This Day in Pop Culture for October 3

1966: ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’ Premieres

The comedy show hit, The Dick Van Dyke Show, premiered on this day in 1966 and starred Van Dyke, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam and Mary Tyler Moore. However, the show’s original pilot had a completely different cast – including the show’s namesake.

The “other” show’s pilot was created in 1960 and was to be called Head of the Family and would have starred Carl Reiner. The storyline was basically the same as the finished product, but fortunately, the latter won out. The Dick Van Dyke Show aired on CBS for five seasons. During that time, the show won 15 Emmy Awards. (Image: Wikimedia)

1952: Miss Brooks Begins Teaching on TV

Beginning as a radio sitcom for CBS in 1948, Our Miss Brooks could be found simultaneously on TV beginning in 1952. Interesting, the radio show outlasted the TV series by one year. Eve Arden played Madison High School teacher Connie Brooks who later taught at an upscale private school in 1955. The show balanced Brooks’ relationships with her students, colleagues and principal Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon). Arden later played a principal herself in both Grease movies.

The Emmy Award-winning series ran for 130 episodes. It was a well-loved series. Arden received an honorary membership of the National Education Association and received an award from the Teachers College of Connecticut’s Alumni Association in 1952 “for humanizing the American teacher”. She was able to present a realistic portrayal of a competent woman working in a profession that often did not receive the recognition it deserved. Our Miss Brooks was even adapted for the big screen in 1956.

2007: Pie in the Sky

Pushing Daisies is one of TV’s oddest TV series. The comedy/mystery series was not only unique with its storytelling, but also with its look and feel. Described as a “forensic fairy tale”, the show starred Lee Pace as pie-maker Ned who had a gift of bringing the dead back to life (although usually temporary). It also starred private investigator Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) who used Ned’s “gift” to question victims who were murdered. Kristin Chenoweth played waitress Olive Snook and Anna Friel played Chuck who used to be dead. Chuck’s aunts were played by Ellen Greene and an eye-patched Swoosie Kurtz.

Despite solid reviews, the series was cut short after just 22 episodes. Even so, Pushing Daises was nominated for 17 Emmy awards and won seven for directing, supporting actress (Chenoweth), music composition, editing, art direction, costumes and makeup.

2017: Larry and Bernie are More Similar than They Thought

For many Saturday Night Live appearances, Larry David played the role of Bernie Sanders. Many thought that he nailed it and there might be a good reason for that.

On an episode of PBS’ Finding Your Roots which appeared on this day, both men appeared together to take their own DNA tests to see what famous person they might be related to. As it turns out – they were related to each other! David and Sanders are actually distant cousins.

2006: High School Football is Big on NBC

Developed by Peter Berg, the sports drama series was inspired by H. G. Bissinger’s nonfiction book and the 2004 movie of the same name. High School football was a big deal in the small town of Dillion, Texas. Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) had his work cut out for him when he served as the team’s coach. His wife Tami (Connie Britton) served on the school’s faculty.

Friday Night Lights was praised for his authenticity. It was even filmed on location and hired local extras. The dealt with a lot more than school life too. They show dealt with topics like family values, racism, drugs, abortion and more. While appreciated by critics and fans alike, Friday Night Lights just couldn’t drum up good ratings. The show ran for two years on NBC before the network cancelled it. However, due to passionate fans, NBC was able to strike a deal with DirecTV to co-produce the show for three more seasons allowing the service to air the new episodes to their customers months before they would be shown to everyone else on NBC.