Underdog and Thanksgiving

A year after Underdog debuted on NBC in 1964, the titular super-canine made his first of many appearances in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  A shrewd bit of marketing boosted the publicity surrounding Underdog’s inaugural parade float. NBC aired the...

“L.A. Law” Retrospective (Part 1 of 8)

Media historians will likely document the 1980s as the Decade of the Peacock.  As television approached its 40th anniversary since Milton Berle launched the medium into mass status in 1948 with Texaco Star Theatre, NBC’s avian emblem emerged like a phoenix,...

Nancy Sinatra, Jack Benny, and the Mod Generation

Jack Benny was an icon of 20th century comedy.  With an eponymous radio show and television show, he dominated comedy from the 1930s through the 1970s. Benny added to his credits with television specials.  Jack Benny’s New Look premiered on NBC on December 3,...