T.H.A.T.
(Television History and Trivia)from
www.hologlobepress.com
by
Victor Edward Swanson,
Publisher
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The material provided on this page is a service of Victor Swanson and The Hologlobe Press. The material may be used freely by a person, if the person does not use the material for commercial purposes. The material may be used by persons employed in the media, such as staffers of radio stations, but persons employed in the media must announce that the material has been taken from the Web site of The Hologlobe Press, the main Internet address to which is www.hologlobepress.com. Of course, the material is provided for fun.
- - - T.H.A.T., Edition No. 38 - - -
Certainly, if you were to call up a subject through an Internet search, you may or may not get--presented on your computer screen--information related to the subject. When you call up a subject through a search on the Internet, you are making a conscious and direct call up of the subject. In essence, if you do not have a particular "key word" or "key phrase" in mind when you are doing a search on the Internet, you cannot call up something that you do not know, or, informally, I often say that "You cannot call up what you do not know through a search on the Internet." I am slightly over-exagerating the meaning of my idea, but it is a type of truth. Of course, you can know a subject exists, call up information about that something through an Internet search, and get information about a topic that you do not know--because that topic has some type of association with that something that you know something about. For instance, you could not have called up this Web page on the Internet, if you did not know "The Hologlobe Press" or the words "The" and "Hologlobe" and "Press" or the address to the Web page (which is, officially, www.hologlobepress.com/that38.htm). So, how is it you came upon this Web-page document (entitled Television History And Trivia #38 or, less formally, T.H.A.T. #38)?
The other day, I did something that you cannot do through an Internet search about the subject of past television shows, and that something that I did could only be done by using my special fabulous files about television shows, and if you were able to do what I did you would, in essence, call up something that you did not know. What I did was reach in to the files and pull out a somewhat random group of cards, or I went to the "R" section of the cable section of my files and pulled out one block of cards (the count was unknown at the time, but the count seemed be about fifty cards), and the range of the cards happened to run from a show entitled Rodgers & Hammerstein: The Sound of Movies through a show entitled Romeo and Juliet. Let me show you what you would uncover if you had the opportunity to reach into my files and examine (at least a little) the same group of cards that I pulled out.
The first card in the group is for the show entitled Rodgers & Hammerstein: The Sound of Movies. This show was shown on the Arts & Entertainment channel on Sunday, April 7, 1996, and it was a salute to the famous song-writing team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, and some of the people who were seen on the screen during the show were Rita Moreno and Julie Andrews. Who was the host of this show? That question is the first within this edition of T.H.A.T. that are you to find that answer to by the time I publish the next edition of T.H.A.T.
Here is an aside, which is especially important for anyone who has not seen any of the previous editions of T.H.A.T.--As a rule, in each edition of T.H.A.T., I pose at least one question that I give the answer to in the next edition of T.H.A.T. (later, in this edition of T.H.A.T., I will give the answer to the question posed in the previous edition of T.H.A.T., which was T.H.A.T. #37).
The next show that you would learn about in the group of cards is The Rodman World Tour. This was a series that was shown on the MTV cable network during the 1996-1997 season. The first show was shown on December 8, 1996, and, generally speaking, a new episode was shown weekly, and each episode ran thirty minutes. The host of the show was Dennis Rodman, who had become famous a few years previously as a basketball player for the Detroit Pistons (of the National Basketball Association). Some of the guests of the series were Laura Leighton, David Alan Grier (who would later, in the 2006-2007 season, host Thank God You're Here), Henry Rollins, and Jonathan Silverman.
Next is a card for Rodney Carrington: Live at the Majestic. It was a comedy show seen on the Comedy Central network on April 14, 2007. The show is the most recent show of the group of shows that you would learn about in the group of cards.
The next show is Rodney Crowell: A Late Night in Nashville. In essence, the show was a concert featuring Rodney Crowell, a country-music performer. The show was originally shown on March 4, 1996, on the Nashville Network, which became known in 2000 as "TNN, the National Network," which became known as "Spike TV" in 2003.
A bunch of shows featuring Rodney Dangerfield, a comedian, are next. Rodney Dangerfield Hosts the 9th Young Comedians Special was shown on August 7, 1985, on HBO. Rodney Dangerfield: "It's Not Easy Bein' Me" was shown for the first time by HBO on September 6, 1986. Rodney Dangerfield--Nothin' Goes Right was presented by HBO on February 13, 1988, and it was shown under the umbrella title entitled On Location. Rodney Dangerfield: "Opening Night at Rodney's Place" was shown on HBO on May 6, 1986. Rodney Dangerfield's Really Big Show was yet another HBO-shown show, and it was first seen by viewers on August 3, 1991. And Rodney Dangerfield's 75th Birthday Toast was given to viewers by HBO on March 1, 1997 (at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)).
