Video: 'Face to Face with the Ayatollah'

(Sunday, November 18, 1979, 7:00 p.m. EST; during the Iran hostage crisis) — CBS correspondent Mike Wallace became the first Western reporter to interview Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on tonight’s edition of 60 Minutes, two weeks after a group of Iranian college students stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran, taking more than 50 Americans hostage. Continue reading Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini interviewed on ’60 Minutes’ 40 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Nov 18 1979) →

Video: '1979 - ESPN commercials - First Day / 3 months: SportsCenter, NCAA'

(Friday, September 7, 1979, 7:00 p.m. EDT) — The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN), an American-based global cable and satellite television channel that focuses on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports highlight and talk shows, and other original programming, made its cable TV debut tonight. Continue reading Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) debuts 40 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 7 1979) →

Video: 'WKRP in Cincinnati S01E07 Turkeys Away'

(Monday, October 30, 1978, 8:00-8:30 p.m. EST) — Mr. Carlson puts on a Thanksgiving promotion involving turkeys tossed from a helicopter at a shopping mall on tonight’s episode of the CBS situation comedy television series WKRP in Cincinnati. Continue reading ‘Turkeys Away’ episode airs on ‘WKRP in Cincinnati ‘ 40 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Oct 30 1978) →

Video: 'WKRP in Cincinnati S01E01 Pilot'

(Monday, September 18, 1978, 8:40-9:10 p.m. EDT, delayed by President Carter’s address to Congress) — WKRP in Cincinnati, an American prime time television sitcom series that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio, debuted tonight on CBS. Continue reading ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ series debuts on CBS-TV 40 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 18 1978) →

Video: 'Julie Kavner Wins Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Emmys Archive (1978)'

(Sunday, September 17, 1978, 8:00-11:35 p.m. EDT) — Holocaust, NBC’s saga of two German families caught in the Nazi terror, and All in the Family, a comedy series about America’s favorite bigot, won top honors tonight at the 30th Primetime Emmy Awards tonight at Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. Continue reading ‘Holocaust,’ ‘All in the Family’ big winners at Emmy Awards 40 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 17 1978) →

Video: 'Mork & Mindy Season 1 Episode 1 2 Pilot'

(Thursday, September 14, 1978, 8:00-9:00 p.m. EDT) — Mork & Mindy, an American prime time television sitcom series about an extraterrestrial who comes to Earth from the planet Ork in a small, one-Orkan egg-shaped spaceship, debuted tonight on ABC. Continue reading ‘Mork & Mindy’ series debuts on ABC-TV 40 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Sep 14 1978) →