The extreme popularity of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" has been credited for a massive surge of applications for courses in forensic science.
The Real World, one of the longest-running reality series in television history, has been credited with launching the modern reality TV genre.
"All in the Family" was a U.S. version of Johnny Speight's hit UK TV series, "Till Death Us Do Part" (1965). The show ranked number-one in the yearly Nielsen ratings from 1971 to 1976 and broke ground in its depiction of issues previously considered unsuitable for U.S. network television comedy.
Running for eight seasons, "Bewitched" was the longest-running of the so-called "fantasy sitcoms" that dominated the airwaves in the mid-1960s, as well as the last surviving example of the genre when it went off the air in 1972, a year after "All in the Family" (1971) ushered in a new era of reality sitcoms.
"The West Wing" was the first American drama series to react to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Aaron Sorkin wrote a special episode ("Isaac and Ishmael") that was filmed and broadcast within only a few weeks. The episode, which featured the lead characters discussing a terrorist threat upon the US while being locked down inside the White House was not considered part of "West Wing" continuity.
The first season of "Wonder Woman" was set during World War II. When the series moved from ABC to CBS the next year, the entire format of the show was changed with the immortal Wonder Woman returning to civilization in the late 1970s and teaming up with the son of Steve Trevor from the first season (of course played by the same actor). Lynda Carter's costume also underwent some minor modifications with the changeover.
The first television commercial appeared on New York station WNBT (now WNBC) during a Dodgers and Phillies game on July 1, 1941. It was a 10-second ad for Bulova watches.
In 1949, Captain Video and His Video Rangers became the first science-fiction series on television. The children's show had a props budget of $25 per episode.
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