1
00:00:05,068 --> 00:00:07,862
It's a time
of enormous turmoil.

2
00:00:07,965 --> 00:00:08,758
Shut up in here.

3
00:00:08,862 --> 00:00:10,103
The '60s are over Dad.

4
00:00:10,206 --> 00:00:12,758
Here's Michael at
the foul line, a shot on Ehlo.

5
00:00:12,862 --> 00:00:13,724
- Good!
- Yeah!

6
00:00:13,827 --> 00:00:15,068
Ha-ha!

7
00:00:15,172 --> 00:00:17,241
We intend to cover
all the news all the time.

8
00:00:17,344 --> 00:00:20,000
We won't be signing off
until the world ends.

9
00:00:20,103 --> 00:00:21,655
Isn't that special?

10
00:00:21,758 --> 00:00:25,068
Any tool for human expression
will bring out the best

11
00:00:25,172 --> 00:00:27,551
and the worst in us,
and television has been that.

12
00:00:27,655 --> 00:00:29,758
They don't pay me enough
to deal with animals like this.

13
00:00:29,862 --> 00:00:33,034
People are no longer embarrassed
to admit they watch television.

14
00:00:33,137 --> 00:00:35,758
We have seen the news
and it is us.

15
00:01:28,310 --> 00:01:32,586
Slowly but surely,
the 1970s are disappearing.

16
00:01:32,689 --> 00:01:36,206
The 1980s will be upon us.

17
00:01:36,310 --> 00:01:38,448
What a decade it is coming up.

18
00:01:42,586 --> 00:01:45,448
Happy new year!

19
00:01:46,862 --> 00:01:49,344
As you begin the '80s
in the television world,

20
00:01:49,448 --> 00:01:52,172
the landscape was,
on any given evening,

21
00:01:52,275 --> 00:01:56,172
9 out of 10 people were watching
only one of three networks.

22
00:01:56,275 --> 00:01:59,413
More than 30 million people
are addicted to it.

23
00:01:59,517 --> 00:02:02,620
Social critics are mystified
by its success.

24
00:02:02,724 --> 00:02:03,655
What is it?

25
00:02:03,758 --> 00:02:05,517
It's television's prime-time,

26
00:02:05,620 --> 00:02:07,689
prairie pot boiler, "Dallas."

27
00:02:07,793 --> 00:02:10,724
A move like that will
destroy all of Ewing Oil,

28
00:02:10,827 --> 00:02:12,172
and it'll ruin
our family name.

29
00:02:12,275 --> 00:02:14,931
I assure you, a thought like
that never crossed my mind.

30
00:02:15,034 --> 00:02:17,034
Brother or no brother,
whatever it takes,

31
00:02:17,137 --> 00:02:19,068
I'll stop you from destroying
Ewing Oil.

32
00:02:19,172 --> 00:02:20,862
"Dallas" really did establish
new ground

33
00:02:20,965 --> 00:02:23,103
in terms of the weekly,
one hour show

34
00:02:23,206 --> 00:02:26,655
that literally captivated
America for 13 years.

35
00:02:26,758 --> 00:02:29,517
"Dallas" is a television show
which in some ways is rooted

36
00:02:29,620 --> 00:02:32,103
in the 1970's
and one of the crazy things

37
00:02:32,206 --> 00:02:37,137
that emerges is this character,
J.R. Ewing as a pop phenomenon.

38
00:02:37,241 --> 00:02:39,827
Tell me, J.R., which slut
are you gonna stay with tonight?

39
00:02:39,931 --> 00:02:41,000
What difference does it make?

40
00:02:41,103 --> 00:02:42,586
Whoever it is it's got to be
more interesting

41
00:02:42,689 --> 00:02:44,344
than the slut I'm looking at
right now.

42
00:02:44,448 --> 00:02:47,517
He was such a delicious villain.

43
00:02:47,620 --> 00:02:52,344
Everyone was completely enamored
by this character.

44
00:02:52,448 --> 00:02:55,172
At this point so many
people were watching television

45
00:02:55,275 --> 00:02:57,896
that you could do something
so unexpected

46
00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,137
that it would become news overnight.

47
00:03:00,241 --> 00:03:03,551
Who's there?

48
00:03:11,896 --> 00:03:17,275
The national obsession in 1980
around who shot J.R.

49
00:03:17,379 --> 00:03:19,724
It's hard to imagine
how obsessed we all were

50
00:03:19,827 --> 00:03:22,724
with that question,
but we were.

51
00:03:22,827 --> 00:03:25,862
Who shot J.R. is about
as ideal a cliffhanger

52
00:03:25,965 --> 00:03:27,689
as you possibly could get.

53
00:03:27,793 --> 00:03:28,896
Who did shoot J.R.?

54
00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:30,689
We may never get the answer
to that question.

55
00:03:30,793 --> 00:03:32,965
I mean, the people who produced
that program are gonna keep us

56
00:03:33,068 --> 00:03:35,206
in suspense for as long
as they possibly can.

57
00:03:35,310 --> 00:03:38,448
We shot J.R. and then
we broke for the summer.

58
00:03:38,551 --> 00:03:39,793
Then coincidentally,

59
00:03:39,896 --> 00:03:43,827
the actors went on strike
and it delayed the resolution.

60
00:03:43,931 --> 00:03:46,793
And it just started to percolate
through the world.

61
00:03:46,896 --> 00:03:51,034
I remember going on vacation
to England that summer

62
00:03:51,137 --> 00:03:53,896
and that's all that people
were talking about there.

63
00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:55,275
Well we know you don't die.

64
00:03:55,379 --> 00:03:56,448
I mean, you couldn't die?

65
00:03:56,551 --> 00:03:57,448
You don't know that.

66
00:03:57,551 --> 00:03:58,413
Well, how could you die?

67
00:03:58,517 --> 00:03:59,379
You couldn't come back
next season.

68
00:03:59,482 --> 00:04:00,620
That's what I mean.

69
00:04:00,724 --> 00:04:02,965
I couldn't come back,
but the show could still go.

70
00:04:03,068 --> 00:04:04,689
Oh, but you wouldn't?

71
00:04:04,793 --> 00:04:06,655
What is that show
without J.R.?

72
00:04:06,758 --> 00:04:08,206
Well, that's what I figure.

73
00:04:08,310 --> 00:04:11,344
Well, I guess if you don't
know by now who shot J.R.,

74
00:04:11,448 --> 00:04:12,827
you probably do not care.

75
00:04:12,931 --> 00:04:15,413
But last night,
some 82 million Americans did

76
00:04:15,517 --> 00:04:18,137
and they watched the much-touted
"Dallas" episode.

77
00:04:18,241 --> 00:04:21,103
It could become the most watched
television show ever.

78
00:04:22,689 --> 00:04:25,758
Who shot J.R. is a reflection
of old-fashioned television.

79
00:04:25,862 --> 00:04:27,724
It's a moment that gathers
everybody around

80
00:04:27,827 --> 00:04:31,620
the electronic fireplace,
which is now the television set.

81
00:04:31,724 --> 00:04:34,034
Now, about one special
American television program,

82
00:04:34,137 --> 00:04:36,724
a critic said it transcends
in popularity

83
00:04:36,827 --> 00:04:39,034
every other American statement
about war.

84
00:04:39,137 --> 00:04:41,172
And something special
happened today

85
00:04:41,275 --> 00:04:44,241
to Mobile Army
Surgical Hospital 4077

86
00:04:44,344 --> 00:04:46,448
that will touch millions
of Americans.

87
00:04:46,551 --> 00:04:49,068
It was the kind of an event that
would draw the world's press.

88
00:04:49,172 --> 00:04:51,724
Stage nine,
20th Century Fox Studios,

89
00:04:51,827 --> 00:04:53,551
the end of the Korean War--

90
00:04:53,655 --> 00:04:54,896
The television version,
"M.A.S.H."

