74 Fun Facts About NBC

David Sarnoff orchestrated NBC's launch in 1926 as an executive of which company?

Radio Corporation of America built NBC's two networks around stations it had acquired: WEAF, founded by AT&T, and WJZ, founded by Westinghouse.

Which company bought a controlling stake in NBCUniversal in January 2011?

Comcast took a 51 percent controlling stake in NBCUniversal in January 2011 and bought out the remaining share in 2013; 30 Rockefeller Plaza was renamed the Comcast Building in 2015.

NBC introduced its famous bird logo in 1956 to promote what?

Color broadcasting: the bird debuted in 1956 as an on-air emblem for NBC's color programs, at a time when the network's parent company was selling color television sets.

In which 1980s NBC series did David Hasselhoff fight crime in a talking car called KITT?

Knight Rider's talking car was voiced by an actor who asked to go uncredited and who said in 1982 that he had never met the cast.

NBC's 1976 trapezoid 'N' logo was nearly identical to which broadcaster's, which sued?

Nebraska ETV Network settled out of court: NBC kept its 'N' but handed over more than $800,000 of broadcasting equipment and $55,000 towards a new logo.

The famous three-note NBC chimes sound which notes?

G, E, C began as a working signal: the chimes cued engineers and stations across the network to switch feeds as one programme gave way to the next.

Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll starred in which NBC radio serial from 1929?

Amos 'n' Andy moved to NBC's Blue Network in August 1929 and grew so popular that many cinemas paused their films to play the 15-minute broadcast.

A four-note variant known as 'the fourth chime' was reserved by NBC for what?

The fourth chime signalled events of extreme urgency, calling staff in for urgent bulletins; it was sounded after the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941 and again on D-Day in June 1944.

By network lore, how did NBC's Red and Blue radio networks get their names?

From coloured pushpins on affiliate maps, in one telling: engineers marked WEAF's stations in red and WJZ's in blue. Another version credits red and blue pencils.

NBC's Blue Network was sold off in 1943 and became which rival network?

ABC: after the FCC ordered NBC's owner to divest one of its two chains, the Blue Network was sold in 1943 and formally became the American Broadcasting Company on 15 June 1945.

Edward J. Noble, who bought NBC Blue for $8 million in 1943, had made his fortune selling which product?

Life Savers candy made Edward J. Noble rich: he and a partner had bought the rights to the ring-shaped mint in 1913 for just $2,900.

NBC's cameras at a New York World's Fair made who the first sitting US president to appear on television?

Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the fair on 30 April 1939, the day NBC began regular television broadcasts in New York.

Which NBC program, first aired in 1947, is the longest-running program on American television?

Meet the Press began on radio in 1945 to promote The American Mercury magazine, then moved to NBC television on 6 November 1947.

Which NBC Saturday-morning sitcom followed Zack Morris and his friends at Bayside High?

Saved by the Bell was born out of a failed cable sitcom, Good Morning, Miss Bliss, and kept four of its cast, among them Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Zack.

Who moderated NBC's flagship political interview show from 1991 until his death in 2008?

Tim Russert, NBC's Washington bureau chief, summed up election night 2000 by writing 'Florida, Florida, Florida' on a whiteboard on air.

Which NBC executive is credited with creating both Today and The Tonight Show in the 1950s?

Sylvester 'Pat' Weaver also loosened single sponsors' grip on shows by selling ad time in short blocks to many advertisers; his daughter is the actress Sigourney Weaver.

What kind of creature was J. Fred Muggs, a Today show regular in the 1950s?

A chimpanzee, J. Fred Muggs joined Today in 1953 when the show was struggling, and ratings and advertising rose.

Today's home studio at Rockefeller Center, opened in 1994, is Studio what?

Studio 1A, a ground-level windowed studio on Rockefeller Plaza, opened in June 1994 as a return to the show's 1950s origins in an exhibition hall just down the block.

Who was the first host of The Tonight Show when it debuted in 1954?

Steve Allen hosted the first network Tonight broadcast on 27 September 1954, after fronting a local late-night version on New York's WNBT, and stayed until January 1957.

Who shared Tonight hosting duties with its first host during the 1956–57 season?

