Pop Culture Flashback: Going Beyond Mach 3 (Sept. 27)

1956 – First Man to Exceed Mach 3

Flying an X-2 rocket-powered plane on this day in 1956, a bizarre set of events happened to Captain Milburn G. Apt. After being launched from a B-50 bomber over the Mojave Desert in California, Apt set a record speed of 3,377 km/h or Mach 3. Unfortunately, due to a loss of control from inertia, the aircraft broke up and caused his death as well. His death was recorded by a stop-frame camera that was mounted behind him in the cockpit. While he did not survive, his video did.

1982 – CBS Debuts ‘Square Pegs’

Two high school girls posed in front of some school lockers. — Lauren Hutchinson (Amy Linker) and Patty Greene (Sarah Jessica Parker) from Square Pegs. (CBS via TVDB)

Lauren Hutchinson (Amy Linker) and Patty Greene (Sarah Jessica Parker) were just two of different freshmen wanting to fit in at Weemawee High School near New York City in the TV sitcom, Square Pegs. The others were geeky comedian Marshall Blechtman (John Femia); new wave fan Johnny “Slash” Ulasewiccz (Merrit Butrick); “Valley Girl” Jennifer DiNuccio (Tracy Nelson); her boyfriend Vinnie Pasetta (Jon Caliri); and the sassy LaDonna Fredericks (Claudette Wells). Jami Gertz played preppy girl Muffy B. Tepperman. The overachiever was the chairwoman of the Weemawee Pep Committee, head of the Morals Club, chair of the Science Fair Committee and a member of the Future Nurses of America.

The CBS show was created by former Saturday Night Live writer Anne Beatts. Beatts was insistent that the show’s writing room hire a bunch of female writers. In fact, of the 20 produced episodes of the show, 12 of the scripts were written by women, which was unusual at the time.

Despite good reviews from critics, Square Pegs struggled in the ratings, but ultimately, it wasn’t the ratings that did the show in. Production of Square Pegs took place at the abandoned Excelsior High School in Norwalk, California. The school was 20 miles away from CBS Television which made it difficult for the network’s producers to truly know what was happening on set at all times. But it wasn’t good.

Embassy Television received a number of reports of drugs and alcohol abuse on the set in the presence of minors. It was reported that drug use was rampant among the teen cast. This led to Embassy canceling production of the show.

1954 – A Brief (But Exhausting) History of ‘The Tonight Show’

Steve Allen, Ernie Kovacs, Jack Parr, Johnny Carson, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon — Steve Allen, Ernie Kovacs, Jack Parr, Johnny Carson, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon *(Wikimedia Commons)*

Though a regular staple now, The Tonight Show was originally a 40-minute local TV show that aired from 11:20 p.m. to midnight on WNBT in New York. On this day in 1954, Tonight Starring Steve Allen took flight on NBC with Gene Rayburn serving as his announcer. This led to Allen receiving his own primetime Sunday night show. That led him to give up the Monday and Tuesday night slots to Ernie Kovacs.

In January of 1957, both Allen and Kovac were dropped from the show, and it became Tonight! America After Dark which became a news and features show. That format didn’t fare so well. So, Jack Paar became the host of The Tonight Show which began airing on July 29, 1957. Parr left the show in March of 1962.

It wasn’t until October 1962 before the show became The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson where Ed McMahon served as the announcer. Carson kept the job until May 22, 1992, when Jay Leno took the reins. That lasted until June 1, 2009, when a similar Jay Leno Show began airing at 10 p.m. and Conan O’Brien moved from his Late Night show to take over the Tonight Show desk. However, this new plan was a failure.

By November, The Tonight Show had lost nearly 2 million viewers since O’Brien’s debut and Leno’s show wasn’t doing that great either. So, NBC thought through a new concept with Leno moving his show to 11:35 p.m. and The Tonight Show airing later at 12:05 a.m. Three days later, they changed their minds. O’Brien went packing on January 22, 2010. Leno moved back in after the Winter Olympic Games on March 1, 2010.

Leno continued on through February 6, 2014. Two weeks later, Jimmy Fallon took over the show on February 17, 2014, and has been in the captain’s chair ever since. Whew.