The Montgomery Martin Luther King Committee will celebrate Martin Luther King Day by holding a parade in downtown Montgomery today. The 10th Annual MLK Classic Step Show will take place in Dothan tonight from 5 to 9. It features steppers from various college fraternities and sororities, and local youth groups. Friends of the Theatre will put on its 2024 MLK Celebration on Saturday. Meantime, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations held a Civil and Human Rights Conference in Montgomery over the weekend in honor of the civil rights leader. The University of Alabama in Huntsville also hosted an MLK Day commemoration last week.
The Associated Press reported that just before the 75th Emmy awards, MLK’s “I have a dream” speech was ranked alongside the Apollo 11 moon landing and the appearance of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show as among the most impactful moments on television history.
Fictional moments in the TV rankings include Hawkeye's farewell in the 1983 final episode of "M.A.S.H" and the mysterious last moment of "The Sopranos" from 2007. The most recent moment comes from an episode of "The Last of Us," which is among the top nominees at Monday's Emmys.
Academy members from the television industry collaborated with academics to cull eight decades of TV history and vote on the list that was revealed Friday. Atop it they put Apollo 11's 1969 first landing on the moon, and Neil Armstrong's declaration of a "giant leap for mankind." In second they put coverage of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, and in third the Beatles' 1964 appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
King's "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered at the March on Washington in 1963, is ranked No. 6. This year's Emmy Awards, delayed four months because of Hollywood's actors and writers strikes, comes on the MLK holiday.
While the top of the list is dominated by news events, plenty of fictional moments from classic TV dramas, comedies and specials appear too, including Hawkeye bidding farewell to best buddy B.J., and Korea, in the 1983 final episode of "M.A.S.H." (No. 8), Linus reciting the nativity story in 1965's "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (No. 14), and, from 2007, the much-debated, cut-to-black final moment of " The Sopranos " (No. 36).
The rankings include one scene from a show nominated this year — the last moments of Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett on HBO's " The Last of Us " (No. 56). Offerman already won an Emmy for the special episode last week and "The Last of Us" is among the top nominees, along with "Succession," "The White Lotus" and "Ted Lasso," at Monday's Emmys.
Also making the list are the episode of "Ellen" where Ellen DeGeneres reveals she's gay (No. 13), the infamous "Soup Nazi" episode of "Seinfeld" (No. 27), the debut of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video (No. 48), Whitney Houston's Super Bowl "Star Spangled Banner" performance (No. 65) and several moments from "Sesame Street" and "Mister Roger's Neighborhood."
The Emmys are being broadcast live from Los Angeles on Monday beginning at 8 p.m. EST on Fox.