91
00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,275
O'Houlihan: It's been an honor
and a privilege

92
00:04:57,379 --> 00:04:59,137
to have worked with you.

93
00:04:59,241 --> 00:05:03,448
And I'm very,
very proud to have known you.

94
00:05:03,551 --> 00:05:06,620
There were those landmark times

95
00:05:06,724 --> 00:05:08,379
when shows that had been watched

96
00:05:08,482 --> 00:05:12,482
through the '70s and into
the '80s, like "M.A.S.H.,"

97
00:05:12,586 --> 00:05:14,034
had its final episode.

98
00:05:14,137 --> 00:05:16,103
And were all sad to see them go.

99
00:05:16,206 --> 00:05:18,310
I'll miss you.

100
00:05:18,413 --> 00:05:20,517
I'll miss you.
A lot.

101
00:05:22,068 --> 00:05:23,517
All over the country,

102
00:05:23,620 --> 00:05:26,310
armies of fans
crowded around television sets

103
00:05:26,413 --> 00:05:30,172
to watch the final episode
and to bid "M.A.S.H." farewell.

104
00:05:30,275 --> 00:05:34,206
The finale of "M.A.S.H."
was unprecedented.

105
00:05:34,310 --> 00:05:37,931
123 million people

106
00:05:38,034 --> 00:05:42,241
watched one television program
at the same time.

107
00:05:42,344 --> 00:05:44,689
You know, I really should be
allowed to go home.

108
00:05:44,793 --> 00:05:46,068
There's nothing wrong
with me.

109
00:05:46,172 --> 00:05:48,344
When we ended the show,

110
00:05:48,448 --> 00:05:50,655
we got telegrams
of congratulations

111
00:05:50,758 --> 00:05:54,206
from Henry Kissinger
and Ronald Reagan.

112
00:05:54,310 --> 00:05:56,758
The size of the response

113
00:05:56,862 --> 00:05:59,034
and the emotional nature
of the response

114
00:05:59,137 --> 00:06:02,344
that we were getting was
difficult for us to understand.

115
00:06:02,448 --> 00:06:05,896
Who shot J.R. and
the last episode of "M.A.S.H."

116
00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:11,448
are the last call for the
pre-cable world of television.

117
00:06:11,551 --> 00:06:14,103
It's like they are the last time

118
00:06:14,206 --> 00:06:18,344
that that huge audience
will all turn up for one event.

119
00:06:18,448 --> 00:06:22,103
All right.
That's it. Let's roll.

120
00:06:22,206 --> 00:06:23,482
Hey...

121
00:06:23,586 --> 00:06:27,275
let's be careful out there.

122
00:06:27,379 --> 00:06:31,482
Dispatch. We have a 9-11.
Armed robbery in progress.

123
00:06:31,586 --> 00:06:34,551
When quality
does emerge on television,

124
00:06:34,655 --> 00:06:37,689
the phrase "too good for TV"
is often heard.

125
00:06:37,793 --> 00:06:40,758
One recent network offering
that seems to deserve

126
00:06:40,862 --> 00:06:43,896
that phrase
is "Hill Street Blues."

127
00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:45,896
"Hill Street" is one of
the changing points

128
00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,448
of the entire industry
in the history of TV.

129
00:06:48,551 --> 00:06:53,034
We had all watched
a documentary about cops

130
00:06:53,137 --> 00:06:55,620
and it had this real hand-held,

131
00:06:55,724 --> 00:06:59,000
in the moment quality
that we were very enamored of.

132
00:07:02,206 --> 00:07:03,620
Come in!
Come in!

133
00:07:05,413 --> 00:07:07,862
The minute you looked
at it, it looked different.

134
00:07:07,965 --> 00:07:09,310
It had a mood to it.

135
00:07:09,413 --> 00:07:12,000
You could almost, you could
almost smell the stale coffee.

136
00:07:12,103 --> 00:07:15,689
We didn't want to do
a standard cop show

137
00:07:15,793 --> 00:07:18,310
where, you know, you got a crime

138
00:07:18,413 --> 00:07:20,379
and you got your two cops
and you go out

139
00:07:20,482 --> 00:07:22,931
and you catch the bad guy
and you sweat him

140
00:07:23,034 --> 00:07:25,793
and he confesses and that's it.

141
00:07:25,896 --> 00:07:28,344
Cops have personal lives

142
00:07:28,448 --> 00:07:31,862
that impact their behavior
in profound ways.

143
00:07:31,965 --> 00:07:33,827
Well, what about it?
Is he here or is he elsewhere?

144
00:07:33,931 --> 00:07:35,448
Let's don't get excited counselor.

145
00:07:35,551 --> 00:07:36,482
We're working on it.

146
00:07:36,586 --> 00:07:38,310
How's this for logic,
Furillo--

147
00:07:38,413 --> 00:07:42,448
If he's not here and if he's
not elsewhere, he's lost.

148
00:07:42,551 --> 00:07:43,448
We didn't say that, counselor.

149
00:07:43,551 --> 00:07:44,551
You lost my client.

150
00:07:44,655 --> 00:07:45,689
- Not lost, per se.
- Never in my entire life

151
00:07:45,793 --> 00:07:47,758
have I listened
to so much incompetence

152
00:07:47,862 --> 00:07:50,413
covered up
by so much unmitigated crap.

153
00:07:50,517 --> 00:07:52,689
Find my client, Furillo,

154
00:07:52,793 --> 00:07:56,068
or I swear I'll have you
up on charges.

155
00:07:56,172 --> 00:07:58,965
There'd be these ongoing
arcs for these characters

156
00:07:59,068 --> 00:08:01,724
that would play out
over five, six episodes,

157
00:08:01,827 --> 00:08:03,103
sometimes an entire season.

158
00:08:03,206 --> 00:08:06,241
And in a way, for certain
stories, over the entire series.

159
00:08:06,344 --> 00:08:09,655
And no one had really done that
in an hour-long dramatic show.

160
00:08:09,758 --> 00:08:13,241
These past four months
I've missed you.

161
00:08:13,344 --> 00:08:17,551
I had to find that out.

162
00:08:17,655 --> 00:08:19,275
Come home, pizza man.

163
00:08:19,379 --> 00:08:21,137
I think in the past,

164
00:08:21,241 --> 00:08:24,896
people had watched television passively

165
00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:29,586
and the one thing I think we did
set out to be were provocateurs.

166
00:08:29,689 --> 00:08:33,724
You want an accident report?
You fill it out.

167
00:08:33,827 --> 00:08:35,310
What the hell's the matter
with you man?

168
00:08:35,413 --> 00:08:36,586
I'll tell you something.

169
00:08:36,689 --> 00:08:38,344
They don't pay me enough
to deal with animals like this.

170
00:08:38,448 --> 00:08:39,931
The first thing they see
is a white face

171
00:08:40,034 --> 00:08:41,448
and all they want to do
is do him in!

172
00:08:41,551 --> 00:08:43,172
You listen to me, Renko.

173
00:08:43,275 --> 00:08:45,379
It was a white finger
that pulled the trigger,

174
00:08:45,482 --> 00:08:46,413
not a black one!

175
00:08:46,517 --> 00:08:47,586
It was a white one.

176
00:08:47,689 --> 00:08:48,896
It set a trend.

177
00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:50,344
The idea that the audience
can accept its characters

178
00:08:50,448 --> 00:08:52,137
being deeply flawed, you know,

179
00:08:52,241 --> 00:08:53,724
even though they're wearing
this uniform.

180
00:08:53,827 --> 00:08:55,275
And I thought that
that was important

181
00:08:55,379 --> 00:08:57,206
to finally get across.

182
00:08:57,310 --> 00:08:58,965
Don't do it!
No biting!

183
00:08:59,068 --> 00:09:02,896
We wanted to make a show
that made you participate,

184
00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,275
made you pay attention.

