Poor Dave Garroway had to be on the air with that monkey, a concept he didn't like, but gamely put up with it. However, I bet J. Fred Muggs would not be out of place on the current version of Today, LOL! If he could only see that program nowadays, he'd turn over in his grave. In fact, he probably already has...several times over.
Watching the 60th anniverary program of the Today Show this morning, I am reminded of how much I loved this show after discovering it a few months after its inception. I was a weather buff as a kid and I loved how they showed the current temperatures in all the major cities of the country by scrolling the list on the screen while a popular song played in the background.
@WSenator1 Yes, Dave Garroway lived to participate in the 1982 Today Show reunion, where he was sharp and amusing. I think some of it is posted on you tube. Dave Garroway committed suicide in mid-1982 following postoperative complications after open-heart surgery. I believe that he knew he wasn't going to make it.
"CHESTERFIELD SOUND-OFF TIME" aired on Sundays at 7pm(et) in the fall of '51, and didn't last long. Fred Allen was one of the series' three rotating hosts, with Jerry Lester and Bob Hope. This originally aired at the end of December 1951.
Two comments: Unfortunately, you're right that DG killed himself, but it was not in the early 60s - he was around to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Today Show in the early 80s,(which I remember watching), and at some point after that, he bought the farm. And Chesterfield Sound-Off Time introduced another all-time great show: "Dragnet."
Poor Dave Garroway had to be on the air with that monkey, a concept he didn't like, but gamely put up with it. However, I bet J. Fred Muggs would not be out of place on the current version of Today, LOL! If he could only see that program nowadays, he'd turn over in his grave. In fact, he probably already has...several times over.
calchick82 1 month ago
Watching the 60th anniverary program of the Today Show this morning, I am reminded of how much I loved this show after discovering it a few months after its inception. I was a weather buff as a kid and I loved how they showed the current temperatures in all the major cities of the country by scrolling the list on the screen while a popular song played in the background.
philotimos923 2 months ago
@WSenator1 Yes, Dave Garroway lived to participate in the 1982 Today Show reunion, where he was sharp and amusing. I think some of it is posted on you tube. Dave Garroway committed suicide in mid-1982 following postoperative complications after open-heart surgery. I believe that he knew he wasn't going to make it.
Lampshade51 2 months ago
"CHESTERFIELD SOUND-OFF TIME" aired on Sundays at 7pm(et) in the fall of '51, and didn't last long. Fred Allen was one of the series' three rotating hosts, with Jerry Lester and Bob Hope. This originally aired at the end of December 1951.
fromthesidelines 4 months ago
Two comments: Unfortunately, you're right that DG killed himself, but it was not in the early 60s - he was around to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Today Show in the early 80s,(which I remember watching), and at some point after that, he bought the farm. And Chesterfield Sound-Off Time introduced another all-time great show: "Dragnet."
WSenator1 7 months ago
very prescient comment at end by fred. garroway killed himself in the early 1960's being despondent over the decline of his show.
bigred997 8 months ago