro Jetson -- but not Scooby, at least until original voice Don Messick died.

These last 2 series inspired their biggest project, in 1977: Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics. There were 3 teams: The Yogi Yahooeys, captained by Yogi Bear, and consisting of Hanna-Barbera characters of the 1960s, including Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw; the Scooby Doobies, captained by Scoopy and consisting of Hanna-Barbera characters of the 1970s, including Blue Falcon and Dynomutt; and the ever-cheating Really Rottens, captained by Mumbly, who as professional wrestling fans would say, "turned heel" for this show.

Most of the Rottens were new characters, some human, some monster. Among the humans was the Dread Baron, an evil pilot obviously based on Dick Dastardly, another character for whom Hanna-Barbera had lost the legal rights.

A few years later, after they regained the rights to Dick and Muttley, a graphic novel was released, with a time-travel plot (enabling the inclusion of both the Flintstones and the Jetsons) that brought all the Hanna-Barbera characters yet used together for one great climactic adventure, preceding DC Comics' Crisis On Infinite Earths by a few years, and Marvel Comics' Infinity Saga by several years. In that graphic novel, it was revealed that Dick Dastardly and the Dread Baron were identical twins, and that Muttley and Mumbley were also litter brothers.

Like most Hanna-Barbera shows were at this point, the Laff-A-Lympics were on ABC, and ABC's show Battle of the Network Stars was more of an inspiration than the actual Olympic Games.

There would be further Hanna-Barbera shows in the 1980s, including cartoons based on ABC sitcoms Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Mork and Mindy; and adapting The Smurfs for American TV. The last show by Hanna-Barbera Productions was The Powerpuff Girls, which ran from 1998 to 2005, and had the animation style and the feel of a 1970s' cartoon.

*

December 14, 1957 was a Saturday. Baseball was out of season. There was 1 game played in the NFL: The Chicago Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-27 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the St. Louis Hawks, 136-124 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia Warriors, 112-94 at the Boston Garden.

* And the Syracuse Nationals beat the Cincinnati Royals, 104-100 -- at the Rochester Community War Memorial in Rochester, New York, which had been the Royals' home in the 1955-56 and 1956-57 seasons, before moving to Cincinnati. (It is now named the Blue Cross Arena.)

And the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings played to a tie, 4-4 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens played to a tie, 1-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* And the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-1 at Maple Leaf Garden in Toronto.

December 6, 1964: The Rankin/Bass Empire Premieres

December 6, 1964: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer premieres on CBS, the 1st animated holiday special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc., now known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment.

Arthur Gardner Rankin Jr. was born on July 19, 1924 in Manhattan, and both of his parents were actors. Julius Bass, known professionally as Jules Bass, was born on September 16, 1935 in Philadelphia. In 1955, ABC hired Rankin as an art director, and Bass as a copywriter. Together, they made TV commercials, using animation.

In 1960, they founded Videocraft International, which became Rankin/Bass Productions. In 1964, they made their 1st stop-motion animation special, based on the 1947 Christmas-themed song "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Arthur Rankin Jr. (left) and Jules Bass

The story, narrated by Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman (who has a mustache and a goatee, like Ives himself did), follows the song, with some embellishments. In this version, Rudolph is the son of Donner, who is listed here as Santa Claus' lead reindeer, and Donner's wife, whose name is never mentioned. (This was before "the Second Wave of Feminism.") Rudolph, voiced by actress Billie Mae Richards, has the bright red nose from birth. Santa (voiced by Stan Francis) agrees with Donner that the nose has to be hidden. It has been noted that it's not just "all of the other reindeer" who were mean to Rudolph: This is not one of the nicer versions of Big Red.

After running away with Hermey (voice of Paul Soles, a voiceover legend, including the 1st person to play Spider-Man, albeit animated), an Elf who doesn't want to make toys for Santa, and would rather be a dentist, they find adventure with a miner, an abominable snowman, and an island of "misfit toys." Upon returning to the North Pole, they gain new respect. On Christmas Eve, the fog is so thick that Santa and the reindeer can't see through it, but Rudolph, with his nose so bright can guide the sleigh that night. It has occurred to me that neither Santa nor any of the other reindeer ever apologized to Rudolph.

The special is a musical, and it closes with Ives, as Sam, singing a song that became a Christmas classic: "A Holly Jolly Christmas."

The success of this special led to other holiday-themed specials, most of them based around Christmas legends, even though Rankin and Bass were both Jewish. In 1968, they produced The Little Drummer Boy, a stop-motion animation that aired on NBC, narrated by a woman voiced by actress Greer Garson. The drummer boy is voiced by Teddy Eccles, and the Vienna Boys' Choir sings the title song.