185
00:09:05,379 --> 00:09:07,241
And I think that worked
pretty well.

186
00:09:07,344 --> 00:09:10,034
And the winner is...

187
00:09:10,137 --> 00:09:11,172
"Hill Street Blues."

188
00:09:12,896 --> 00:09:14,965
We got 21 nominations

189
00:09:15,068 --> 00:09:16,482
and we went on to win
eight Emmys

190
00:09:16,586 --> 00:09:18,241
and it put us on the map, literally.

191
00:09:18,344 --> 00:09:21,896
And that's when people
finally checked us out.

192
00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:23,827
The programming chief
of one of the networks

193
00:09:23,931 --> 00:09:26,862
used to say to me about shows
like "Hill Street"

194
00:09:26,965 --> 00:09:28,068
and "St. Elsewhere,"

195
00:09:28,172 --> 00:09:30,275
what the American public wants
is a cheeseburger

196
00:09:30,379 --> 00:09:34,172
and what you're trying to give
them is a French delicacy.

197
00:09:34,275 --> 00:09:37,103
And he said, your job is to keep
shoving it down their throat

198
00:09:37,206 --> 00:09:40,482
until after a while they'll say,
"That doesn't taste bad."

199
00:09:40,586 --> 00:09:42,586
And maybe they'll even order it themselves

200
00:09:42,689 --> 00:09:44,103
when they go to the restaurant.

201
00:09:44,206 --> 00:09:45,689
Nice of you to join us
Dr. Morrison.

202
00:09:45,793 --> 00:09:47,620
The success
of "Hill Street Blues"

203
00:09:47,724 --> 00:09:48,758
is a critical phenomenon,

204
00:09:48,862 --> 00:09:51,413
influenced everything
that came after.

205
00:09:51,517 --> 00:09:54,413
And then, of course, you saw
shows like "St. Elsewhere."

206
00:09:54,517 --> 00:09:56,620
Do you know what people
call this place?

207
00:09:56,724 --> 00:09:57,931
Not St. Eligius.

208
00:09:58,034 --> 00:09:59,413
St. Elsewhere.

209
00:09:59,517 --> 00:10:01,827
A place you wouldn't want
to send your mother-in-law.

210
00:10:01,931 --> 00:10:03,862
When it first came on,

211
00:10:03,965 --> 00:10:06,724
it was actually promoted
as "Hill Street" in a hospital.

212
00:10:06,827 --> 00:10:08,724
You give your patients
the wrong antibiotics.

213
00:10:08,827 --> 00:10:10,655
You don't know what
medications they're on.

214
00:10:10,758 --> 00:10:12,275
You write the worst
progress notes.

215
00:10:12,379 --> 00:10:13,034
You're pathetic.

216
00:10:13,137 --> 00:10:13,793
Pathetic!

217
00:10:13,896 --> 00:10:15,034
Phil!
- What?!

218
00:10:15,137 --> 00:10:16,827
Dr. Moray needs you
right away.

219
00:10:16,931 --> 00:10:18,206
I'm sorry.

220
00:10:18,310 --> 00:10:21,379
"St. Elsewhere" broke every rule
there was

221
00:10:21,482 --> 00:10:23,724
and then built some new rules.

222
00:10:23,827 --> 00:10:26,689
Bobby, the blood bank
called a little while ago.

223
00:10:26,793 --> 00:10:29,551
They ran a routine panel
on that pint of blood.

224
00:10:29,655 --> 00:10:31,482
T-cell count was off.

225
00:10:31,586 --> 00:10:33,931
They would have tragic things
happen to these characters.

226
00:10:34,034 --> 00:10:36,379
There was real heartache
in these people's lives.

227
00:10:36,482 --> 00:10:37,689
And you really felt for them.

228
00:10:37,793 --> 00:10:39,793
I've got AIDS?

229
00:10:39,896 --> 00:10:45,344
Television at its best is a
mirror of society in the moment.

230
00:10:45,448 --> 00:10:47,034
"St. Elsewhere"
challenged people.

231
00:10:47,137 --> 00:10:48,586
It challenged you as an actor

232
00:10:48,689 --> 00:10:51,103
much less the audience,
to think.

233
00:10:51,206 --> 00:10:54,793
The stuff they gave you
was extreme and what they did

234
00:10:54,896 --> 00:10:57,103
whether they were dealing
with AIDS

235
00:10:57,206 --> 00:11:00,206
or having one of their
main doctor characters

236
00:11:00,310 --> 00:11:02,000
raped in a prison.

237
00:11:02,103 --> 00:11:04,172
They tackled lots
of difficult subjects.

238
00:11:04,275 --> 00:11:08,000
"St. Elsewhere" was run
by people who were trying

239
00:11:08,103 --> 00:11:10,862
to stretch the medium,
and in the '80s,

240
00:11:10,965 --> 00:11:12,896
television producers
were encouraged

241
00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:14,344
to stretch the medium.

242
00:11:14,448 --> 00:11:16,896
Okay. Clear.

243
00:11:30,068 --> 00:11:32,827
A lot of people used
to say, "I was there."

244
00:11:32,931 --> 00:11:34,758
Now people say they watch it
on television.

245
00:11:34,862 --> 00:11:36,586
There's just a lot of excitement

246
00:11:36,689 --> 00:11:38,517
connected to sports
in the '80s.

247
00:11:38,620 --> 00:11:40,379
You used to have to depend on
the five minutes

248
00:11:40,482 --> 00:11:42,586
at the end
of your local newscast.

249
00:11:42,689 --> 00:11:44,310
There just hadn't been enough,
you know?

250
00:11:44,413 --> 00:11:46,448
Give us a whole network
of sports.

251
00:11:46,551 --> 00:11:48,551
There's just
one place you need to go

252
00:11:48,655 --> 00:11:51,586
for all the names and games
making sports news--

253
00:11:51,689 --> 00:11:53,482
"ESPN Sports Center."

254
00:11:53,586 --> 00:11:57,413
What happens in the 1980s
is sports becomes a TV show

255
00:11:57,517 --> 00:11:59,689
and what are TV shows
built around?

256
00:11:59,793 --> 00:12:01,655
They're built around characters.

257
00:12:03,551 --> 00:12:07,137
You can't be serious, man.
You cannot be serious!

258
00:12:07,241 --> 00:12:09,827
You guys are the absolute pits
of the world, you know that?

259
00:12:09,931 --> 00:12:12,172
McEnroe, the perfect villain.

260
00:12:12,275 --> 00:12:13,827
The New Yorker that people
loved to hate.

261
00:12:13,931 --> 00:12:18,413
Borg the cool Swede,
never giving any emotion away.

262
00:12:18,517 --> 00:12:22,034
What tennis really wants
is to get its two best players

263
00:12:22,137 --> 00:12:24,413
playing over and over again
in the final.

264
00:12:24,517 --> 00:12:27,241
Whether there's John McEnroe
and Bjorn Borg

265
00:12:27,344 --> 00:12:29,551
or Chris Evert
and Martina Navratilova.

266
00:12:29,655 --> 00:12:32,793
That's what we want to tune into
over and over and over again.

267
00:12:32,896 --> 00:12:34,206
Oh, could this be?

268
00:12:34,310 --> 00:12:38,310
Net court at three match points
to Martina Navratilova.

269
00:12:38,413 --> 00:12:41,413
Know that this man
has a smile

270
00:12:41,517 --> 00:12:43,586
that lights up
a television screen

271
00:12:43,689 --> 00:12:45,517
from here to
Bangor, Maine.

272
00:12:45,620 --> 00:12:47,793
And then there is Magic Johnson,

273
00:12:47,896 --> 00:12:49,724
this urban kid from Michigan

274
00:12:49,827 --> 00:12:53,724
and Larry Bird, this guy
who worked carrying trash.

