1 00:00:00,387 --> 00:00:03,093 Tonight, television takes a look at itself. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:04,368 What's on the idiot box? 3 00:00:04,391 --> 00:00:07,198 It's only an idiot box if an idiot is watching. 4 00:00:07,215 --> 00:00:09,156 I'll tell you about the golden age of television. 5 00:00:09,179 --> 00:00:12,244 This period of time will be looked upon as the platinum age. 6 00:00:12,267 --> 00:00:14,046 Our obligation is to entertain. 7 00:00:14,069 --> 00:00:17,016 And if we've left something to think about, so much the better. 8 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:18,866 Kunta. Kunta Kinte. 9 00:00:18,889 --> 00:00:21,308 Television should not just be entertainment. 10 00:00:21,332 --> 00:00:24,128 Charges were leveled at the commercial television networks. 11 00:00:24,152 --> 00:00:27,345 Congress has no right to interfere with the media. 12 00:00:27,364 --> 00:00:29,630 Well, excuse me! 13 00:00:29,654 --> 00:00:33,453 You have a responsibility to give the audience what it tuned in to see. 14 00:01:17,507 --> 00:01:22,678 Sync, corrected by icephoenix www.addic7ed.com 15 00:01:27,559 --> 00:01:30,154 The years of the '60s, which end in a few hours, 16 00:01:30,177 --> 00:01:33,309 have a bad reputation that is not entirely justified. 17 00:01:33,333 --> 00:01:35,276 Some things got worse, obviously. 18 00:01:35,300 --> 00:01:38,855 But TV and other news coverage is better, not worse. 19 00:01:38,923 --> 00:01:41,852 We simply developed more demanding standards. 20 00:01:43,636 --> 00:01:46,255 When I think of TV, I think of the '70s. 21 00:01:46,278 --> 00:01:48,075 What is this world coming to? 22 00:01:48,098 --> 00:01:50,964 The American public was hungry for more. 23 00:01:53,254 --> 00:01:56,587 More was allowed that hadn't been before. 24 00:01:56,611 --> 00:02:00,037 It was the last decade where it was a campfire television, 25 00:02:00,061 --> 00:02:01,866 where there was one in the living room. 26 00:02:01,890 --> 00:02:04,247 I want to watch an all black show for a change. 27 00:02:04,315 --> 00:02:06,583 - Where're you going to find one? - Here's one. 28 00:02:06,650 --> 00:02:10,420 The Los Angeles Lakers against the Milwaukee Bucks. 29 00:02:11,118 --> 00:02:14,909 Young people were interested in relevant things. 30 00:02:14,933 --> 00:02:17,353 And so television began to reflect that. 31 00:02:17,377 --> 00:02:19,195 This is CBS. 32 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,487 Really it was very simple. You had three channels plus PBS. 33 00:02:23,510 --> 00:02:30,095 When the decade turned over into the '70s, television was very rural. 34 00:02:30,870 --> 00:02:33,153 Hee haw! The Beverly Hillbillies. 35 00:02:33,176 --> 00:02:37,160 CBS had Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres. 36 00:02:37,176 --> 00:02:42,436 Petticoat Junction and these kind of rural fantasies of Mayberry-ism. 37 00:02:42,460 --> 00:02:44,874 The hillbilly shows were everywhere, and then they weren't. 38 00:02:45,813 --> 00:02:49,295 Fred Silverman, who was running programming at CBS, said 39 00:02:49,319 --> 00:02:52,548 we're going to get rid of the shows that are the most highly rated 40 00:02:52,571 --> 00:02:54,744 and replace them with shows that they thought 41 00:02:54,767 --> 00:02:57,456 would be more appealing to that younger audience. 42 00:02:57,480 --> 00:02:59,893 It changed the face of television. 43 00:02:59,916 --> 00:03:02,071 My name is Norman Lear. 44 00:03:02,139 --> 00:03:04,665 Until 1971, he was a very successful, 45 00:03:04,689 --> 00:03:07,378 if largely unheralded, producer/writer in Hollywood. 46 00:03:07,918 --> 00:03:09,942 But then he burst upon the public consciousness 47 00:03:09,966 --> 00:03:12,903 when he took on bigotry with his All in the Family. 48 00:03:12,915 --> 00:03:17,477 Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin created absolutely iconic shows. 49 00:03:17,500 --> 00:03:21,057 They revolutionized not only CBS, but all of American television. 50 00:03:21,125 --> 00:03:26,240 Our world is coming crumbling down. The goons are coming! 51 00:03:26,980 --> 00:03:30,813 To use language like that on TV was just unheard of, 52 00:03:30,836 --> 00:03:33,020 but it really captured a certain moment. 53 00:03:33,043 --> 00:03:36,217 Archie, 12% of the population is black. 54 00:03:36,241 --> 00:03:38,425 There should be a lot of black families living out here. 55 00:03:38,448 --> 00:03:41,210 Yeah, this is only a beginning but I think it's wonderful. 56 00:03:41,278 --> 00:03:43,194 Well let's see how wonderful it is 57 00:03:43,218 --> 00:03:45,601 when the watermelon rinds come flying out the window! 58 00:03:45,625 --> 00:03:48,337 It scared me when I first saw All in the Family, a little bit. 59 00:03:48,355 --> 00:03:50,116 I thought, "they better be careful." 60 00:03:50,140 --> 00:03:54,429 There was no doubt in my mind the American people were going to accept it. 61 00:03:54,452 --> 00:03:58,806 Do you have a quick answer for the people who say the show reinforces bigotry? 62 00:03:58,830 --> 00:04:02,265 - That charge started from the beginning... - Yes. My quick answer is no. 63 00:04:02,333 --> 00:04:05,582 Everybody was going to see something they knew damn well was going on. 64 00:04:05,605 --> 00:04:07,049 Nothing that surprising. 65 00:04:07,067 --> 00:04:10,167 Edith, I'm out of toilet paper. 66 00:04:10,190 --> 00:04:12,630 No, we're not. I bought some yesterday. 67 00:04:12,653 --> 00:04:15,256 It's in the closet in the kitchen. 68 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:17,465 I ain't in the kitchen. 69 00:04:17,489 --> 00:04:18,499 Oh! 70 00:04:18,515 --> 00:04:21,238 Hearing a toilet flush for the first time 71 00:04:21,261 --> 00:04:23,222 was a big deal and made headlines. 72 00:04:24,771 --> 00:04:26,609 What's the country coming to anyhow? 73 00:04:26,632 --> 00:04:29,394 - What is it, Archie, bad news? - What else? 74 00:04:29,418 --> 00:04:31,555 We get out of Vietnam or something? 75 00:04:31,578 --> 00:04:33,639 Don't be a wise guy, huh. 76 00:04:33,662 --> 00:04:35,534 I wasn't going to play around with 77 00:04:35,558 --> 00:04:38,012 Mom dented the car, how are we going to 78 00:04:38,035 --> 00:04:39,789 keep Dad from finding out about it? 79 00:04:39,813 --> 00:04:43,547 Not when I see everything that's going around in our country. 80 00:04:43,570 --> 00:04:46,814 Just because a guy is sensitive and he's an intellectual 81 00:04:46,837 --> 00:04:48,927 and he wears glasses, you make him out a queer. 82 00:04:48,950 --> 00:04:52,309 I never said a guy who wears glasses is a queer. 83 00:04:52,327 --> 00:04:54,379 A guy who wears glasses is a four-eyes. 84 00:04:54,403 --> 00:04:56,610 A guy who's a fag is a queer. 85 00:04:57,321 --> 00:05:00,792 All in the Family did something really new for television. 86 00:05:00,816 --> 00:05:04,103 It put before the American public Archie's friend 87 00:05:04,127 --> 00:05:07,099 who was very masculine and who happened to be gay. 88 00:05:07,122 --> 00:05:08,849 How long you known me? 89 00:05:08,872 --> 00:05:11,452 - 10, 12 years? - Yeah. 90 00:05:11,475 --> 00:05:13,835 In all that time, did I ever mention a woman? 91 00:05:13,859 --> 00:05:15,440 Oh, come on, Steve. 92 00:05:16,385 --> 00:05:22,432 _ 93 00:05:22,438 --> 00:05:27,375 _ 94 00:05:27,398 --> 00:05:29,677 Nixon objecting to the show... 95 00:05:29,700 --> 00:05:32,155 Uh, that was a badge of honor. 96 00:05:32,222 --> 00:05:35,461 And it was really culturally on point. Every time. 97 00:05:35,485 --> 00:05:37,348 For a sitcom, that was unheard of. 98 00:05:37,371 --> 00:05:40,296 One, two, three! 99 00:05:40,870 --> 00:05:42,702 I wanted to do an episode 100 00:05:42,726 --> 00:05:46,359 where somebody could give Archie what he'd earned. 101 00:05:46,383 --> 00:05:48,638 Shut up all of you! 102 00:05:48,705 --> 00:05:52,367 We created a character that could really let him have it. 103 00:05:53,811 --> 00:05:55,255 Maude! 