Two Rod Stewart specials are next in line. The first was shown as a pay-per-view event on February 14, 1992, and it was reported in some television-program-listings publications as Rod Stewart, but the show was really called Valentine Vagabond: Rod Stewart Live on Valentine's Day (I keep the card with Rod Stewart in the files to note how some television-program-listings publications had the show listed). And the other show is Rod Stewart Time Line, which was shown on VH1 on July 15, 1998.
The next card of the group is related to a documentary called Roe vs. Roe: Baptism by Fire. The show focused on Norma McVorvey, who was involved in the U.S. Supreme Court case known informally as "Roe vs. Wade" in the 1970s. This documentary was shown on Cinemax for the first time on January 28, 1998.
The next three cards are part of a set of cards that are related to an umbrella title for movies entitled as Roger Corman Presents. In the mid-1990s, the Showtime network aired several dozen movies under the umbrella title, and the movies were horror-type movies or science-fiction-type movies, and the movies were a type that people might call "B" pictures. Here are the names of some of the movies that were shown as Roger Corman Presents presentations: House of the Damned, Subliminal Seduction, Alien Avengers, Humanoids from the Deep, Vampirella, Spacejacked, Wasp Woman, and Bucket of Blood.
A man who has been known as the leader singer of the musical group called The Who is featured on the next two cards, and that man is Roger Daltrey. The first card is for a show that was a profile of Roger Daltrey, and the show was presented by the Arts & Entertainment network on March 5, 1987. The next card gives information about a concert that featured Roger Daltrey and the Juilliard Orchestra, the Chieftans, David Sanborn, Sinead O'Connor, Linday Perry, John Entwistle, and Pete Townshend, and this program was shown by the Disney cable channel on March 3, 1995, and this program was Roger Daltrey: The Music of The Who.
Some cards in the file have nothing but directions to see something else in the file; for example, the next card has as a heading "Roger Kennedy's Rediscovering America," and the card notes that a person who sees this card should see the card entitled "Rediscovering America" for more information.
In much of the latter half of the 1900s, Roger Miller was one of the well-known country-music artists in the country, and I will say that his heyday was in the 1960s and 1970s. Roger Miller Remembered was a show shown by the Nashville Network on March 10, 1998. The Roger Miller Special was presented by the Nashville Network on October 4, 1988, and some of the other performers seen by viewers during the show were Tanya Tucker and Lyle Lovett.
Next in my files is a card for a current series called Rogue Nature. The card notes information about the showing of a few episodes by the Discovery Channel recently. Other cards exist for the series, but they have yet to be filed in the files (they are in what I can describe as a "working batch of cards," which has, for instance, cards for series that are currently being run on networks).
Let me quickly give information about several cards (or shows). Rogue Trader, which featured Ewan McGregor, was presented by Cinemax on June 25, 1999. The History Channel presented viewers with Rohna Disaster: WWII's Secret Tragedy on November 24, 2002 (The Rohna was a troop-transport vessel). Roker on the Road was a show seen on the Food Network on December 23, 2003. Several cards are related to a computer-animated character called Rolie Polie Olie, and the first card is for the series called Rolie Polie Olie, which debuted on the Disney Channel on October 4, 1998. The next few cards are for Rollergirls (which was a series that A&E started to show on January 2, 2006), RollerJam (on which is information that notes a person should see "WSL RollerJam" in the files), RollerJam: Road to Founder's Cup, and RollerJam: Roller Derby Reborn (which was a 1999 show). Michael Douglas was the host for Rolling Stone Readers and Critics Poll, which was shown by MTV: Music Television on March 2, 1986.
One of the best "bands" (or rock bands) of the last four decades or so has been The Rolling Stones, and the band still exists today, and the next ten cards have information about television shows related to The Rolling Stones, only some of which I will talk about within this paragraph devoted to The Rolling Stones. One card has the heading The Rolling Stones: Bridges to Babylon Tour, which was a pay-per-view show of December 12, 1997. HBO was the network that showed Rolling Stones: Live from Madison Square Garden on January 18, 2003. And Rolling Stones: Terrifying was a pay-per-view show that people could subscribe to on December 19, 1989.
I have a few tricks to my filing system, and I will not talk about them within this edition of T.H.A.T. The next show that is covered by a card in the group is Rolling Stone 25: The MTV Special. There is no error in the filing of this card that focuses on a special that was shown on MTV: Music Television on November 18, 1992 (Rolling Stone magazine was the topic of the program). If you examine the title of this card and the titles of cards that sit around it, you might understand one of the tricks to my filling system.
On December 18, 2006, one of the shows that viewers could see, if they could find it amongst the dozens and dozens of shows that were being shown at the same time, was Rollin' Out: Gearheads Hit the Rod. The channel that carried the show was Discovery. The focus of this show was on three weekly series that viewers were accustomed to seeing on the schedule of the Discovery Channel: American Chopper, American Hot Rod, and Biker Build-Off. In essence, this 2006 special was a "clips show."