275
00:12:53,827 --> 00:12:55,586
One plays
for the Los Angeles Lakers,

276
00:12:55,689 --> 00:12:57,724
the other plays
for the Boston Celtics.

277
00:12:57,827 --> 00:12:59,517
It's a great story.

278
00:12:59,620 --> 00:13:01,206
Announcer #1: Off the back.

279
00:13:01,310 --> 00:13:02,482
Lakers had several chances

280
00:13:02,586 --> 00:13:05,931
and here's Larry Bird
dunking down the court.

281
00:13:06,034 --> 00:13:07,793
Announcer #2: Magic Johnson
leads the attack.

282
00:13:07,896 --> 00:13:09,793
Look at that pass.
Oh, oh! What a show!

283
00:13:09,896 --> 00:13:10,758
What a great play!

284
00:13:10,862 --> 00:13:12,103
Oh! What a show!

285
00:13:12,206 --> 00:13:14,896
When those championship games
are in prime time

286
00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,344
and people are paying attention
to that,

287
00:13:17,448 --> 00:13:19,413
television feeds into
those rivalries

288
00:13:19,517 --> 00:13:22,344
and makes them bigger
than they've ever been before.

289
00:13:28,793 --> 00:13:30,620
Every Mike Tyson fight
was an event

290
00:13:30,724 --> 00:13:32,931
because every fight
was like an ax murder.

291
00:13:33,034 --> 00:13:34,965
When he fought Michael Spinks,

292
00:13:35,068 --> 00:13:38,068
the electricity, you could just
feel it watching it on TV.

293
00:13:38,172 --> 00:13:39,931
Here comes Mike, Spinks in!

294
00:13:40,034 --> 00:13:42,103
He leads with a right hand!
Down he goes!

295
00:13:42,206 --> 00:13:44,931
Tyson was made for TV
because there was drama.

296
00:13:45,034 --> 00:13:48,517
It's all over!
Mike Tyson has won it!

297
00:13:48,620 --> 00:13:52,068
Not a lot of junior
high school kids can dunk,

298
00:13:52,172 --> 00:13:53,137
especially at five feet.

299
00:13:53,241 --> 00:13:54,655
But everybody tries now.
Everybody tries.

300
00:13:54,758 --> 00:13:56,551
I bet now.

301
00:13:56,655 --> 00:13:59,068
I think that he is starting
to transcend just his sport.

302
00:13:59,172 --> 00:14:00,965
He's becoming something
of a public figure.

303
00:14:01,068 --> 00:14:03,000
Michael Jordan becomes the model

304
00:14:03,103 --> 00:14:05,448
that every other athlete
wants to shoot for.

305
00:14:05,551 --> 00:14:06,965
They want to be a brand.

306
00:14:07,068 --> 00:14:09,172
And that's what television does
for these athletes.

307
00:14:09,275 --> 00:14:12,172
It turns them into worldwide,
iconic brands.

308
00:14:12,275 --> 00:14:14,310
The inbound pass
comes in to Jordan.

309
00:14:14,413 --> 00:14:16,551
Here's Michael at the foul line.
A shot on Ehlo.

310
00:14:16,655 --> 00:14:17,655
- Good!
- Yeah!

311
00:14:17,758 --> 00:14:18,965
The Bulls win!

312
00:14:19,068 --> 00:14:22,241
Athletes in the '80s
became part of an ongoing

313
00:14:22,344 --> 00:14:23,793
group of people
that we cared about.

314
00:14:23,896 --> 00:14:26,344
We just had an enormous,
pent-up demand for sports

315
00:14:26,448 --> 00:14:29,586
and the '80s began to provide.
Thank goodness.

316
00:14:29,689 --> 00:14:31,655
Cable television
is continuing to grow.

317
00:14:31,758 --> 00:14:33,275
It's estimated
that it will go into

318
00:14:33,379 --> 00:14:35,965
one million more U.S. households
this year.

319
00:14:36,068 --> 00:14:39,103
With cable television suddenly
offering an array

320
00:14:39,206 --> 00:14:42,068
of different channel choices,
the audience bifurcated.

321
00:14:42,172 --> 00:14:43,310
That's an earthquake.

322
00:14:43,413 --> 00:14:45,344
I want my MTV!I want my MTV!I want my MTV!

323
00:14:45,448 --> 00:14:47,206
I want my MTV.

324
00:14:47,310 --> 00:14:49,000
I want my MTV.

325
00:14:52,482 --> 00:14:54,793
A new concept is born--

326
00:14:54,896 --> 00:14:58,172
The best of TV combined
with the best of radio.

327
00:14:58,275 --> 00:14:59,758
This is it.

328
00:14:59,862 --> 00:15:02,758
Welcome to MTV,
music television--

329
00:15:02,862 --> 00:15:06,896
the world's first 24-hour,
stereo, video music channel.

330
00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:09,655
Julie Brown: Music television,
what a concept.

331
00:15:09,758 --> 00:15:12,793
MTV was, pow!, in your face.

332
00:15:12,896 --> 00:15:15,517
You were not gonna turn us off.

333
00:15:17,206 --> 00:15:18,931
MTV did nothing

334
00:15:19,034 --> 00:15:21,758
but play current music videos
all day long.

335
00:15:21,862 --> 00:15:22,896
So let me get this straight--

336
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,241
You turn on the TV
and it's like the radio?

337
00:15:25,344 --> 00:15:27,241
I'm Martha Quinn.

338
00:15:27,344 --> 00:15:30,724
The music will continue non-stop
on MTV music television,

339
00:15:30,827 --> 00:15:33,827
the newest component
of your stereo system.

340
00:15:33,931 --> 00:15:36,793
When MTV launched,
a generation was launched.

341
00:15:36,896 --> 00:15:40,931
18 to 24-year-olds were saying,
"I want my MTV."

342
00:15:41,034 --> 00:15:44,172
I want my MTV videos.
I want my MTV fashion.

343
00:15:44,275 --> 00:15:45,137
Yo!

344
00:15:45,241 --> 00:15:47,379
MTV was the first network

345
00:15:47,482 --> 00:15:48,827
really focused
on the youth market

346
00:15:48,931 --> 00:15:51,000
and becomes hugely influential

347
00:15:51,103 --> 00:15:52,620
because they understand
each other,

348
00:15:52,724 --> 00:15:53,931
the audience and the network.

349
00:15:54,034 --> 00:15:58,827
MTV had a giant impact
visually and musically

350
00:15:58,931 --> 00:16:01,862
on every part of the TV culture
that came next.

351
00:16:02,793 --> 00:16:03,655
- Freeze!
- Freeze!

352
00:16:03,758 --> 00:16:04,793
Miami Vice.

353
00:16:07,689 --> 00:16:10,793
Friday nights on NBC
are different this season,

354
00:16:10,896 --> 00:16:12,172
thanks to "Miami Vice."

355
00:16:12,275 --> 00:16:15,034
It's a show with an old theme,
but a lot of new twists.

356
00:16:15,137 --> 00:16:16,344
Described by one critic

357
00:16:16,448 --> 00:16:18,689
as containing flashes
of brilliance, nonetheless.

358
00:16:18,793 --> 00:16:20,965
Shot entirely on location
in South Miami,

359
00:16:21,068 --> 00:16:23,793
the story centers around
two undercover vice cops.

360
00:16:23,896 --> 00:16:27,793
I don't know how this is
gonna work Tubbs.

361
00:16:27,896 --> 00:16:32,517
I mean, you're not exactly up my
alley style- and persona- wise.

362
00:16:32,620 --> 00:16:34,896
Heaven knows
I'm no box of candy.

363
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,655
Michael Mann: Television
very much was the small screen.

364
00:16:37,758 --> 00:16:38,862
What was interesting

365
00:16:38,965 --> 00:16:41,000
about Tony Yerkovich's
pilot screenplay

366
00:16:41,103 --> 00:16:43,551
for "Miami Vice" is that
it was exactly not that.

