On this date in 1952, the “Today” show debuted on NBC. Former ad executive and NBCs innovative programmer, Pat Weaver (yes, Sigourneys dad), broke with the thinking of the day, betting that people would include the living room TV in their wash, dress and eat - bedroom, bathroom and kitchen - early morning routines, In 1952 only a millionaire would own more than one television. Not only did the show succeed, some of the elements are still the foundations of morning news shows: CBS current 90-second eye-opener was Today in Two Minutes. CBS shows graphics of newspaper front pages from across the country, while Today had the actual front pages. And just this morning in 2015 the Today show introduced a dog as a show mascot. When the program started, poor host Dave Garroway had to work with a chimp named J. Fred Muggs. The chimp was fired when he reached puberty and started biting the guests. Garroway was nothing less than brilliant, but spiralled down to an ultimate suicide with increased codene use - on the set he refered to the elixer that he sipped as the doctor. Pat Weaver was ultimately fired by David Sarnoff to make room for his son, Robert Sarnoff. When I asked Gene Rayburn about that incident, Gene flipped a Hemingway classic title as a joked about that move: The SON also rises!
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 19:32:55 +0000
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