12:30 pm
Sesame Street: “Series Premiere”
Manhattan
This series premiere of the beloved children’s series that teaches numbers, the alphabet, cultural concepts, and life skills introduces us to the adult characters and Jim Henson’s Muppets that audiences have adored since 1969. We meet Gordon, Susan, Bob, and Mr. Hooper, along with Muppets Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Kermit the Frog, and Cookie Monster. Children learn about the concept of “clean” in which Ernie leads a washing song and learn about the source of milk by visiting a dairy farm. Carol Burnett makes a brief special appearance and presents the featured letter W with Kermit the Frog. First filmed in Manhattan, the show moved to Astoria, Queens in the mid-1990s. The show’s set was inspired by streets in Harlem, the Bronx, the Upper West Side, and the blocks where West Side Story was filmed. (1969)

1:30 pm
I Love Lucy: “The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub”
Upper West Side, Manhattan
The series premiere of I Love Lucy introduces audiences to Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Ricky (Desi Arnaz) Ricardo and their neighbors and friends Fred (William Frawley) and Ethel (Vivian Vance) Mertz. In this episode, the Mertzes fight over their eighteenth anniversary. Ricky and Fred want to go to the fights, while Lucy and Ethel want to go to a nightclub. When the wives announce that they will find dates and go dancing alone, their husbands become concerned and decide to scare up escorts of their own. Lucy and Ethel get wind of this idea and arrange to show up in hilarious disguises as their husbands’ blind dates. (1951)

2:00 pm
The Honeymooners: “Better Living Through TV”
Brooklyn
In this episode, Ralph’s (Jackie Gleason) latest get-rich-quick scheme is to market a new type of all-purpose kitchen gadget called the “Handy Housewife Helper.” First, Ralph faces the challenge of convincing his wife Alice (Audrey Meadows) to give him money to start his new business, even though she is tired of his schemes that always fail. After Ralph buys a wholesale lot of 2,000 gadgets, he and neighbor Ed Norton (Art Carney) decide to appear in their own television commercial to promote the device. They figure this will be more successful than door-to-door peddling. The only problem is they must perform their commercial on live television, so there is no room for nerves or mistakes. (1955)


2:30 pm
All in the Family: “The Jeffersons Move Up”
Queens/Upper East Side, Manhattan
This episode of All in the Family served as the premiere for the new show The Jeffersons. In this episode, Archie (Carroll O’Connor) and Edith (Jean Stapleton) Bunker’s neighbors, George (Sherman Hemsley) and Louise (Isabel Sanford) Jefferson, move out of their home in Queens and into an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Edith bids Louise a teary farewell before the Jeffersons depart. Thrilled by the new penthouse apartment, George gives his son Lionel (Mike Evans) and his fiancée Jenny (Berlinda Tolbert) a tour of their new home. The Jeffersons meet their neighbor, Mr. Bently (Paul Benedict), and George’s mother drops by. George is angry upon learning that living upstairs is an interracial couple, Jenny’s parents Tom (Franklin Cover) and Helen (Roxie Roker) Willis. As a result, George vehemently insists that he and Louise will move out of the building. But George changes his mind when Mr. Bently reveals the identity of another neighbor. (1975)

2:55 pm
Diff’rent Strokes: “Movin’ In”
Manhattan
In this series premiere, Mr. Drummond (Conrad Bain) prepares for the arrival of his two new sons, Arnold (Gary Coleman) and Willis (Todd Bridges). The boys’ late mother was their beloved family housekeeper and asked Mr. Drummond to care for the boys after she passed. He and his daughter Kimberly (Dana Plato) are overjoyed at the boys’ arrival, and housekeeper Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae) quickly gets used to the idea of three children in the home. Older brother Willis is apprehensive and misses their Harlem home, but Arnold is thrilled at their new home’s amenities. Willis argues they are “the wrong color” for their new life and declares they will return to Harlem in the morning. Mr. Drummond makes every effort to make the boys feel welcome and at home but can tell Willis is struggling. Later, Arnold tells Willis he is being unfair, and Willis agrees to stay. (1978)

