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1953 in television

The year 1953 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1953.

Events

 * January 19 – 68% of all U.S. television sets are tuned in to I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth to little Ricky.
 * January 23 – TP1, a predecessor of TVP1, a member of Telewizja Polska, becomes the first television station in Poland when it officially begins a regular broadcasting service, from Warsaw.
 * February 1
 * Japanese television begins when JOAK-TV begins broadcasting from Tokyo.
 * General Electric Theater airs for the first time on CBS.
 * February 18 – Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz sign an $8,000,000 contract to continue the I Love Lucy television series through 1955.
 * February 26 – Fulton J. Sheen, on his program Life Is Worth Living, reads Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, with the names of high-ranking Soviet officials replacing the main characters. At the end of the reading, Sheen intones that "Stalin must one day meet his judgment". Stalin dies one week later.
 * March 17 – Patrick Troughton becomes television's first Robin Hood, playing the eponymous folk hero in the first of six half-hour episodes of Robin Hood, shown weekly until April 21 on the BBC Television Service.
 * March 19 – The 25th Academy Awards is broadcast by NBC in the U.S. This becomes the first Academy Awards ceremony to be televised.
 * March 25 – CBS concedes victory to RCA in the war over color television standards.
 * April 3 – TV Guide is published for the first time in the United States, with 10 editions and a circulation of 1,562,000.
 * May 1 – Czechoslovak Television becomes the first television station in the country when it officially begins a regular broadcasting service, from Prague; this station will separate into Česká televize and Slovenská televízia in January 1993.
 * May 25 – KUHT in Houston becomes the first non-commercial educational TV station in the United States.
 * June 2 – The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is televised by the BBC from London. Sales of TV sets in the United Kingdom rise sharply in the weeks leading up to the event. It is also one of the earliest broadcasts to be deliberately recorded for posterity and still exists in its entirety. More than twenty million viewers around the world watch the coverage; to ensure Canadians could see it on the same day, British Royal Air Force Canberras fly film of the ceremony across the Atlantic Ocean to be broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the first non-stop flight between the United Kingdom and the Canadian mainland. In Goose Bay, Labrador, the film is transferred to a Royal Canadian Air Force CF-100 jet fighter for the further trip to Montreal. In all, three such voyages are made as the coronation proceeds.
 * July 18
 * The Quatermass Experiment, first of the famous Quatermass science-fiction serials by Nigel Kneale, begins its run on the BBC in the U.K.
 * The Tonight Show begins as a local New York variety show, originally titled The Knickerbocker Beer Show.
 * August 28 – Nippon Television, becomes the first regular broadcast service to start in Tokyo, Japan. The first program is Hato no kyujitsu.
 * August 30 – NBC's Kukla, Fran, and Ollie is the first publicly announced experimental broadcast of a program in RCA compatible color.
 * September 27 – RecordTV, a major free-to-air television network in Brazil, becomes the first official regular broadcasting service to start in Sao Paulo.
 * October 18 – A live television adaptation of the Shakespeare play King Lear starring Orson Welles is aired on CBS as part of the Omnibus series.
 * October 19 – American CBS presenter Arthur Godfrey dismisses singer Julius La Rosa live on air on the radio-only segment of his morning show.
 * October 23 – Alto Broadcasting System of the Philippines makes the first television broadcast in Southeast Asia through DZAQ-TV. Alto Broadcasting System is the predecessor of what is now ABS-CBN Corporation.
 * November 15 – Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) becomes the first television station in Venezuela when it officially begins a regular broadcast service.
 * November 22 – RCA airs (with special permission from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the U.S.) the first commercial color program in compatible color, The Colgate Comedy Hour with Donald O'Connor.
 * November 26 – NBC broadcasts its first national telecast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
 * December 2 – BBC broadcasts its 'Television Symbol' for the first time, the first animated television presentation symbol.
 * December 12 – The DuMont Television Network televises its first ever National Basketball Association game with the Boston Celtics defeating the Baltimore Bullets 106–75. This marked the first year the NBA had a national television contract. This was the only year of NBA coverage on DuMont; the Saturday afternoon package moved to NBC for the season, mainly because NBC could clear the games on far more stations that DuMont could.
 * December 17 – The FCC reverses its 1951 decision and approves the RCA/NTSC color system.
 * December 24 – Dragnet becomes the first filmed drama to be televised in color each year as a network television program. However, only this one episode, entitled "The Big Little Jesus", is filmed in color during the 1950s; the show returns in the late 1960s in color.

Series on the air in 1953

 * Adventures of Superman (1952–1958)
 * American Bandstand (1952–1989)
 * Author Meets the Critics (1947–1954)
 * Bozo the Clown (1949–)
 * Candid Camera (1948–)
 * Cisco Kid (1950–1956)
 * Come Dancing (UK) (1949–1995)
 * Death Valley Days (1952–1975)
 * Dragnet (1951–1959)
 * Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (1946–1960)
 * Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–)
 * Hawkins Falls (1950, 1951–1955)
 * Hockey Night in Canada (1952–)
 * Howdy Doody (1947–1960)
 * I Love Lucy (1951–1960)
 * Juvenile Jury (1947–1954)
 * Kraft Television Theater (1947–1958)
 * Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947–1957)
 * Life is Worth Living (1952–1957)
 * Life with Elizabeth (1952–1955)
 * Love of Life (1951–1980)
 * Martin Kane, Private Eye (1949–1954)
 * Meet the Press (1947–)
 * Muffin the Mule (1946–1955)
 * My Little Margie (1952–1955)
 * Omnibus (1952–1961)
 * Our Miss Brooks (1952-1956)
 * Search for Tomorrow (1951–1986)
 * Television Newsreel (UK) (1948–1954)
 * The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–1966)
 * The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971)
 * The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950–1958)
 * The Goldbergs (1949–1955)
 * The Guiding Light (1952–)
 * The Jack Benny Show (1950–1965)
 * The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957)
 * The Texaco Star Theater (1948–1953); the show was renamed Buick-Berle Show this year (1953–1954)
 * The Today Show (1952–)
 * The Voice of Firestone (1949–1963)
 * This Is Your Life (U.S.; 1952–1961)
 * Truth or Consequences (1950–1988)
 * What's My Line (1950–1967)
 * Your Hit Parade (1950–1959)
 * Your Show of Shows (1950–1954)

Debuts

 * February 10 – Romper Room (1953–1994)
 * June 8 - Ladies' Choice on NBC (1953)
 * June 20 – Bank on the Stars on CBS (1953), then NBC (1954)
 * July 11 - Medallion Theatre on CBS (1953-1954)
 * July 6 - Glamour Girl on NBC (1953-1954)
 * July 14 -Anyone Can Win on CBS (1953)
 * July 20 – The Good Old Days on BBC Television (1953–1983)
 * August 18 - Judge for Yourself with Fred Allen on NBC (1953–1954)
 * September 13 – Jukebox Jury on ABC (1953–1954)
 * September 13 - The George Jessel Show on ABC.
 * September 29 – Make Room For Daddy with Danny Thomas on ABC (1953-1957), then moved to CBS (1957–1964)
 * October 2 – The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse, an anthology series, The Comeback Story, a reality show, and The Pride of the Family, a situation comedy, all on ABC
 * October 5 – Of Many Things, panel discussion show with Dr. Bergen Evans on ABC (1953–1954)
 * October 8 – Where's Raymond?, starring Ray Bolger on ABC (in season 2, it is known as The Ray Milland Show) (1953–1955)
 * October 11 - The Man Behind the Badge on CBS (1953-1954)
 * November 11
 * The current affairs series Panorama on BBC Television; now the longest-running program on British television
 * The public affairs series Answers for Americans on ABC
 * December 1 – CBC Theatre on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [later known as General Motors Theatre (1954–1956) and General Motors Presents (1958–1961)]
 * Place the Face, with principal host Bill Cullen, on CBS (1953–1954); then transferred to NBC (1954–1955)

Television debuts

 * Anouk Aimée – Douglas Fairbanks Presents
 * Claude Akins – You Are There
 * John Drew Barrymore – Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
 * James Best – Fireside Theatre
 * Walter Brennan – Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
 * Carol Channing – Omnibus
 * James Coburn – Four Star Playhouse
 * Chuck Connors – Your Jeweler's Showcase
 * Robert Cornthwaite – Cavalcade of America
 * Joan Crawford – The Revlon Mirror Theater
 * Charles Durning – You Are There
 * Mel Ferrer – Omnibus
 * Janet Gaynor – Medallion Theatre
 * Clifton James – Rocky King Detective
 * Eartha Kitt – You Are There
 * Martin Landau – The Goldbergs
 * Ida Lupino – Four Star Playhouse
 * Barton MacLane – Your Jeweler's Showcase
 * Ray Milland – Meet Mr. McNutley
 * Jeanne Moreau – La joie de vivre
 * Leonard Nimoy – Four Star Playhouse
 * Anthony Perkins – The Big Story
 * Christopher Plummer – Studio One
 * Eleanor Powell – The Faith of Our Children
 * George Raft – I'm the Law
 * Marion Ross – Cavalcade of America
 * William Shatner – Space Command
 * Harry Shearer – Omnibus
 * Michael Trubshawe – The Passing Show
 * Robert Wagner – Juke Box Jury

title: 1953 in television


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Supergiant

Supergiants are among the most massive and most luminous stars. Supergiant stars occupy the top region of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram with absolute visual magnitudes between about −3 and −8. The temperature range of supergiant stars spans from about 3,400 K to over 20,000 K.

Definition
The title supergiant, as applied to a star, does not have a single concrete definition. The term giant star was first coined by Hertzsprung when it became apparent that the majority of stars fell into two distinct regions of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. One region contained larger and more luminous stars of spectral types A to M and received the name giant. Subsequently, as they lacked any measurable parallax, it became apparent that some of these stars were significantly larger and more luminous than the bulk, and the term super-giant arose, quickly adopted as supergiant.

Supergiants with spectral classes of O to A are typically referred to as blue supergiants,  supergiants with spectral classes F and G are referred to as yellow supergiants, while those of spectral classes K to M are red supergiants. Another convention uses temperature: supergiants with effective temperatures below 4800 K are deemed red supergiants; those with temperatures between 4800 and 7500 K are yellow supergiants, and those with temperatures exceeding 7500 K are blue supergiants. These correspond approximately to spectral types M and K for red supergiants, G, F, and late A for yellow supergiants, and early A, B, and O for blue supergiants.

Spectral luminosity class
Supergiant stars can be identified on the basis of their spectra, with distinctive lines sensitive to high luminosity and low surface gravity. In 1897,  Antonia C. Maury had divided stars based on the widths of their spectral lines, with her class "c" identifying stars with the narrowest lines. Although it was not known at the time, these were the most luminous stars. In 1943, Morgan and Keenan formalised the definition of spectral luminosity classes, with class I referring to supergiant stars. The same system of MK luminosity classes is still used today, with refinements based on the increased resolution of modern spectra. Supergiants occur in every spectral class from young blue class O supergiants to highly evolved red class M supergiants. Because they are enlarged compared to main-sequence and giant stars of the same spectral type, they have lower surface gravities, and changes can be observed in their line profiles. Supergiants are also evolved stars with higher levels of heavy elements than main-sequence stars. This is the basis of the MK luminosity system which assigns stars to luminosity classes purely from observing their spectra.