367
00:16:43,655 --> 00:16:45,793
Very much the approach was,

368
00:16:45,896 --> 00:16:47,655
okay they call this
a television series,

369
00:16:47,758 --> 00:16:50,620
but we're gonna make one-hour
movies every single week.

370
00:16:50,724 --> 00:16:52,482
Okay, here we go. Standby.

371
00:16:52,586 --> 00:16:53,517
Action!

372
00:16:53,620 --> 00:16:54,758
Police!
Police!

373
00:16:54,862 --> 00:16:55,965
You were just
describing the show

374
00:16:56,068 --> 00:16:57,758
as sort of
a new-wave cop show.

375
00:16:57,862 --> 00:16:59,517
Yeah,
it's a cop show for the '80s.

376
00:16:59,620 --> 00:17:01,827
I mean, we use a lot
of MTV images

377
00:17:01,931 --> 00:17:05,448
and rock music to help
describe the mood

378
00:17:05,551 --> 00:17:06,793
and feeling of our show.

379
00:17:06,896 --> 00:17:08,034
In a lot of ways,

380
00:17:08,137 --> 00:17:10,827
you don't get "Miami Vice"
without MTV

381
00:17:10,931 --> 00:17:13,034
because in a lot of ways,
"Miami Vice" was a long video.

382
00:17:13,137 --> 00:17:14,931
The music was such a big part
of that show.

383
00:17:17,517 --> 00:17:20,448
Michael Mann: There was
an allure to using great music

384
00:17:20,551 --> 00:17:23,482
that everybody was listening
to as opposed to the routine

385
00:17:23,586 --> 00:17:27,413
kind of TV scoring
of that period.

386
00:17:27,517 --> 00:17:31,275
♪ And I can feel it coming
in the air tonight ♪

387
00:17:31,379 --> 00:17:34,931
Not only was it not afraid
to let long scenes play out,

388
00:17:35,034 --> 00:17:38,620
it would drag-- a car
going from point A to point B

389
00:17:38,724 --> 00:17:41,172
could be a four-minute
Phil Collins song,

390
00:17:41,275 --> 00:17:43,172
you know, and it was.

391
00:17:43,275 --> 00:17:46,724
♪ Oh, Lord

392
00:17:46,827 --> 00:17:48,206
Michael Mann: Being able to
take a television series

393
00:17:48,310 --> 00:17:51,103
like "Miami Vice" and let's
really kind of rock 'n' roll

394
00:17:51,206 --> 00:17:53,068
with this until somebody says,

395
00:17:53,172 --> 00:17:55,586
"Stop, are you guys crazy?
You can't do that."

396
00:17:55,689 --> 00:17:57,034
And nobody ever did.

397
00:17:58,275 --> 00:17:59,827
Go!

398
00:17:59,931 --> 00:18:02,241
Freeze! Police!

399
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:16,724
Thomas Magnum?

400
00:18:16,827 --> 00:18:18,310
Marion Hammond?

401
00:18:18,413 --> 00:18:20,482
The private investigator?

402
00:18:20,586 --> 00:18:21,689
Oh

403
00:18:21,793 --> 00:18:23,241
You're probably wondering
about the goat.

404
00:18:23,344 --> 00:18:26,896
Um, just let me drop off
my friend, and then we'll talk.

405
00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:28,586
When we entered the '80s,

406
00:18:28,689 --> 00:18:32,793
a lot of one-hour dramas
that were light hearted,

407
00:18:32,896 --> 00:18:34,344
like "Magnum, P.I.,"

408
00:18:34,448 --> 00:18:36,344
were very popular.

409
00:18:38,862 --> 00:18:40,724
After "M.A.S.H."
went off the air,

410
00:18:40,827 --> 00:18:44,862
the next season there wasn't
a single sitcom in the top 10.

411
00:18:44,965 --> 00:18:48,551
First time that had ever
happened in TV history.

412
00:18:48,655 --> 00:18:51,896
The prevailing feeling
was that the sitcom was dead.

413
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:54,689
Brandon Tartikoff,
NBC programming chief,

414
00:18:54,793 --> 00:18:58,241
says reports of the sitcom's
death were greatly exaggerated.

415
00:18:58,344 --> 00:19:01,896
Time and time again,
if you study television history,

416
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,413
just when someone is counting
a form out,

417
00:19:05,517 --> 00:19:07,655
that is exactly the form
of programming

418
00:19:07,758 --> 00:19:09,655
that leads to the next big hit.

419
00:19:12,586 --> 00:19:15,586
So 1984,
"The Cosby Show" comes on.

420
00:19:15,689 --> 00:19:19,172
Now, Bill Cosby's not new to TV.
He's had other TV shows.

421
00:19:19,275 --> 00:19:22,068
But "The Cosby Show"
is very different.

422
00:19:22,172 --> 00:19:23,862
It stands apart from
everything else he's done.

423
00:19:23,965 --> 00:19:26,034
Mom, I wanted my eggs scrambled.

424
00:19:26,137 --> 00:19:28,379
Coming right up.

425
00:19:28,482 --> 00:19:30,068
They talked about parenting.

426
00:19:30,172 --> 00:19:31,758
Previous to that, on television

427
00:19:31,862 --> 00:19:33,931
the kids were cool
and the parents were idiots.

428
00:19:34,034 --> 00:19:37,689
And then Cosby says
the parents are in charge

429
00:19:37,793 --> 00:19:39,275
and that was something new.

430
00:19:39,379 --> 00:19:44,931
Instead of acting disappointed
because I'm not like you,

431
00:19:45,034 --> 00:19:47,482
maybe you can just accept
who I am

432
00:19:47,586 --> 00:19:51,896
and love me anyway
because I'm your son.

433
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,206
That's the dumbest thing
I've ever heard in my life!

434
00:19:56,310 --> 00:19:57,724
You know, it helps,

435
00:19:57,827 --> 00:19:59,206
the casting of anything
helps a lot in television.

436
00:19:59,310 --> 00:20:00,620
And the kids were just great.

437
00:20:00,724 --> 00:20:02,724
If you were the last person
on this earth,

438
00:20:02,827 --> 00:20:05,241
I still wouldn't tell you.

439
00:20:05,344 --> 00:20:07,655
You don't have to tell me
what you did.

440
00:20:07,758 --> 00:20:11,172
Just tell me what they're
gonna do to you.

441
00:20:11,275 --> 00:20:12,862
Unlike every other show on TV,

442
00:20:12,965 --> 00:20:16,000
it's showing an
upper-middle-class black family.

443
00:20:16,103 --> 00:20:17,413
This wasn't "All in the Family."

444
00:20:17,517 --> 00:20:19,275
They weren't tackling,
you know, deep issues.

445
00:20:19,379 --> 00:20:20,620
But that was okay.

446
00:20:20,724 --> 00:20:23,068
The mere fact that they existed
was a deep issue.

447
00:20:23,172 --> 00:20:27,206
The decade was
waiting for something real.

448
00:20:27,310 --> 00:20:28,620
In other words, unless it's real

449
00:20:28,724 --> 00:20:31,241
it doesn't seem like
it moves anybody.

450
00:20:31,344 --> 00:20:32,517
If someone's feeling something,

451
00:20:32,620 --> 00:20:34,103
you get to the heart,
you get to the mind.

452
00:20:34,206 --> 00:20:36,379
And if you can hit
the hearts and minds,

453
00:20:36,482 --> 00:20:37,689
you got yourself a hit.

454
00:20:37,793 --> 00:20:39,000
How was school?

455
00:20:39,103 --> 00:20:40,896
School, dear?

456
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:46,413
I brought home two children
that may or may not be ours.

457
00:20:46,517 --> 00:20:52,413
Cosby's show brought
this tremendous audience to NBC.

458
00:20:52,517 --> 00:20:58,206
And that was a bridge to us.
I mean, our ratings went way up.