3:20 pm
The King of Queens: “Pilot”
Rego Park, Queens
This unaired pilot episode introduces audiences to Doug (Kevin James) and Carrie (Leah Remini) Heffernan who live in Queens, New York. Carrie surprises Doug with a new big screen television for his basement “man cave,” which Doug is ecstatic to show off to his friends. His joy is short-lived as a knock on the front door is revealed to be Carrie’s sister telling them their father’s wife Tessie died. Conflicted with putting her father in a retirement home, Carrie convinces Doug to let her father stay with them, forcing Doug to give up his “man cave” and changing the dynamic of the household with a new resident. The character Arthur Spooner, Carrie’s father, was written with actor Jerry Stiller in mind. Stiller turned down the part, and the pilot was shot with Jack Carter in the role. Stiller changed his mind and scenes with Carter were re-shot to include Stiller. (1998)

3:45 pm
Grounded for Life: “The Policy of Truth”
Staten Island
In this fourth season premiere, Lily (Lynsey Bartilson) eagerly awaits the return of her boyfriend Brad (Bret Harrison), who has been away at space camp all summer. He has only sent her one postcard, and she has convinced herself he has been cheating on her while he’s been away. She decides to get even by cheating on him with coffee shop employee Mocha Joey (Ryan Devlin). Meanwhile, Sean (Donal Logue) takes a call from his wife Claudia’s (Megyn Price) doctor and believes she is pregnant, which was not planned. To cover himself, he decides not to tell her. (2004)

4:10 pm 
Everybody Loves Raymond: “Marie’s Meatballs”
Long Island
In this episode, Debra (Patricia Heaton) is frustrated that Marie (Doris Roberts) brings over her famous spaghetti and meatballs for dinner when she has already prepared chicken for the family. Conflicted, Ray (Ray Romano) chooses the spaghetti, hurting Debra’s feelings as she feels her food is inferior to her mother-in-law’s. Wanting to help, Ray casually mentions to his mother that she could teach Debra how to make some of her recipes. Reluctant at first, Debra cooks alongside Marie in a cooking lesson, but is disheartened and confused when her meatballs don’t taste like Marie’s, though she followed each step carefully. Debra is enraged when she learns Marie has sabotaged one of the ingredients, and Marie tearfully confesses what she’s done to Ray, claiming the only way to keep her family around was through her cooking. (1998)

4:35pm
Everybody Hates Chris: “Everybody Hates Basketball”
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
In this episode, Chris (Tyler James Williams) struggles to make friends at his new and all-white school and ends up falling in with the “nerds,” including Greg (Vincent Martella), with whom he bonds over their love of talking about sports. Coach Brady (Robert Cicchini) spots Chris tossing a paper into the trashcan and immediately recruits him for the basketball team, despite Chris’s protests that he is terrible at sports. Back at home, Julius (Terry Crews) and Rochelle (Tichina Arnold) attempt to find a reasonable person to rent their upstairs room, and Julius is pleased when a seemingly normal man, Mr. Tate (Clarence Williams III), offers to pay six months’ rent in advance. Mr. Tate’s behavior becomes increasingly odd, concerning Rochelle. (2015)

4:55 pm
Spin City: “Prototype”
Financial District, Manhattan
In this series premiere, New York City Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty (Michael J. Fox) juggles the interests of his boss, Mayor Randall Winston (Barry Bostwick) with those of the mayor’s constituents. The city is dealing with a garbage strike and, while on camera, Mayor Winston unwittingly insults gay people. The City Hall staff swarms to correct the Mayor’s mistake. Meanwhile, Mike’s reporter girlfriend Ashley (Carla Gugino) tries to convince Mike to move in together and questions the seriousness of their relationship when it seems Mike is nervous about the idea. (1996)

5:25 pm
Seinfeld: “The Subway”
Manhattan
The gang meets for lunch at their favorite diner on the Upper West Side before going their separate ways via subway. En route to Coney Island Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) finds himself sitting across from a naked man. On the way to an important interview George (Jason Alexander) begins talking with a beautiful stranger who tempts him off the subway to her room at the Hotel Edison. Elaine (Julia Louis Dreyfuss) is trapped on a stalled subway car enroute to a wedding. Kramer (Michael Richards), planning to pay off numerous traffic tickets, overhears a hot tip on a horse race and takes a detour to the racetrack. (1992)