In addition to the line changes due to low surface gravity and fusion products, the most luminous stars have high mass-loss rates and resulting clouds of expelled circumstellar materials which can produce emission lines, P Cygni profiles, or forbidden lines. The MK system assigns stars to luminosity classes: Ib for supergiants; Ia for luminous supergiants; and 0 (zero) or Ia+ for hypergiants. In reality there is much more of a continuum than well defined bands for these classifications, and classifications such as Iab are used for intermediate luminosity supergiants. Supergiant spectra are frequently annotated to indicate spectral peculiarities, for example B2 Iae or F5 Ipec.

Evolutionary supergiants
Supergiants can also be defined as a specific phase in the evolutionary history of certain stars. Stars with initial masses above quickly and smoothly initiate helium core fusion after they have exhausted their hydrogen, and continue fusing heavier elements after helium exhaustion until they develop an iron core, at which point the core collapses to produce a Type II supernova. Once these massive stars leave the main sequence, their atmospheres inflate, and they are described as supergiants. Stars initially under will never form an iron core and in evolutionary terms do not become supergiants, although they can reach luminosities thousands of times the sun's. They cannot fuse carbon and heavier elements after the helium is exhausted, so they eventually just lose their outer layers, leaving the core of a white dwarf. The phase where these stars have both hydrogen and helium burning shells is referred to as the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), as stars gradually become more and more luminous class M stars. Stars of may fuse sufficient carbon on the AGB to produce an oxygen-neon core and an electron-capture supernova, but astrophysicists categorise these as super-AGB stars rather than supergiants.

Categorisation of evolved stars
There are several categories of evolved stars that are not supergiants in evolutionary terms but may show supergiant spectral features or have luminosities comparable to supergiants.

Asymptotic-giant-branch (AGB) and post-AGB stars are highly evolved lower-mass red giants with luminosities that can be comparable to more massive red supergiants, but because of their low mass, being in a different stage of development (helium shell burning), and their lives ending in a different way (planetary nebula and white dwarf rather than supernova), astrophysicists prefer to keep them separate. The dividing line becomes blurred at around (or as high as  in some models ) where stars start to undergo limited fusion of elements heavier than helium. Specialists studying these stars often refer to them as super AGB stars, since they have many properties in common with AGB such as thermal pulsing. Others describe them as low-mass supergiants since they start to burn elements heavier than helium and can explode as supernovae. Many post-AGB stars receive spectral types with supergiant luminosity classes. For example, RV Tauri has an Ia (bright supergiant) luminosity class despite being less massive than the sun. Some AGB stars also receive a supergiant luminosity class, most notably W Virginis variables such as W Virginis itself, stars that are executing a blue loop triggered by thermal pulsing. A very small number of Mira variables and other late AGB stars have supergiant luminosity classes, for example α Herculis.

Classical Cepheid variables typically have supergiant luminosity classes, although only the most luminous and massive will actually go on to develop an iron core. The majority of them are intermediate mass stars fusing helium in their cores and will eventually transition to the asymptotic giant branch. δ Cephei itself is an example with a luminosity of and a mass of.

Wolf–Rayet stars are also high-mass luminous evolved stars, hotter than most supergiants and smaller, visually less bright but often more luminous because of their high temperatures. They have spectra dominated by helium and other heavier elements, usually showing little or no hydrogen, which is a clue to their nature as stars even more evolved than supergiants. Just as the AGB stars occur in almost the same region of the HR diagram as red supergiants, Wolf–Rayet stars can occur in the same region of the HR diagram as the hottest blue supergiants and main-sequence stars.

The most massive and luminous main-sequence stars are almost indistinguishable from the supergiants they quickly evolve into. They have almost identical temperatures and very similar luminosities, and only the most detailed analyses can distinguish the spectral features that show they have evolved away from the narrow early O-type main-sequence to the nearby area of early O-type supergiants. Such early O-type supergiants share many features with WNLh Wolf–Rayet stars and are sometimes designated as slash stars, intermediates between the two types.

Luminous blue variables (LBVs) stars occur in the same region of the HR diagram as blue supergiants but are generally classified separately. They are evolved, expanded, massive, and luminous stars, often hypergiants, but they have very specific spectral variability, which defies the assignment of a standard spectral type. LBVs observed only at a particular time or over a period of time when they are stable, may simply be designated as hot supergiants or as candidate LBVs due to their luminosity.

Hypergiants are frequently treated as a different category of star from supergiants, although in all important respects they are just a more luminous category of supergiant. They are evolved, expanded, massive and luminous stars like supergiants, but at the most massive and luminous extreme, and with particular additional properties of undergoing high mass-loss due to their extreme luminosities and instability. Generally only the more evolved supergiants show hypergiant properties, since their instability increases after high mass-loss and some increase in luminosity.

Some B[e] stars are supergiants although other B[e] stars are clearly not. Some researchers distinguish the B[e] objects as separate from supergiants, while researchers prefer to define massive evolved B[e] stars as a subgroup of supergiants. The latter has become more common with the understanding that the B[e] phenomenon arises separately in a number of distinct types of stars, including some that are clearly just a phase in the life of supergiants.

Properties
Supergiants have masses from 8 to 12 times the Sun upwards, and luminosities from about 1,000 to over a million times the Sun. They vary greatly in radius, usually from 30 to 500, or even in excess of 1,000 solar radii. They are massive enough to begin helium-core burning gently before the core becomes degenerate, without a flash and without the strong dredge-ups that lower-mass stars experience. They go on to successively ignite heavier elements, usually all the way to iron. Also because of their high masses, they are destined to explode as supernovae.

The Stefan–Boltzmann law dictates that the relatively cool surfaces of red supergiants radiate much less energy per unit area than those of blue supergiants; thus, for a given luminosity, red supergiants are larger than their blue counterparts. Radiation pressure limits the largest cool supergiants to around 1,500 and the most massive hot supergiants to around a million  (Mbol around −10). Stars near and occasionally beyond these limits become unstable, pulsate, and experience rapid mass loss.

Surface gravity
The supergiant luminosity class is assigned on the basis of spectral features that are largely a measure of surface gravity, although such stars are also affected by other properties such as microturbulence. Supergiants typically have surface gravities of around log(g) 2.0 cgs      and lower, although bright giants (luminosity class II) have statistically very similar surface gravities to normal Ib supergiants. Cool luminous supergiants have lower surface gravities, with the most luminous (and unstable) stars having log(g) around zero. Hotter supergiants, even the most luminous, have surface gravities around one, due to their higher masses and smaller radii.

Temperature
There are supergiant stars at all of the main spectral classes and across the whole range of temperatures from mid-M class stars at around 3,400 K to the hottest O class stars over 40,000 K. Supergiants are generally not found cooler than mid-M class. This is expected theoretically since they would be catastrophically unstable; however, there are potential exceptions among extreme stars such as VX Sagittarii.

Although supergiants exist in every class from O to M, the majority are spectral type B (blue supergiants), more than at all other spectral classes combined. A much smaller grouping consists of very low-luminosity G-type supergiants, intermediate mass stars burning helium in their cores before reaching the asymptotic giant branch. A distinct grouping is made up of high-luminosity supergiants at early B (B0-2) and very late O (O9.5), more common even than main sequence stars of those spectral types. The number of post-main sequence blue supergiants is greater than those expected from theoretical models, leading to the "blue supergiant problem".

The relative numbers of blue, yellow, and red supergiants is an indicator of the speed of stellar evolution and is used as a powerful test of models of the evolution of massive stars.

Luminosity
The supergiants lie more or less on a horizontal band occupying the entire upper portion of the HR diagram, but there are some variations at different spectral types. These variations are due partly to different methods for assigning luminosity classes at different spectral types, and partly to actual physical differences in the stars.

The bolometric luminosity of a star reflects its total output of electromagnetic radiation at all wavelengths. For very hot and very cool stars, the bolometric luminosity is dramatically higher than the visual luminosity, sometimes several magnitudes or a factor of five or more. This bolometric correction is approximately one magnitude for mid B, late K, and early M stars, increasing to three magnitudes (a factor of 15) for O and mid M stars.

All supergiants are larger and more luminous than main sequence stars of the same temperature. This means that hot supergiants lie on a relatively narrow band above bright main sequence stars. A B0 main sequence star has an absolute magnitude of about −5, meaning that all B0 supergiants are significantly brighter than absolute magnitude −5. Bolometric luminosities for even the faintest blue supergiants are tens of thousands of times the sun. The brightest can be and are often unstable such as α Cygni variables and luminous blue variables.

The very hottest supergiants with early O spectral types occur in an extremely narrow range of luminosities above the highly luminous early O main sequence and giant stars. They are not classified separately into normal (Ib) and luminous (Ia) supergiants, although they commonly have other spectral type modifiers such as "f" for nitrogen and helium emission (e.g. O2 If for HD 93129A).

Yellow supergiants can be considerably fainter than absolute magnitude −5, with some examples around −2 (e.g. 14 Persei). With bolometric corrections around zero, they may only be a few hundred times the luminosity of the sun. These are not massive stars, though; instead, they are stars of intermediate mass that have particularly low surface gravities, often due to instability such as Cepheid pulsations. These intermediate mass stars' being classified as supergiants during a relatively long-lasting phase of their evolution account for the large number of low luminosity yellow supergiants. The most luminous yellow stars, the yellow hypergiants, are amongst the visually brightest stars, with absolute magnitudes around −9, although still less than.

There is a strong upper limit to the luminosity of red supergiants at around. Stars that would be brighter than this shed their outer layers so rapidly that they remain hot supergiants after they leave the main sequence. The majority of red supergiants were main sequence stars and now have luminosities below, and there are very few bright supergiant (Ia) M class stars. The least luminous stars classified as red supergiants are some of the brightest AGB and post-AGB stars, highly expanded and unstable low mass stars such as the RV Tauri variables. The majority of AGB stars are given giant or bright giant luminosity classes, but particularly unstable stars such as W Virginis variables may be given a supergiant classification (e.g. W Virginis itself). The faintest red supergiants are around absolute magnitude −3.

Variability
While most supergiants such as Alpha Cygni variables, semiregular variables, and irregular variables show some degree of photometric variability, certain types of variables amongst the supergiants are well defined. The instability strip crosses the region of supergiants, and specifically many yellow supergiants are Classical Cepheid variables. The same region of instability extends to include the even more luminous yellow hypergiants, an extremely rare and short-lived class of luminous supergiant. Many R Coronae Borealis variables, although not all, are yellow supergiants, but this variability is due to their unusual chemical composition rather than a physical instability.

Further types of variable stars such as RV Tauri variables and PV Telescopii variables are often described as supergiants. RV Tau stars are frequently assigned spectral types with a supergiant luminosity class on account of their low surface gravity, and they are amongst the most luminous of the AGB and post-AGB stars, having masses similar to the sun; likewise, the even rarer PV Tel variables are often classified as supergiants, but have lower luminosities than supergiants and peculiar B[e] spectra extremely deficient in hydrogen. Possibly they are also post-AGB objects or "born-again" AGB stars.

