This Day in Pop Culture for September 15

1997: Parents Learn to Hate Caillou

The preschool cartoon series first debuted in Canada before making his way to American television on PBS in 2000. The simple show would feature five short stories per half-hour episode involving his parents, sister and pet cat Gilbert.

Initially, parents and their children embraced the character noting the youngster’s rich imagination. But that soon changed. Moms and dads began to loathe him noting his whiny behavior, acting like a spoiled brat and how he rarely received any consequences for his actions. Barney the dinosaur never looked so good.

The streaming service Peacock began streaming 52 new 11-minute episodes on February 15, 2024. (Image: TVDB)

2023: There WAS No Place Like Home

Susan Hodgson got the surprise of her life in October when she found that her family-owned property was demolished by mistake. The home had been vacant for 15 years, but Hodgson had kept the lawn maintained and all taxes were current on the property. As it turns out, the Atlanta-based You Call It, We Haul It company had mistaken her home for another.

When a neighbor came out to stop them, they were told to mind their own business. A relative was called who requested to see the permit. The man tearing things apart apparently said something to the effect of “Oh, I’m at the wrong address” and just packed up and left things in shambles.

“It’s just hard to believe someone thinks they have the right to just come and tear something up and walk away from it and didn’t come back and say, ‘I’m sorry,” she told the AP. “What do I need to do to fix this? It was an accident.’ They didn’t give me nothing.” (Image: Pixabay)

1954: Marilyn Monroe’s Famous Skirt Stunt is Filmed

Marilyn Monroe was a complicated person. Sadly, when people think of the actress, the image that usually comes to mind is the scene from the film, The Seven Year Itch where Marilyn stands over the subway vent and her skirt is blown up from a blast of air underneath. It was shot on this day at 1 a.m. on Manhattan’s Lexington Avenue.

Monroe only had a couple of lines, but she managed to flub them numerous times in front of some 5,000 onlookers. Perhaps she was enjoying the attention or maybe she couldn’t concentrate. Regardless, the scene had be to be re-shot at the studio lot and even then, it took about 40 takes.

In the end, the scene only briefly appears in the finished movie, but that was enough for Joe DiMaggio. He was infuriated, thought that it was an exhibitionist stunt and divorced her soon after. (Image: Wikimedia)

1982: USA Today Prints its First Edition

The development of the USA Today newspaper began in February 1980 when a secret task force began working on “Project NN” with the Gannett Company. One of the goals of the paper was to create a shorter form, concise and easy-to-read publication. It wasn’t until this day in 1982 that the first edition was printed, but not completely welcomed. Some called it “McPaper.”

USA Today was first distributed in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. and gradually expanded nationwide. On July 2, 1984, the newspaper switched from a partially color publication to a full-colored one. Near the end of 1985, it had become the second largest newspaper in the U.S. A companion TV Show debuted on September 12, 1988 (it ended on January 7, 1990) and by 1991, it had a circulation of 6.6 million.

By August 2010, readership of all newspapers in the country began to decline and USA Today announced the layoffs of 130 staffers. The paper went through a major redesign in 2012 and then laid off another 70 employees in 2014. As of 2023, the national newspaper has 132,640 print subscribers and two million digital subscribers. (Image: Wikimedia)