Belated red-letter day: September 14, 1981

30 years ago this past Wednesday (Sept. 14, 1981) was the debut of "Entertainment Tonight." (Mary Hart didn't join the show until the following season).

Someone on YouTube posted the first 3 minutes (including an ID for KSTP-5 Twin Cities) of the debut of this venerable entertainment institution:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISTsmiDNZa0

In addition, early ET actually did NOT seem spend their entire show taking pages out of the tabloids (IMO), but actually did talk about the likes of home video technology as exemplified in this clip of early co-host Ron Hendren's story about the emerging home video scene on the Nov. 18, 1981 episode (plus the Top 5 videocassette sales for the preceding week):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPQu__8hZ1Y&feature=related

Also LOVE the jazzy, laid-back ET theme of its early years as shown in both clips linked above (opening and break themes respectively)--wish it was still around. And does anyone know who performed the original ET jazz theme?

A long time ago, KING 5 here in Seattle used to broadcast ET, but then it later moved to KIRO, where it stays today with the ET/Insider hour.

-crainbebo

Tim from Springfield said:

In addition, early ET actually did NOT seem spend their entire show taking pages out of the tabloids (IMO), but actually did talk about the likes of home video technology as exemplified in this clip of early co-host Ron Hendren's story about the emerging home video scene on the Nov. 18, 1981 episode (plus the Top 5 videocassette sales for the preceding week):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPQu__8hZ1Y&feature=related

Click to expand...

Also another thing that I wondered after typing the above quote/link to Ron Hendren's Nov. 18, 1981 home video segment, considering the tabloid-ization of ET in the past decade or so: Did ET make any mention or have any stories related to the analog-to-digital TV transition and how consumers should prepare (with stories on types of converter boxes, antennas, etc. to buy or avoid)? Or were they too busy talking about their usual celebrity gossip/tabloid fare (Kardashians and the ilk).

If the transition had occurred at least 25 years earlier I'm sure ET would have had a segment on the digital transition. And it's also interesting about when that video segment aired on ET--one day after the conclusion of Luke and Laura's wedding on General Hospital, which I'm sure ET had stories on earlier in that broadcast.

As an avid media follower, I am obligated to put much of the blame for the tabloid-ization of ET on the demise of Hard Copy. When that show died, its staff was absorbed into ET, as both were owned by Paramount at the time. It wasn't Bob Goen's promotion to co-anchor that caused this once classy infotainment program to "jump the shark"; it was Linda Bell Blue and her sensationalist cronies from Hard Copy that destroyed ET, and in some cases actually made "Access Hollywood" a tad more watchable.

I missed the debut of the show because WNAC-TV announced that "Due to origination problems in Los Angeles, Entertainment Tonight will not be seen tonight." When I tuned in a few minutes later, they'd join it in progress! I will forever regret not seeing the start of that show!

blackgold said:

I missed the debut of the show because WNAC-TV announced that "Due to origination problems in Los Angeles, Entertainment Tonight will not be seen tonight." When I tuned in a few minutes later, they'd join it in progress! I will forever regret not seeing the start of that show!

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That was because ET was the first syndicated show to be sent via satellite, as opposed to all others at that time which were "bicycled".

johnnya2k6 said:

blackgold said:

I missed the debut of the show because WNAC-TV announced that "Due to origination problems in Los Angeles, Entertainment Tonight will not be seen tonight." When I tuned in a few minutes later, they'd join it in progress! I will forever regret not seeing the start of that show!

Click to expand...

That was because ET was the first syndicated show to be sent via satellite, as opposed to all others at that time which were "bicycled".

Click to expand...

ET was fed to local stations "live" at 4:30 eastern/1:30 pacific, IIRC.

RALfan said:

and in some cases actually made "Access Hollywood" a tad more watchable.

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Access was a tad more watchable in the late '90s as this episode from November 1998 explains:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDMq-lLknxc (the rest are sidebarred)

Nowadays, it's a whole lot more painful to watch thanks to two words: Billy Bush (which is why Nancy O'Dell and Maria Menounos are now on ET and Extra respectively (though Menounos joined Access from ET a few years ago))!!!!