104 00:05:56,030 --> 00:05:57,852 I'm only here because of Edith. 105 00:05:57,864 --> 00:06:01,350 The fact that you happen to be here with her is beyond my control. 106 00:06:02,076 --> 00:06:04,037 Like any other freak of nature. 107 00:06:04,460 --> 00:06:09,335 Before that show was off the air, Fred Silverman was on the telephone with me 108 00:06:09,359 --> 00:06:11,919 saying, "there's a show in that woman." 109 00:06:12,788 --> 00:06:14,479 Hello? 110 00:06:14,502 --> 00:06:17,771 No, this is not Mr. Findlay, it's Mrs. Findlay. 111 00:06:17,792 --> 00:06:20,251 Yeah, Mr. Findlay has a much higher voice. 112 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:22,719 Now get your coat and come on! 113 00:06:22,742 --> 00:06:26,030 What makes you think you can order me around like that, Henry? 114 00:06:26,054 --> 00:06:28,279 You're my wife. That gives me the right! 115 00:06:28,303 --> 00:06:31,367 When he says "wife," he means "possession." 116 00:06:31,391 --> 00:06:34,917 So what, Maude? You told me a hundred times you want to feel possessed. 117 00:06:34,941 --> 00:06:38,063 Walter Findlay, I never said that standing up, and you know it. 118 00:06:38,791 --> 00:06:43,381 Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin really turned the spinoff series into an artform. 119 00:06:43,405 --> 00:06:47,207 Norman Lear hates to hear it called the "Lear Factory." 120 00:06:47,231 --> 00:06:49,259 All his series come out of this building, 121 00:06:49,283 --> 00:06:52,148 allowing Lear to move from show to show like a dervish. 122 00:06:53,404 --> 00:06:57,709 Good Times was like, "Holy smokes! There's black people on TV!" 123 00:06:57,733 --> 00:07:01,492 There'd never been a complete black family on TV before, with a father. 124 00:07:02,161 --> 00:07:04,685 What made it so unique and universal is that 125 00:07:04,709 --> 00:07:06,705 we had the same problems in our household, 126 00:07:06,728 --> 00:07:08,678 and we do not live in the projects in Chicago. 127 00:07:08,689 --> 00:07:10,380 Dynomite! 128 00:07:10,787 --> 00:07:13,275 You want to worry your head about nothing, go on and do it. 129 00:07:13,299 --> 00:07:17,334 We got $32 in the shoe box and I got another $6 right here in my pocket. 130 00:07:17,358 --> 00:07:20,845 You worked all night and all they paid you was $6? 131 00:07:20,868 --> 00:07:23,719 There were a lot of folks who were not happy with the show. 132 00:07:24,318 --> 00:07:26,490 The Black Panthers were very upset. 133 00:07:26,513 --> 00:07:30,197 When Huey Newton came to see me, the big complaint was 134 00:07:30,220 --> 00:07:33,660 "why can't we see a black man that's doing better than that?" 135 00:07:35,615 --> 00:07:38,958 The Jeffersons had started as neighbors of Archie Bunker. 136 00:07:38,981 --> 00:07:41,343 Don't call me "honky"! 137 00:07:41,954 --> 00:07:44,514 Why're you so sensitive of of a sudden? 138 00:07:44,537 --> 00:07:46,318 How would you like it if I called you "nigger"? 139 00:07:49,515 --> 00:07:51,374 He called me "nigger"! 140 00:07:51,397 --> 00:07:54,438 - That's no worse than "honky." - You're right. 141 00:07:54,462 --> 00:07:56,787 Nothing's worse than "honky" except being married to one. 142 00:07:56,812 --> 00:08:00,228 Norman Lear set the stage for other shows in the '70s 143 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,340 that just brought gravitas to television. 144 00:08:03,751 --> 00:08:05,295 What're you staring at? 145 00:08:05,319 --> 00:08:09,256 I was just thinking I ought to bring my neighbor's kids over here. 146 00:08:11,012 --> 00:08:12,681 This place is better than the zoo. 147 00:08:26,043 --> 00:08:31,993 On Saturday nights, the CBS lineup in the early '70s was amazing. 148 00:08:32,804 --> 00:08:35,993 8:00, All in the Family. 8:30, M*A*S*H. 149 00:08:36,016 --> 00:08:40,920 9:00, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. You had The Bob Newhart Show... 150 00:08:40,943 --> 00:08:44,891 And it ended with The Carol Burnett Variety Show at 10:00 151 00:08:44,914 --> 00:08:47,533 They used to call it murderer's row. 152 00:08:47,556 --> 00:08:51,974 People had no DVRs, they had no VHS, they had nothing with initials, 153 00:08:51,997 --> 00:08:55,250 so people would stay home on Saturday nights. 154 00:08:55,273 --> 00:08:58,271 They wouldn't go to the movie. They wouldn't go to restaurants. 155 00:08:58,295 --> 00:09:03,151 That may be the best night of television in all of television history. 156 00:09:03,175 --> 00:09:05,021 Mary Tyler Moore was a single woman 157 00:09:05,044 --> 00:09:08,790 working as an associate producer on a nightly TV show. 158 00:09:08,813 --> 00:09:11,186 You know what? You've got spunk. 159 00:09:11,198 --> 00:09:13,547 - Yeah. - I hate spunk! 160 00:09:14,216 --> 00:09:16,858 There were a lot of young women entering the workplace then. 161 00:09:16,881 --> 00:09:20,768 And for some of them, Mary Tyler Moore was like a port of entry. 162 00:09:20,792 --> 00:09:23,942 - I'm doing as good a job as he did. - Better! 163 00:09:23,965 --> 00:09:25,034 Better. 164 00:09:26,306 --> 00:09:30,182 - And I'm being paid less than he was because...? - You're a woman. 165 00:09:30,205 --> 00:09:33,351 The television female could be a hero. 166 00:09:33,374 --> 00:09:35,534 She could be the main event. 167 00:09:37,424 --> 00:09:38,571 Read it? 168 00:09:40,473 --> 00:09:41,706 All right. 169 00:09:42,352 --> 00:09:43,584 Out loud! 170 00:09:44,465 --> 00:09:47,884 The first script written by Allan Burns and Jim Brooks 171 00:09:47,907 --> 00:09:51,070 had Mary coming to Minneapolis divorced. 172 00:09:51,094 --> 00:09:56,112 And well, very quickly CBS said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 173 00:09:56,135 --> 00:09:59,958 At the beginning of the decade, divorce was considered somewhat scandalous. 174 00:09:59,981 --> 00:10:00,968 Uh... 175 00:10:00,991 --> 00:10:02,696 She went on dates with a lot of guys. 176 00:10:02,719 --> 00:10:04,307 But the guys weren't really important. 177 00:10:04,330 --> 00:10:06,961 We seem to be hitting it off, and I just thought... 178 00:10:06,984 --> 00:10:09,373 You just thought! 179 00:10:09,397 --> 00:10:12,074 She's not obsessed with finding a husband. 180 00:10:12,097 --> 00:10:14,789 - Don't forget to take your pill. - I won't. 181 00:10:14,812 --> 00:10:17,924 This was about people coping with one another, 182 00:10:17,947 --> 00:10:20,690 and the workplace was like a family. 183 00:10:20,758 --> 00:10:24,289 I told Ted to close with the copy for Sue Ann. 184 00:10:25,322 --> 00:10:28,111 Oh my God! 185 00:10:28,709 --> 00:10:30,591 - What's wrong? - I told the projectionist 186 00:10:30,614 --> 00:10:32,105 it was the other way around! 187 00:10:32,122 --> 00:10:34,330 Oh my God! 188 00:10:35,163 --> 00:10:39,237 Local pig farmers served notice today that rising corn prices 189 00:10:39,260 --> 00:10:42,098 are forcing them to find other means to feed their stock. 190 00:10:42,122 --> 00:10:44,023 Here's one pig. 191 00:10:45,150 --> 00:10:47,299 Just look at her gobble up that slop. 192 00:10:47,322 --> 00:10:50,469 Starting tomorrow, we'll be presenting a new feature on WJM. 193 00:10:50,492 --> 00:10:52,934 Dining Out with Sue Ann Nivens. 194 00:10:53,814 --> 00:10:55,846 Once Jim Brooks said to me, 195 00:10:55,869 --> 00:10:59,896 "I know there's a world of comedy in my wife's purse. 196 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:01,364 "I just can't access it. 197 00:11:01,387 --> 00:11:03,870 We've got to find some female writers for this show." 198 00:11:03,894 --> 00:11:06,829 - Did you crash the men's room? - Of course not. 199 00:11:07,471 --> 00:11:09,274 I went as somebody's guest. 200 00:11:10,648 --> 00:11:12,597 Why do you think it's such a winner? 201 00:11:12,621 --> 00:11:14,730 I think because of the casting. 202 00:11:14,754 --> 00:11:16,656 And I think because of the writing. 