This Day in Pop Culture for November 11

2013: Blockbuster Video Rents its Last Rental

David Cook opened the very first Blockbuster video store in Dallas, Texas on October 1985. The chain grew quickly and was soon buying out smaller chains. It became a multi-billion-dollar company by the 1990’s. It had appeared that nothing could stop the giant.

In 2000, they turned down an offer to purchase Netflix which may have been their undoing. In 2010 Blockbuster became the only national video rental chain left in operation. Also, that same year, the company’s public accounting firm raised doubts that Blockbuster could continue operating due to its large debt.

Blockbuster struggled the next three years trying out different ways to make money, but this story was not destined for a happy ending. By January of 2014, all 300 remaining corporate-owned stores in the U.S. closed. In January of 2018, there were nine franchise-owned stores in existence. Today, the last breathing Blockbuster store remains open in Bend, Oregon. For now. (Image: Wikimedia)

1947: ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’ Causes a Stir

It has been reported that movie producer Darryl F. Zanuck was inspired to make the film, Gentleman’s Agreement after he was personally refused a membership at the Los Angeles Country Club because they had assumed that he was Jewish. He wasn’t. A number of Jewish film executives, including Samuel Goldwyn, told him that they feared that the movie would “stir up trouble.” And it did to some extent.

Based on the novel of the same name by Laura Z. Hobson, Gentleman’s Agreement was about a journalist who pretended to be Jewish in order to do an exposé on antisemitism. The film starred Gregory Peck despite his agent urging him not to as it would be bad for his career. John Garfield jumped at the chance to be a part of the movie. The rest of the cast included Dorothy McGuire, Celeste Holm, Anne Revere, June Havoc, Albert Dekker and Jane Wyatt.

Garfield and Revere along with director Elia Kazan were all called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee for making the movie. Garfield and Revere were placed on the Hollywood Blacklist.

The movie was not only a big hit for 20th Century Fox, but it also ended up being nominated for eight Academy Awards and winning three Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Holm), Best Director and Best Picture.

1980: ‘Too Close for Comfort’s Unhappy Ending

Ted Knight rose to fame when he appeared as the news anchor for WJM-TV om the Mary Tyler Moore Show and later as Judge Elihu Smails in 1980’s, Caddyshack. That same year he starred in the sitcom, Too Close for Comfort for ABC.

The show was based on the British series, Keep It in the Family. It featured a married couple living with their two adult daughters in San Francisco. Knight played Henry, an uptight cartoonist. He would often wear sweatshirts featuring the logos of different colleges around the country. This was by the actor’s choice who never attended college.

Henry’s wife Murial was played by Nancy Dussult. Deborah Van Valkenburgh and Lydia Cornell played their daughters. The comedy also featured secondary characters Monroe Ficus played by Jim J. Bullock. (He was supposed to be one-time guest but never went away) and Audrey Meadows who played Muriel’s mother, Iris.

Initially, the show was a hit for the first two years, but when the ratings fell during the third, ABC dropped the show. However, the show lived on in syndication. Before season 6 began, the show was re-tooled and re-named, The Ted Knight Show. Sadly, the show ended its run halfway through the season when Knight passed away dying from colon cancer in 1987.

2005: The Best Toy Ever – the Box

Since 1998, dozens of toys have been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame, but on this day, the most unusual and yet common toy was included. In addition to the Jack-in-the-Box and the Candy Land game, it was the simple cardboard box that stunned.

The National Toy Hall of Fame said, “With nothing more than a little imagination, those boxes can be transformed into forts or houses, spaceships or submarines, castles or caves. Inside a big cardboard box, a child is transported to a world of his or her own, one where anything is possible.”