The LBVs are variable with multiple semi-regular periods and less predictable eruptions and giant outbursts. They are usually supergiants or hypergiants, occasionally with Wolf-Rayet spectra—extremely luminous, massive, evolved stars with expanded outer layers, but they are so distinctive and unusual that they are often treated as a separate category without being referred to as supergiants or given a supergiant spectral type. Often their spectral type will be given just as "LBV" because they have peculiar and highly variable spectral features, with temperatures varying from about 8,000 K in outburst up to 20,000 K or more when "quiescent."

Chemical abundances
The abundance of various elements at the surface of supergiants is different from less luminous stars. Supergiants are evolved stars and may have undergone convection of fusion products to the surface.

Cool supergiants show enhanced helium and nitrogen at the surface due to convection of these fusion products to the surface during the main sequence of very massive stars, to dredge-ups during shell burning, and to the loss of the outer layers of the star. Helium is formed in the core and shell by fusion of hydrogen and nitrogen which accumulates relative to carbon and oxygen during CNO cycle fusion. At the same time, carbon and oxygen abundances are reduced. Red supergiants can be distinguished from luminous but less massive AGB stars by unusual chemicals at the surface, enhancement of carbon from deep third dredge-ups, as well as carbon-13, lithium and s-process elements. Late-phase AGB stars can become highly oxygen-enriched, producing OH masers.

Hotter supergiants show differing levels of nitrogen enrichment. This may be due to different levels of mixing on the main sequence due to rotation or because some blue supergiants are newly evolved from the main sequence while others have previously been through a red supergiant phase. Post-red supergiant stars have a generally higher level of nitrogen relative to carbon due to convection of CNO-processed material to the surface and the complete loss of the outer layers. Surface enhancement of helium is also stronger in post-red supergiants, representing more than a third of the atmosphere.

Evolution
O type main-sequence stars and the most massive of the B type blue-white stars become supergiants. Due to their extreme masses, they have short lifespans, between 30 million years and a few hundred thousand years. They are mainly observed in young galactic structures such as open clusters, the arms of spiral galaxies, and in irregular galaxies. They are less abundant in spiral galaxy bulges and are rarely observed in elliptical galaxies, or globular clusters, which are composed mainly of old stars.

Supergiants develop when massive main-sequence stars run out of hydrogen in their cores, at which point they start to expand, just like lower-mass stars. Unlike lower-mass stars, however, they begin to fuse helium in the core smoothly and not long after exhausting their hydrogen. This means that they do not increase their luminosity as dramatically as lower-mass stars, and they progress nearly horizontally across the HR diagram to become red supergiants. Also unlike lower-mass stars, red supergiants are massive enough to fuse elements heavier than helium, so they do not puff off their atmospheres as planetary nebulae after a period of hydrogen and helium shell burning; instead, they continue to burn heavier elements in their cores until they collapse. They cannot lose enough mass to form a white dwarf, so they will leave behind a neutron star or black hole remnant, usually after a core collapse supernova explosion.

Stars more massive than about cannot expand into a red supergiant. Because they burn too quickly and lose their outer layers too quickly, they reach the blue supergiant stage, or perhaps yellow hypergiant, before returning to become hotter stars. The most massive stars, above about, hardly move at all from their position as O main-sequence stars. These convect so efficiently that they mix hydrogen from the surface right down to the core. They continue to fuse hydrogen until it is almost entirely depleted throughout the star, then rapidly evolve through a series of stages of similarly hot and luminous stars: supergiants, slash stars, WNh-, WN-, and possibly WC- or WO-type stars. They are expected to explode as supernovae, but it is not clear how far they evolve before this happens. The existence of these supergiants still burning hydrogen in their cores may necessitate a slightly more complex definition of supergiant: a massive star with increased size and luminosity due to fusion products building up, but still with some hydrogen remaining.

The first stars in the universe are thought to have been considerably brighter and more massive than the stars in the modern universe. Part of the theorized population III of stars, their existence is necessary to explain observations of elements other than hydrogen and helium in quasars. Possibly larger and more luminous than any supergiant known today, their structure was quite different, with reduced convection and less mass loss. Their very short lives are likely to have ended in violent photodisintegration or pair instability supernovae.

Supernova progenitors
Most type II supernova progenitors are thought to be red supergiants, while the less common type Ib/c supernovae are produced by hotter Wolf–Rayet stars that have completely lost more of their hydrogen atmosphere. Almost by definition, supergiants are destined to end their lives violently. Stars large enough to start fusing elements heavier than helium do not seem to have any way to lose enough mass to avoid catastrophic core collapse, although some may collapse, almost without trace, into their own central black holes.

The simple "onion" models showing red supergiants inevitably developing to an iron core and then exploding have been shown, however, to be too simplistic. The progenitor for the unusual type II Supernova 1987A was a blue supergiant, thought to have already passed through the red supergiant phase of its life, and this is now known to be far from an exceptional situation. Much research is now focused on how blue supergiants can explode as a supernova and when red supergiants can survive to become hotter supergiants again.

Well known examples
Supergiants are rare and short-lived stars, but their high luminosity means that there are many naked-eye examples, including some of the brightest stars in the sky. Rigel, the brightest star in the constellation Orion is a typical blue-white supergiant; the three stars of Orion's Belt are all blue supergiants; Deneb is the brightest star in Cygnus, another blue supergiant; and Delta Cephei (itself the prototype) and Polaris are Cepheid variables and yellow supergiants. Antares and VV Cephei A are red supergiants. μ Cephei is considered a red hypergiant due to its large luminosity and it is one of the reddest stars visible to the naked eye and one of the largest in the galaxy. Rho Cassiopeiae, a variable, yellow hypergiant, is one of the most luminous naked-eye stars. Betelgeuse is a red supergiant that may have been a yellow supergiant in antiquity and the second brightest star in the constellation Orion.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Supergiant


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1952 in television

The year 1952 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1952.

Events

 * January 14 – Today is first aired on NBC in the United States with Dave Garroway as host.
 * January 16 – Sooty, Harry Corbett's little yellow glove puppet teddy bear, first appears on the BBC Television Service's Talent Night in the United Kingdom.
 * February 1 – The first TV detector van is commissioned in the U.K. as the beginning of a clampdown on the estimated 150,000 British households that watch television illegally without a licence.
 * March 14 – The BBC Television Service in Scotland is launched.
 * May 22 – The first televised atomic bomb detonation, billed as "Operation Tumbler–Snapper", is broadcast on KTLA in Los Angeles, and fed to the three major U.S. networks via a 140 mi microwave link.
 * July 7 – Turkey's first television station, ITU TV, is opened.
 * July 20 – Arrow to the Heart, the first collaboration between director Rudolph Cartier and scriptwriter Nigel Kneale, is broadcast by BBC Television in the United Kingdom.
 * August 1 – First television broadcast in the Dominican Republic by La Voz Dominicana, a station based on the radio station of the same name.
 * September 6 – Television debuts in Canada with the initiation of CBFT in Montreal, Quebec.
 * September 8 – CBLT in Toronto, Ontario begins broadcasting as Canada's second television station.
 * September 20 – The first commercial Ultra High Frequency (UHF) television station in the world, KPTV (later a Fox company affiliate), begins broadcasting in Portland, Oregon on channel 27.
 * October 7 – WFIL-TV Philadelphia's afternoon series Bandstand, which will become American Bandstand, changes emphasis to teens dancing to popular records
 * November 4 – 1952 United States presidential election: The first political advertisements have appeared on U.S. television. Democrats bought a 30-minute time segment for their candidate, Adlai Stevenson but he has received unfavorable mail for interfering with a broadcast of I Love Lucy. Dwight Eisenhower bought 20 second commercial segments and wins the election.
 * November 16 – CBS Television City in Hollywood, California opens, the network's first studio on the U.S. west coast.
 * The U.S. Federal Communications Commission reserves channels for non-commercial public broadcasting.
 * There are approximately 146,000 television sets in Canada and most antennas are pointed towards WBEN-TV (later WIVB) in Buffalo, New York.

Programs/programmes

 * Amos & Andy (1951–1953)
 * Author Meets the Critics (1947–1954)
 * Bozo the Clown (1948–present)
 * Café Continental (UK) (1947–1953)
 * Candid Camera (1948–present)
 * Cisco Kid (1950–1956)
 * The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950-1955)
 * Come Dancing (UK) (1949–1995)
 * Dragnet (1951–1959)
 * Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (1946–1960)
 * Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present)
 * Hawkins Falls (1950, 1951–1955)
 * Howdy Doody (1947–1960)
 * I Love Lucy (1951–1960)
 * Juvenile Jury (1947–1954)
 * Kaleidoscope (UK) (1946–1953)
 * Kraft Television Theater (1947–1958)
 * Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947–1957)
 * Life with Elizabeth (1952–1955)
 * Love of Life (1951–1980)
 * Martin Kane, Private Eye (1949–1954)
 * Meet the Press (1947–present)
 * Muffin the Mule (UK) (1946–1955)
 * Search for Tomorrow (1951–1986)
 * Television Newsreel (UK) (1948–1954)
 * The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971)
 * The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950–1958)
 * The Goldbergs (1949–1955)
 * The Jack Benny Show (1950–1965)
 * The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957)
 * The Texaco Star Theater (1948–1953)
 * The Voice of Firestone (1949–1963)
 * Truth or Consequences (1950–1988)
 * What's My Line (1950–1967)
 * Your Hit Parade (1950–1959)
 * Your Show of Shows (1950–1954)

Debuts

 * January 6 - Claudia on NBC (moved to CBS on March 31, 1952)
 * January 14 – The Today Show on NBC (1952–present)
 * March 1 – Death Valley Days in syndication (1952–1975)
 * June 19 – I've Got a Secret on CBS (1952–1967)
 * June 30 – the soap opera The Guiding Light (1952–2009) on CBS, which began on radio in 1937, becoming the longest-running regularly scheduled drama in television history
 * July 10 - The prime time version of A Date with Judy debuts on ABC.
 * September – the religious drama This Is the Life on DuMont, and ran until the late 1980s
 * September 19 – Adventures of Superman in syndication (1952–1958)
 * October 26 – Victory at Sea (1952–1953) on NBC, one of the first historic documentary series
 * October 3 – Our Miss Brooks (1952-1956) on CBS
 * November 1 – Hockey Night in Canada on CBC (1952–present)
 * November 6 – Biff Baker, U.S.A. on CBS (1952–1953)
 * November 8 – My Hero on NBC (1952–1953)
 * December 1 – The Abbott and Costello Show in syndication (1952–1954)
 * December 15 – Flower Pot Men on BBC Television (1952)
 * American Bandstand, originally called Bandstand, as a local program in Philadelphia (1952–1989)
 * Life Is Worth Living with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen on DuMont (1952–1955), then on ABC (1955–1957)
 * My Little Margie (1952–1955), starring Gale Storm
 * See It Now, hosted by Edward R. Murrow
 * The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on ABC (1952–1966)
 * The Ernie Kovacs Show, where Kovacs explores the boundaries of television technology with his use of special effects (1952–1953)
 * Meet the Masters, a program about classical music, on NBC and WGN-TV
 * This Is Your Life in the U.S. (1952–1961)
 * Life with Elizabeth, a sitcom featuring Betty White (1952–1955)

