Here’s some of what was doing in show business and the media this week in history…

On January 18 1948, Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour (the American Idol of its day) premiered on the DuMont network. It would later air on NBC, ABC and CBS.

January 18 1961 saw Rouben Mamoulian, the director of 20th Century Fox’s upcoming Cleopatra, quitting the film, after a reading of Lawrence Durrell’s script.

After three television movies, ABC’s The Six Million Dollar Man, starring Lee Majors, premiered as a weekly series on January 18 in 1974.

One year later, The Jeffersons, a spin-off of All in the Family, began a ten-year run on CBS.

On January 19 1953, Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) gave birth to Little Ricky on I Love Lucy. A whopping 68% of all American TV sets were tuned to the CBS show.

On January 19 1969, I Am Curious (Yellow), a Swedish film directed by Vilgot Sjoman, was seized by the United States Custom Agents in New York on the grounds that the film left “nothing to the imagination”.

January 19 1981: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired the devastated United Artists following the $40,000,000 failure of director Michael Cimino’s movie Heaven’s Gate.

Orson Welles, The Masked Avenger and the Communist next door all got the Woody Allen treatment when Radio Days was released on January 19 in 1987.

On January 19 2003, The WB series Charmed aired its 100th episode.

On January 20 1910, director D.W. Griffith and his Biograph film company arrived in Los Angeles. In the four months that followed, they made 25 movies.

In Old Arizona, the first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, was released on January 20 1929.

With 40 charter member radio stations, the National Negro Network was established on January 20, 1954. Its most popular show was a soap opera called The Story of Ruby Valentine.

Columbia Pictures paid $9.5 million on January 20 1978 for the movie rights to the Broadway musical, Annie.

On January 20 1998, Dawson’s Creek premiered on The WB.

On January 21 1903, The Life of an American Fireman, Edwin Porter’s first film using several different sets was submitted for US copyright.

Alias Smith and Jones, a comedic western produced by Roy Huggins (Maverick) and Glen Larson (McCloud) premiered on ABC on January 21 1971.

Beam me up! The very first convention of Star Trek fans was held at New York’s Statler-Hilton hotel on January 21 1972.

MTV’s stripped-down acoustic concert series, MTV Unplugged, premiered on January 21 1990 with Squeeze, Syd Straw and Elliot Easton performing.

On January 21 1991, Iraqis in the Persian Gulf captured CBS News correspondent Bob Simon.

Paramount Pictures’ KTLA, the first commercial TV station west of the Mississippi River, began broadcasting from Hollywood on January 22 1947.

From beautiful downtown Burbank, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In premiered on January 22 1968 on NBC. Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls…

On January 22 1984, The Apple Macintosh, the first home computer with a mouse and graphical interface, was introduced during Super Bowl XVIII in a TV commercial called 1984.

Chappelle’s Show, a sketch comedy show starring Dave Chappelle, premiered on Comedy Central on January 22 2003.

A New York police station in Greenwich Village was the setting for the ABC comedy Barney Miller, which premiered on January 23 1975.

On January 23 1977, ABC aired the first episode of the epic mini-series Roots, based on the book by Alex Haley.

On January 23 1978, Jaws was released as the first laserdisc, although the format was marketed as Discovision.

“If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire… The A-Team!” The action adventures series, created by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell, debuted on NBC on January 23 1983.

It was a video store showdown on January 23 1986, when Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Rambo: First Blood, Part II were released on home video.

The science program MythBusters premiered on Discovery Channel on January 23 2003.

On January 24 1957, Steve Allen made his final appearance as the host of NBC’s The Tonight Show. He was replaced by host Jack Lescoulie in a new format designed to be more like The Today Show. Sadly, Tonight! America After Dark limped along for seven months before the old Tonight Show title and format returned, this time hosted by Jack Paar.

CBS acquired the rights to televise the National Football League’s 1964 and 1965 seasons on January 24 1964. The move cost CBS $28.2 million per year.

Hot l Baltimore, a mature-themed sitcom from producer Norman Lear and playwright Lanford Wilson, premiered on ABC on January 24 1975.

On January 24 1986, the 43th Golden Globes’ top comedy awards went to Prizzi’s Honor (Best Picture), its stars (Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner) and its director (John Huston).

On January 24 1995, Charlie Rose interviewed David Frost about his upcoming ABC special, Frankenstein: An Untold Story.

BORN THIS WEEK: Actor Danny Kaye (White Christmas); Kid show host Bob Bell (WGN’s Bozo the Clown); adult film actress Sharon Mitchell; comedian Dave Attell; actor Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order); writer Edgar Allan Poe (The Murders in the Rue Morgue): actress Jean Stapleton (All in the Family); director and actor Nicholas Colasanto (Cheers); actress Tippi Hedren (Marnie); actress Shelley Fabares (The Donna Reed Show); actress Katey Sagal (Married with Children); comedian George Burns, actor Colin Clive (Frankenstein); actor Leon Ames (Mr. Ed); director Federico Fellini (8 ½); DeForest Kelley (Star Trek); director David Lynch (Blue Velvet); comedian and social critic Bill Maher (Religulous); Telly Savalas (Kelly’s Heroes, Kojak); actor Steve Reeves (Hercules); director Koji Hashimoto (Godzilla series) Mike Medavoy (The People vs. Larry Flynt); actress Geena Davis (A League of Their Own); author Robert E. Howard (Conan the Barbarian); actress Ann Sothern (Private Secretary); actress Piper Laurie (Carrie); actor Bill Bixby (The Courtship of Eddie’s Father); writer and producer Joseph Wambaugh (The Blue Knight, The Black Marble); director Jim Jarmusch (Mystery Train); actress Linda Blair (The Exorcist); actress Diane Lane (Streets of Fire); comedian Ernie Kovacs; actor and martial artist Sonny Chiba (The Street Fighter); actress Arlene Golonka (Mayberry RFD): actor Gil Gerard (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century); actor Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner); actress Gail O’Grady (NYPD Blue); actress Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; actor Ernest Borgnine (McHale’s Navy); actress Sharon Tate (Valley of the Dolls); actor John Belushi (The Blues Brothers); actor Matthew Lillard (Scooby Doo).

DIED THIS WEEK: Curly Howard of The Three Stooges;  Sydney Greenstreet (Casablanca), pulp artist Virgil Finlay; actor Carl Betz (The Donna Red Show); actor Bob May (the Lost in Space robot); film producer Don Simpson (Top Gun, The Rock); actor Anthony Franciosa (Search, The Name of the Game); actress Suzanne Pleshette (The Bob Newhart Show); radio disc jockey Alan Freed; actor Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan the Ape Man); actress Barbara Stanwyck (Double Indemnity); show business caricaturist Al Hirschfeld; director Cecil B. DeMille (The Ten Commandments); actor Jack Lord (Hawaii Five-O); actress Susan Strasberg, American actress (The Trip, Psych-Out); actor Telly Savalas (Kojak, Kelly’s Heroes); actress and dancer Ann Miller (On the Town); actor Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight); actor  Paul Robeson (Song of Freedom); director Alexander Korda (The Thief of Bagdad); actress Nell Carter (Gimme a Break!); actor Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo); photographer Helmut Newton; comedian and TV host Johnny Carson (The Tonight Show); actor J. Carrol Naish (House of Frankenstein); director George Cukor (Adam’s Rib); science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard; actor Chris Penn (Reservoir Dogs); Larry Fine of The Three Stooges.