On this day in television history – James Ellroy's L.A.: City of Demons Released (2011)

 

James Ellroy's L.A.: City of Demons

Documentary.

Season 1 Episode 6

Episode entitled: Hot Spot Homicide.

Released: February 23, 2011.

Series directors: Brian Coughlin, Gabe Torres, Brian Coughlin and Robert Kirk.
 
Cast:

James Ellroy, Heather Aitken, James Avise, Gregory DePetro, Michael Fallon, Brad Lewis, Allen Marsh, Deanna Morris, Arman Pardisi, Franklin Ruehl, Christopher Warner.

On this day in movie history - Madonna of the Desert (1948)

Madonna of the Desert

directed by George Blair,

written by Albert DeMond,

based on a story by Frank Wisbar,

was released in the United States on February 23, 1948.

Music by Mort Glickman.

Cast:

Lynne Roberts, Don Barry, Don Castle, Sheldon Leonard, Paul Hurst, Roy Barcroft, Paul E. Burns, Betty Blythe, Grazia Narciso, Martin Garralaga, Frank Yaconelli, Maria Genardi, Renee Donatt, Vernon Cansino.

On this day in movie and book history - Harper (1966) and The Moving Target

Harper

directed by Jack Smight,

written by William Goldman,

based on the novel The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald,

was released in the United States on February 23, 1966.

Music by Johnny Mandel.

Cast:

Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Arthur Hill, Janet Leigh, Pamela Tiffin, Robert Wagner, Robert Webber, Shelley Winters, Harold Gould, Roy Jenson, Strother Martin.

Recommended reading:

The Moving Target / a.k.a. Harper

by Ross MacDonald.

 

Published in 1949.

ISBN-10: 037570146X
ISBN-13: 978-0375701467
 
Back cover description:
 
CRIME FICTION

“Ross Macdonald remains the grandmaster, taking the crime novel to new heights by imbuing it with psychological resonance, complexity of story, and richness of style that remain awe-inspiring. Those of us in his wake owe a debt that can never be paid. – Jonathan Kellerman.

 

Like many Southern California millionaires, Ralph Sampson keeps odd company. There's the sun-worshipping holy man whom Sampson once gave his very own mountain; the fading actress with sidelines in astrology and S&M. Now one of Sampson's friends may have arranged his kidnapping. And as Lew Archer follows the clues from the canyon sanctuaries of the megarich to jazz joints where you get beaten up between sets, The Moving Target blends sex, greed, and family hatred into an explosively readable crime novel.

 

“Macdonald is one of a handful of writers in the [mystery] genre whose worth and quality surpass the limitations of the form.” – Los Angeles Times.
 

If any writer can be said to have inherited the mantle of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, it was Ross Macdonald. Between the later 1940s and his death in 1983, he gave the American crime novel a psychological depth and moral complexity that his predecessors had only hinted at. And in the character of Lew Archer, Macdonald redefined the private eye as a roving conscience whop walks the treacherous frontier between criminal guilt and human sin.

 

VINTAGE CRIME / BLACK LIZARD

On this day in movie history - The Number 23 (2007)

The Number 23

directed by Joel Schumacher,

written by Fernley Phillips,

was released in the United States on February 23, 2007.

Music by Harry Gregson-Williams.

Cast:

Jim Carrey, Paul Butcher, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston, Rhona Mitra, Bud Cort, Chris Lajoie, Mark Pellegrino, Lynn Collins, Michelle Arthur, Ed Lauter, Corey Stoll.

On this day in television history - M Squad (1960)

M Squad
Season 3. Episode 23.

Episode entitled: Needle in a Haystack.

Released February 23, 1960.

Directed by Herman Hoffman.

Written by Rik Vollaerts.

Music by Benny Carter.

 
Cast:

Lee Marvin, Paul Newlan, H.M. Wynant, Joan Marshall, Else Neft, Kip King, Marc Cavell, Alfred Shelly, Johnny Silver.