Television debuts

 * Mabel Albertson – Chevron Theatre
 * Margaret Bert – Fireside Theatre
 * Claire Bloom – Sunday Night Theatre
 * Joe E. Brown – The Buick Circus Hour
 * G. Pat Collins – Mr. and Mrs. North
 * Buster Crabbe – The Philco Television Playhouse
 * Richard Crenna – I Love Lucy
 * Irene Dunne – Schlitz Playhouse
 * William Hickey – The Philco Television Playhouse
 * Allen Jenkins – Racket Squad
 * Carolyn Jones – Chevron Theatre
 * Peter Lorre – Lux Video Theatre
 * Steve McQueen – Family Affair
 * Sal Mineo – Hallmark Hall of Fame
 * Marilyn Monroe – The Jack Benny Program
 * Rita Moreno – Fireside Theatre
 * Audie Murphy – Lux Video Theatre
 * Pat O'Brien – Betty Crocker Star Matinee
 * Maureen O'Sullivan – Hollywood Opening Night
 * Geraldine Page – Lux Video Theatre
 * Donald Pleasence – Sunday Night Theatre
 * Sidney Poitier – CBS Television Workshop
 * Bert Remsen – Suspense
 * Mickey Rooney – Celanese Theatre
 * Chris Sarandon – Guiding Light
 * Peter Sellers – Don't Spare the Horses
 * Sylvia Sidney – Cameo Theatre
 * Ann Sothern – Schlitz Playhouse
 * Joe Turkel – Boston Blackie
 * Lee Van Cleef – Sky King
 * Dennis Weaver – Dragnet
 * Billie Whitelaw – The Secret Garden
 * Stuart Whitman – The Roy Rogers Show
 * Joanne Woodward – Tales of Tomorrow

title: 1952 in television


text:
1951 in television

The year 1951 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1951.

Events

 * March 21 – XEW-TV began transmissions, being the second oldest in Mexico City, with the first one being XHTV.
 * March 22 – RCA introduces an eight-pound (3.6 kg) monochrome television camera with a 53-pound (24 kg) backpack transmitter, both operated by batteries. It is the first portable television camera.
 * May 28 – The US Supreme Court upholds the Federal Communications Commission's approval of the CBS color television system.
 * May 31 – Nederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS), as predecessor of Nederlandse Omroep Stichting Televisie (NOS), a first regular television broadcasting service started in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
 * June 25 – CBS presents its first commercial color telecast featuring Arthur Godfrey, Ed Sullivan, and Faye Emerson.
 * June – RCA demonstrates its new electronic color system.
 * August 11 – The first baseball game is televised in color, a double-header between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves.
 * September 4 – The first live transcontinental television broadcast occurs in San Francisco, California from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference.
 * September 29
 * The first live sporting event broadcast coast-to-coast, a college football game between Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh, is televised by NBC.
 * CBS broadcasts the first American football game in color, between the University of California and the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia.
 * September 30 – WXIA-TV signed on the air at 5 p.m., as WLTV on channel 8. It was the first full time ABC affiliate for Atlanta, taking it over from WSB-TV (channel 2) and WAGA-TV (channel 5).
 * October 2
 * Danish language television station, DR1, first launched in Copenhagen.
 * NTS, The first television network in the Netherlands was launched at 8:15 pm.
 * October 3 – The first live coast-to-coast network telecast of a World Series baseball game.
 * October 12 – The Holme Moss transmitter is initiated in Northern England, making BBC Television available to the region for the first time.
 * October 17 – Television broadcasts begin in Argentina from Primera Televisora Argentina on channel 7, Buenos Aires.
 * October 20 – The CBS Eye logo makes its television debut.
 * November 11 – Bing Crosby Enterprises demonstrates black-and-white video recording using a modified Ampex tape recorder.
 * November 18 – Edward R. Murrow on See It Now presents a split screen view of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City and the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. It has erroneously been referred to as the first live transcontinental telecast.
 * December – TV Tupi in São Paulo (Brazil) begins broadcasting Sua Vida Me Pertence ("Your Life Belongs To Me") starring Vida Alves, pioneering the telenovela genre.
 * December 24 – The first televised opera composed for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti, is broadcast by NBC.
 * Ernie Kovacs' Time for Ernie and Ernie in Kovacsland television series premiere. Kovacs explores the boundaries of television technology with his use of camera tricks and special effects.

Debuts

 * January 3 – Dragnet, crime drama, on NBC (1951–1959 Series One B&W, 1967-1970 Series Two Color)
 * January 8 - Say It with Acting, game show, on NBC.
 * March 3 – Watch Mr. Wizard on NBC (1951–1965)
 * March 12 - Miss Susan, soap opera on NBC (1951)
 * June 2 - The daytime version of A Date with Judy debuts on ABC.
 * June 16 – Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town, variety show, with Faye Emerson and Skitch Henderson, on CBS
 * July 1 - G. E. Guest House debuts on CBS.
 * July 6 – Front Page Detective debuts on Dumont.
 * July 16 – A British version of the What's My Line?, game show, on BBC (Like its American counterpart, it became one of the top-rated programs for the rest of the decade and made a celebrity of its host, Eamonn Andrews)
 * August 3 - The Ad-Libbers, comedy sketch game show, on CBS. (1951)
 * August 3 - Tales of Tomorrow, a science fiction anthology series on ABC (1951-1953)
 * September 3 – The first long-running soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, on CBS (1951–1986)
 * September 11 - The Bill Goodwin Show, a talk/variety program on NBC. (1951-1952)
 * September 24 – Love of Life on CBS (1951–1980)
 * October 15 – Situation comedy I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball with her real-life husband, Desi Arnaz, on CBS (1951–1957); produced on film in front of a studio audience, using three film cameras, instead of being broadcast live, and making Ball the world's first major female television star
 * October 28 - Out There, a science fiction program on CBS (1951-1952)
 * Television version of Amos & Andy (1951–1953)
 * The Roy Rogers Show (1951–1957), on NBC, starring Roy Rogers and his wife, Dale Evans
 * Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951–present)

Television debuts

 * Rico Alaniz – The Adventures of Kit Carson
 * Mel Brooks – The Milton Berle Show
 * Raymond Burr – Stars Over Hollywood
 * Joseph Calleia – Pulitzer Prize Playhouse
 * Wendell Corey – Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
 * Robert Coote – Robert Montgomery Presents
 * James Fox – Parent-Craft
 * Ben Gazzara – Danger
 * Stacy Harris – Chesterfield Sound Off Time
 * Pat Hingle – Suspense
 * Rochelle Hudson – Racket Squad
 * Barry Kelley – Stars Over Hollywood
 * Don Knotts – Search for Tomorrow
 * Robert Loggia – Search for Tomorrow
 * Vera Miles – Fireside Theatre
 * Elizabeth Montgomery – Robert Montgomery Presents
 * Alvy Moore – Space Patrol
 * Kathleen O'Malley – The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
 * Joan Plowright – Sara Crewe
 * Denver Pyle – The Cisco Kid
 * Lee Remick – Armstrong Circle Theatre
 * George C. Scott – The Bigelow Theatre
 * Lois Smith – Love of Life
 * Charles Starrett – Faith Baldwin Romance Theatre
 * Jan Sterling – Pulitzer Prize Playhouse
 * Jack Weston – Out There

title: 1951 in television


text:
The Hudsucker Proxy

The Hudsucker Proxy is a 1994 screwball comedy film co-written, produced, and directed by the Coen brothers. Sam Raimi co-wrote the script and served as second unit director. The film stars Tim Robbins as a naïve but ambitious business school graduate who is installed as president of a manufacturing company, Jennifer Jason Leigh as a newspaper reporter, and Paul Newman as a company director who hires the graduate as part of a stock scam.

The script was finished in 1985, but production did not start until 1991, when Joel Silver acquired the script for Silver Pictures. Warner Bros. subsequently agreed to distribute the film, with further financing from PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films. Filming at Carolco Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, lasted from November 1992 to March 1993. The New York City scale model set was designed by Michael J. McAlister and Mark Stetson, with further effects provided by The Computer Film Company.

Upon its release in March 1994, The Hudsucker Proxy received mixed reviews from critics and bombed at the box office, but has since gained a cult following.

Plot
In December 1958, Norville Barnes, a business college graduate from Muncie, Indiana, arrives in New York City, looking for a job. He struggles due to lack of experience and becomes a mailroom clerk at Hudsucker Industries, a large corporation. Soon thereafter, the company's founder and president, Waring Hudsucker, unexpectedly commits suicide during a business meeting by jumping out of a top-floor window.

Afterward, Sidney J. Mussburger, a ruthless member of the company's board of directors, knowing that Hudsucker Industries' bylaws call for Hudsucker's stock shares to be sold to the public, suggests a scheme to buy the controlling interest in the company by temporarily depressing the stock price by hiring a clearly incompetent president to run the business.

In the mailroom, Norville is assigned to deliver a "Blue Letter" to Mussburger. The letter is a top-secret communication from Hudsucker, sent shortly before his death. However, Norville does not deliver the letter; instead, he pitches Mussburger an invention of his (indicated with no other explanation than a simple drawing of a circle and his cryptic explanation, "you know: for kids."). Believing Norville to be an idiot, Mussburger selects him as a proxy for Hudsucker.

Across town, Amy Archer, a brassy Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter for the Manhattan Argus newspaper, is assigned to write a story about Norville and find out what kind of man he really is. She obtains a job at Hudsucker Industries as his personal secretary, pretending to be yet another desperate graduate from his alma mater in Muncie.

One night, Amy searches the building for clues and meets Moses, who operates the tower's giant clock and knows "just about anything if it concerns Hudsucker". He tells her Mussburger's plot, and she takes the story back to her Chief, but he does not believe it.

The other executives at Hudsucker Industries decide to produce Norville's invention in hopes that it will flop and further depress the company's stock. However, the invention is the hula-hoop, which initially fails in obscurity but then becomes an enormous success.

Norville allows success to go to his head and becomes yet another uncaring tycoon. Amy, who had fallen for his naive charm, is infuriated over Norville's new attitude and leaves him. Buzz, the eager elevator operator, pitches a new invention: the bendy straw, which Buzz calls the "Buzz-sucker." Norville insults the idea and cruelly fires Buzz, ignoring his pleas that he needs the job.

Meanwhile, Aloysius, a Hudsucker janitor, discovers Amy's true identity and informs Mussburger. Mussburger reveals Amy's secret identity to Norville and tells him he will be dismissed as president after the new year. Mussburger also convinces the board that Norville is insane and must be sent to the local psychiatric hospital.

On New Year's Eve, Amy finds Norville drunk at a beatnik bar. She apologizes, but he storms out and is chased by an angry mob led by Buzz. Norville escapes to the top floor of the Hudsucker skyscraper and changes back into his mailroom uniform. He climbs out on the ledge, where Aloysius locks him out and watches as he slips and falls off the building at the stroke of midnight.

While Norville plummets, Moses stops the building's giant clock, which freezes time. Waring Hudsucker appears to Norville as an angel and tells him to read the Blue Letter (still in Norville's uniform pocket) that was supposed to be delivered to Mussburger: it contains Hudsucker's instructions to transfer his shares to his immediate successor as president, rather than to the public. This would have been Mussburger, but, unaware of this, he proceeded with his scheme to elect Norville.