Ernie Kovacs hosted Tonight on Mondays and Tuesdays in 1956–57 while the show's original host, newly given a Sunday primetime series, kept only Wednesday through Friday.

In 1972 The Tonight Show left New York for a studio in which California city?

Burbank was announced on air as 'Hollywood', while Carson's show kept up the Laugh-In running joke about 'beautiful downtown Burbank'.

Who succeeded Johnny Carson as Tonight Show host in 1992, a choice blamed for losing Letterman?

Jay Leno took over Tonight in May 1992; the passed-over David Letterman left for CBS and launched the Late Show opposite him in August 1993.

Late Night with David Letterman debuted in 1982 in the late-night slot vacated by what?

The Tomorrow Show ended after host Tom Snyder refused NBC's offer of a later slot; in 1995 Letterman's own company produced Snyder's new show, which followed his on CBS.

Who hosted the very first episode of Saturday Night Live in October 1975?

George Carlin hosted the premiere on 11 October 1975 but appeared in none of its sketches, performing stand-up between the acts instead.

What nickname was given to the original Saturday Night Live cast?

The Not Ready for Prime-Time Players was a jab at a rival network's variety show, hosted by Howard Cosell, whose comics were billed as the 'Prime Time Players'.

On which night did NBC run its 'Must See TV' comedy block in the 1990s?

Thursday was Must See TV night: Friends and ER anchored the lineup from 1994, and the tag was later stretched to other nights as well.

Which Cheers spin-off later won a then-record 37 Emmys?

Frasier's producers set it in Seattle, as far from Boston as they could, so NBC could not demand guest spots for the Cheers regulars.

After leaving Boston, Dr Crane hosts a call-in psychiatry show on which fictional Seattle radio station?

KACL is the fictional Seattle talk station where Dr Crane hosts his call-in show; he had left Boston, and the Cheers bar, after his marriage to Lilith ended.

The 1989 pilot for Jerry and Larry David's sitcom about a New York comedian aired under what title?

The pilot aired as The Seinfeld Chronicles in July of that year; NBC then ordered only four more episodes, and the show took off once it was scheduled after Cheers in 1993.

Which NBC sitcom bowed out in 1998 as Nielsen's number one show, a feat only two series had managed before?

Seinfeld ended by its star's choice: Jerry Seinfeld turned down a reported $5 million an episode for a tenth season, and 76.3 million watched the finale.

In Friends, Rachel's first job is as a waitress at which coffee house?

Central Perk is the Manhattan coffee house where Rachel waits tables in the early seasons before moving on to Bloomingdale's and Ralph Lauren.

ER, which ran on NBC from 1994 to 2009, was created by which best-selling novelist?

Michael Crichton wrote the script in 1974, drawing on his own time as a medical student, but producers passed and it sat unmade for two decades.

Who adapted the British series The Office for NBC and later co-created Parks and Recreation?

Greg Daniels was asked by NBC for a spin-off of The Office; he and Michael Schur dropped that plan and built Parks and Recreation as a separate show.

Parks and Recreation is set in the fictional town of Pawnee in which state?

Indiana's fictional Pawnee spends the series feuding with its upscale neighbour Eagleton, then absorbs it when Eagleton goes bankrupt.

In 30 Rock, Liz Lemon is head writer of a fictional NBC sketch show called what?

TGS with Tracy Jordan began as The Girlie Show and was renamed when Tracy Jordan joined the cast; 30 Rock was loosely based on Tina Fey's years at SNL.

The Golden Girls, which ran on NBC from 1985 to 1992, was set in which city?

Miami was home to the four housemates; Estelle Getty, who played the elderly mother Sophia, was in fact a year younger than Bea Arthur, her on-screen daughter.

Which NBC police drama won eight Emmys for its 1981 debut season, a record until The West Wing?

Hill Street Blues won its Emmys after a first season that ranked 87th of 96 shows, which made it the lowest-rated series ever renewed up to then.

The West Wing followed the two-term administration of which fictional president?

Josiah Bartlet was planned as an occasional character, with Martin Sheen signed for four episodes, until his performance made the president a lead role.

Which sitcom, like The Cosby Show, spent five straight seasons as Nielsen's number one show?

All in the Family held the top spot from 1971 to 1976, though a wary CBS had opened its first episode with an on-screen disclaimer about its humour.