203 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:20,561 They've don't sacrifice the character for the sake of a good joke. 204 00:11:21,332 --> 00:11:24,093 That effort to keep the female sensibility 205 00:11:24,116 --> 00:11:26,312 is what made it authentic and good. 206 00:11:26,335 --> 00:11:29,260 People would say "you're just like me and my girlfriends." 207 00:11:29,283 --> 00:11:32,242 How can you gorge yourself like that and stay so skinny? 208 00:11:32,266 --> 00:11:34,193 I'm going crazy with hunger. 209 00:11:34,205 --> 00:11:36,436 - Well eat something. - I can't. 210 00:11:36,459 --> 00:11:38,033 I've got to lose 10 pounds by 8:30. 211 00:11:38,871 --> 00:11:41,689 Freddy Silverman, head of the network at the time, said 212 00:11:41,713 --> 00:11:44,343 "Valerie, listen. I'm going to spin you off." 213 00:11:44,367 --> 00:11:46,760 And I thought, "oh my God, I'm fired." 214 00:11:46,784 --> 00:11:50,798 Because "spinoff" is a term that was originated in the '70s. 215 00:11:50,822 --> 00:11:54,313 If we're going to start living together, we've got to tell each other everything. 216 00:11:54,748 --> 00:11:57,031 Okay, Joe, I want to be married. 217 00:11:58,886 --> 00:12:04,671 Rhoda and Joe's wedding became a huge national event. 218 00:12:04,694 --> 00:12:08,579 52 million people tuned in to see that. 219 00:12:08,602 --> 00:12:11,990 Suddenly Rhoda is in a happy relationship and they didn't know what to do with that. 220 00:12:12,013 --> 00:12:14,983 And then they had to have her get divorced to try to reboot the show. 221 00:12:15,007 --> 00:12:17,675 Why did you marry me? Just answer me that. Why did you marry me? 222 00:12:17,699 --> 00:12:19,879 - You made me marry you. - I feel so funny. 223 00:12:19,902 --> 00:12:22,081 - Oh, come on. - It's just a matter of trust. 224 00:12:23,596 --> 00:12:25,263 Oh, she's not going to do it. 225 00:12:25,709 --> 00:12:28,633 Doctor, where does that leave us, and where do we go from here? 226 00:12:28,657 --> 00:12:32,069 That we'll have to discuss in future sessions. 227 00:12:32,093 --> 00:12:35,228 The '70s also had this therapeutic overlay. 228 00:12:35,251 --> 00:12:36,957 - Hi, Bob. - Oh, hi, Bob. 229 00:12:36,980 --> 00:12:38,565 - Hi, Bob. - Hello. 230 00:12:39,763 --> 00:12:42,523 We decided to make him a psychologist. 231 00:12:42,547 --> 00:12:45,222 We seem to have run out of things to say. 232 00:12:45,245 --> 00:12:48,324 - Why don't we pray? - Yeah, let's pray for the end of this session. 233 00:12:48,629 --> 00:12:51,611 I didn't know anything about therapy prior to that. 234 00:12:51,635 --> 00:12:54,235 I'm from the planet Blothar. 235 00:12:56,019 --> 00:12:58,567 It's in the Galoo galaxy. 236 00:13:00,977 --> 00:13:03,823 How long are you going to be in town? 237 00:13:04,222 --> 00:13:06,855 I didn't want to do a show where we had children. 238 00:13:06,878 --> 00:13:09,156 I didn't want to be the dumb dad. 239 00:13:09,179 --> 00:13:10,842 Sit, boy. 240 00:13:14,373 --> 00:13:17,884 Howard, I don't care where we go. I just don't want to make any more decisions. 241 00:13:20,890 --> 00:13:24,098 People'd say, "gee, my dad and I used to watch the show." 242 00:13:24,122 --> 00:13:25,495 And it was great. 243 00:13:25,513 --> 00:13:28,718 And you realize you're part of people's lives. 244 00:13:29,869 --> 00:13:33,881 The '70s was the era where a certain artistry developed. 245 00:13:33,904 --> 00:13:38,396 M*A*S*H really changed many people's perception of what a sitcom can be. 246 00:13:38,419 --> 00:13:40,427 A sitcom could be cinematic. 247 00:13:41,543 --> 00:13:43,648 M*A*S*H was shot like a movie. 248 00:13:43,671 --> 00:13:50,153 And M*A*S*H was maybe the single most unique situation comedy ever. 249 00:13:50,176 --> 00:13:53,899 I have a headache. A tremendous headache. 250 00:13:53,922 --> 00:13:56,003 It goes all the way down to my waist. 251 00:13:56,696 --> 00:13:59,831 The television series M*A*S*H had one thing the movie, 252 00:13:59,855 --> 00:14:01,428 in my estimation, did not, which was heart. 253 00:14:01,452 --> 00:14:04,046 There are certain rules about a war. 254 00:14:04,069 --> 00:14:06,295 And rule #1 is young men die. 255 00:14:06,319 --> 00:14:10,000 Rule #2 is doctors can't change rule #1. 256 00:14:10,023 --> 00:14:12,149 It was about Korea, but we were talking about it 257 00:14:12,172 --> 00:14:14,759 doing things that had to do with Vietnam, and everybody knew it. 258 00:14:14,782 --> 00:14:16,579 Rolling. Action. 259 00:14:16,602 --> 00:14:19,347 War isn't hell. War is war and hell is hell. 260 00:14:19,370 --> 00:14:21,319 And of the two, war is a lot worse. 261 00:14:21,342 --> 00:14:25,726 We had 30 million people a week watching M*A*S*H. 262 00:14:25,750 --> 00:14:27,310 Have you ever really considered the foot? 263 00:14:27,333 --> 00:14:28,907 Yeah, but I prefer girls. 264 00:14:29,330 --> 00:14:31,352 Better not bump into Henry and that general. 265 00:14:31,376 --> 00:14:35,450 I intend only to bump into Nurse Baker. Repeatedly, if possible. 266 00:14:35,924 --> 00:14:39,114 Programming practices. These were the people who'd go through the scripts 267 00:14:39,181 --> 00:14:41,134 and say, "you can't use this word." 268 00:14:41,157 --> 00:14:44,457 We felt like we were in the midst of a battle. 269 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:46,593 This is freedom of speech. 270 00:14:46,616 --> 00:14:49,305 At the Senate hearings on television violence today, 271 00:14:49,329 --> 00:14:52,527 strong charges were leveled at the commercial television networks. 272 00:14:52,595 --> 00:14:56,354 The broadcasting industry now stands charged 273 00:14:56,378 --> 00:14:59,100 with having molested the minds of our nation's children 274 00:14:59,168 --> 00:15:01,397 to serve the cause of corporate profit. 275 00:15:01,421 --> 00:15:04,298 The family hour was established by the three networks 276 00:15:04,321 --> 00:15:06,391 and the Federal Communications Commission 277 00:15:06,415 --> 00:15:10,894 in response to complaints of too much sex and violence on early evening television. 278 00:15:10,918 --> 00:15:14,044 The family hour. The two hours from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, 279 00:15:14,067 --> 00:15:17,973 during which parents and children are supposed to be able to watch television 280 00:15:17,997 --> 00:15:20,317 without being made to feel uncomfortable. 281 00:15:20,341 --> 00:15:22,080 It's complicated. 282 00:15:22,104 --> 00:15:24,287 So it just seemed altogether unfair. 283 00:15:24,311 --> 00:15:26,320 And we sued. 284 00:15:26,344 --> 00:15:29,097 Family hour is under attack from some producers, 285 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:31,651 unions and others in the television industry. 286 00:15:31,674 --> 00:15:34,130 They have filed a lawsuit to have it abolished. 287 00:15:34,154 --> 00:15:36,441 As those scheduled to testify arrive, 288 00:15:36,464 --> 00:15:39,676 like Grant Tinker and Allan Burns of Mary Tyler Moore enterprises, 289 00:15:39,699 --> 00:15:42,999 they pass through a picket line protesting the hearing. 290 00:15:43,022 --> 00:15:46,127 Congress has no right whatsoever 291 00:15:46,150 --> 00:15:48,657 to interfere in the content of the media. 292 00:15:48,681 --> 00:15:50,846 If you can censor a joke today, 293 00:15:50,857 --> 00:15:53,716 then tomorrow you can censor the expression of any thought, 294 00:15:53,739 --> 00:15:55,725 If you can censor a joke, 295 00:15:55,737 --> 00:15:57,886 it just becomes easier the next day. 296 00:15:57,909 --> 00:16:00,128 A federal judge in Los Angeles ruled 297 00:16:00,196 --> 00:16:03,646 the so-called family hour on television from 7:00 to 9:00 298 00:16:03,669 --> 00:16:05,315 was unconstitutional. 299 00:16:05,339 --> 00:16:08,803 A violation of the first amendment guarantee of free speech. 300 00:16:08,871 --> 00:16:13,584 The first amendment was upheld in a most important decision. 