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PopClips
''PopClips'' is a music video television program, the direct predecessor of MTV. Former Monkee Mike Nesmith conceived the first music-video program as a promotional device for Warner Communications' record division. Production began in the spring of 1979 at SamFilm, a sound-stage built and operated in Sand City, California by Sam Harrison, a Monterey Peninsula College instructor with a motion picture background. The series was produced by Jac Holzman. With an infinity cyclorama as the background, set flats were made from the Styrofoam packing used to ship laserdisc players and 3/4" video decks. The first " VeeJay" was Jeff Michalski. The director was William Dear. Besides Harrison, the production team was made up of Bruce "Buz" Clarke, Keith Cornell, Marybeth Harris, and Leslie Chacon. The program was broadcast weekly on the youth-oriented cable television channel Nickelodeon in late 1980 and early 1981. The channel's owners at the time, Warner Cable, wanted to buy the nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Nesmith
Robert Michael Nesmith or Mike Nesmith, (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees'' (1966–1968). His songwriting credits include " Different Drum," which became a hit for Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys. After the break-up of the Monkees, Nesmith continued his successful songwriting and performing career, first with the seminal country rock group the First National Band, with whom he had a top-40 hit, " Joanne", and then as a solo artist. He often played a custom-built Gretsch 12-string electric with the Monkees and afterwards. Nesmith founded Pacific Arts, a multimedia production and distribution company, in 1974, through which he helped pioneer the music video format. He created one of the first American television programs dedicated to music videos, '' PopClips'', which aired on Nickelodeon in 1980. He was asked to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Nesmith
Robert Michael Nesmith or Mike Nesmith, (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees'' (1966–1968). His songwriting credits include "Different Drum," which became a hit for Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys. After the break-up of the Monkees, Nesmith continued his successful songwriting and performing career, first with the seminal country rock group the First National Band, with whom he had a top-40 hit, " Joanne", and then as a solo artist. He often played a custom-built Gretsch 12-string electric with the Monkees and afterwards. Nesmith founded Pacific Arts, a multimedia production and distribution company, in 1974, through which he helped pioneer the music video format. He created one of the first American television programs dedicated to music videos, ''PopClips'', which aired on Nickelodeon in 1980. He was asked to h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Television Parts
''Michael Nesmith in Television Parts'' is a summer TV series run by NBC in 1985. It was a 30-minute comedy-variety series created by Michael Nesmith as a continuation of his Grammy Award-winning video production ''Elephant Parts'', and earlier series PopClips. The first episode was a stand-alone television special which aired on March 7, 1985. The following series premiered on June 14, 1985. The show was a mix of music videos (by both Nesmith and others) mixed in with comedy sketches, commercial parodies, and general silliness. It was hosted by Nesmith himself, who also participated in many of the sketches. ''Television Parts'' also featured guest appearances by a number of comedians, including Martin Mull, Whoopi Goldberg, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Martin, The Funny Boys and Garry Shandling, whose appearance on the show was the seed for '' It's Garry Shandling's Show''.'' Ricky Gervais Meets... Garry Shandling'', 2006-12-26, Channel 4 One of the show's featured pie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elephant Parts
''Elephant Parts'' is a collection of comedy sketches and music videos made in 1981 by Michael Nesmith, formerly of the Monkees. Nesmith produced the video through his company Pacific Arts. ''Elephant Parts'' is one hour long with parody commercials and comedy sketches, and features five full-length music videos, including the popular songs "Rio" and "Cruisin'", which featured wrestler Steve Strong and Monterey-based comic "Chicago" Steve Barkley. Overview There are various comedy sketches between musical numbers: The most notable sketches are "Elvis Drugs", "Neighborhood Nuclear Superiority", "The Tragically Hip" (which was the inspiration for the Canadian band the Tragically Hip and was featured as a pretaped sketch on a season six episode of ''Saturday Night Live''), "Large Detroit Car Company", "Mariachi Translations", recurring comic blackouts that ended with the catchphrase "Just to prove a point!" and several series of bits with a lounge singer and a pirate, as well as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howie Mandel
Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian-American comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel voiced the character Gizmo in the 1984 film '' Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch''. In 1987, Mandel starred alongside Amy Steel in the comedy film '' Walk Like a Man''. From 1982 to 1988, Mandel played the rowdy ER intern Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the NBC medical drama ''St. Elsewhere''. He also created, voiced and starred in the FOX children's cartoon ''Bobby's World''. Additionally, he has been a judge on NBC's ''America's Got Talent'' since 2010, and Citytv's '' Canada's Got Talent'' since 2022. He hosted the American NBC and later CNBC game show ''Deal or No Deal'', as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. In 2022, he began hosting the first season of Netflix's ''Bullsh*t the Game Show''. Early life and education Mandel was born and raised in the Willowdale area of North York, Ontario. He is J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jac Holzman