459
00:20:58,310 --> 00:21:01,103
♪ Sometimes you want to go

460
00:21:01,206 --> 00:21:04,862
♪ Where everybody knows
your name ♪

461
00:21:04,965 --> 00:21:07,482
Even the theme song to "Cheers"
put you in a good mood.

462
00:21:07,586 --> 00:21:08,517
Evening everybody.

463
00:21:08,620 --> 00:21:09,931
- Norm!
- Norm!
- Norm!
- Norm!

464
00:21:10,034 --> 00:21:11,137
Norman.

465
00:21:11,241 --> 00:21:12,379
What's shaking Norm?

466
00:21:12,482 --> 00:21:15,206
All four cheeks
and a couple of chins, Coach.

467
00:21:15,310 --> 00:21:18,724
By the end
of the "Cheers" pilot,

468
00:21:18,827 --> 00:21:21,758
not only did you know
who everybody was,

469
00:21:21,862 --> 00:21:25,655
but you wanted to come back
and see what was gonna happen.

470
00:21:25,758 --> 00:21:28,137
It's like all you
have to do is watch it once,

471
00:21:28,241 --> 00:21:29,896
you're gonna love these people.

472
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:31,448
These are universal characters

473
00:21:31,551 --> 00:21:34,000
and the humor worked
on so many levels.

474
00:21:34,103 --> 00:21:35,586
Last night I was up
till 2:00 in the morning

475
00:21:35,689 --> 00:21:37,551
finishing off Kierkegaard.

476
00:21:37,655 --> 00:21:39,827
I hope he thanked you
for it.

477
00:21:40,724 --> 00:21:42,482
You have to create a community

478
00:21:42,586 --> 00:21:44,275
that people are identifying with.

479
00:21:44,379 --> 00:21:47,000
And "Cheers" gives you
that community.

480
00:21:47,103 --> 00:21:49,482
Boy I tell you, I've always
wanted to sky dive.

481
00:21:49,586 --> 00:21:50,689
I've just never had
the guts.

482
00:21:50,793 --> 00:21:52,034
What did it feel like?

483
00:21:52,137 --> 00:21:54,034
Well, imagine it's
a lot like sex, Sammy.

484
00:21:54,137 --> 00:21:58,034
Not that I have to imagine
what sex is like.

485
00:21:58,137 --> 00:22:00,586
But I've had plenty of sex,
and plenty of this, too.

486
00:22:00,689 --> 00:22:03,689
What don't you just
get off my back, okay?

487
00:22:03,793 --> 00:22:06,034
In the first episode,

488
00:22:06,137 --> 00:22:09,068
there was a rather passionate annoyance.

489
00:22:09,172 --> 00:22:13,758
I was saying, uh,
something's going on here.

490
00:22:13,862 --> 00:22:17,241
A really intelligent woman
would see your line of B.S.

491
00:22:17,344 --> 00:22:18,620
a mile away.

492
00:22:18,724 --> 00:22:21,896
I've never met an intelligent
woman that I'd want to date.

493
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,896
On behalf of the intelligent
women around the world,

494
00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,413
may I just say, phew!

495
00:22:28,517 --> 00:22:31,172
When we saw what
Ted and Shelley had together,

496
00:22:31,275 --> 00:22:35,137
we said, "Oh no,
we gotta do this relationship."

497
00:22:35,241 --> 00:22:39,793
Ted and I understood what
they were writing right away.

498
00:22:39,896 --> 00:22:43,413
If you'll admit
that you are carrying

499
00:22:43,517 --> 00:22:46,310
a little torch for me,

500
00:22:46,413 --> 00:22:49,931
I'll admit that I'm
carrying a little one for you.

501
00:22:50,034 --> 00:22:53,620
Well, I a-am carrying
a little torch for you.

502
00:22:53,724 --> 00:22:55,517
Well,

503
00:22:55,620 --> 00:22:57,689
I'm not carrying one
for you.

504
00:22:57,793 --> 00:23:02,827
Diane knew how to tease Sam.
Sam knew how to tease Diane.

505
00:23:02,931 --> 00:23:05,413
And I guess we knew
how to tease the audience.

506
00:23:07,793 --> 00:23:09,068
This incredible chemistry

507
00:23:09,172 --> 00:23:11,000
between the two of them
ignited the show.

508
00:23:11,103 --> 00:23:13,241
And that's what drove the show
for the first five years.

509
00:23:13,344 --> 00:23:14,517
Oh, I'm devastated.

510
00:23:14,620 --> 00:23:16,241
I need something expeditious

511
00:23:16,344 --> 00:23:18,586
and brutal to numb
my sensibilities

512
00:23:18,689 --> 00:23:20,689
and blast me into
sweet oblivion.

513
00:23:20,793 --> 00:23:21,793
How about a boilermaker?

514
00:23:21,896 --> 00:23:23,275
Make it a mimosa.

515
00:23:23,379 --> 00:23:27,172
We had the luck
to be able to rotate cast

516
00:23:27,275 --> 00:23:30,896
and every time we put somebody
in, there were explosions.

517
00:23:33,310 --> 00:23:36,172
Bwah!

518
00:23:36,275 --> 00:23:40,586
There was something
very special about that setting,

519
00:23:40,689 --> 00:23:45,275
those characters, that I never
got tired of writing that show.

520
00:23:45,379 --> 00:23:47,862
Sophisticated surveys,
telephonic samplings,

521
00:23:47,965 --> 00:23:49,896
test audiences,
all of those things

522
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,896
help to separate winners
from losers

523
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:53,793
and make mid-course corrections.

524
00:23:53,896 --> 00:23:56,827
But you can't cut all comedies
from the same cookie cutters.

525
00:23:56,931 --> 00:24:00,206
All you can hope is that every
night turns out like Thursday.

526
00:24:00,310 --> 00:24:01,827
Yo, Angela!

527
00:24:01,931 --> 00:24:03,689
Larry, Larry.

528
00:24:03,793 --> 00:24:04,965
Next...

529
00:24:06,068 --> 00:24:06,965
How rude.

530
00:24:09,413 --> 00:24:11,413
He's quick,
I'll give him that.

531
00:24:11,517 --> 00:24:12,620
All of television said,

532
00:24:12,724 --> 00:24:16,241
"Oh, well, maybe the sitcoms
are alive again."

533
00:24:16,344 --> 00:24:19,551
And that's all that it took.
It took one success.

534
00:24:19,655 --> 00:24:20,586
A few years from now,

535
00:24:20,689 --> 00:24:22,206
something new may tempt
the people

536
00:24:22,310 --> 00:24:23,482
who pick what we see.

537
00:24:23,586 --> 00:24:25,275
But it's a very safe guess
that whatever gets hot

538
00:24:25,379 --> 00:24:27,793
for a season or two,
the men and women who create

539
00:24:27,896 --> 00:24:29,275
good television comedy

540
00:24:29,379 --> 00:24:31,172
will be laughing
all the way to the bank.

541
00:24:41,620 --> 00:24:43,137
This is my last broadcast

542
00:24:43,241 --> 00:24:45,724
as the anchorman
of the "CBS Evening News."

543
00:24:45,827 --> 00:24:48,413
For me it's a moment
for which I long have planned,

544
00:24:48,517 --> 00:24:51,206
but which nevertheless
comes with some sadness.

545
00:24:51,310 --> 00:24:52,965
For almost two decades
after all,

546
00:24:53,068 --> 00:24:55,689
we've been meeting like this in
the evenings and I'll miss that.

547
00:24:55,793 --> 00:24:59,620
And that's the way it is,
Friday, March 6, 1981.

548
00:24:59,724 --> 00:25:01,172
I'll be away on assignment

549
00:25:01,275 --> 00:25:04,103
and Dan Rather will be sitting
in here for the next few years.

550
00:25:04,206 --> 00:25:05,379
Good night.