That special is not widely remembered today. Their next one is: In 1969, for CBS, they produced, with traditional animation, Frosty the Snowman. Jimmy Durante narrated, and was represented by a lookalike resident of the town where Frosty was "born," complete with big nose.

Comedian Jackie Vernon voiced Frosty. Because the original 1950 song doesn't have an antagonist, aside from the weather, the magic hat that brings Frosty to life previously belonged to Professor Hinkle, an evil magician voiced by Billy De Wolfe. Paul Frees returns, playing a much kindlier Santa than seen in Rudolph.

In 1970, Rankin & Bass returned to stop-motion, for Santa Claus is Comin' To Town. Fred Astaire voiced the narrator, a mailman named S.D. Kluger -- "S.D." for "Special Delivery." He gives the first truly detailed origin story for Santa Claus, although others have been put forth. Mickey Rooney voices Santa from infancy to jolly old elf. Robie Lester voices schoolteacher Miss Jessica, who becomes Mrs. Claus.

In 1971, they produced a special for Easter, Here Comes Peter Cottontail. It was not based on the 1950 song of that title, but on a 1957 novel The Easter Bunny That Overslept. Danny Kaye played narrator Seymor S. Sassafrass. Casey Kasem, star Los Angeles disc jockey, who voiced Shaggy on Scooby-Doo (and would later voice Robin in the Super Friends cartoons), voiced Peter. And the master of horror, Vincent Price, voiced the villain, evil rabbit January Q. Irontail.

In 1974, Mickey Rooney once again played St. Nick, in the stop-motion The Year Without a Santa Claus, premiering on ABC. Santa doesn't feel up to delivering the presents this year. His doctor says it's because not enough people believe in him anymore. So Mrs. Claus, this time voiced by Shirley Booth, sends a pair of Elves named Jingle Bells and Jangle Bells out on the sleigh, pulled by Vixen, the lone female reindeer of the usual crew of 8 (9, when Rudolph is leading the way).

What everyone tends to remember about this special, more so than the outcome (Santa is convinced to go for it, of course), is the antagonists, Snow Miser and Heat Miser, bickering brothers, both sons of Mother Nature. Each of them, true to their alternating song, is "too much."

Rudolph's Shiny New Year premiered on ABC in 1976. Red Skelton voices Father Time, who narrates. Billie Richards returns as Rudolph. Father Time tells his friend Santa that the Baby New Year must be found before the 12th "bong" at midnight on New Year's Eve, or else there will be no new year. As it's snowing, Santa sends Rudolph out to find him. Father Time considers Rudolph a good choice, because he would understand: The Baby, a.k.a. Happy, ran away from home because of his own unusual physical feature, enormous ears.

Rudolph goes to the Archipelago of Last Years (a variation on the Island of Misfit Toys). Each island represents a past year. On 1,000,000 BC Island, they meet a caveman named O.M. (for "One Million," voiced by Morey Amsterdam). He agrees to help Rudolph. So does Sir 1023, a Scottish knight (Frank Gorshin), who leaves his island of the year 1023, where all the fairy tales you've ever heard are real. Also agreeing to help is Sev (short for "1776," who looks like Benjamin Franklin and is voiced by Paul Frees), who leaves his island where every day is the 4th of July.

Other islands are no use: On 4,000 BC Island, all the people there want to do is build pyramids; on 1492 Island, people are too busy discovering things; everybody on 1893 Island is depressed, since there was a depression that year; and 1965 Island is "too noisy," as people are yelling about rock bands and a war. Nevertheless, Happy is found, rescued from a monster bird, and is brought back just in time.

Like Rudolph, Frosty returned in 1976, with Frosty's Winter Wonderland. By this point, Jimmy Durante was too ill to participate, so Andy Griffith was hired to narrate. With a new snowfall, Frosty returned to the town where he was "born," but the kids' love of Frosty makes Jack Frost, the symbol of Winter (Paul Frees), jealous, and he fights Frosty.

Frosty buys him off, by asking him to be the best man at his wedding to a snowwoman named Crystal (as snowflakes are crystals, and she's voiced by Shelley Winters). She came to life with a snow-corsage. The Parson Brown mentioned in the original song can't marry them, as he can only marry humans. So a snow parson is made, and Brown's Bible brings him to life. (Dennis Day voices both parsons.) Frosty and Crystal have to go north again, but promise to return.

Next, in 1977, again with Astaire as S.D. Kluger, was The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town. Keep in mind: Peter Cottontail and the Easter Bunny are separate characters, and this special told of a possible origin for the Easter Bunny, voiced by Skip Hinnant, already known to kids as Fargo North, Decoder on PBS' The Electric Company.

