June 2nd

On this day - June 2 2004 - Ken Jennings starts his Jeopardy run

Ken Jennings or Kenneth Wayne Jennings III is a American game show contestant and author. In his run he won 74 Jeopardy shows for a that won him over 2,500 000 USD. Jennings is the second all time money winner in tv gameshows with over 4,000 000 USD in winnings. The person who has earned most is Brad Rutter who beat Jennings in Jeopardy Battle of the Decades. In the battle of the Decades Brad won 1000 000 and Jennings won 100 000. Both contestants was part of the IBM Challenge where IBMs supercomputer Watson played against the Brad and Jennings. Watson was the next big challenge project for IBM after Deep Blue. Watson won that challenge and Jennings came 2nd. Jennings has published the book Brainiac: "Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs" 

May 6th

On this day - May 6th 2004 - The final episode of "Friends" aired 

The American sitcom first aired in 1994 and ran for a total of 10 seasons. On May 6th was the final episode aired. It had the title " The Last One" and consisted of two separate episodes aired at the same day. 52.5 million viewers watched the american airing of the show, which made it into the 6th most watch final episode of any american tv-show (M.A.S.H is number one ). The last part of the episode show the six friends leaving their flat for the last time to go to "Central Perk" to have a last coffee before their major life changing events (such as adopting twins).

You can buy the complete series on Amazon.


Monica: Do you realise that all of us have lived in this appartment at some point?
Ross Geller: Uh, I haven't!
Monica: What about that summer you stayed with Grandma and you tried to make it as a dancer?
Ross Geller: Do you know we almost made it ten years without that coming up?

 

March 30th

On this day - March 30th 1964 - The debut of "Jeopardy!" game show  

Jeopardy! is an american TV Quiz show where the participants are given the answer and has to come up with the question. The original version aired from 1964 until 1975. A new version premiered in 1984 and is still running today. In the original game clue values ranged from $10 to $50. Today it ranges fro $200 to $1000. Up to 1984 received all the contestants their winnings in cash, but in today's version is it only the winner who receives the cash gained during the game. The first proposed name for the game show was "Whats the Question?", but the name was changed even before the show premiered.

February 28th

On this day - February 28th 1983 - The final episode of M*A*S*H 

M*A*S*H was an american TV show about the life in a military hospital during the Korean war. The series premiered in September 1972 and aired its last episode in 1983. The final episode had the title "Goodbye, farewell and Amen" and lasted for 2 and a half hour. This episode is one of the most watched and highest rated final episode of any american TV show of all times. Around 115 million Americans watched the final episode. Three minutes after the show ended experienced New York City one of the highest water usage at any given time in the city's history. This was due to everyone waiting for the episode to finish before using the bathroom.

November 10th

On this day – November 10th 1969 – Premier of the TV-show “Sesame Street” 

Sesame Street is a childrens educational TV show, which first premiered in the US in 1969. It is known for its muppets animation, its cultural references and its use of short films. Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett created the show and it was first shown on the American channel, PBS. Over 20 international versions of the show have been created. Germany was the first one with “Sesamstraße” in 1973. The original version has also been shown in over 120 countries outside the US. The show has always had an educational angel to its stories. In 2000 was the first HIV-positive muppet, Kami, presented in the South African version of the show, which contribute to increased knowledge about HIV/Aids issues in the area. The TV-show has also contributed to an increase in academic skills such as literacy and numeracy among its viewers all around the world.

November 2nd

On this day –2. November 1936 – BBC launched the first regular high-resolution TV service 

BBC, The British Broadcasting Company, launched BBC Television Service in 1936. It was renamed to BBC TV in 1960 and to BBC1 in 1964. The channel used high definition (defined as over 200-line at the time) systems to broadcast, while impressive for that time it is not high definition by todays standards . BBC broadcasted Monday through Saturday every week from 15.00-16.00 and from 21.00-22.00. The channel is still in use today, but it was taken down between 1939 and 1946 due to concerns that the Germans could use the transmitters. BBC is funded through television licence and it is one of the most watched channel in UK today. Famous shows created by and aired on BBC1 includes Doctor Who, Spooks, Jane Eyre and East Enders

14" television set from 1958