Inside the building's giant clock, Moses fights Aloysius, defeating him. Norville descends safely to the ground. He and Amy reconcile. As 1959 progresses, Mussburger attempts suicide and is sent to an asylum, while Norville develops a new invention "for kids": another enigmatic circle on a folded sheet of paper that ultimately turns out to be a frisbee.

Cast

 * Tim Robbins as Norville Barnes
 * Jennifer Jason Leigh as Amy Archer
 * Paul Newman as Sidney J. Mussburger
 * Jim True as Clarence "Buzz" Gunderson, the elevator operator
 * Bill Cobbs as Moses, the clock man
 * Harry Bugin as Aloysius, the janitor
 * Bruce Campbell as Smitty, Argus reporter
 * John Mahoney as Al, the Argus chief editor
 * Charles Durning as Waring Hudsucker
 * Patrick Cranshaw as Ancient Sorter
 * Anna Nicole Smith as Za-Za
 * Steve Buscemi as Danny the Bartender
 * Sam Raimi as Hudsucker Brainstormer
 * Jon Polito as Mr. Bumstead
 * Peter Gallagher as Vic Tenetta
 * Mike Starr as Newsroom Reporter
 * John Goodman as Rockwell newsreel announcer
 * I.M. Hobson as Myron Addison, the weeping board member

Writing
The Coen brothers first met Sam Raimi when Joel Coen worked as an assistant editor on Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981). Together, they began writing the script for The Hudsucker Proxy in 1981, and continued during the filming of Crimewave (1985), and post-production on Blood Simple (1985), in which Joel and Ethan Coen shared a house with Raimi. The Coens and Raimi were inspired by the films of Preston Sturges, such as Christmas in July (1940) and the Hollywood satire Sullivan's Travels (1941). The sentimental tone and decency of ordinary men as heroes was influenced by films of Frank Capra, like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), and It's a Wonderful Life (1946). The dialogue is an homage to Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday (1940), while Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance as fast-talking reporter Amy Archer is reminiscent of Rosalind Russell and Katharine Hepburn, in both the physical and vocal mannerisms. Other movies that observers found references to include Executive Suite (1954) and Sweet Smell of Success (1957). The brothers had no intention of commenting on or parodying such movies. Instead, as Ethan said, "It's the case where, having seen those movies, we say 'They're really fun - let's do one'; as opposed to 'They're really fun- let's comment upon them.'" Raimi describes the script as "big-business comedy. It's a return to the very large love story comedies they used to make in the forties and early fifties." So the brothers started to pace around their apartment, taking turns on the typewriter, and when they found themselves stuck at a point, Raimi would do all sorts of tricks to get the boys back up. For example, while Ethan is pacing around, he would move things around the apartment so Ethan would be thrown off, he even said he threw firecrackers at them.

One film critic described the numerous influences: "From his infelicitous name to his physical clumsiness, Norville Barnes is a Preston Sturges hero trapped in a Frank Capra story, and never should that twain meet, especially not in a world that seems to have been created by Fritz Lang – the mechanistic monstrousness of the mailroom contrasted with the Bauhaus gigantism of the corporate offices perfectly matches the boss-labour split in Metropolis (1927)." An interviewer proposed that the characters represent capitalism versus labour economics. Joel Coen replied: "Maybe the characters do embody those grand themes you mentioned, but that question is independent of whether or not we're interested in them – and we're not." The Hudsucker Proxy presents various narrative motifs pertaining to the Rota Fortunae and visual motifs concerning the shape of circles. This includes Moses' monologue at the beginning, the Hudsucker Clock, Mussburger's wristwatch, the inventions of both the hula hoop and frisbee, as well as Norville and Amy's conversation about Karma.

The first image the Coens and Raimi conceived was of Norville Barnes about to jump from the window of a skyscraper and then they had to figure out how he got there and how to save him. The inclusion of the hula hoop came as a result of a plot device. Joel remembers, "We had to come up with something that Norville was going to invent that on the face of it was ridiculous. Something that would seem, by any sort of rational measure, to be doomed to failure, but something that on the other hand the audience already knew was going to be a phenomenal success." Ethan said, "The whole circle motif was built into the design of the movie, and that just made it seem more appropriate." Joel: "What grew out of that was the design element which drives the movie. The tension between vertical lines and circles; you have these tall buildings, then these circles everywhere which are echoed in the plot...in the structure of the movie itself. It starts with the end and circles back to the beginning, with a big flashback." It took the Coens and Raimi three months to write the screenplay. As early as 1985, the Coens were quoted as saying that an upcoming project "takes place in the late Fifties in a skyscraper and is about Big Business. The characters talk fast and wear sharp clothes."

Despite having finished the script in 1985, Joel explained, "We couldn't make Hudsucker back then because we weren't that popular yet. Plus, the script was too expensive and we had just completed Blood Simple, which was an independent film." After completing Barton Fink (1991), the Coens were looking forward to doing a more mainstream film. The Hudsucker Proxy was revived and the Coens and Raimi performed a brief rewrite. Producer Joel Silver, a fan of the Coens' previous films, acquired the script for his production company, Silver Pictures, and pitched the project at Warner Bros. Pictures. Silver also allowed the Coens complete artistic control.

Production
This was the first time the Coen brothers chose big stars to act in one of their films. Joel Silver's first choice for Norville Barnes was Tom Cruise, but the Coens persisted in a desire to cast Tim Robbins. Jon Cryer auditioned for the lead role of Norville Barnes. Winona Ryder and Bridget Fonda were in competition for the role of Amy Archer, before Jennifer Jason Leigh was cast. Leigh had previously auditioned for a role in the Coens's Miller's Crossing and Barton Fink; her failed auditions prompted the Coens to cast her in The Hudsucker Proxy. To prepare for her role as Amy Archer, Leigh read the biographies of some of the most substantial ladies of the thirties and forties such as Rosalind Russell, Katharine Hepburn, and Jean Arthur. When casting the role of Sidney Mussburger, "Warner Bros. suggested all sorts of names," remembered Joel. "A lot of them were comedians who were clearly wrong. Mussburger is the bad guy and Paul Newman brought that character to life." However, the Coens first offered the role to Clint Eastwood, but he was forced to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts. The Coens also offered their longtime friend Bruce Campbell an audition, but he initially refused, writing that "My history with the Coens spanned more than a decade...I would gladly and willingly accept the role, but these fellows knew my work well enough to spare me the audition." The Coens agreed and Campbell was offered, sans audition, the role of Smitty. Campbell was later effusive in his praise for the professionalism of the production and the other cast members, as well as being in awe that he was chosen to help Paul Newman rehearse before filming began.

Once Newman and Robbins signed on, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Working Title Films agreed to co-finance the film with Warner Bros. and Silver Pictures. The film was shot on five sound stages at Carolco Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, beginning on November 30, 1992. Raimi served as second unit director, shooting the hula hoop sequence and Waring Hudsucker's suicide. Production designer Dennis Gassner was influenced by fascist architecture, particularly the work of Albert Speer, as well as Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985), Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art Deco movement. Gassner contemplated using five huge rooms needed to accommodate the sound stages. Gassner noted "You see, we wanted things to be big." He said that the huge 1950s-inspired table up in the boardroom was so long, it had to be built in five sections and later on assembled on the soundstage. The intention for the set sizes was to generate an oppressive feel. Principal photography ended on March 18, 1993.

In addition, numerous sequences were filmed in downtown Chicago, particularly in the Merchandise Mart building for the entrance and lobby to Hudsucker Industries and The Blackstone Hotel Christmas ballroom.

The presses in the News & Observer building in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, appeared in the movie.

Visual effects
The visual effects supervisor was Michael J. McAlister (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Willow) with Mark Stetson (Superman Returns, Peter Pan) as miniatures supervisor. Peter Chesney, mechanical effects designer on many Coen brothers films, created a pair of 16-foot angel wings for actor Charles Durning, who portrayed Waring Hudsucker. "I made a complicated steel armature with a lot of electric motors to time everything so he can fold up his wings, unfold them and flap them about. Then we covered them with real duck and turkey feathers," says Chesney. "We modeled them after photographs of a hovering dove landing in slow motion." The buildings in the background (designed by McAlister and Stetson) were 1:24 scale models, shot separately and merged in post-production. To lengthen the sequence, the model of the Hudsucker building was the equivalent of 90 stories, not 45.

Despite the New York City setting, additional skyscrapers in Chicago, Illinois, provided inspiration for the opening sequence of the skyline, such as the Merchandise Mart and Aon Center. Skyscrapers from New York City included the Chanin Building, the Fred F. French Building and One Wall Street, Manhattan. "We took all our favorite buildings in New York from where they actually stood and sort of put them into one neighborhood," Gassner continued, "a fantasy vision which adds to the atmosphere and flavor." First of all, a model had to be created based on the fantasy 1950s New York for the opening shot. So a miniature city was created, as McAlister mentioned that the Coens did not want a realistic reproduction of 1950s New York skyline, instead they wanted a more stylized version of it. So Gassner used the book New York in The Forties as a reference to create the look for the cityscape. It took three months and 27 crew members to create the miniature city at the scale of 24:1. As for the Hudsucker building, they made it at the scale of 6:1 for closer shots including the long-zoom in of Norville at the beginning. For that scene to be created, it started off with a wide-angle shot, moving closer towards Tim Robbins, who was standing in a full sized set, which they inserted inside the shot of the model clock. "Marrying a live-action image with a painted or miniature element was, of course, nothing new, however, in the case of the zoom-in on Robbins from such a distance, keeping the full-size set locked in with the model building, that was state-of-the-art and the only way to do it was with computers," says McAlister. Most of the buildings were created with two sides only, as they are seen from only the front and the side, and some needed only one side, as they were seen from only the front, while the Hudsucker building was made completely three-dimensional. The work of The Computer Film Company (supervised by Janek Sirrs) included manipulations of the zoom-in shot of Norville at the beginning, as well as CGI snow and composites of the falling sequences.

To create the two suicide falls, the miniature New York set was hung sideways to allow full movement along the heights of the buildings. McAlister calculated that such a drop would take seven seconds, but for dramatic purposes it was extended to around thirty. Problems occurred when the Coens and cinematographer Roger Deakins decided that these shots would be more effective with a wide-angle lens. "The buildings had been designed for an 18 mm lens, but as we tried a 14 mm lens, and then a 10 mm, we liked the shots more and more." However, the wider amount of vision meant that the edges of the frame went beyond the fringes of the model city, leaving empty spaces with no buildings. In the end, extra buildings were created from putting the one-sided buildings together and placing them at the edges. Charles Durning's fall was shot conventionally, but because Tim Robbins had to stop abruptly at the camera, his was shot in reverse as he was pulled away from the camera.

The skyscraper models created for The Hudsucker Proxy were re-used for The Shadow, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, and Godzilla.

Inspirations
It is thought that the inspiration for the scene in which CEO Waring Hudsucker jumps to his death from the company's building was inspired by the real-life suicide of Eli Black, former chairman of United Brands, in 1975.