551
00:25:05,482 --> 00:25:09,000
Uncle Walter had dominated
certainly CBS,

552
00:25:09,103 --> 00:25:10,827
but in a way the country.

553
00:25:10,931 --> 00:25:12,241
People used to say

554
00:25:12,344 --> 00:25:15,068
that he was the most trusted man
in the country.

555
00:25:15,172 --> 00:25:17,000
Once Walter Cronkite retires,

556
00:25:17,103 --> 00:25:19,103
all three network news anchors

557
00:25:19,206 --> 00:25:20,551
within a period of a couple
of years

558
00:25:20,655 --> 00:25:22,000
switch over to a new generation.

559
00:25:22,103 --> 00:25:24,172
The '80s may have been
the last gasp

560
00:25:24,275 --> 00:25:27,931
where people watching the media
liked and trusted the media.

561
00:25:28,034 --> 00:25:31,206
Nuclear arms and how to prevent
global destruction

562
00:25:31,310 --> 00:25:32,931
are expected to be
the major topic

563
00:25:33,034 --> 00:25:35,034
of President Reagan's
news conference tonight.

564
00:25:35,137 --> 00:25:37,000
That conference
will be nationally televised

565
00:25:37,103 --> 00:25:38,068
within the hour.

566
00:25:38,172 --> 00:25:39,793
Lesley Stahl
is at the White House.

567
00:25:39,896 --> 00:25:41,758
The White House
is hoping that tomorrow's...

568
00:25:41,862 --> 00:25:44,137
In the '80s,
women came into the newsroom.

569
00:25:44,241 --> 00:25:47,931
When I first joined, it was '72
and there were very few.

570
00:25:48,034 --> 00:25:51,000
By the '80s,
there were more and more.

571
00:25:51,103 --> 00:25:52,310
The decade of the '80s

572
00:25:52,413 --> 00:25:54,379
was still a time
of sink or swim.

573
00:25:54,482 --> 00:25:56,586
You had to be resilient
in your own way

574
00:25:56,689 --> 00:26:00,103
to survive in a period
when you were going up against

575
00:26:00,206 --> 00:26:03,793
a lot of people who still didn't
think women had what it took.

576
00:26:03,896 --> 00:26:06,310
These are some of the most
famous faces in broadcasting,

577
00:26:06,413 --> 00:26:08,103
all of whom happen to be women.

578
00:26:08,206 --> 00:26:10,724
The best producers,
I'm gonna get fired--

579
00:26:10,827 --> 00:26:13,758
the best producers at CBS News
are women.

580
00:26:13,862 --> 00:26:16,896
And they are at the level
of taking hold

581
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,344
and making decisions
about individual pieces.

582
00:26:19,448 --> 00:26:21,206
They're not yet
executive producers

583
00:26:21,310 --> 00:26:24,000
of all the news shows,
but they will be.

584
00:26:24,103 --> 00:26:25,931
For the past 24 hours,

585
00:26:26,034 --> 00:26:28,172
Christine Craft has taken
her cause

586
00:26:28,275 --> 00:26:31,000
to many of the nation's news
and talk programs.

587
00:26:31,103 --> 00:26:33,068
I didn't set out to be
Joan of Arc.

588
00:26:33,172 --> 00:26:36,310
But I think that what happened
to me deserves some attention.

589
00:26:36,413 --> 00:26:39,724
Christine Craft
had a very successful career,

590
00:26:39,827 --> 00:26:41,827
but there she was
in her late 30s

591
00:26:41,931 --> 00:26:43,862
and the TV station said to her,

592
00:26:43,965 --> 00:26:47,137
we're taking you off the air
because you've gotten older

593
00:26:47,241 --> 00:26:49,206
and you're not as attractive
as you once were,

594
00:26:49,310 --> 00:26:50,655
which was outrageous.

595
00:26:50,758 --> 00:26:52,827
And she decided to make
an issue of it.

596
00:26:52,931 --> 00:26:54,551
She filed a lawsuit

597
00:26:54,655 --> 00:26:57,724
and it became a huge
national topic of discussion.

598
00:26:57,827 --> 00:27:00,827
A jury said she got a raw
deal because she is a woman.

599
00:27:00,931 --> 00:27:03,655
And so women in television news
everywhere were asked,

600
00:27:03,758 --> 00:27:05,517
what do you think about
Christine Craft?

601
00:27:05,620 --> 00:27:07,413
I think unfortunately
in recent years,

602
00:27:07,517 --> 00:27:09,241
the emphasis has been increasingly

603
00:27:09,344 --> 00:27:12,517
on physical appearance
and to the extent this decision

604
00:27:12,620 --> 00:27:15,344
helped swing the emphasis
back to substance

605
00:27:15,448 --> 00:27:16,689
and to good journalism,

606
00:27:16,793 --> 00:27:18,724
I think we've got something
to be happy about.

607
00:27:18,827 --> 00:27:21,827
It was important to make
the point that what mattered

608
00:27:21,931 --> 00:27:23,724
was what kind of reporter
are you?

609
00:27:23,827 --> 00:27:26,206
But it took
the Christine Craft incident,

610
00:27:26,310 --> 00:27:29,862
I think, to bring that
conversation out into the open.

611
00:27:29,965 --> 00:27:31,413
This coming Sunday,

612
00:27:31,517 --> 00:27:34,793
a new television network
opens for business-- CNN.

613
00:27:34,896 --> 00:27:36,586
Cable News Network.

614
00:27:36,689 --> 00:27:38,275
You're throwing all the dice
on this one?

615
00:27:38,379 --> 00:27:40,793
Why not? Nothing ventured,
nothing gained.

616
00:27:40,896 --> 00:27:42,586
Faint heart never
won fair lady.

617
00:27:42,689 --> 00:27:44,827
Well on that original point,
Mr. Turner,

618
00:27:44,931 --> 00:27:46,241
thank you very much indeed.

619
00:27:46,344 --> 00:27:49,620
I wanted to see
what was going on in the world.

620
00:27:49,724 --> 00:27:51,793
And there was no way
that you could do it

621
00:27:51,896 --> 00:27:54,068
watching the regular television stations.

622
00:27:54,172 --> 00:27:57,034
The news only comes on
at 6:00 and 10:00.

623
00:27:57,137 --> 00:27:59,379
But if there was news on
24 hours,

624
00:27:59,482 --> 00:28:01,344
people could watch it any time.

625
00:28:01,448 --> 00:28:05,206
We sign on on June 1
and barring satellite problems

626
00:28:05,310 --> 00:28:07,034
in the future,
we won't be signing off

627
00:28:07,137 --> 00:28:08,793
until the world ends.

628
00:28:08,896 --> 00:28:10,068
There was a widespread belief

629
00:28:10,172 --> 00:28:11,482
this was a fool's errand.

630
00:28:11,586 --> 00:28:14,103
How can this possibly
find an audience?

631
00:28:14,206 --> 00:28:16,827
Well, he did.

632
00:28:16,931 --> 00:28:19,137
Ready Camera three.
One center up.

633
00:28:19,241 --> 00:28:20,655
Good evening.
I'm David Walker.

634
00:28:20,758 --> 00:28:22,689
And I'm Lois Harp.
Now here's the news.

635
00:28:22,793 --> 00:28:24,206
President Carter
has arrived...

636
00:28:24,310 --> 00:28:27,758
Television news before this was
stuff that had already happened.

637
00:28:27,862 --> 00:28:29,482
For the first time,

638
00:28:29,586 --> 00:28:34,000
CNN brought the world
to people in real time.

639
00:28:34,103 --> 00:28:37,655
CNN-- the world's
most important network.

640
00:28:37,758 --> 00:28:40,103
I didn't do Cable News Network

641
00:28:40,206 --> 00:28:42,068
because somebody told me it
couldn't be done.

642
00:28:42,172 --> 00:28:44,448
I figured it was
a very viable concept

643
00:28:44,551 --> 00:28:46,275
and I went ahead and did it.