Bonanza's Cartwrights ran the Ponderosa ranch near which Nevada town?

Virginia City was a real boomtown: the Comstock Lode silver strike of 1859 lay beneath it, and the show is set in the rush years that followed.

In 1968 NBC infuriated football fans by cutting away from a Raiders–Jets game to air which film?

NBC switched to the TV movie Heidi at 7 p.m. Eastern, so viewers missed Oakland scoring two touchdowns in the final minute to beat the Jets 43–32; the outcry changed how networks handle overruns.

NBC Nightly News' theme 'The Mission', used since 1985, was composed by which film composer?

John Williams, better known for Star Wars and Jaws, wrote it in 1985 as one movement of a four-part suite for NBC News; another movement opened the Today show.

Which evening newscast did NBC Nightly News replace in 1970?

The Huntley–Brinkley Report paired Chet Huntley in New York with David Brinkley in Washington from 1956; when Huntley retired in 1970, NBC renamed the programme.

NBC's 'The More You Know' public service spots began in 1989 with which anchor recording the first one?

Tom Brokaw, then NBC's evening anchor, recorded the campaign's first spot; its shooting-star logo became a widely parodied emblem.

NBC's unbroken run of US Summer Olympics coverage began in 1988 with the Games in which city?

Seoul began the run; NBC's first Olympics, Tokyo 1964, had carried the opening ceremony live across the Pacific by satellite.

NBC dropped its planned coverage after the United States boycotted the Olympics in which city?

Moscow's 1980 Games were cut to highlights on American television: the United States led a boycott over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and NBC dropped more than 150 hours of planned programming.

In 2011–12 which NBC show became the first sports program to be the year's most-watched on US network TV?

Sunday Night Football topped the 2011–12 season in total viewers, ending American Idol's eight-year reign as the most-watched show on US network television.

Who replaced Al Michaels as NBC's lead NFL play-by-play voice after Super Bowl LVI in 2022?

Mike Tirico took over NBC's top NFL booth for the 2022 season, while Al Michaels, who had arrived with John Madden in 2006, left to call games for Amazon.

Who composed 'Roundball Rock', the theme of the NBA on NBC?

John Tesh thought of the tune in a hotel room in France and sang it down the phone to his own answering machine so that he would not forget it.

Which comedian's Texaco Star Theater, launched on NBC in 1948, became television's first major hit?

Milton Berle, 'Mr. Television', hosted Texaco Star Theater from June 1948; it was so popular that restaurants and theatres reportedly emptied on Tuesday nights.

Howdy Doody host Bob Smith's 'Buffalo Bob' nickname came from what?

His hometown in New York State was Buffalo; in the show's 1960 finale the mute clown Clarabell finally spoke: 'Goodbye, kids.'

Who hosted the original NBC daytime version of Jeopardy!, which debuted in 1964?

Art Fleming hosted every version until 1979; creator Merv Griffin credited his wife Julann with the idea of giving contestants the answers and asking for the questions.

Before Pat Sajak, who was the original host of NBC's daytime Wheel of Fortune in 1975?

Chuck Woolery hosted Wheel of Fortune from January 1975 until 1981, when a dispute over his pay ended with Pat Sajak taking over.

Which series' record of 20 seasons as a US prime-time drama was matched by an NBC crime show in 2010?

Gunsmoke ran 20 seasons on CBS from 1955 to 1975; the network planned to cancel it in 1967 but relented, and by one producer's account Gilligan's Island was axed instead.

Which NBC drama, begun in 1999, is the longest-running live-action scripted series in US prime time?

Law & Order: SVU passed its parent show's 20 seasons in 2019; its star Mariska Hargitay went on to found the Joyful Heart Foundation for survivors of sexual assault.

Which NBC drama from producer Dick Wolf, first aired in 2012, follows the firefighters and paramedics of Firehouse 51?

Chicago Fire shoots its Firehouse 51 exteriors at a real working station, the quarters of the city's Engine 18, and it spawned Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med.

NBC's The Voice is based on a format devised by Big Brother creator John de Mol in which country?

The Netherlands gave the format its first title, The Voice of Holland; NBC announced its version as 'The Voice of America', a name a US government broadcaster already used, then shortened it.