301 00:16:13,607 --> 00:16:16,913 And it's really, truly a victory for everybody. 302 00:16:24,888 --> 00:16:27,093 The Rookies will not be seen tonight 303 00:16:27,117 --> 00:16:30,393 so that we may bring you the following special program. 304 00:16:30,416 --> 00:16:32,609 Tonight, television takes a look at itself. 305 00:16:32,632 --> 00:16:35,180 We are looking at what you watch most of the time. 306 00:16:35,192 --> 00:16:37,976 Entertainment programming on the three commercial networks. 307 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,512 What are you looking at? And is it good for you? 308 00:16:40,536 --> 00:16:42,959 Somewhere around the middle or late '70s, 309 00:16:42,982 --> 00:16:45,354 it's like people got tired of talking about real stuff. 310 00:16:45,378 --> 00:16:47,162 Well, if the good Lord provided us with berries, 311 00:16:47,186 --> 00:16:48,066 then I think we ought to eat them. 312 00:16:48,090 --> 00:16:50,000 There was a longing for a simpler time, 313 00:16:50,024 --> 00:16:53,454 when it didn't seem like there was so much anger and contentiousness. 314 00:16:53,477 --> 00:16:55,551 When people weren't so mad at each other. 315 00:16:55,571 --> 00:16:57,820 During last season, the Waltons caught on. 316 00:16:57,888 --> 00:16:59,643 - Good night, John boy. - Good night. 317 00:16:59,666 --> 00:17:03,048 This year there'll be more nostalgia and wholesome family drama. 318 00:17:03,071 --> 00:17:05,572 Now that dinner's over, let's try out the piano. 319 00:17:05,596 --> 00:17:08,552 - Good. - I am taking requests. 320 00:17:09,761 --> 00:17:12,544 ♪ Sunday, Monday, happy days... ♪ 321 00:17:12,568 --> 00:17:16,296 I created Happy Days not where where a family really was. 322 00:17:16,311 --> 00:17:18,975 I thought it would be good if there were some families 323 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:20,397 that didn't get divorced. 324 00:17:20,409 --> 00:17:22,828 You guys are really... Wow! 325 00:17:23,717 --> 00:17:27,810 It wasn't by accident everybody on Happy Days hugged each other. 326 00:17:27,878 --> 00:17:30,967 It wasn't by accident everybody in the family 327 00:17:30,990 --> 00:17:33,850 ate at the same time at the same table. 328 00:17:33,917 --> 00:17:37,470 It was a sweet tender show in the vein of American graffiti. 329 00:17:37,493 --> 00:17:41,207 Looking back on the era of the '50s with a certain affection. 330 00:17:41,230 --> 00:17:42,909 Eh! 331 00:17:42,933 --> 00:17:46,939 ABC wanted Fonzie's "eh!" 332 00:17:46,962 --> 00:17:52,586 to compete directly with Jimmie J. J. Walker's "dynomite!" 333 00:17:52,609 --> 00:17:54,981 'Cause I'm the Fonz! Eh! 334 00:17:55,004 --> 00:17:56,205 Catch phrases would be... 335 00:17:56,228 --> 00:17:58,588 - Sit on it, Marvin! - Sit on it, Howard. 336 00:17:58,612 --> 00:18:01,552 Does anyone say, "thank you, Arnold"? No. 337 00:18:01,575 --> 00:18:04,428 - You know what they say? - Sit on it, Arnold. 338 00:18:04,452 --> 00:18:06,111 That's what they say. 339 00:18:06,134 --> 00:18:09,131 You watch Fonzie and you just want to be Fonzie. 340 00:18:13,537 --> 00:18:15,753 Hey, girls, knock yourselves out. I'm really sorry. 341 00:18:15,768 --> 00:18:17,214 It was a slip of the fingers. 342 00:18:17,238 --> 00:18:22,204 It's a fantasy of what teen life could be. 343 00:18:22,228 --> 00:18:24,561 Hey, De Fazio! They're here. 344 00:18:24,573 --> 00:18:26,417 - All right. - Mwah! 345 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:29,011 Laverne! This is Laverne De Fazio. She's mine. 346 00:18:29,035 --> 00:18:31,740 And this is Shirley Feeney. She's yours, as you can see. 347 00:18:31,763 --> 00:18:34,147 - Nice to meet you, Richie. - My pleasure. 348 00:18:34,170 --> 00:18:37,070 When Laverne and Shirley made a guest appearance, 349 00:18:37,094 --> 00:18:40,370 one of the cameramen said, "look at this two-shot. That's a series." 350 00:18:40,393 --> 00:18:44,543 Schlemiel! Schlimazel! Hasenpfeffer Incorporated! 351 00:18:45,447 --> 00:18:49,005 Tuesday night between 8:00 and 9:00 is called "the death spot." 352 00:18:49,028 --> 00:18:51,274 death to any program that dares to go head-on against 353 00:18:51,297 --> 00:18:54,056 against ABC's Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. 354 00:18:54,073 --> 00:18:59,894 Laverne and Shirley is one of the few sitcoms that ever debuted as #1. 355 00:18:59,918 --> 00:19:04,673 The absolute top #1 show this season is Laverne and Shirley. 356 00:19:04,696 --> 00:19:09,107 A seemingly harmless but essentially brainless exercise in adolescent silliness. 357 00:19:09,175 --> 00:19:11,233 You have to go all the way back to I Love Lucy 358 00:19:11,253 --> 00:19:14,411 to get the same sort of slapstick and physical comedy. 359 00:19:14,435 --> 00:19:17,116 I mean, we never thought about its importance 360 00:19:17,140 --> 00:19:20,181 except that, you know, it was two girls trying, 361 00:19:20,205 --> 00:19:22,558 and the value of friendship. 362 00:19:22,582 --> 00:19:24,825 It must have something going for it. 363 00:19:24,848 --> 00:19:28,670 I don't vo-dee-o-dodo. 364 00:19:28,694 --> 00:19:31,832 You vo-dee-o-dodo! 365 00:19:31,856 --> 00:19:34,335 I don't vo-dee-o-dodo! 366 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:37,356 They couldn't say "sex," so they said "vo-dee-o-do." 367 00:19:37,380 --> 00:19:38,800 You vo-dee-o. 368 00:19:39,082 --> 00:19:41,806 Everybody knew what we were talking about. 369 00:19:41,830 --> 00:19:42,937 Once! 370 00:19:43,218 --> 00:19:46,412 My son didn't watch Laverne and Shirley or Happy Days. 371 00:19:46,436 --> 00:19:48,413 I said, "you don't like?" 372 00:19:48,481 --> 00:19:50,575 He said, "I like it." "But what's missing?" 373 00:19:50,599 --> 00:19:52,889 "Space men." Because we were getting into space. 374 00:19:52,912 --> 00:19:55,027 And so that's when I created... 375 00:19:55,825 --> 00:19:56,929 A space man. 376 00:19:56,952 --> 00:20:00,110 - Wait a minute, who are you? - I am Mork from Ork. 377 00:20:00,133 --> 00:20:03,708 The writers all rolled their eyes. "An alien, he wants an alien." 378 00:20:03,731 --> 00:20:07,307 I had to make up a story. "Fonzie's running out of adversaries." 379 00:20:07,330 --> 00:20:10,207 That's right. Fonzie's never lost a Holo-tacker yet. 380 00:20:10,715 --> 00:20:13,739 And we've got the home planet advantage. 381 00:20:13,806 --> 00:20:16,487 Then we got him on his own show 382 00:20:16,510 --> 00:20:19,105 and Mork and Mindy was the hip show of the '70s. 383 00:20:19,637 --> 00:20:20,473 Shazbah! 384 00:20:20,965 --> 00:20:21,836 Ah! 385 00:20:23,027 --> 00:20:26,043 The audience... Talk about a willing suspension of disbelief... 386 00:20:26,067 --> 00:20:28,009 is willing to buy the premise... 387 00:20:28,033 --> 00:20:28,820 Mind if I do? 388 00:20:28,843 --> 00:20:31,486 Just so they can watch Robin Williams. 389 00:20:31,971 --> 00:20:33,247 Nanu, nanu! 390 00:20:33,947 --> 00:20:36,378 Well excuse me! 391 00:20:36,401 --> 00:20:38,964 That was an interesting part of the balance, I think, 392 00:20:38,987 --> 00:20:40,807 of the television diet. 393 00:20:40,830 --> 00:20:44,599 There was an attempt to explore deeper into the psyche of what makes us tick, 394 00:20:44,622 --> 00:20:47,235 but there was also, you know, a need to escape. 395 00:20:47,303 --> 00:20:49,337 I'm going to a beach barbecue. 396 00:20:49,405 --> 00:20:52,089 Uh-huh. I can see what's going to heat up the coals. 397 00:20:53,369 --> 00:20:55,047 If there's any single phenomenon 398 00:20:55,070 --> 00:20:57,379 that has tilted the rating books in CBS's direction, 399 00:20:57,391 --> 00:20:58,847 it's T and A. 400 00:20:58,871 --> 00:21:01,923 Herb Jacobs, at the CBS affiliates meeting, he explained to us 401 00:21:01,947 --> 00:21:04,143 how these T and A shows are concocted. 402 00:21:04,166 --> 00:21:07,180 Now they take their clothes off three times, they get ideas. 