Since the late 1940s, television has been used to show "theatre" programs (such as Broadway productions), or "stage plays" or, simply, "plays," once an important type of show for the Arts & Entertainment channel or A&E, as it is known today. On February 9, 1993, viewers could see Romance, Romance, which was a show that presented one act from two different plays. Some of the performers were Deborah Graham, John Herrera, and Susan Moniz.
Two cards exits for Romancing America.. One card has an article from Broadcasting and Cable magazine (Higgins, John M. "Romancing the Tube." Broadcasting and Cable, 27 July 1998, p. 42), which is about the series and notes, for example, the series was initially given a thrirteen-week order for episodes by the Romance Classics channel. The next card has, for instance, information about episodes shown on the AMC channel around late July 1998.
The next card has information about a movie that was made for television or cable or, really, for a cable channel known as Oxygen. The movie is Romancing the Bride, and it was shown by Oxygen on December 3, 2005. Some of the performers in the movie were Laura Prepon (who had become known for her work on the Fox series entitled That '70s Show), Matt Cedeno, and Carrie Fisher (who, in mid-2007, would show up as a judge for On the Lot).
Some people have documentaries made about them, and from time to time, documentaries are made about film directors. The channel that is called "E!" for short presented a documentary about a director on February 1, 1998. I could ask you who the director was, but I will not--the director was Roman Polanski.
A four-part documentary of sorts was aired by the History Channel in May 1999. The topic was the Roman army--for the entity that people of today often called the Roman Empire--though the documentary started out, in essence, when Rome was not yet anything that could be called an "empire." The four parts were shown in prime time from Monday, May 17, 1999, through Thursday, May 20, 1999 (of course, one episode was premiered each night).
The next six cards deal with a television series about the Roman Empire. The series was called Rome, and it was not a documentary series. The first episode of Rome was shown by HBO on August 28, 2005, and the last episode (the first run of the episode) was shown by HBO on March 25, 2007. The series was presented in two seasons, which were separated by about one year of time. Some of the performers in Rome were Ciaran Hinds, Kevin McKidd, James Purefoy, Polly Walker, and Max Pirkis.
Rome Is Burning--this title for a series could make a person think about the Roman Empire, but that would mean the person is thinking about the wrong thing. Rome Is Burning was a series that featured Jim Rome, who interviewed people, especially sports figures. The first episode was shown on ESPN (a sports channel) on May 6, 2003, and, generally speaking, this series was a weekly series that ran till late fall 2003.
Another group of six cards gives information about one particular series. The series is Romeo! It is a series that children have been watching on Nickelodeon since September 13, 2003. Besides the six cards, I have at least one other card for the series that I have yet to file in the files (in particular, the "cable" section of my files).
The next two cards focus on the same topic, buy they are not for one particular show--they deal with two different shows. On March 26, 1987, the Arts & Entertainment cable channel showed a 1984 performance of Romeo and Juliet, which had been performed by the Royal Ballet, and on October 1, 1993, the Arts & Entertainment cable channel showed another Romeo and Juliet performance. Who played Romeo and Juliet in the 1987 show, and who played Romeo and Juliet in the 1993 show?
And that closes the look at the group of cards that I pulled from my files. From the information presented about the cards, you should be able to determine a lot of the information on the cards you would not be able to call up on a search of the Internet because you would not know how to call up the information, and, in fact, you would not even know that many of the programs even existed and you would not even know you could call up information about the programs. In addition, you should wonder if a lot of the information available on the cards is even available through an Internet search. (Do not tell me "everything" is available on the Internet or you can find "everything" on the Internet!)
Stay well!
Vic
P.S.: I have two thoughts within this postscript. First, in the previous edition of T.H.A.T., I posed a question about two cartoons characters who have been seen by television viewers in Detroit since 1947 (though on an on-and-off basis) and are seen weekly today, and the answer to the question is Tom and Jerry (in 1947, WWJ-TV, Channel 4, aired cartoons featuring Tom and Jerry, and, today, WKBD-TV, Channel 50, airs the Tom and Jerry weekly show known as Tom and Jerry Tales, which the station receives under the "Kids WB!" banner by being an affiliate of The CW television network, and, incidentally, the Cartoon Network airs cartoons featuring Tom and Jerry.from time to time). [Here is information added on August 14, 2007--the answer to the trivia question is incorrect, and the problem with be addressed in T.H.A.T. #41, which will be published on September 10, 2007.] Second, I note here that the first promo for a new fall television show that I saw was aired by ABC-TV on Sunday, May 20, 2007, and the promo was for the show entitled Dirty Sexy Money (the promo was shown at about 10:15 p.m., Eastern Time, and I do not claim that the promo was the first promo for a new fall show that any network aired this spring).
copyright c. 2007
Date published: June 10, 2007
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