Jac Holzman (born September 15, 1931) is an American music businessman, best known as the founder, chief executive officer and head of record label Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records. Holzman commercially helped launch the CD and home video formats, as well as the pilot program which became MTV. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Biography Early life Holzman was born to a Jewish family, the son of a Manhattan doctor. He founded Elektra Entertainment as a small independent folk label in his St. John's College dormitory room in 1950, with $600 ($ in dollars). That same year the first record released was New Songs by John Gruen, initially a flop but a big learning lesson, 500 copies were pressed with less than a quarter of them were sold. He held Amateur Radio callsign K2VEH around this time. In 1968, he approved Elektra Record's Paxton Lodge, the experimental recording studio where Jackson Browne first recorded. By 1957 Elektra was $90,000 ($ in dollar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Dear
William Dear (born November 30, 1943) is a Canadian actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He is known for directing the films ''Harry and the Hendersons'', '' If Looks Could Kill'', '' Angels in the Outfield'', '' Wild America'', and ''Santa Who?''. He also directed episodes of the television series ''Saturday Night Live'', '' Television Parts'', ''Amazing Stories'', ''Dinosaurs'', '' Covington Cross'', and ''The Wannabes Starring Savvy''. Dear was born on November 30, 1943, in Toronto, Ontario. He is the father of actor and storyboard artist, Oliver Dear. Filmography Director * ''Nymph'' (1973) * '' Northville Cemetery Massacre'' (1976) * ''PopClips'' (1980) * ''Elephant Parts'' (1981) * '' Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann'' (1982) * ''Harry and the Hendersons'' (1987) * '' If Looks Could Kill'' (1991) * ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (1993) * '' Angels in the Outfield'' (1994) * '' Wild America'' (1997) * '' Balloon Farm'' (1999) * ''Santa Who?'' (2000) * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1981 American Television Series Endings
Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of Morazán Department, Morazán and Chalatenango Department, Chalatenango departments. * January 15 – Pope John Paul II receives a delegation led by Polish Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa at the Vatican City, Vatican. * January 20 – Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days, minutes after Ronald Reagan is First inauguration of Ronald Reagan, sworn in as the 40th President of the United States, ending the Iran hostage crisis. * January 21 – The first DMC DeLorean, DeLorean automobile, a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors, rolls off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. * January 24 – An 1981 Dawu ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980 American Television Series Debuts
__NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 198 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire *January 28 **Publius Septimius Geta, son of Septimius Severus, receives the title of Caesar. **Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus, is given the title of Augustus. China *Winter – Battle of Xiapi: The allied armies led by Cao Cao and Liu Bei defeat Lü Bu; afterward Cao Cao has him executed. By topic Religion * Marcus I succeeds Olympianus as Patriarch of Constantinople (until 211). Births * Lu Kai (or Jingfeng), Chinese official and general (d. 269) * Quan Cong, Chinese general and advisor (d. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980s American Music Television Series
__NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 198 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire *January 28 ** Publius Septimius Geta, son of Septimius Severus, receives the title of Caesar. **Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus, is given the title of Augustus. China *Winter – Battle of Xiapi: The allied armies led by Cao Cao and Liu Bei defeat Lü Bu; afterward Cao Cao has him executed. By topic Religion * Marcus I succeeds Olympianus as Patriarch of Constantinople (until 211). Births * Lu Kai (or Jingfeng), Chinese official and general (d. 269) * Quan Cong, Chinese general and advisor ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born composer, publisher Lawrence Wright; the first editor was Edgar Jackson. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publication) '' New Musical Express''. 1950s–1960s Originally the ''Melody Maker'' (''MM'') concentrated on jazz, and had Max Jones, one of the leading British proselytizers for that music, on its staff for many years. It was slow to cover rock and roll and lost ground to the ''New Musical Express'' (''NME''), which had begun in 1952. ''MM'' launched its own weekly singles chart (a top 20) on 7 April 1956, and an LPs charts in November 1958, two years after the ''Record Mirror'' had published the first UK Albums Chart. From 1964, the paper led its rival publications in terms of appro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infinity Cyc
In theater and film, a cyclorama (abbreviated cyc in the U.S., Canada, and the UK) is a large curtain or wall, often concave, positioned at the back of the apse. It often encircles or partially encloses the stage to form a background. It was popularized in the German theater of the 19th century and continues in common usage today in theaters throughout the world. It can be made of unbleached canvas (larger versions) or muslin (smaller versions), filled scrim (popularized on Broadway in the 20th century), or seamless translucent plastic (often referred to as "Opera Plastic"). Traditionally it is hung at 0% fullness (flat). When possible, it is stretched on the sides and weighted on the bottom to create a flat and even surface. As seams tend to interrupt the smooth surface of the cyclorama, it is usually constructed from extra-wide material. In photography, cycloramas or cycs also refer to curving backdrops which are white to create the illusion of no background, or green for chrom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