403 00:21:07,203 --> 00:21:10,321 And then they want them to run two or three times, and they jiggle. 404 00:21:10,342 --> 00:21:12,434 And all are well endowed, of course. 405 00:21:12,458 --> 00:21:15,781 And then they say, "now let's get three undressed scenes, 406 00:21:15,804 --> 00:21:18,273 and three jiggles, and write a script around it." 407 00:21:18,296 --> 00:21:19,805 Well, there are some who'll tell you that 408 00:21:19,828 --> 00:21:22,036 T and A has peaked and it's on its way out. 409 00:21:22,047 --> 00:21:25,481 But ABC has shows like The Love Boat and Three's Company. 410 00:21:25,505 --> 00:21:28,934 "Jiggle TV" referred to the fact that these were women who were, 411 00:21:28,958 --> 00:21:32,441 you know, who were... You know. 412 00:21:33,639 --> 00:21:35,907 - Good morning, angels. - Good morning, Charlie. 413 00:21:35,919 --> 00:21:40,082 Charlie's Angels became a very enduring trademark out of the '70s. 414 00:21:40,105 --> 00:21:43,604 I've already made arrangements for you three to go to prison. 415 00:21:44,109 --> 00:21:47,187 - Open your towel. - I'll be standing as erect as ever. 416 00:21:47,211 --> 00:21:49,291 Good luck, angels. 417 00:21:49,302 --> 00:21:52,613 Battle of the Network Stars. 418 00:21:52,637 --> 00:21:55,854 Oh, God. I did Battle of the Network Stars a couple of times. 419 00:21:55,878 --> 00:21:58,191 And I hated it. 420 00:21:58,215 --> 00:22:00,716 I think I made up some pretty good time on Billy Crystal. 421 00:22:00,739 --> 00:22:03,957 Networks would loan out their TV stars 422 00:22:03,980 --> 00:22:06,892 to compete in a series of quasi-Olympic-type events. 423 00:22:06,916 --> 00:22:10,347 She's leaning so far over the boat, it seems to be wobbling a great deal. 424 00:22:10,371 --> 00:22:14,163 Erin Gray with that lithe, supple body. 425 00:22:14,187 --> 00:22:16,609 She's got a great set of legs. What the heck. 426 00:22:17,090 --> 00:22:20,369 I think that we have a lot to apologize for, with the worst of television. 427 00:22:20,392 --> 00:22:24,091 My only defense was, "it was the '70's." 428 00:22:24,974 --> 00:22:27,168 Did I jiggle much? 429 00:22:29,563 --> 00:22:32,252 Uh. Live and learn. 430 00:22:40,696 --> 00:22:44,338 Public television has been expected to do a great deal. 431 00:22:44,406 --> 00:22:48,530 Almost half of noncommercial program hours are aimed at children. 432 00:22:48,554 --> 00:22:53,180 And it has come to be so many things to so many people. 433 00:22:53,248 --> 00:22:56,411 The PBS children's programming in the '70s 434 00:22:56,435 --> 00:22:59,487 became the platinum standard on the planet 435 00:22:59,554 --> 00:23:02,575 for how you use this medium to educate kids. 436 00:23:02,598 --> 00:23:05,792 ♪ Would you be my, could you be my, ♪ 437 00:23:05,816 --> 00:23:08,322 ♪ won't you be my neighbor? ♪ 438 00:23:08,345 --> 00:23:11,011 It was Fred Rogers who made it okay 439 00:23:11,034 --> 00:23:15,241 to speak to an audience of kids like they were human beings. 440 00:23:15,264 --> 00:23:19,055 There are some things that are very difficult to understand 441 00:23:19,078 --> 00:23:20,443 in a newspaper. 442 00:23:20,466 --> 00:23:22,705 Every now and then I think back to Mister Rogers 443 00:23:22,728 --> 00:23:26,497 I think he would say, "don't be scared. Life is good. Life is special." 444 00:23:26,521 --> 00:23:30,974 Well, everybody is so special because everybody is different. 445 00:23:30,997 --> 00:23:33,778 Just go and do the thing that you love. And that always stuck with me. 446 00:23:33,802 --> 00:23:35,300 See you tomorrow. 447 00:23:35,323 --> 00:23:40,077 ♪ Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street. ♪ 448 00:23:40,100 --> 00:23:42,463 Sesame Street introduced my children to 449 00:23:42,531 --> 00:23:45,075 interaction with people of different backgrounds. 450 00:23:45,110 --> 00:23:48,597 ♪ It's not that easy being green. ♪ 451 00:23:48,613 --> 00:23:51,098 - Count this penny. - Count that penny? 452 00:23:51,125 --> 00:23:54,010 - Yeah, count it. - Okay. 453 00:23:54,037 --> 00:23:56,387 - Count - One. 454 00:23:56,427 --> 00:24:00,236 Sesame Street was aggressive in terms of learning not only 455 00:24:00,272 --> 00:24:05,181 concepts of reading, but concepts of interacting. 456 00:24:05,216 --> 00:24:07,750 - I may be small... - I may be small... 457 00:24:07,794 --> 00:24:09,536 - But I am... - But I am... 458 00:24:09,562 --> 00:24:11,120 - Somebody. - Somebody. 459 00:24:11,147 --> 00:24:16,228 Sesame Street was as big as it got in terms of celebrity. 460 00:24:16,263 --> 00:24:18,896 Everybody wanted to hang with the Muppets. 461 00:24:18,914 --> 00:24:21,089 - Aren't you Johnny Trash? - Cash. 462 00:24:21,106 --> 00:24:22,470 Cash, Cash. 463 00:24:23,622 --> 00:24:26,898 Educational children's television really matured in the '70s. 464 00:24:26,933 --> 00:24:30,223 - I'm leaving. - I love you. 465 00:24:31,138 --> 00:24:34,027 - I love you too. - Oh, thanks. 466 00:24:34,071 --> 00:24:36,710 An now for something completely different. 467 00:24:37,326 --> 00:24:41,126 When I was 13, this show from England came on PBS, 468 00:24:41,161 --> 00:24:43,695 which before that, was only the realm of my parents. 469 00:24:43,712 --> 00:24:45,596 - Bleh! - What do you mean, "bleh"? 470 00:24:45,633 --> 00:24:46,944 I don't like spam! 471 00:24:46,961 --> 00:24:50,120 And suddenly they're doing the most outlandish, 472 00:24:50,146 --> 00:24:53,502 racy, non-sequitur type of humor, 473 00:24:54,751 --> 00:24:57,624 and killing me, the 13-year-old. 474 00:24:57,641 --> 00:25:00,085 It's extraordinary what you can't do on American television. 475 00:25:00,102 --> 00:25:03,737 I think you can do it on PBS, that's why I hope you all watch it. 476 00:25:03,755 --> 00:25:05,435 Come at me with that lower angle. 477 00:25:05,448 --> 00:25:07,595 - Attack me with it. - Ah! 478 00:25:08,747 --> 00:25:11,226 Once you have this generation of comedy nerds 479 00:25:11,257 --> 00:25:12,990 who don't even know that they're comedy nerds. 480 00:25:13,008 --> 00:25:15,761 This parrot is no more! 481 00:25:15,788 --> 00:25:18,330 It has ceased to be. 482 00:25:18,841 --> 00:25:22,043 Monty Python turned out to break so many rules. 483 00:25:22,069 --> 00:25:24,410 I mean, it changes everything. 484 00:25:24,445 --> 00:25:27,434 Just like with the Beatles you can say, "oh, they came after the Beatles." 485 00:25:27,502 --> 00:25:30,254 You look at Saturday Night Live, you look at SCTV, 486 00:25:30,281 --> 00:25:32,551 "oh, after Monty Python." 487 00:25:32,595 --> 00:25:34,187 Beginning October 11, 488 00:25:34,222 --> 00:25:37,416 Saturday Night will open up a whole new live venture from New York City. 489 00:25:37,438 --> 00:25:40,319 We just happen to have the producer of the program, 490 00:25:40,337 --> 00:25:41,560 members of his company. 491 00:25:41,599 --> 00:25:44,194 - What should we look for on the program? - Anxiety. 492 00:25:44,238 --> 00:25:46,785 Lorne Michaels, this Canadian comedy producer, 493 00:25:46,811 --> 00:25:48,008 was given free rein. 494 00:25:48,025 --> 00:25:50,850 Hi, I'm Lorne Michaels, producer of Saturday Night. 495 00:25:50,876 --> 00:25:53,938 And he ultimately winds up hiring a bunch of improv comics. 496 00:25:53,964 --> 00:25:56,823 Rehearsal warm-up... Do 20 face-slaps. 497 00:25:57,672 --> 00:26:00,337 Come on. Slappa-dappa. Come on. Make it hurt. 498 00:26:00,367 --> 00:26:02,250 George Carlin was the first host, 499 00:26:02,267 --> 00:26:04,966 and wanted to be a permanent host. 500 00:26:04,997 --> 00:26:08,384 Nice to see you. Welcome and thanks for joining us live. 501 00:26:08,420 --> 00:26:11,223 There were a lot of names bandied about 502 00:26:11,249 --> 00:26:12,838 in terms of permanent hosts. 