Soundtrack
The score to The Hudsucker Proxy was written by Carter Burwell, the fifth of his collaborations with the Coen Brothers. "Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia" from the ballet Spartacus by Khachaturian is the basis of the main theme and additional music from the ballet runs under the Hula-Hoop sequence. The popular music of the time is also reflected in the character of Vic Tenetta (played by Peter Gallagher), modeled after Dean Martin, who sings "Memories Are Made of This." Additional inspiration comes from Aram Khachaturian's Gayane suite. A section from the ballet is used by Burwell for the scene in which Norville and Amy meet for the first time. The composer's "Dance of the Young Mountaineers" is used when a young boy is the first to try the hula hoop, followed by "Sabre Dance" (both from Gayane).

Commercial reception
Warner Bros. held test screenings and audience comments were largely mixed. The studio suggested re-shoots, but the Coens, who held final cut privilege, refused because they were very nervous working with their biggest budget to date and were eager for mainstream success. The producers eventually added footage that had been cut and also shot minor pick-ups for the ending. Variety claimed that the pick-ups were done to try to save the film because Warner feared it was going to be a box office bomb. Joel Coen addressed the issue in an interview: "First of all, they weren't reshoots. They were a little bit of additional footage. We wanted to shoot a fight scene at the end of the movie. It was the product of something we discovered editing the movie, not previewing it. We've done additional shooting on every movie, so it's normal."

The film premiered in January 1994 at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. In addition, The Hudsucker Proxy opened the 1994 Cannes Film Festival on May 12, 1994. The film was in competition for the Palme d'Or, but lost to Pulp Fiction. The Hudsucker Proxy was released on March 11, 1994, and only grossed $2,816,518 in the United States and Canada. Worldwide, it grossed $11.3 million. The production budget was officially set at $25 million, although, it was reported to have increased to $40 million for marketing and promotion purposes. The film was a box office bomb.

Critical response
In addition to the film under-performing at the box office, The Hudsucker Proxy opened to mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes 63% of reviews from 52 critics were positive, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's consensus states, "Intriguingly strange and visually distinctive, The Hudsucker Proxy is ultimately almost – but not quite – as smart and absorbing as it needs to be."

Roger Ebert praised the production design, scale model work, matte paintings, cinematography, and characters. "But the problem with the movie is that it's all surface and no substance," Ebert wrote. "Not even the slightest attempt is made to suggest that the film takes its own story seriously. Everything is style. The performances seem deliberately angled as satire." Desson Thomson of The Washington Post described The Hudsucker Proxy as being "pointlessly flashy and compulsively overloaded with references to films of the 1930s. Missing in this film's performances is a sense of humanity, the crucial ingredient in the movies Hudsucker is clearly trying to evoke. Hudsucker isn't the real thing at all. It's just a proxy."

John Simon of National Review described The Hudsucker Proxy as "asinine and insufferable".

Todd McCarthy, writing in Variety, called the film "one of the most inspired and technically stunning pastiches of old Hollywood pictures ever to come out of the New Hollywood. But a pastiche it remains, as nearly everything in the Coen brothers' latest and biggest film seems like a wizardly but artificial synthesis, leaving a hole in the middle where some emotion and humanity should be." James Berardinelli gave a largely positive review. "The Hudsucker Proxy skewers Big Business on the same shaft that Robert Altman ran Hollywood through with The Player. From the Brazil-like scenes in the cavernous mail room to the convoluted machinations in the board room, this film is pure satire of the nastiest and most enjoyable sort. In this surreal world of 1958 can be found many of the issues confronting large corporations in the 1990s, all twisted to match the filmmakers' vision."

Warner Home Video released The Hudsucker Proxy on DVD on May 18, 1999. No featurettes were included. It was one of the first Blu-ray Disc titles released through the Warner Archive Collection on February 26, 2013, but it still lacked any featurettes.

Two decades after the film's release, Scout Tafoya of RogerEbert.com praised the film for its stylistic adventurousness and expansion upon the themes and concepts of the films that inspired it. "Whereas the comedies of the 1930s and '40s could talk quickly and move quickly, they couldn't run at a full gallop like the Coen Brothers. Their camera soars, traveling at the speed of progress, gossip, capitalism itself. Everything races at top speed. The production design, the one thing everyone felt comfortable praising, is a marvel. Every frame doubles as a survey of early modern art, from Art Deco to Futurism."

Year-end lists

 * 8th – Stephen Hunter, The Baltimore Sun
 * 8th – Sandi Davis, The Oklahoman
 * 9th – Sean P. Means, The Salt Lake Tribune
 * Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
 * Honorable mention – Mike Clark, USA Today
 * Biggest disappointment – Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News

title: The Hudsucker Proxy


text:
1950 in television

The year 1950 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1950.

Events

 * February – European Broadcasting Union (EBU) inaugurated.
 * February 15
 * KENS began transmissions as KEYL. It was the second television station to sign on in the San Antonio market.
 * WSTM-TV began transmissions as WSYR-TV. It was Syracuse's second television station, signing on a year and three months after WHEN-TV (now WTVH).
 * February 21 – WOI-TV signs on the air as Iowa's second television station (following WOC-TV, now KQWC-TV), and the first in the Des Moines area.
 * February 23 – First televised report of general election results in the United Kingdom.
 * March 27 – WHAS-TV signs on the air. It was the second television station to sign on in the Louisville market and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
 * April 2 – WTKR began operations on channel 4 as WTAR-TV. It was Hampton Roads' first television station and the second television station in Virginia, after WTVR (channel 6) in Richmond.
 * April 4 – The BBC Television (UK) aspect ratio changes from 5:4 to 4:3.
 * May 1 – WLNS-TV began transmissions as WJIM-TV. It is Michigan's second-oldest television station outside Detroit.
 * May – Desilu Productions formed by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball in the United States.
 * June 1 – WWMT signs on the air as WKZO-TV. It was West Michigan's second television station to debut after WLAV-TV (channel 7, now WOOD-TV channel 8 in Grand Rapids).
 * June 17 – WAND (at this time called WTVP) goes on the air in Decatur, Illinois.
 * July 1 – WHBF-TV signs on the air. It is the fifth-oldest surviving station in Illinois, and the oldest outside Chicago.
 * July 26 – First television broadcast station in Mexico, XHTV, Mexico City on channel 4; Gonzalo Castellot Madrazo is the first announcer to appear.
 * September 18 – First television network in South America launches, PRF-TV on channel 3 in São Paulo, Brazil.
 * September 30
 * First BBC television broadcast from an aircraft.
 * WSMV-TV began transmissions as WSM-TV at 1:10 pm CT. It was Nashville's first television station and the second in Tennessee.
 * October 10 – The U.S. Federal Communications Commission approves CBS's color television system, effective November 20.
 * October 25 - Cuba signs on to television as Havana's Union Radio TV signs on for the first time, the first television station in the Caribbean.

New shows

 * January 4 – Abe Burrows' Almanac debuts on CBS (1950).
 * January 11 - I Cover Times Square debuts on ABC (1950-1951).
 * February 2 – What's My Line (1950) debuts on CBS (1950–1967).
 * February 25 – Your Show of Shows premieres on NBC (1950–1954).
 * March 23 – Beat the Clock premieres on CBS (1950–1961).
 * June 17–October 12 – Hawkins Falls premieres on NBC (1951–1955).
 * July 3 – The Hazel Scott Show on the DuMont Television Network (1950).
 * July 6 - Ford Star Revue premieres on NBC as the summer replacement for Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge.
 * July 10 – Your Hit Parade premieres on NBC.
 * July 11 – Andy Pandy premieres on the BBC (1950, 1970, 2002).
 * September 5 – The Cisco Kid, starring Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carrillo, premieres (1950-1956).
 * September 6 – Stars Over Hollywood premieres on NBC (1950-1951).
 * September 7 – The game show Truth or Consequences debuts (1950–1988).
 * September 10 – The Colgate Comedy Hour series debuts on NBC (1950-1955).
 * September 18 – The Paul Winchell Show debuts on NBC with the title The Speidel Show.
 * October 4 – Four Star Revue debuts on NBC (1950–1953).
 * October 5 – The comedy quiz show You Bet Your Life, featuring Groucho Marx, premieres (1950–1961).
 * October 12 – The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show debuts (1950–1958).
 * October 28 – The Jack Benny Program, starring Jack Benny, premieres (1950–1965).

Television debuts

 * Richard Alexander – The Gene Autry Show
 * Robert Armstrong – The Silver Theatre
 * Madeleine Carroll – Robert Montgomery Presents
 * Finlay Currie – Sunday Night Theatre
 * Frank Darien – The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
 * Frances Dee – Fireside Theatre
 * Stuart Erwin – The Stu Erwin Show
 * Kay Francis – Prudential Family Playhouse
 * Rex Harrison – The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
 * Nancy Kelly – The Silver Theatre
 * June Lang – Fireside Theatre
 * Robert Montgomery – Robert Montgomery Presents
 * Franklin Pangborn – The Ken Murray Show
 * Gene Raymond – Pulitzer Prize Playhouse
 * Penny Singleton – Pulitzer Prize Playhouse

title: 1950 in television


text:
Talk:Powerpointy

Hmmm. Is this really worth an seperate entry? We're not the Jargon File, and we shouldn't attempt to recreate it. Maybe it would be better as part of an article about presentation software. --Robert Merkel

 * Agreed. -- Tarquin 00:32 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

 * Done.

 * Who's going to write that article? The substance of the article is gone now hidden in PowerPoint.  The ideas of powerpointy and even PowerPoint-Free_Zone are not comments about PowerPoint or presentation software but about persuasion... you are trivializing this by hiding that text under the technology.

As to the Jargon issue, it is not clear where wikipedia has to explain idioms and where wiktionary can do it. Until this is clear, you should leave ambiguous articles in place.

Quick decisions are bad decisions.

 * I think articles with names that are specialized jargon are often a bad idea. vague concepts such as "Good Thing" are not really encyclopedic material and neither is this. However, you're right that ot should go on an article on presentation software in general rather than PowerPoints -- a section on criticisms of overf-reliance on presentation software would be good -- Tarquin 00:53 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

 * No, I don't agree with that position, and that's not what I said. If it was up to me the article title would be persuasion technology and there would be a section specifically on presentation software, but it's impossible to separate the use of PowerPoint from the use of phone redial (to get the appointment to powerpoint someone), or from advertising that works through a human medium, e.g. hard sell sales pitches, software that installs subtly on your computer, most dating systems, and lots of other issues in non-mass media.
 * powerpointy deserves an explanation, if you like under the better known title PowerPoint-Free_Zone. This is the original form of the concept and its context should be explained in one article, more or less as it was done.
 * this can be cited as an example case in the more general article, which is not about stand-up-presentation software but about using technology to persuade in face to face settings.

title: Talk:Powerpointy


text:
1949 in television

The year 1949 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1949.

