#1: 1968 – The infamous “Heidi Bowl” incident aired on NBC. An AFC Football game pitting The Oakland Raiders against rival New York Jets. With 65 seconds to play in the game, NBC went to a commercial break with The Jets leading 32-29. Instead of continuing to air the game, NBC premiered their TV movie adaption of the famous book Heidi. As such, millions of viewers missed out on one of the greatest rallies in sports history when The Raiders managed to score twice in the final minute and win the game 43-32. The resulting backlash helped usher in the era of live sports being broadcast to their conclusion before showing any regularly scheduled programming
#2: 1978 – CBS aired The Star Wars Holiday Special. For it’s time, it was a much anticipated event. The stars of a blockbuster movie would appear on TV in a supposed all new adventure. Instead, Much of the show is taken up with wookiee grunting, and bad comedy from otherwise comedic legends Harvey Korman and Bea Arthur.
And then there’s Mark Hamill’s hair…
At least there was some consulation in the animated film short…
#3: 1995 – James Bond returned to theaters after a six year absence when Goldeneye premiered in theaters. For its time it had the largest budget of any Bond film, and of course introduced Pierce Brosnan in the role of the superspy.
#4: 1996 – Rocky Maivia made his debut in the then World Wrestling Federation as a smiling good-natured hero. He was almost universally despised by fans. Frequent chants of “Die, Rocky, Die!” and “You suck Rocky!” permeated arenas nationwide. Rocky would soon undergo a villainous transformation and a name change. The man fans once hated as Rocky Maivia would become an international superstar within a few years. He is now known as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
You can see him in all his 90’s eraserhead tree-wearing glory below
#5: 2001 – The Justice League animated series premiered on Cartoon Network. A continuation of the lore started the DC Animated Universe, it brought back many of the characters that had appeared in the Batman and Superman series, as well as introduced Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Martian Manhunter as regulars. The series would run for three seasons before being rebranded Justice League Unlimited.
#6: 2006 – Sony officially starts selling the Playstation 3 game console.
