This Day in Pop Culture for May 13

1898: Edison Sues Over New Technology

Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb and the phonograph, sued the American Mutoscope Company on this day. Edison had entrusted his assistant, W.L.K. Dickson with a new invention known as The Vitascope, but Dickson helped Edison’s competitors develop the similar machine, the Mutoscope. He was fired.

However, Dickson then created his own company using this similar technology. In 1902, the courts ruled that Edison did not invent the motion-picture camera but allowed that he had invented the sprocket system that moved perforated film through the camera.

By 1909, Edison helped form the Motion Pictures Patents Corporation who served to keep others from entering the film industry. The courts found the organization to be an unfair monopoly and was later dissolved.

2004: Final Episode of ‘Fraiser’ Airs

The Cheers spin-off, Fraiser aired for 11 seasons on NBC from its premiere on September 16, 1993 to its finale on this day in 2004.

The show was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee and starred Kelsey Grammer as a Seattle radio show therapist, Fraiser Crane.

David Hyde Pierce as his therapist brother, John Mahoney as the men’s cranky father, Jane Leeves as the cranky father’s nurse and Peri Gilpin as Fraiser’s assistant.

Fraiser received 37 Emmy Award, a record at the time for a scripted TV series. It also won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series for five consecutive years.

On October 12, 2023, a revival of Fraiser began airing on the Paramount+ streaming service. Grammer returned as Mr. Crane but he was the only one of the original cast to star in the new show. Jack Cutmore-Scott played his son, and new roommate, Freddy.

Toks Olagundoye as fellow professor Olivia Finch, Nicholas Lyndhurst as Professor Alan Cornwall, Jess Salgueiro as Fraiser’s neighbor across the hall and Anders Keith as David Crane (Fraiser’s nephew). Bebe Neuwirth and Peri Gilpin guest starred as Fraiser’s former wife Lilith and co-worker Roz Doyle respectively.

The revival was renewed for a second season which also starred Gilpin and Patricia Heaton as series regulars. The show was canceled for a second time in late 2024. (Images: NBC, Paramont+)

1954: ‘The Pajama Game’ Debuts on Broadway

Based on the 1953 novel, 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell, the musical The Pajama Game opened at the St. James Theatre on Broadway on this day in 1954. The story revolves around a pajama factory where its workers demand for a seven and a half cent raise.

The original show ran for 1,063 performances and starred John Raitt, Janis Paige and Eddie Foy and featured choreography by Bob Fosse. The Pajama Game was also a start for the career of the career of Shirley MacLaine who understudied for the show.

Warner Bros. created a film version of the show in 1957 which starred most of the cast except for Paige’s role which was given to Doris Day instead. The musical has had two revivals on Broadway in 1973 and 2006.