Events

 * January 3: Colgate Theatre premieres on NBC.
 * January 11: A two-hour special on all American networks celebrates the linking of the eastern and midwestern networks via coaxial cable.
 * January 20: The second inauguration of President Truman becomes the first presidential inauguration to be broadcast on television.
 * January 21: Your Show Time becomes the first filmed dramatic series on American network television.
 * January 31: The first Emmy Awards are presented and broadcast on television from Los Angeles.
 * May: The first telethon, benefitting the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund, is hosted by Milton Berle and lasts for 24 hours.
 * May 30: WRTV-DT (Channel 6) signs on as WFBM-TV in Indianapolis, the first television station in the state of Indiana. Its first aired program was the documentary The Crucible of Speed, about the early history of the Indianapolis 500, followed by the inaugural live television coverage of the event.
 * August 25: RCA announces the development of a compatible color TV system.
 * December 17: The Sutton Coldfield television transmitter is opened in the English Midlands, making it the first part of the UK outside London to receive BBC Television.
 * December 29: KC2XAK of Bridgeport, Connecticut becomes the first Ultra high frequency (UHF) television station to operate a daily schedule.
 * First television broadcasts begin in Cuba.
 * For the first time, the Sears & Roebuck catalog includes televisions.

Programs

 * January 16: ABC Television Players, a dramatic anthology, debuts on ABC (1949).
 * January 17: The Goldbergs, a situation comedy, debuts on CBS (1949–55).
 * May 5: Series Stop the Music debuts on American Broadcasting Company for a five-year run over seven years.
 * June 24: "Hopalong Cassidy" becomes the first American television Western series (originally based on film shorts, then becoming an original series in 1952)
 * June 27: Captain Video and His Video Rangers, apparently the first science fiction series televised, debuts.
 * July 15: This Is Show Business, panel discussion program, premieres on CBS (1949–54; 1956).
 * September 28: Photocrime, detective program, premieres on ABC (1949).
 * September 29: Come Dancing, a ballroom dancing competition, is first broadcast by the BBC (1949–95).
 * Martin Kane, Private Eye premieres on NBC, becoming the first detective series televised (1949–54).
 * The Voice of Firestone premieres (1949–63).
 * Bozo the Clown premieres (1949–present).
 * The Lone Ranger premieres on ABC (1949–57).

Stations

 * January 1: KPRC-TV (Originally known as KLEE-TV) Signs on the air. They are the Second TV station in Texas, and the First in Houston. That same day, KTTV Signs on in Los Angeles.
 * March 21: WTVJ signs on the air becoming the first television station in the state of Florida.
 * May 29: WVTM-TV (Originally WAFM, and later WABT and WAPI) Signs on the air as the first TV station in Alabama
 * May 30: WRTV (originally WFBM-TV) Signs on the air as the first TV station in Indiana
 * June 6: KFOR-TV (originally WKY-TV) Signs on the air as the first TV station in Oklahoma
 * July 1 WBRC Begins operations from Birmingham AL, just 1 month after WVTM started operations.
 * August 29: WOWT (originally WOW-TV) Signs on the air for the first time, becoming the first television station in Nebraska, and one of the first in the Midwest.

Births

 * January 7 – Steven Williams, American actor, (21 Jump Street)
 * January 8 – Anne Schedeen, American actress, (ALF)
 * January 13 – Brandon Tartikoff, American executive (died 1997)
 * January 16 – Caroline Munro, English actress and model
 * January 17 – Andy Kaufman, American actor and comedian (died 1984)
 * January 24 – John Belushi, American actor and comedian, (Saturday Night Live) (died 1982)
 * February 2 – Brent Spiner, American actor, (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
 * February 3 – Brenda Dickson, American actress, (The Young and the Restless)
 * February 8 – Brooke Adams, American actress
 * February 9 – Judith Light, American actress, (One Life to Live, Who's The Boss?)
 * February 14 – István Vágó, Hungarian television host and political activist (died 2023)
 * February 18 – Jess Walton, American actress, (The Young and the Restless)
 * February 25 – Ric Flair, American pro wrestler
 * February 26 – Tim Brant, American sportscaster
 * February 28 – Ilene Graff, American actress and singer, (Mr. Belvedere)
 * March 2 – Gates McFadden, American actress and choreographer, (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
 * March 16
 * Erik Estrada, American actor, (CHiPs)
 * Victor Garber, Canadian actor and singer, (Alias, Legends of Tomorrow)
 * March 17 – Patrick Duffy, American actor, (Dallas, Step by Step)
 * March 26
 * Vicki Lawrence, American actress and comedian, (The Carol Burnett Show, Mama's Family)
 * Ernest Lee Thomas, American actor, (What's Happening!!, What's Happening Now!!)
 * April 14 – John Shea, American actor
 * April 17 – Michael J. Stull, American songwriter (died 2002)
 * April 19 – Forrest Sawyer, American broadcast journalist
 * April 20 – Veronica Cartwright, English-born actress
 * April 23 – Joyce DeWitt, American actress, (Three's Company)
 * April 28 – Paul Guilfoyle, American actor, (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)
 * May 1 – Douglas Barr, actor, (The Fall Guy)
 * May 9
 * Billy Joel, American singer-songwriter
 * Beverly Penberthy, actress (Another World)
 * May 26 – Philip Michael Thomas, actor, (Miami Vice)
 * June 3 – John Rothman, actor
 * June 11 – Sherman Howard, actor, (Superboy, Jumanji, Batman Beyond)
 * June 12 – Roger Aaron Brown, actor, (The District)
 * June 15 – Jim Varney, actor and comedian (died 2000)
 * June 16
 * Geoff Pierson, actor, (Ryan's Hope, Unhappily Ever After, Dexter)
 * Arnold Diaz, American television consumer watchdog journalist (died 2023)
 * June 20 – Lionel Richie, singer
 * June 22
 * Lindsay Wagner, actress, (The Bionic Woman)
 * Rand Morrison, producer
 * June 25
 * Kene Holliday, actor, (Matlock)
 * Phyllis George, actress, (died 2020)
 * July 3 – Jan Smithers, actress, (WKRP in Cincinnati)
 * July 8 – Carmel Cryan, actor
 * July 9 – Nigel Lythgoe, British TV director and producer (American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance)
 * July 10 – Mark Shera, actor, (Barnaby Jones, S.W.A.T.)
 * July 11 – Jay Johnson, ventriloquist, actor, (Soap)
 * July 16 – Cyndy Garvey, American television personality
 * July 24 – Michael Richards, actor, (Seinfeld)
 * July 27 – Maureen McGovern, actress
 * August 21
 * Loretta Devine, actress and singer, (Boston Public, Grey's Anatomy)
 * Josephine Abady, American stage director (died 2002)
 * August 23
 * Rick Springfield, Australian singer-songwriter and actor
 * Shelley Long, actress, (Cheers)
 * August 24
 * Joe Regalbuto, actor, (Murphy Brown)
 * Patricia Shevlin, producer
 * August 25 – John Savage, actor, (Dark Angel)
 * September 10
 * Bill O'Reilly, television journalist, host, (The O'Reilly Factor)
 * Tony Evans, television pastor
 * September 16 – Ed Begley, Jr., actor, (St. Elsewhere)
 * September 20 – Anthony Denison, actor
 * September 23
 * Floella Benjamin, Trinidad-born British actress, children's TV presenter, (Play School)
 * Bruce Springsteen, American singer-songwriter
 * September 25 – Anson Williams, actor and director, (Happy Days)
 * September 28 – Vernee Watson-Johnson, actress
 * September 30 – Ann Risley, actress and comedian, (Saturday Night Live)
 * October 3 – Norm Abram, master carpenter, (This Old House)
 * October 4 – Armand Assante, actor
 * October 8 – Sigourney Weaver, actress
 * October 9 – Shera Danese, actress, (Columbo)
 * October 10 – Jessica Harper, actress
 * October 14 – Katy Manning, English actress
 * October 15 – Tanya Roberts, actress, (died 2021)
 * October 21 – LaTanya Richardson Jackson, actress
 * October 28
 * Caitlyn Jenner, American Olympic athlete and reality TV personality
 * Sandra Sade, Israeli actress (Sabri Maranan)
 * November 1 – Belita Moreno, actress, (Perfect Strangers, George Lopez)
 * November 3 – Mike Evans, actor, (All in the Family, The Jeffersons and creator of Good Times) (died 2006)
 * November 4 – Berlinda Tolbert, actress, (The Jeffersons)
 * November 5 – Armin Shimerman, actor, (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
 * November 11 – Denise Gordy, actress
 * November 19 – Ahmad Rashad, Sportscaster and former NFL football player
 * November 23 – Jerry verDorn, soap opera actor (Guiding Light, One Life to Live) (died 2022)
 * November 24 – Damon Evans, actor, (The Jeffersons)
 * November 28 – Paul Shaffer, singer
 * November 29
 * Jerry Lawler, WWE commentator and pro wrestler
 * Garry Shandling, actor and comedian, (The Larry Sanders Show) (died 2016)
 * December 2 – Ron Raines, American actor, (Guiding Light)
 * December 3 – Heather Menzies, Canadian actress, (Logan's Run) (died 2017)
 * December 4 – Pamela Stephenson, New Zealand actress and comedian
 * December 5 – Lanny Wadkins, golfer
 * December 15 – Don Johnson, actor, (Miami Vice, Nash Bridges)
 * December 19 – Rita Taggart, actress
 * December 21 – Michael Horse, actor, (Twin Peaks)

Television debuts

 * Andy Devine – Lum and Abner
 * Brian Donlevy – The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
 * Melvyn Douglas – The Philco Television Playhouse
 * Glenda Farrell – Studio One
 * Miriam Hopkins – The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
 * Marcia Mae Jones – Your Show Time
 * John Merton – The Lone Ranger
 * Lee Tracy – The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre

title: 1949 in television


text:
1948 in television

The year 1948 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1948.

Events

 * (undated) - The Ziv Company creates Ziv Television Programs as a subsidiary specializing in the production of original television programs for syndication.
 * February 9 - WLWT, Cincinnati, Ohio, begins commercial broadcasting, changing its call letters from experimental station W8XCT.
 * March 4 - First American television ratings are released by C. E. Hooper.
 * March 20 – Renowned Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini makes his television debut, conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in the U.S. in a program featuring the works of Richard Wagner.
 * April 3 – Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 is played on television in its entirety for the first time in a concert featuring Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The chorus is conducted by Robert Shaw.
 * May 3 – The first network nightly newscast, CBS Television News, debuts on CBS with Douglas Edwards as journalist.
 * June 21 - The first network telecasts of political conventions from Philadelphia.
 * July 29 – The BBC Television Service begins its coverage of the 1948 Olympic Games in London by broadcasting the opening ceremony. From now until the closing ceremony on August 14 the BBC will broadcast an average three and a half hours a day of live coverage from the games, using a special coaxial cable linking the main venue at Wembley Stadium to the television service's base at Alexandra Palace. This is the most ambitious sustained outside broadcast yet attempted by the BBC and is completed without serious problems.
 * August 10 - ABC establishes its first television station in New York.
 * August 25 – First-ever congressional hearing is televised: "Confrontation Day" between Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
 * November 4 - Moscow TV facility adopted a new 625 line PAL television standard.
 * November 25 - The earliest known national telecast of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is broadcast by CBS.
 * November 29
 * Roller Derby is broadcast from NY on the CBS television network.
 * The television puppet show series Kukla, Fran and Ollie is transferred to the NBC Midwest Network.
 * December 18 — WDSU TV channel 6, NBC affiliate, Becomes the first station in the Deep South in New Orleans, Louisiana
 * CBS begins network programming.
 * Television manufacturing begins in Canada.
 * Telecasts of the NBC Symphony Orchestra, begin until 1954.
 * The number of homes in the U.S. that own a television set reaches one million.