On Thanksgiving Weekend 1979 came the Justice League or Avengers of Christmas specials: Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. Returning are Billie Richards as Rudolph, Jackie Vernon as Frosty, Shelley Winters as Crystal, Mickey Rooney as Santa, and Paul Frees as Jack Frost. Frees also plays the villain, a snow wizard named Winterbolt, who wants to reclaim the North Pole from Santa, and plans to discredit Rudolph and Frosty to achieve this.

Red Buttons returns, but as Milton, an ice cream salesman, not as Father Time. Don Messick, the original voice of Scooby-Doo, plays several roles, including taking over as Rudolph's father, Donner. Darlene Conley voices Mrs. Claus. Thurl Ravenscroft, best known as the voice of Kellogg's cereals' Tony the Tiger, but also the singer of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" from How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (not a Rankin/Bass special), plays the Genie of the Ice Scepter, and Ethel Merman plays Lilly Loraine, owner of the circus where Milton works. The only things that seem to be missing are the Miser Brothers.

Finally, a few days after that special, came Jack Frost, as the Winter sprite got his own special, although this time, he is voiced by Robert Morse instead of Frees. His story is told by Pardon-Me-Pete, a groundhog voiced by Buddy Hackett, who has a vested interest in a longer Winter: More sleep. He and a human girl, voiced by Debra Clinger, fall in love, but, in the end, he loses her to a human boy. The girl's name is Elisa; maybe if her name had been Elsa, it would have worked out, but Jack has to let it go.

In 1987, Rankin and Bass sold their company to Lorimar Productions. Jimmy Durante, the narrator of Frosty, died in 1980. Paul Frees, voice of many characters in these specials, including the original Jack Frost, died in 1986. Jackie Vernon, the voice of Frosty, died in 1987. So did Fred Astaire, the narrator of Santa Claus is Comin' To Town. So did Danny Kaye, the narrator of Here Comes Peter Cottontail. Burl Ives, the narrator of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, died in 1995. Red Skelton, the narrator of Rudolph's Shiny New Year, died in 1997.

Billie Mae Richards, the voice of Rudolph, died in 2010. Andy Griffith, the narrator of Frosty's Winter Wonderland, died in 2012. Arthur Rankin died on January 30, 2014, at age 89. Mickey Rooney, twice the voice of Santa in Rankin/Bass specials, also died in 2014. Robert Morse, star of Jack Frost, died in 2022. Jules Bass died on October 25, 2022, at 87.

Still alive as of December 6, 2022 is Skip Hinnant, the '77 voice of the Easter Bunny, but better known for his performance on the PBS kids' show The Electric Company, as characters including Fargo North, Decoder.

*

December 6, 1964 was a Sunday. These NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 30-21 at Yankee Stadium.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Baltimore Colts, 31-14 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Washington Redskins, 14-7 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium) in Washington.

* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cleveland Browns, 28-19 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys, 24-14 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, 28-7 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.

* And the day before, the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears, 17-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

In the American Football League:

* The New York Jets lost to the San Diego Chargers, 38-3 at Shea Stadium.

* The Boston Patriots beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-24 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Buffalo Bills, 16-13 at Frank Youell Field in Oakland.

* And the Denver Broncos and the Houston Oilers had the week off.

Baseball was out of season. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the St. Louis Hawks, 115-94 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the Baltimore Bullets, 124-113 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena).

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 109-104 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

And there were 2 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-1 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* And the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs were not scheduled.

December 3, 1968: Elvis Presley's Comeback Special

December 3, 1968: NBC airs the special Singer Presents ... Elvis. It becomes known to Elvis' fans as "The '68 Comeback Special."

Elvis Presley became a regional star in 1954, and a national superstar in 1956. After 2 years in the U.S. Army, he returned in 1960, and made his 1st comeback, a very successful one.

But by 1962, a pattern was set: No live performances, and 2 or 3 movies a year. Elvis films followed a standard formula of a poor boy looking to make good, doing so, singing, and getting the girl. They were cheap to make, with Elvis' paycheck usually being the most expensive part. With Elvis' fanbase, so enough of his fans would come to see them that they were guaranteed to make enough of a profit to justify the next one. Therefore, the films didn't have to be good. Some were, but most weren't.

By 1967, Elvis had grown stale. And popular music had changed tremendously, thanks to The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and everybody they influenced. He was still The King, but there had been a coup: Rock and roll was now a republic.

In October 1967, Elvis' manager, "Colonel" Tom Parker, talked NBC into doing a Christmas special with Elvis. (This was around the time the word "special" began to be used to describe such out-of-the-ordinary programs. Previously, such a program would be called a "spectacular.") NBC talked Singer sewing machines into sponsoring it. Elvis hated the idea.

NBC hired Bob Finkel to produce the special. He had another idea: One Christmas song, and enough material for a soundtrack album, including new songs and Elvis' greatest hits. This idea appealed to Elvis, and the Colonel was talked into it.