On this day in the Star Trek universe - Star Trek, Voyager, Picard

Star Trek (1967 & 1968)
Star Trek: Voyager (2000)
Star Trek: Picard (2023)
 

Star Trek
Season 1. Episode 23.

Episode entitled: A Taste of Armageddon.

Released February 23, 1967.

Directed by Joseph Pevney.

Written by Robert Hamner, Gene L. Coon.

Created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Alexander Courage.

Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, David Opatoshu, Gene Lyons, Barbara Babcock, Miko Mayama, David L. Ross, Sean Kenney, Robert Sampson, David Armstrong, Buzz Barbee, Majel Barrett, Bobby Bass, Bill Blackburn, John Blower, John Burnside, Dick Cherney, Frank da Vinci, Jeannie Malone, Alan Marston, Troy Melton, Monty O'Grady, Eddie Paskey, Al Roberts, Ron Veto.

 

Star Trek
Season 2. Episode 22.

Episode entitled: By Any Other Name.

Released February 23, 1968.

Directed by Marc Daniels.

Written by D.C. Fontana, Jerome Bixby.

Created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Alexander Courage.

Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Majel Barrett, Walter Koenig, Warren Stevens, Barbara Bouchet, Stewart Moss, Robert Fortier, Lezlie Dalton, Carl Byrd, Julie Cobb, Bill Blackburn, Frank da Vinci, Roger Holloway, Eddie Paske.

 

Star Trek: Voyager
Season 6. Episode 17.

Episode entitled: Spirit Folk.

Released February 23, 2000.

Directed by David Livingston.

Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor.

Written by Bryan Fuller, Michael Taylor, Robert Doherty.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Jay Chattaway.

Cast: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Jeri Ryan, Richard Riehle, Ian Abercrombie, Ian Patrick Williams, Henriette Ivanans, Duffie McIntire, Fintan McKeown, Bairbre Dowling, Majel Barrett, Amy Kate Connolly, Marvin De Baca, Tarik Ergin, Tina Kotrich, Mary D. Mascari, Nichole McAuley, Jack Nolan, Pablo Soriano.

 

Star Trek: Picard
Season 3. Episode 2.

Episode entitled: DIsengage.

Released February 23, 2023.

Directed by Doug Aarniokoski.

Created by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer, Alex Kurtzman.

Written by Christopher Monfette, Sean Tretta, Matt Okumura, Chris Derrick, Kiley 

Rossetter.

Based on Star Trek: The Next Generation, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Stephen Barton, Jeff Russo.

Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, Ed Speleers, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Michael Dorn, Todd Stashwick, Amanda Plummer, Aaron Stanford, Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, Randy J. Goodwin, Robert Morgan, Stephanie Czajkowski, Joseph Lee, Chad Lindberg, Jin Maley, Tiffany Shepis, Amy Earhart, Adam Hunter, Naymon Frank, Grace Lee, An Dang, Christopher B. Derrick, Marie Kelli, Jerry Marr, Frances Parsons, Dominique Stango, Chris Torres, Marco Vazzano.

On this day in television history - Justified (2011)

Justified
Season 2. Episode 3.

Episode entitled: The I of the Storm.

Released February 23, 2011.

Directed by Peter Werner.

Written by Graham Yost, Dave Andron, Benjamin Cavell and VJ Boyd.

Based on the short story Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard.

Music by Steve Porcaro.
 
Cast:

Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Natalie Zea, Walton Goggins, Jeremy Davies, Will Harris, Brad William Henke, Damon Herriman, Michael Mosley, Peter Murnik, Channon Roe, Joseph Lyle Taylor, Dave Alvin, Tyler Nimmons, Darrell Davis, Leonard Kelly-Young, John A. Lorenz, Jes Macallan, Abby Miller, Katie Locke O’Brien, Nathan Sutton, Paul Edney.