Events in Film & TV on December 17

1902 Frank Wedekind's "Der Erdgeist" premieres in Berlin

1957 The last episode of The Nat King Cole Show airs on NBC due to lack of national sponsorship

1964 "Goldfinger", 3rd James Bond film, starring Sean Connery and Honor Blackman premieres in London

1965 The Houston Astrodome opens; 1st event is a concert by Judy Garland with The Supremes as opening act

1967 WEDW TV channel 49 in Bridgeport, Connecticut (PBS) begins broadcasting
1971 "Diamonds are Forever", 7th James Bond film, last starring Sean Conner, also starring Jill St. John is 1st released in West Germany
1972 WGVC (now WUCX) TV channel 35 in Grand Rapids, MI (PBS) 1st broadcast
1977 Elvis Costello & The Attractions 1st US TV appearance (SNL)

1989 "The Simpsons" created by Matt Groening, premieres on Fox TV as a full animated series with the episode, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"

1991 Soap opera "One Life To Live" airs its 6,000th episode
2003 "The Return of the King" 3rd Lord of the Ring films is released. Makes US$72 million opening weekend, 2nd film to gross over 1 billion worldwide.

2014 Sony Pictures cancels the release of "The Interview", starring Seth Rogen, Lizzy Caplan, and James Franco, after a cyber attack on the studio

2017 "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" takes more than $450m worldwide in its opening weekend, 2nd largest opening in North America ($220m)

2018 CBS announces former Chief Executive Les Moonves will not receive his $120 million exit payout
2018 US poacher sentenced to watch the film "Bambi" repeatedly during year in prison, for killing hundreds of deer in Missouri