Finkel hired Steve Binder, NBC's rock and roll guy. He had directed The T.A.M.I. Show in 1964, and the variety series Hullabaloo in 1965 and '66. He was already signed to direct a special for British singer Petula Clark, which would air on April 8, 1968. Binder believed he could reintroduce Elvis to fans who were too young to remember his first burst of success in 1956, and were too young to appreciate his first comeback in 1960. Binder set out to remind everyone of the old question: "Who's king around here, anyway?"

(I first heard that question in a 1980 ad for Pepto-Bismol, with an actor playing King Henry VIII. I had presumed that the question had been borrowed from an old movie or TV show. But I can't trace it back any further than the commercial in question.)

They taped at NBC's studio in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank, California on June 27 and 29, 1968. There was a segment of Elvis singing new songs, like "Guitar Man" by Jerry Reed, later to be known for singing songs like "When You're Hot, You're Hot" and playing Cledus Snow in the Smokey and the Bandit movies. There was a segment of Elvis singing gospel songs, like "Saved," which Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, who had written several of his hits, had written for LaVern Baker. He sang the Christmas song with which he is most identified, "Blue Christmas."

But the key segment was on a square stage, surrounded by about 100 fans, reunited with his old band. Well, two of them: Bass fiddle player Bill Black had died in 1965, but lead guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana were there.

And, wearing a black leather suit, he sang songs from the first segment of his career, 1954 to 1961. "Heartbreak Hotel." "Hound Dog." "All Shook Up." "Jailhouse Rock." "Love Me Tender." "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" And he had those teenagers eating out of the palm of his hand, kids who were toddlers when those songs were new.

At one point, he sang "Can't Help Falling In Love," from his 1961 film Blue Hawaii. It's almost as if you can hear the transition from "The Memphis Flash" to "The King of Las Vegas."

The closing song was "If I Can Dream," written by Walter Earl Brown. Wearing a white suit with a long double-breasted jacket indigenous to the late 1960s, Elvis knocked out a spectacular performance that showed that, in spite of having run in place throughout (Cliché Alert) the turbulent Sixties, he could be in tune with the times.

The song was recorded on June 23, 1968. It had been 18 days since Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated a few miles away, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles; 70 days since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Elvis' hometown of Memphis; with riots at Columbia University in New York and the streets of Paris in between those assassinations; and the Vietnam War continuing with no end in sight.

By the time the special aired on December 3, things had gotten no better: It had been 98 days since the riot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago; 48 days since the black-gloved salute of Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the Olympics in Mexico City; and 28 days since Richard Nixon and George Wallace, racists both, had, between them, won 57 percent of the popular vote in a Presidential election. And still, the war had no end in sight.

The world needed that song at that time. It's needed the song many times since.

Certainly, Elvis needed the boost the special gave him. It turned out to be the most-watched program of the entire 1968-69 television season. The month after it aired, in January 1969, an inspired Elvis recorded a back-to-his-roots album in Memphis -- at the same time, as it turned out, that The Beatles were trying and not exactly succeeding in doing the same thing with what became Let It Be. These Memphis sessions would produce hits like Mark James' "Suspicious Minds" and Mac Davis' "In the Ghetto."

And he went back to live performing, starting the following July at the International Hotel in Las Vegas -- later the Las Vegas Hilton and now the Westgate Las Vegas. Maybe he was a figurehead now, but the King was back on the throne.

*

December 3, 1968 was a Tuesday. Actor Brendan Fraser and singer Montell Jordan were born.

Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. And no games were scheduled for the NHL. But there were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 126-93 at the new Madison Square Garden.

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the Baltimore Bullets, 129-127 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now named the CFG Bank Arena). Oscar Robertson scored 38 points for the Royals.

* The San Diego Rockets beat the Chicago Bulls, 108-103 at the Chicago Stadium. The Rockets moved to Houston in 1971.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 137-115 at the Milwaukee Arena. In 1974, it was renamed the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena. John Havlicek led all pro basketball players on the night with 41 points.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 122-108 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Wilt Chamberlain scored 35 pounds and grabbed 25 rebounds.

* And the San Francisco Warriors beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 127-122 at the Cow Palace outside San Francisco in Daly City, California.

There were 3 games played in the American Basketball Association:

* The New York Nets lost to the Denver Rockets, 127-108 at the Auditorium Arena in Denver. Larry Jones scored 37 for Denver. In 1974, to avoid confusion with the Houston team, the Denver Rockets adopted the name of the 1st NBA team in Denver, the Nuggets.

* The Minnesota Pipers beat the New Orleans Buccaneers, 116-94 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Oakland Oaks beat the Dallas Chaparrals, 135-109 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.