Who hosted the stunt show Fear Factor during its original NBC run from 2001 to 2006?

Joe Rogan first turned the job down, doubting NBC would ever air such stunts, and later said he took it mainly to gather material for his stand-up act.

The Apprentice, which ran on NBC from 2004 to 2017, was created by which British producer?

Mark Burnett, the London-born producer behind Survivor, created The Apprentice, which premiered on NBC in January 2004; NBC cut ties with host Donald Trump in June 2015 over remarks at his campaign launch.

Which sitcom did NBC pick up in May 2018, one day after Fox cancelled it?

Brooklyn Nine-Nine was cancelled by Fox on 10 May 2018 and picked up by NBC the next day; the rescue gave Captain Holt's 99th Precinct seasons six through eight, ending in 2021.

NBC's This Is Us (2016–2022) followed which clan across several decades?

The Pearsons' pilot hid its premise: four people sharing a 36th birthday turn out to be a father in 1980 and his three grown children in the present.

Which annual New York event has NBC televised nationally since the early 1950s?

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade became an NBC fixture in the early 1950s; it was cancelled from 1942 to 1944 because wartime shortages claimed its helium and rubber, which is why the 100th parade falls in 2026.

In 2004 NBC merged with the entertainment assets of which French company to form NBC Universal?

Vivendi was selling assets after a huge loss in 2002, so it folded Universal's film studio and cable channels into NBC in May 2004 and kept a 20 percent stake in the new NBC Universal.

Which conglomerate bought NBC's parent company, and NBC with it, in 1986?

General Electric's 1986 purchase of NBC's parent was then the largest non-oil merger on record; GE had been one of NBC's original co-owners in 1926, so it was regaining control rather than gaining it.

With 95 percent of its prime-time schedule in colour by autumn 1965, NBC billed itself as what?

The Full Color Network was NBC's billing for 1965–66, when only I Dream of Jeannie and Convoy stayed in black and white; rivals with no colour sets to sell took another year to follow.

Which series changed its title on moving to NBC from a rival in 1961?

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color had been Walt Disney Presents until 24 September 1961: NBC had offered to air the show in colour, which Disney's previous network could not match.

In 2009 NBC moved a former Tonight host to a nightly prime-time show at what hour, dropping it after affiliates complained?

10:00 p.m. was the slot from September 2009 to February 2010; affiliates saw their late newscasts lose viewers, and the reshuffle that followed pushed the host's Tonight successor out within months.

Which NBC soap opened each episode with the spoken line 'Like sands through the hourglass'?

Days of Our Lives has opened with the line since 1965, and from 1966 in the voice of Macdonald Carey, who played Dr Tom Horton; the producers kept his recording after he died in 1994.

Family Ties, which debuted on NBC in 1982, was set in which Ohio city?

Family Ties was set in Columbus, Ohio, where ex-hippie parents Steven and Elyse Keaton raised young Republican Alex, played by Michael J. Fox, across seven seasons from 1982.

In 1996 NBC launched a 24-hour cable channel as a joint venture with which company?

Microsoft and NBC launched MSNBC on 15 July 1996 as a cable channel paired with a website; Microsoft later sold its stake in the channel, and the web partnership ended in 2012.

Which NBC medical drama of 1982–88 was set at a struggling Boston teaching hospital?

St. Elsewhere was set at St. Eligius, a run-down Boston teaching hospital; it ran on NBC for six seasons from October 1982 and gave Denzel Washington his breakthrough role as Dr Philip Chandler.

Which Aaron Sorkin drama about a late-night sketch show lasted one NBC season in 2006–07?

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was cancelled after 22 episodes, while 30 Rock, the comedy about a sketch show that NBC launched the same autumn, went on to run for seven seasons.

Which NBC anthology series, introduced by Rod Serling from 1970 to 1973, followed his Twilight Zone?

Night Gallery had Rod Serling introduce each tale beside a macabre painting, but he lacked the control he had enjoyed on The Twilight Zone; its 1969 pilot was Steven Spielberg's professional directing debut.

When NBC's last daytime soap left the network in 2022, to which streaming service did it move?

Peacock, NBCUniversal's own streaming service, took the soap from September 2022; NBC gave its hour to a news programme, which left it as the only one of the big three networks without a daytime serial.