On This Day: September 20, 1984 — The Cosby Show Premieres and Saves NBC
On September 20, 1984, The Cosby Show premiered on NBC after ABC passed on it — and ended up saving a last-place network and reviving the sitcom genre.
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On This Day: September 16, 1993 — Frasier Landed on NBC and Nobody Saw It Coming
On September 16, 1993, Frasier made its NBC debut — a Cheers spin-off that Kelsey Grammer didn’t want to make, built around a concept Paramount had already rejected, with a cast assembled partly by accident. It ran 11 seasons, produced 264 episodes, and collected 37 Primetime Emmy Awards. Nobody saw any of that coming. The…
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On This Day: September 8, 1986 — Oprah Goes National and Daytime TV Changes Forever
On September 8, 1986, The Oprah Winfrey Show made its national television debut, airing in 138 markets across the United States and reaching 92 percent of American TV households. Winfrey became the first Black woman to own and host a nationally syndicated talk show — and within a single season, she had displaced Phil Donahue…
