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George R. Robertson, who played Chief Hurst (later Commissioner) in the first six Police Academy films during a half-century screen career, has died. He was 89. His family said he died January 29 at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto but did not give other details.

Robertson had been working in TV and films for nearly 15 years when he was cast as the strict but fair Chief Henry Hurst in Police Academy, the 1984 cop farce starring Steve Guttenberg. The film was a left-field hit and went on to spawn a franchise that spanned seven films during the next decade, including one a year through 1989. He appeared in the first six but not the Moscow-set final one in 1994.

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1966: Peyton Place's David had parting words for Rodney.

1993: Days of our Lives' Jack and Billie were arrested.

1996: Sarah Brown debuted as Carly on General Hospital.

1999: Guiding Light's Danny welcomed his sister home."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1940: The final episode of Procter & Gamble radio soap opera Manhattan Mother aired. Written by Orin Tovrov, the show starred Kaye Brinker as Patricia Locke, who gave up a career to raise her daughter, Dale, in New York.

1966: On Peyton Place, David...

Yes, we’ve all lived before; when I come back I don’t care who I am as long as I’m in the 1%. When Michael Sarrazin reaches into a previous life his big sacrifice is to abandon the gorgeous Cornelia Sharpe for the gorgeous Jennifer O’Neill, arousing the suspicions of his wife in his previous life, gorgeous Margot Kidder. The show looks great, Jerry Goldsmith’s music is beautiful, but it runs up against real trouble in the script and directing departments.

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1975 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date May 29, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Michael Sarrazin, Jennifer O’Neill, Margot Kidder, Cornelia Sharpe, Paul Hecht, Tony Stephano, Norman Burton, Anne Ives, Debralee Scott.

Cinematography: Victor J. Kemper

Film Editor: Michael Anderson

Art Direction: Jack Martin Smith

Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith

Written by Max Erlich, from his novel

Produced by...

1966: Peyton Place's David had parting words for Rodney.

1993: Days of our Lives' Jack and Billie were arrested.

1996: Sarah Brown debuted as Carly on General Hospital.

1999: Guiding Light's Danny welcomed his sister home."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1940: The final episode of Procter & Gamble radio soap opera Manhattan Mother aired. Written by Orin Tovrov, the show starred Kaye Brinker as Patricia Locke,...

Mixing Comedy & Soap: A History of the Serialized Situation Comedy

By Doug Prinzivalli

As one of the producers of the hit web series Pretty - a parody hybrid of reality TV and soaps - I thought it would be a fun idea to take a brief look at the long history of the serialized situation comedy. The idea of mixing comedy with soap elements is not a new one - in fact it started over 60 years ago.

The First Hundred Years (CBS 1950-52) was a mildly humorous daily soap about newlyweds who are gifted with a bat-infested Victorian mansion. Sounds pretty wacky to me. After less than two years, it was replaced by something called The Guiding Light.

The Egg & I (CBS 1951-52) Based on a book by Betty MacDonald and the 1947 film (starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray) that followed, this show followed the misadventures of city folk...

Police Academy actress Debralee Scott has died at her home in Florida of natural causes. She was 52. Scott, who appeared as Mrs Fackler in the 1984 comedy and its third installment Police Academy 3: Back In Training in 1986, was also known to US TV audiences for her roles in 1970s shows Welcome Back, Kotter and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Scott also had bit parts in movie classics Dirty Harry and American Graffiti. Her policeman fiance John Levi was killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.