503 00:26:13,384 --> 00:26:15,618 That's one of those TV rules that you must break, 504 00:26:15,645 --> 00:26:17,268 until you do and then you realize 505 00:26:17,286 --> 00:26:19,186 why don't you have a different host every week? 506 00:26:19,775 --> 00:26:23,251 But it was the cast that finally won people's hearts. 507 00:26:23,268 --> 00:26:24,820 Come on, who is this? 508 00:26:24,855 --> 00:26:27,222 - Candy-gram. - Oh no! 509 00:26:27,257 --> 00:26:31,021 You cut your own steaks. We give you the sauce. 510 00:26:31,065 --> 00:26:32,493 I'm Barbara Wawa. 511 00:26:32,519 --> 00:26:35,836 Thank you, thank you very much. You're beautiful. Thank you. 512 00:26:35,904 --> 00:26:39,721 You were drawn to the TV set because you knew something insane might happen. 513 00:26:39,756 --> 00:26:42,101 - Live... - Live from New York. 514 00:26:42,124 --> 00:26:44,623 Partly because it was live, partly because you knew 515 00:26:44,658 --> 00:26:47,214 television was now in the hands of the television generation. 516 00:26:47,282 --> 00:26:50,721 ♪ NBC's smart as a peacock! ♪ 517 00:26:50,756 --> 00:26:54,243 And these were "kids" who just might do anything. 518 00:26:54,261 --> 00:26:58,422 Yes, having sex with women! The president! Within these very walls! 519 00:26:59,455 --> 00:27:02,629 That never happened when Dick Nixon was in the White House! 520 00:27:02,697 --> 00:27:04,365 It was counter-television. 521 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:05,702 That's partly what made it attractive. 522 00:27:05,739 --> 00:27:07,552 No problem. 523 00:27:07,569 --> 00:27:10,051 Every one of their episodes became worthy 524 00:27:10,087 --> 00:27:13,219 of Talmudic study, if that's the word. 525 00:27:13,237 --> 00:27:16,420 When I hosted, Lorne called me into his office and said, 526 00:27:16,446 --> 00:27:19,138 "you realize that the kids are the stars." 527 00:27:19,763 --> 00:27:22,348 The host wasn't nearly as impactful. 528 00:27:22,374 --> 00:27:23,984 That's not quite it. 529 00:27:24,767 --> 00:27:27,654 Because the thing was all the rage. 530 00:27:27,722 --> 00:27:31,202 They called themselves the "Not-Ready-for-Primetime Players." 531 00:27:31,237 --> 00:27:33,258 Not because they felt they weren't good enough, 532 00:27:33,284 --> 00:27:35,162 but because they felt they were too good. 533 00:27:35,230 --> 00:27:37,827 Good evening, I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not. 534 00:27:37,854 --> 00:27:40,073 Chevy Chase became an instant star. 535 00:27:40,099 --> 00:27:42,607 - Our top story tonight... - Our top story tonight. 536 00:27:42,637 --> 00:27:44,679 _ 537 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:50,155 - Boy are his arms tired. - And boy are his arms tired! 538 00:27:50,199 --> 00:27:52,707 Chevy Chase was on the show for one year. 539 00:27:52,733 --> 00:27:54,405 Are you sorry you left Saturday Night Live? 540 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:56,736 I'm deeply, deeply sorry. 541 00:27:57,854 --> 00:28:01,672 Chevy decided that he was too big for the show, and so he left. 542 00:28:01,698 --> 00:28:05,370 In some ways, Chevy leaving after the first year was a blessing, 543 00:28:05,390 --> 00:28:10,078 because it showed that Saturday Night Live was going to do much more than survive. 544 00:28:10,104 --> 00:28:14,731 ♪ There are some things that just aren't explainable... ♪ 545 00:28:14,750 --> 00:28:17,248 Hello, I'm Bill Murray. You can call me Billy, 546 00:28:17,266 --> 00:28:20,116 but around here everybody just calls me "the new guy." 547 00:28:20,134 --> 00:28:22,945 When Chevy Chase leaves, Bill Murray comes in. 548 00:28:22,989 --> 00:28:25,012 Come on, Pop! 549 00:28:26,202 --> 00:28:28,481 Cut, cut! Makeup, can we get in here, please? 550 00:28:28,498 --> 00:28:29,721 Sorry, fellas. 551 00:28:29,756 --> 00:28:32,025 And that just opened up other doors, 552 00:28:32,060 --> 00:28:35,402 and Saturday Night Live was just kind of taking off. 553 00:28:35,437 --> 00:28:37,467 Two wild and crazy guys! 554 00:28:37,493 --> 00:28:41,311 Super Vas-o-matic 76! You'll never hade to steal, cut, or gut again! 555 00:28:41,338 --> 00:28:43,137 Beat it, Roseanne, Roseanne-Dan. 556 00:28:43,155 --> 00:28:45,592 Cheeseburger, cheeseburger here! 557 00:28:48,539 --> 00:28:51,905 - Where do we come from? - France. 558 00:28:52,507 --> 00:28:56,896 It was the show for us, it was the show about us. 559 00:28:56,932 --> 00:28:58,473 You wanted to be a part of it. 560 00:28:58,499 --> 00:29:00,690 It was inextricably linked with the times. 561 00:29:00,716 --> 00:29:02,317 Good afternoon. 562 00:29:02,353 --> 00:29:04,367 - Good night. - Good night. Pleasant tomorrow. 563 00:29:16,165 --> 00:29:19,011 Monday, Monday, Monday's the greatest day of the week! 564 00:29:19,046 --> 00:29:23,140 Throughout high school there was one show that was religious broadcasting, 565 00:29:23,175 --> 00:29:24,839 that you had to watch, 'cause if you didn't see it, 566 00:29:24,907 --> 00:29:26,974 you wouldn't have anything to talk about 567 00:29:27,042 --> 00:29:29,977 for all of Tuesday and most of Wednesday 568 00:29:30,045 --> 00:29:31,631 and a big part of Thursday. 569 00:29:31,667 --> 00:29:34,526 Why? Because Monday night is NFL football night. 570 00:29:34,552 --> 00:29:35,722 That's why! 571 00:29:37,262 --> 00:29:41,975 Monday Night Football got its start on September 21st, 1970, 572 00:29:41,993 --> 00:29:44,025 with the Cleveland Browns hosting the New York Jets. 573 00:29:44,093 --> 00:29:49,639 Welcome to ABC's Monday night primetime National Football League television series. 574 00:29:51,133 --> 00:29:54,341 And this game is underway on ABC. 575 00:29:54,377 --> 00:29:56,337 Frank was there to do play-by-play. 576 00:29:56,405 --> 00:30:00,486 Don was there to do replays and provide some humor to the telecast. 577 00:30:00,521 --> 00:30:04,417 And Howard was there to be the straw that stirred the drink. 578 00:30:04,452 --> 00:30:06,080 Let's handle it, come on! 579 00:30:06,148 --> 00:30:07,715 Let's go! Let's go! 580 00:30:07,783 --> 00:30:11,274 The pairing of Howard Cosell with Don Meredith 581 00:30:11,309 --> 00:30:15,389 is a classic sitcom odd couple kind of pairing. 582 00:30:15,457 --> 00:30:18,993 You couldn't help but be swept up by what those guys were saying. 583 00:30:19,028 --> 00:30:21,289 The booth itself was almost like a variety show. 584 00:30:21,316 --> 00:30:22,964 We have our extra here with us this evening. 585 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,407 I've called it a traveling freak show and it really was. 586 00:30:26,442 --> 00:30:29,629 The head freak was Howard, there ain't no question about that. 587 00:30:29,664 --> 00:30:31,349 The tension between the two of them 588 00:30:31,375 --> 00:30:33,751 made for the kind of thing you just wanted to see every week. 589 00:30:33,786 --> 00:30:37,118 Professional football is rapidly growing into a very big business. 590 00:30:37,153 --> 00:30:39,847 You understand football here... Our football, 591 00:30:39,915 --> 00:30:42,654 - not the football in Europe. - I like to watch, but I don't understand too much. 592 00:30:42,689 --> 00:30:44,952 Would you like to learn more about it? 593 00:30:45,578 --> 00:30:48,520 We were on a mission that took us very close to saying 594 00:30:48,556 --> 00:30:50,998 "screw the football fan, 'cause he's going to come anyway." 595 00:30:51,033 --> 00:30:53,350 What we needed to do was appeal to women. 596 00:30:53,376 --> 00:30:57,020 We needed to appeal to the casual football fan. 597 00:30:57,046 --> 00:31:01,057 That's why we started telling stories that humanized the players. 598 00:31:01,092 --> 00:31:03,123 Joe Namath, one of the greatest of all time. 599 00:31:03,168 --> 00:31:05,209 Unfortunately his legs do not go with that arm. 600 00:31:05,253 --> 00:31:08,016 The things that people associate with. 601 00:31:08,051 --> 00:31:09,995 Recognize this fellow? 602 00:31:10,030 --> 00:31:13,514 What's been your view of this American professional football season? 