Debuts

 * January 5 – Television Newsreel (UK) is first shown on the BBC Television Service (1948–1954).
 * April 15 - For Your Pleasure debuts on NBC.
 * April 18 - The ABC television network begins operation.
 * April 22 - WTVR-TV, Richmond, Virginia, begins broadcasting on Channel 6. WTVR is the first TV station south of Washington, D.C., giving it the nickname "The South's first Television Station."
 * April 27 - KSTP-TV, Saint Paul, Minnesota, signs on the air as an NBC affiliate, the first TV station in Minnesota.
 * June 8 – Milton Berle becomes the first United States television star with the debut of Texaco Star Theater (later The Milton Berle Show) broadcast by NBC (1948–1953).
 * June 9 - WBZ-TV, Boston, Massachusetts, begins broadcasting on Channel 4. WBZ is New England's first television station.
 * June 20 – Toast of the Town, a variety series hosted by Ed Sullivan, premieres on CBS, with guests Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (later renamed, The Ed Sullivan Show) (1948–1971).
 * July 1 – Mark Goodson's first game series Winner Take All premieres on CBS (1948–1952).
 * August 10 – Candid Microphone (renamed Candid Camera in 1949) debuts on ABC (1948 – present).
 * September 8 - Girl About Town debuts on NBC.
 * September 29 - WSB-TV, Atlanta, Georgia, begins broadcasting on Channel 8.
 * October 12 - Vanity Fair debuts (1948-1951).
 * November 15 - The Adventures of Oky Doky premieres (1948–1949).
 * November - Super Circus premieres (1948-49 locally on WENR, 1949-1956 nationwide)
 * Amanda (1948–1949).
 * The Bigelow Show premieres (1948–1949).
 * Champagne and Orchids (1948–1949).
 * Child's World debuts (1948–1949).
 * Actors Studio (1948–1950).
 * Cartoon Teletales (1948–1950).
 * The Alan Dale Show premieres (1948–1951).
 * Club Seven (1948–1951).

Births

 * January 2 - Judith Miller, American journalist
 * January 5 - Ted Lange, actor, director (The Love Boat)
 * January 12 - Martha Teichner, American television news correspondent
 * January 14 - Carl Weathers, actor (Tour of Duty, Arrested Development)
 * January 16 - John Carpenter, actor
 * January 18 - M. C. Gainey, actor (Against the Law, Lost)
 * January 22 - Velton Ray Bunch, composer
 * January 29
 * Cristina Saralegui, Cuban-American talk show host and actress
 * Marc Singer, Canadian actor
 * February 4 - Alice Cooper, actor and singer
 * February 5
 * Christopher Guest, actor
 * Barbara Hershey, actress
 * Tom Wilkinson, actor (died 2023)
 * February 14 - Pat O'Brien, American author and radio host
 * February 15 - Tino Insana, actor (died 2017)
 * February 18 - Peter Lance, American journalist
 * February 20 - Jennifer O'Neill, actress
 * February 22
 * John Ashton, actor
 * Joe Cortese, actor
 * February 24 - Dennis Waterman, actor (died 2022)
 * February 28
 * Bernadette Peters, actress and singer
 * Mercedes Ruehl, actress
 * February 29
 * Ken Foree, actor
 * Gérard Darmon, actor
 * Kerry Walker, actress
 * March 3 - Brian Cummings, actor
 * March 6 - Anna Maria Horsford, actress (Amen, The Wayans Bros.)
 * March 13 - Robert S. Woods, actor (One Life to Live)
 * March 14 - Billy Crystal, actor, comedian (Soap, Saturday Night Live)
 * March 20 - John de Lancie, actor (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
 * March 22 - Wolf Blitzer, American journalist
 * March 24 - Adrian Shergold, director
 * March 25 - Bonnie Bedelia, actress (Love of Life)
 * March 26 - Steven Tyler, actor
 * March 28 - Dianne Wiest, actress (Law & Order)
 * March 30 - Justin Deas, actor (As the World Turns, Santa Barbara, Guiding Light)
 * March 31
 * Al Gore, American politician
 * Rhea Perlman, actress (Cheers)
 * April 6 - Patrika Darbo, actress (Step by Step)
 * April 7 - Michael Hirsh, Canadian producer
 * April 12
 * Jeremy Beadle, English presenter (died 2008)
 * Rita Braver, American television news correspondent
 * April 13 - Bob Kur, American television journalist
 * April 19 - Andrew Scheinman, American film and television producer
 * April 20 - Gregory Itzin, actor (24) (died 2022)
 * April 25 - Freda Foh Shen, actress (Elementary, Silk Stalkings, Gideon's Crossing)
 * April 27
 * Kate Pierson, singer
 * Si Robertson, American television personality
 * April 30
 * Perry King, actor (Riptide)
 * Allan Arkush, producer
 * May 3
 * Chris Mulkey, actor
 * Peter Oosterhuis, golfer
 * May 6 - Paul Linke, actor (CHiPs)
 * May 8
 * Stephen Stohn, American-Canadian lawyer and producer
 * Gale Tattersall, producer
 * May 10 - Meg Foster, actress
 * May 11
 * Joe Bodolai, writer (died 2011)
 * Pam Ferris, actress
 * May 12 - Lindsay Crouse, actress
 * May 14
 * Walter Olkewicz, actor (died 2021)
 * Rich Correll, actor
 * May 17 - Jim Gardner, broadcaster
 * May 19 - Grace Jones, actress
 * May 21
 * Carol Potter, actress (Beverly Hills, 90210)
 * Jonathan Hyde, actor
 * May 23 - Gary McCord, golfer
 * May 26 - Stevie Nicks, singer
 * May 27 - Ken Lerner, actor
 * June 1 - Powers Boothe, actor (Philip Marlowe, Private Eye, Deadwood, 24, Nashville, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Justice League, Justice League Unlimited), (died 2017)
 * June 2 - Jerry Mathers, actor (Leave It to Beaver)
 * June 11 - Stephen Schnetzer, actor (Another World)
 * June 19 - Phylicia Rashad, actress (The Cosby Show)
 * June 20 - Tina Sinatra, businesswoman
 * June 25 - Jesse Frederick, singer
 * June 28 - Kathy Bates, actress
 * June 29 - Fred Grandy, actor (The Love Boat)
 * July 2 - Saul Rubinek, actor
 * July 12
 * Jay Thomas, actor (died 2017)
 * Richard Simmons, American fitness personality (died 2024)
 * July 13 - Daphne Maxwell Reid, actress (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
 * July 15 - Anne Sinclair, French television and radio interviewer
 * July 16 - Rubén Blades, actor
 * July 19 - Beverly Archer, actress (Mama's Family, Major Dad)
 * July 22 - Neil Hardwick, British-born Finnish theatre and TV director
 * July 25 - Eren Ozker, American puppeteer (died 1993)
 * July 28 - Georgia Engel, actress (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) (died 2019)
 * July 30 - Jean Reno, actor
 * August 2 - Dennis Prager, talk show host
 * August 5 - Carole Laure, actress
 * August 13 - Merrill Markoe, writer
 * August 14
 * Joseph Marcell, English actor (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
 * Lou Wagner, actor
 * August 18
 * Maureen Garrett, actress (Guiding Light, Ryan's Hope)
 * Sean Scanlan, actor
 * Grainger Hines, actor
 * August 19 - Deana Martin, actress
 * August 20 - John Noble, Australian actor (Fringe, Sleepy Hollow)
 * August 23 - Steve Edwards, American talk show host
 * August 24 - John Beard, American news anchor
 * August 30 - Lewis Black, American actor
 * September 7
 * Susan Blakely, actress (Rich Man, Poor Man)
 * Roz Abrams, American television news journalist
 * September 13
 * Nell Carter, actress, singer (Gimme a Break!) (died 2003)
 * Clyde Kusatsu, actor
 * September 16 - Susan Ruttan, actress (L.A. Law)
 * September 17 - John Ritter, actor, comedian (Three's Company) (died 2003)
 * September 19 - Jeremy Irons, actor
 * September 20
 * Joanna Cameron, actress (died 2021)
 * George R. R. Martin, author
 * September 24
 * Phil Hartman, Canadian actor, comedian (Saturday Night Live) (died 1998)
 * Gordon Clapp, actor (NYPD Blue)
 * September 25 - Mimi Kennedy, actress (Homefront)
 * September 26 - Bruce Sudano, songwriter
 * September 27
 * Michele Dotrice, English actress
 * Tom Braidwood, actor
 * A Martinez, soap opera actor and singer
 * September 29 - Bryant Gumbel, journalist and sportscaster
 * October 2 - Avery Brooks, actor (Spenser: For Hire, A Man Called Hawk, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
 * October 5 - Sal Viscuso, actor (M*A*S*H)
 * October 6 - Frances Tomelty, actress
 * October 10 - Carol Marin, journalist
 * October 12 - Eli Danker, actor
 * October 17 - George Wendt, actor (Cheers)
 * October 19
 * Pat Klous, actress (The Love Boat, Flying High)
 * Dave Mallow, actor
 * October 21
 * Dick Christie, actor (Small Wonder)
 * Tom Everett, actor
 * October 23 - Brian Ross, journalist
 * October 24 - James Whitmore, Jr., actor
 * October 28 - Telma Hopkins, singer, actress (Family Matters)
 * October 29 - Kate Jackson, actress (Charlie's Angels, Scarecrow and Mrs. King)
 * November 1 - Anna Stuart, actress
 * November 7 - James Houghton, actor (Knots Landing)
 * November 10 - Aaron Brown, journalist
 * November 11 - Vincent Schiavelli, actor (died 2005)
 * November 14 - Robert Ginty, actor (died 2009)
 * November 15 - Bob Beckel, commentator (died 2022)
 * November 17 - Howard Fineman, commentator (died 2024)
 * November 20
 * Richard Masur, actor
 * Harlee McBride, actress
 * November 21 - Lonnie Jordan, singer
 * November 25 - Storm Field, American television meteorologist
 * November 30 - Larry Bishop, actor
 * December 3 - Ozzy Osbourne, English singer, songwriter and actor (The Osbournes)
 * December 6 - JoBeth Williams, actress
 * December 7 - Tony Thomas, producer
 * December 21
 * Samuel L. Jackson, actor (Pulp Fiction)
 * Barry Gordon, actor
 * December 22
 * Noel Edmonds, English television presenter
 * Steve Garvey, Football player who played himself on an episode of the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! in 1999
 * December 25 - Barbara Mandrell, singer
 * December 26 - Candy Crowley, American news anchor
 * December 31 - Donna Summer, singer-songwriter (died 2012)

Television debuts

 * Mischa Auer – The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
 * Ralph Bellamy – The Philco Television Playhouse
 * Bruce Cabot – Stars Over Hollywood
 * John Carradine – The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
 * Jackie Cooper – Kraft Television Theatre
 * James Dunn – The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
 * Dean Jagger – Studio One
 * Paul Muni – The Philco Television Playhouse

title: 1948 in television