Pop Culture Flashback: Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Gamble (August 1)

On this day in pop culture history, Marvel Studio’s released Guardians of the Galaxy that starred a cast of characters most of us have never seen before. It was a risky venture, but it paid off big time.

2014 – An Obscure Comic Book Made for a Great Movie

The cast of "Guardians of the Galaxy" — Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña and Dave Bautista in *Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel Studios)*

Marvel Studios’ 10th movie was a bit of a gamble. Unlike the studios’ earlier films like Iron-Man and Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy was a fairly unknown title, outside of hardcore comic book fans. The convoluted story is about a young Earthling who gets kidnapped at a young age, is raised by thieves and is later paired with a band of misfit soon-to-be heroes.

Peter Quill’s compelling and funny space adventure not only won over audiences, but it also became the third-highest grossing movie of the year.

Directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy stars Chris Pratt (as Quill) along with Zoe Saldaña (the green Gamora), Dave Bautista (the bulky Drax), the voice of Vin Diesel (Groot, a talking plant with limited vocabulary Groot) and the voice of Bradley Cooper (Rocket who swears that he is not a raccoon). The movie also featured Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, and Benicio del Toro.

Guardians of the Galaxy has been so popular, it was followed by two sequels (Vol. 2 and Vol. 3) and a hilarious Christmas special that streams on Disney+. The characters also appear in three other Marvel movies (Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Thor: Love & Thunder). But that’s not all. The Guardians have their own attractions in two Disney parks (Mission: BREAKOUT at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California and Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT in Orlando, Florida.) And a number of I Am Groot shorts starring the walking/talking plant creature stream on Disney+.

OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY:

1981 – The First Music Video Airs on TV

The Buggles band — *(Wikimedia Commons)*

On this day in 1981, MTV (Music Television) went on the air for the first time. The first words spoken were, “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll,” by one of the creators, John Lack. MTV was to be a visual radio hosted by VJ’s (video jockeys).

The very first video shown was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. The Buggles originally planned to be called The Bugs until someone joked that the Bugs would never be as big as the Beatles. So, Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn changed it to The Buggles; a name that they would later regret.

The video format changed the music industry in that just about every music release needed to have a video attached to it if it was going to sell. However, instead of video killing the radio, it seems that radio has won out since we still have radio stations but these days MTV rarely shows music videos at all – and the station’s name literally means “music television.”

1965 – ‘Dune’ Makes its Debut on Bookshelves

Stacks of the book "Dune" with the original cover — *(Wikimedia Commons)*

The novel Dune is actually based on two serials (Dune World and Prophet of Dune) that were originally published in Analog magazine.

Written by Frank Herbert, it is one of the world’s best-selling science fiction novels. However, the story hasn’t been loved by everybody. J.R.R. Tolkien refused to review the novel because he disliked it “with some intensity.”

The novel also had some trouble finding success in the movies. Some directors had called it “unfilmable.” David Lynch directed a film adaptation in 1984, but was so unhappy with it, he asked Universal to replace his name with the pseudonym “Alan Smithee.”

Eventually, Denis Villeneuve directed the first of three movies for Legendary Pictures in 2019. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won six. Dune: Part Two was released in March of 2024 and Dune: Part Three opens in theaters on December 18. 2026.

1876: Colorado Became the 38th U.S. State

1971 – The Nitty Gritty History of the Sonny & Cher Show

Sonny and Cher singing together — *The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. (CBS via TVDB)*

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour began airing on this day in 1971, but the story of the show begins a year earlier. The couple recorded a one-time special for CTV (Canadian network) in 1970. The Sonny & Cher Nitty Gritty Hour aired in Toronto on May 31, 1971. The special combined musical performances with comedic sketches and was meant to be used as a pilot for a summer replacement series for ABC. However, the network passed on the series, but it got CBS’ attention. With a few tweaks and writers, CBS developed The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.

Each episode opened with the couple greeting the audience, Sonny telling a bad joke or two and Cher putting him down. A group of “regulars” were on hand to help perform the comedy sketches. The large group included Terri Garr, Steve Martin, Boy Einstein and Murry Langston. Just like Carol Burnett ended her show with the song, “I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together”, Sonny and Cher ended theirs with their hit song, “I Got You Babe“.

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour was very popular but after three seasons, the couple filed for divorce and the show was cancelled in 1974. However, Sonny and Cher came back together – not as man and wife but as professionals – for the revamped series, The Sonny & Cher Show in 1976 which ran for two more years.