603 00:31:13,582 --> 00:31:15,433 It's an amazing event and sight. 604 00:31:15,451 --> 00:31:18,028 It makes rock concerts look like tea parties. 605 00:31:18,064 --> 00:31:20,804 I'd like to have your job. You know, be a sportscaster. 606 00:31:20,848 --> 00:31:23,347 That show became, week after week, 607 00:31:23,382 --> 00:31:24,748 one of the most highly-rated shows in America. 608 00:31:24,779 --> 00:31:28,298 ♪ Nothing like a party! ♪ 609 00:31:28,342 --> 00:31:31,593 It showed football was an entertainment experience 610 00:31:31,628 --> 00:31:35,350 on par with any primetime show you could imagine. 611 00:31:35,394 --> 00:31:38,652 Maybe it was better because you didn't know how it was going to end. 612 00:31:40,577 --> 00:31:44,446 60 Minutes decided to peer into the electronic future 613 00:31:44,472 --> 00:31:45,968 to take a look at what may be in store 614 00:31:46,003 --> 00:31:48,968 for television viewers in the decade of the '70s. 615 00:31:49,016 --> 00:31:51,264 It is television by cable, 616 00:31:51,299 --> 00:31:55,275 a communications revolution that could radically alter our way of life. 617 00:31:55,310 --> 00:31:58,587 Cable, for a quarter of a century, there's nothing distinctive about it. 618 00:31:58,614 --> 00:32:01,411 Just a way for you to get what everybody else can already get. 619 00:32:01,438 --> 00:32:04,076 And that's the way it is up until... 620 00:32:04,111 --> 00:32:06,689 Welcome to Home Box Office subscription television. 621 00:32:06,724 --> 00:32:12,294 HBO debuts November 8, 1972, and it is not an overnight success. 622 00:32:12,316 --> 00:32:15,052 Presenting the Pennsylvania Polka Festival. 623 00:32:15,083 --> 00:32:17,045 And the oft-repeated saying was, 624 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:20,748 "getting people to pay for TV would be like getting them to pay for air." 625 00:32:20,792 --> 00:32:23,442 Saturday mornings they would play band music 626 00:32:23,477 --> 00:32:26,345 and you'd see slides of... Nothing, I'd call it. 627 00:32:26,380 --> 00:32:29,381 Nobody knew what you could do. Nobody knew what you couldn't do. 628 00:32:29,425 --> 00:32:32,790 But you were desperately trying not to be commercial television. 629 00:32:32,816 --> 00:32:36,597 - How much time have we got? - Ladies and gentlemen, Robert Klein. 630 00:32:36,665 --> 00:32:39,800 The beauty of it was you didn't have to pack everything quickly. 631 00:32:39,868 --> 00:32:43,693 You could warm up and get to know and take the stage, so to speak. 632 00:32:43,733 --> 00:32:47,726 The talk shows are okay, you know. I do The Tonight Show. 633 00:32:47,770 --> 00:32:50,927 Come in, I have to be funny in a hurry. I get so little time. 634 00:32:50,962 --> 00:32:53,285 Six minutes and boom, boom, boom, boom! 635 00:32:53,329 --> 00:32:57,548 It wasn't as contrived. It was a full-throated performance. 636 00:32:58,101 --> 00:33:00,121 This is not regular television! 637 00:33:00,188 --> 00:33:02,990 It's subscription. They can say any shit. 638 00:33:03,393 --> 00:33:06,673 Because you're not using public airwaves, the FCC can't regulate your content. 639 00:33:06,708 --> 00:33:09,249 I understand you had two orgasms yesterday. 640 00:33:10,692 --> 00:33:12,478 Can you tell us about them? 641 00:33:12,768 --> 00:33:15,487 HBO gave cable something to sell. 642 00:33:15,522 --> 00:33:19,514 You were getting movies uncut in your home. 643 00:33:19,532 --> 00:33:21,746 All the naughty bits intact. 644 00:33:22,864 --> 00:33:25,969 And then September 1975, 645 00:33:26,013 --> 00:33:29,612 we debut coast-to-coast with the "Thrilla in Manila." 646 00:33:29,647 --> 00:33:32,858 One of the all-time classic heavyweight fights. Frazier/Ali. 647 00:33:32,884 --> 00:33:34,827 And that's when HBO explodes. 648 00:33:34,845 --> 00:33:38,478 It's all over. And Muhammad Ali at the end of the 40th round... 649 00:33:39,903 --> 00:33:42,363 Before that, you're counting growth 650 00:33:42,431 --> 00:33:44,632 in tens of thousands of subscribers. 651 00:33:44,700 --> 00:33:47,700 After that, you're counting in millions. 652 00:33:47,744 --> 00:33:52,675 That's really day 1 for both businesses, HBO and the cable industry. 653 00:33:52,719 --> 00:33:56,444 If you're a fan, what you'll see in the next minutes to follow 654 00:33:56,511 --> 00:33:59,370 may convince you you've gone to sports heaven. 655 00:33:59,414 --> 00:34:01,620 In the mid '70s in the sports world, 656 00:34:01,646 --> 00:34:06,997 there were just these three giants... CBS, ABC, NBC. 657 00:34:07,032 --> 00:34:11,044 And then in Connecticut, somebody got ahold of a transponder. 658 00:34:11,070 --> 00:34:14,404 The picture you're watching right now has been taken by a camera, 659 00:34:14,448 --> 00:34:17,880 sent through some sophisticated equipment to this earth transmitting station. 660 00:34:17,906 --> 00:34:21,650 This guy, Bill Rasmussen, who had been fired from his job, 661 00:34:21,667 --> 00:34:27,257 and just trying to figure out a way to deliver local cable sports. 662 00:34:27,284 --> 00:34:28,907 Then when they found out about the satellite, they said, 663 00:34:28,942 --> 00:34:31,052 "so can we cover the whole state?" 664 00:34:31,077 --> 00:34:33,230 And the guy looked at him and said, "no, you don't understand." 665 00:34:33,265 --> 00:34:37,017 For another 25 cents or whatever, you can send this all over the country. 666 00:34:37,085 --> 00:34:40,704 And they went, "oh, gee, why would anyone want to do that?" 667 00:34:40,740 --> 00:34:42,737 They didn't quite know what they had. 668 00:34:43,370 --> 00:34:46,871 And he wound up revolutionizing television sports. 669 00:34:46,898 --> 00:34:49,991 Welcome, everyone, to the ESPN SportsCenter. 670 00:34:50,458 --> 00:34:53,112 From this very desk in the coming weeks and months, 671 00:34:53,129 --> 00:34:55,813 we'll be filling you in on the pulse of sporting activity 672 00:34:55,857 --> 00:34:59,015 not only around the country, but around the world as well. 673 00:34:59,050 --> 00:35:00,934 They didn't have the money to go out and buy 674 00:35:00,969 --> 00:35:03,241 baseball games or NFL games. 675 00:35:03,285 --> 00:35:05,880 What they did do was they took all the leftovers out there. 676 00:35:05,924 --> 00:35:08,286 I'm Joe Boyle, and I'll be handling the play-by-play 677 00:35:08,321 --> 00:35:10,894 for tonight's game between the Badgers and the Blue Demons. 678 00:35:10,929 --> 00:35:15,589 That gave birth to arguably the greatest media success story of all time. 679 00:35:15,657 --> 00:35:19,720 At its best, cable television could provide a refreshing relief 680 00:35:19,755 --> 00:35:23,063 from the trend toward bigness, toward centralization. 681 00:35:23,131 --> 00:35:26,034 At its worst, cable TV could invade our privacy, 682 00:35:26,078 --> 00:35:28,181 tranquilize our children, 683 00:35:28,225 --> 00:35:31,358 remove us electronically from the flesh-and-blood world. 684 00:35:31,401 --> 00:35:33,240 And we'd have to pay for the privilege. 685 00:35:33,267 --> 00:35:37,754 The question is, indeed, will the miracle be managed? 686 00:35:48,843 --> 00:35:53,287 The best thing PBS did for adults in the '70s was the mini-series, 687 00:35:53,355 --> 00:35:56,274 the idea of novels for television. 688 00:35:56,300 --> 00:35:58,075 Good evening. I'm Alistair Cooke, 689 00:35:58,119 --> 00:36:01,251 here with the ninth episode of I, Claudius. 690 00:36:01,268 --> 00:36:03,556 We ought to put up a sign. 691 00:36:03,591 --> 00:36:06,216 Discretion is advised. 692 00:36:06,251 --> 00:36:09,040 I was not allowed to watch it because it had nudity in it. 693 00:36:09,075 --> 00:36:10,936 I very much wanted to. 694 00:36:10,971 --> 00:36:14,604 Rather than try to come up with a show that would run for years and years, 695 00:36:14,639 --> 00:36:17,792 it was this idea that here is a limited story. 696 00:36:17,827 --> 00:36:19,641 We're going to tell it in X number of episodes, 697 00:36:19,658 --> 00:36:22,113 and let's just do this one self-contained thing. 698 00:36:22,147 --> 00:36:24,952 We all did things during the reign of my mad brother 699 00:36:25,020 --> 00:36:26,958 that we might not otherwise have done. 700 00:36:26,993 --> 00:36:30,790 It looks cheap. It was the script and the performances that mattered. 701 00:36:30,825 --> 00:36:34,778 In other words, it could be good for you but it was fun at the same time. 702 00:36:36,177 --> 00:36:39,171 The mini-series was such a huge success for public television, 703 00:36:39,198 --> 00:36:43,158 ABC was the network that hit gold with Rich Man, Poor Man. 704 00:36:44,337 --> 00:36:47,841 How are you going to tell a story that isn't controlled by the clock? 705 00:36:47,876 --> 00:36:50,907 Characters can grow and change and differ. 706 00:36:50,939 --> 00:36:52,958 Hey, listen. I want to talk to you. 707 00:36:53,002 --> 00:36:56,144 - About what? - About making an honest man of me. 708 00:36:56,179 --> 00:36:59,064 It's a subject I rarely discuss in the nude. 709 00:36:59,090 --> 00:37:02,134 What we saw in the '70s was that the big event television, 710 00:37:02,161 --> 00:37:04,303 if it was done right and if it was compelling, 711 00:37:04,330 --> 00:37:06,890 the audience kept on coming back and back. 712 00:37:06,907 --> 00:37:09,535 Here you have topics that start to get serious 713 00:37:09,570 --> 00:37:12,401 and important and groundbreaking for television. 714 00:37:12,427 --> 00:37:16,281 There's no life left here and I don't want harm to come to you because of it. 715 00:37:16,325 --> 00:37:19,771 I won't... I won't listen to this. 716 00:37:21,936 --> 00:37:25,974 Though majority reaction to the Holocaust program has been positive, 717 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:29,183 it has not been without debate. 718 00:37:29,250 --> 00:37:31,537 With Holocaust, the heat was 719 00:37:31,554 --> 00:37:35,377 "you shouldn't even touch this subject. It's disrespectful." 720 00:37:35,421 --> 00:37:37,405 But finally the thinking was, 721 00:37:37,449 --> 00:37:40,501 "no, to not talk about it would be disrespectful." 722 00:37:40,537 --> 00:37:44,142 To not perpetuate the memory for another generation. 723 00:37:44,168 --> 00:37:46,816 So if you're too young to know, here's a depiction. 724 00:37:48,211 --> 00:37:51,625 Not since the war have emotions been so high in Germany. 725 00:37:51,651 --> 00:37:54,781 The Holocaust telecast caused heated discussion. 726 00:37:54,798 --> 00:37:57,473 Its most tangible political effect was shown 727 00:37:57,499 --> 00:38:01,048 when the German legislature debated the search for Nazi war criminals. 728 00:38:01,116 --> 00:38:04,208 Holocaust made it easier for lawmakers to vote 729 00:38:04,252 --> 00:38:06,496 to continue the hunt for Nazis. 730 00:38:06,533 --> 00:38:07,963 Holocaust brought it home. 731 00:38:07,989 --> 00:38:11,925 It made it real, even though it was a Hollywood creation. 732 00:38:13,455 --> 00:38:16,876 Sunday night, Roots begins in eight parts on ABC. 733 00:38:16,911 --> 00:38:19,333 If it sounds like I'm plugging it, I am. 734 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,355 Basically, television will never be the same again. 735 00:38:22,390 --> 00:38:26,781 There was really no bigger television event than Roots. 736 00:38:26,816 --> 00:38:29,847 It was based on the 1976 book by Alex Haley 737 00:38:29,873 --> 00:38:33,392 about his family in Africa and coming to America as slaves, 738 00:38:33,410 --> 00:38:35,922 and what happens to them as the centuries go on. 739 00:38:35,957 --> 00:38:40,988 I will go to my grave believing that Roots is America's story. 740 00:38:41,055 --> 00:38:43,488 Not just black America's story. 741 00:38:43,532 --> 00:38:45,993 We might have come over in the bottom of the ship, 742 00:38:46,028 --> 00:38:48,474 but we all came over in ships. 743 00:38:48,500 --> 00:38:53,119 Your name means "stay put." But it don't mean "stay a slave." 744 00:38:53,163 --> 00:38:55,877 As a 19-year-old kid, you know, Roots was my first job. 745 00:38:55,912 --> 00:38:59,363 We're not children. We're very close to being men, Nyo Boto. 746 00:38:59,389 --> 00:39:03,921 - What's your name? - Kunta. Kunta Kinte. 747 00:39:03,949 --> 00:39:06,254 The character that I got to portray in Roots, 748 00:39:06,289 --> 00:39:09,602 Kunta Kinte the adult, was a dream role. 749 00:39:10,050 --> 00:39:15,155 It was really genius to cast all of America's favorite television dads 750 00:39:15,223 --> 00:39:18,876 in the roles of the white slave owners and the villains. 751 00:39:18,911 --> 00:39:22,415 I'll be by to fetch you in the morning, Captain. Sleep well. 752 00:39:24,914 --> 00:39:27,562 It is difficult to explain in today’s culture 753 00:39:27,597 --> 00:39:29,771 how unprecedented Roots was. 754 00:39:29,806 --> 00:39:32,014 No one had ever seen the story of slavery before 755 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:34,618 told from the point of view of the Africans. 756 00:39:37,028 --> 00:39:42,798 It may be the first time that television allowed an embracing of black pride. 757 00:39:43,317 --> 00:39:46,678 Then we's free. We's free, honey. 758 00:39:46,713 --> 00:39:49,343 One of the reasons that Roots was so incredibly popular 759 00:39:49,378 --> 00:39:52,642 is not because ABC had so much faith in it, 760 00:39:52,682 --> 00:39:54,723 but because ABC didn't. 761 00:39:54,749 --> 00:39:57,845 Earlier mini-series were broadcast in weekly installments, 762 00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:02,499 and the ABC executives determined that if Roots were to fail, 763 00:40:02,525 --> 00:40:06,176 they could just be done with it in seven or eight nights. 764 00:40:06,194 --> 00:40:08,110 It was high risk, high reward. 765 00:40:08,128 --> 00:40:12,499 If it didn't work, you were out a lot of TV time and not many of people watching. 766 00:40:12,517 --> 00:40:15,297 The television premiere on eight consecutive nights 767 00:40:15,318 --> 00:40:19,496 attracted the largest audience in the history of the medium. 768 00:40:19,523 --> 00:40:24,161 There's something about it that seems to touch all human beings. 769 00:40:24,205 --> 00:40:27,087 It transcends age and race. 770 00:40:27,131 --> 00:40:30,434 Entertainment was meeting humanity, and I think that's the primary value... 771 00:40:30,470 --> 00:40:33,645 Is to lead humanity forward. 772 00:40:35,625 --> 00:40:37,915 If there's a legacy of television in the '70s 773 00:40:37,932 --> 00:40:40,784 it's that you matter. 774 00:40:41,259 --> 00:40:45,042 While there's a lot going on in the world, television was a reminder 775 00:40:45,068 --> 00:40:50,739 of how much little things mean to us. The smallest of situations. 776 00:40:50,765 --> 00:40:54,588 No matter what the subject matter was, it wanted to include you. 777 00:40:54,656 --> 00:41:00,403 You're in the family. Don't make fun of the outsider, include them. 778 00:41:00,447 --> 00:41:04,463 Its legacy is look how long it's lasted. 779 00:41:04,489 --> 00:41:08,569 Those shows, they were about people who were kind and nice. 780 00:41:08,613 --> 00:41:11,568 They were not mean-spirited shows. 781 00:41:12,668 --> 00:41:15,776 There was a certain elegance to that. 782 00:41:15,843 --> 00:41:18,145 I kind of miss it. 783 00:41:18,162 --> 00:41:22,561 Oh, it was so delicious. Five different flavors. 784 00:41:23,262 --> 00:41:28,074 And Archie was sitting at another table with that fellow Jefferson Pratt. 785 00:41:28,101 --> 00:41:30,142 Remember him? 786 00:41:30,177 --> 00:41:34,116 Anyway, Archie was trying to get my attention. 787 00:41:34,133 --> 00:41:40,080 So first he put two straws up his nose, like a walrus. 788 00:41:40,099 --> 00:41:43,249 And then he shot... 789 00:41:43,742 --> 00:41:47,850 Sync, corrected by icephoenix www.addic7ed.com 790 00:41:59,620 --> 00:42:02,556 Tonight, television takes a look at its own.