644
00:28:46,379 --> 00:28:49,000
It was after we announced
that we were going to do it

645
00:28:49,103 --> 00:28:51,275
that the detractors showed up.

646
00:28:51,379 --> 00:28:54,724
Is Cable News Network
just gonna be a new means

647
00:28:54,827 --> 00:28:56,172
of delivering the same kind
of fare?

648
00:28:56,275 --> 00:28:57,724
No.

649
00:28:57,827 --> 00:29:00,448
It already does
provide different fare

650
00:29:00,551 --> 00:29:02,586
and Cable News Network
is a perfect

651
00:29:02,689 --> 00:29:05,413
and maybe the best example
of that.

652
00:29:05,517 --> 00:29:08,655
People love news
and we had lots of it.

653
00:29:08,758 --> 00:29:10,724
And the other guys
had not very much.

654
00:29:10,827 --> 00:29:14,241
So choice and quantity won out.

655
00:29:14,344 --> 00:29:16,034
New York City, hello.

656
00:29:16,137 --> 00:29:19,551
A major catastrophe
in America's space program...

657
00:29:19,655 --> 00:29:22,724
I'm Lou Dobbs along with
Financial Editor Myron Kandel.

658
00:29:22,827 --> 00:29:26,000
Jessica McClure trapped
for almost three days now

659
00:29:26,103 --> 00:29:27,896
in a dry artesian well.

660
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:29,689
The Iron Curtain
between East Germany

661
00:29:29,793 --> 00:29:32,241
and West Berlin
has come tumbling down.

662
00:29:32,344 --> 00:29:35,206
Good evening I'm Pat Buchanan
the conservative in "Crossfire."

663
00:29:35,310 --> 00:29:38,379
The American people
appreciated the new television.

664
00:29:38,482 --> 00:29:42,206
They certainly came to--
came to CNN in droves.

665
00:29:42,310 --> 00:29:46,034
Mr. Gorbachev and I both agree
on the desirability of freer

666
00:29:46,137 --> 00:29:49,655
and more extensive personal
contact between the peoples

667
00:29:49,758 --> 00:29:52,310
of the Soviet Union
and the United States.

668
00:29:52,413 --> 00:29:55,448
We began to realize
that the best way

669
00:29:55,551 --> 00:29:58,379
to get a message to a foreign
leader was to have the President

670
00:29:58,482 --> 00:30:00,931
go in the rose garden
and make a statement.

671
00:30:01,034 --> 00:30:03,689
Because everybody
was watching CNN.

672
00:30:03,793 --> 00:30:07,758
CNN was a breakthrough.
It changed the whole world.

673
00:30:07,862 --> 00:30:10,862
It changed quickly,
the network news business.

674
00:30:10,965 --> 00:30:13,379
That business
that we weren't the only ones.

675
00:30:13,482 --> 00:30:14,827
And it was hard, you know.

676
00:30:14,931 --> 00:30:17,620
It's hard to be
on the top little perch

677
00:30:17,724 --> 00:30:19,896
and have to come down off it.

678
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,172
A special segment tonight,
the network news.

679
00:30:23,275 --> 00:30:26,413
The first in a two-part series
on the profound changes

680
00:30:26,517 --> 00:30:28,586
taking place in television news.

681
00:30:28,689 --> 00:30:31,344
Changes being brought about
by business, competition,

682
00:30:31,448 --> 00:30:32,896
and technology.

683
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:34,862
There are a variety
of reasons why people who worked

684
00:30:34,965 --> 00:30:37,965
at the broadcast networks
were freaked out in the 1980s.

685
00:30:38,068 --> 00:30:40,896
One of them was CNN
and the rise of cable.

686
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,482
Another was being taken over

687
00:30:43,586 --> 00:30:46,344
by foreign entities
in corporate America.

688
00:30:46,448 --> 00:30:49,965
New owners spent billions
buying the networks recently,

689
00:30:50,068 --> 00:30:52,344
and all of them want
their money's worth.

690
00:30:52,448 --> 00:30:55,896
People began to find out that
news could be a profit center.

691
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,068
And that focused a lot
of attention on us.

692
00:30:58,172 --> 00:31:00,724
A lot from people
in Wall Street, for instance.

693
00:31:00,827 --> 00:31:05,137
If you think about the news
divisions of CBS, NBC and ABC,

694
00:31:05,241 --> 00:31:07,758
they were part of
a really proud tradition,

695
00:31:07,862 --> 00:31:09,862
a journalistic tradition
that really matters.

696
00:31:09,965 --> 00:31:10,931
We serve the public.

697
00:31:11,034 --> 00:31:13,172
This is not about
profit and loss.

698
00:31:13,275 --> 00:31:15,241
And the people who worked
at those news divisions

699
00:31:15,344 --> 00:31:18,034
were totally freaked out
by what it meant

700
00:31:18,137 --> 00:31:21,620
that they were now owned by
these larger corporate entities.

701
00:31:21,724 --> 00:31:24,137
If the television news
isn't profitable at some point,

702
00:31:24,241 --> 00:31:26,620
there won't be any more
television news on the networks.

703
00:31:26,724 --> 00:31:28,689
I worry about people
who are interested only in money

704
00:31:28,793 --> 00:31:30,551
and power getting ahold
of television.

705
00:31:30,655 --> 00:31:32,482
It has higher purposes
than that.

706
00:31:32,586 --> 00:31:35,068
We have seen the news
and it is us.

707
00:31:47,310 --> 00:31:49,275
Sometimes ambition in a woman

708
00:31:49,379 --> 00:31:52,172
is considered to be a dirty word unfortunately.

709
00:31:52,275 --> 00:31:54,137
Bloodworth-Thomason: I don't
hear a lot of female voices

710
00:31:54,241 --> 00:31:56,275
reverberating in the halls
of power in this business.

711
00:31:56,379 --> 00:31:58,517
Well I'm surprised there aren't
more shows about women

712
00:31:58,620 --> 00:32:00,172
that are talking about
who they are.

713
00:32:00,275 --> 00:32:01,931
Directing seems to be an area

714
00:32:02,034 --> 00:32:04,482
that is almost impossible
to break through.

715
00:32:04,586 --> 00:32:07,827
I think the '80s were the era

716
00:32:07,931 --> 00:32:10,862
when women were being looked at

717
00:32:10,965 --> 00:32:12,827
with a little skepticism,

718
00:32:12,931 --> 00:32:16,655
but definitely
with more acceptability.

719
00:32:16,758 --> 00:32:22,448
You could see the door opening,
but it wasn't wide open.

720
00:32:22,551 --> 00:32:24,758
"Cagney & Lacey" was huge.

721
00:32:24,862 --> 00:32:27,620
That there would be two women
and they had a serious job

722
00:32:27,724 --> 00:32:30,137
and they solved crimes and they
were out on the streets.

723
00:32:30,241 --> 00:32:31,448
They were tough.

724
00:32:31,551 --> 00:32:34,551
That was emblematic
or maybe out in front a little

725
00:32:34,655 --> 00:32:36,551
of what was actually happening
in the country.

726
00:32:36,655 --> 00:32:39,896
- So, we're a terrific team.
- This is true.

727
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:41,827
What do you say we go out and
celebrate how terrific we are?

728
00:32:41,931 --> 00:32:45,379
There had been by that point
hundreds of buddy cop shows,

729
00:32:45,482 --> 00:32:47,413
but these buddies were women.

730
00:32:47,517 --> 00:32:49,482
That had never been done before.

731
00:32:49,586 --> 00:32:52,379
I didn't go after this job

732
00:32:52,482 --> 00:32:54,482
because I couldn't find
anything else.

733
00:32:54,586 --> 00:32:57,137
All right? I did not come here
because I needed

734
00:32:57,241 --> 00:32:59,517
some kind of work to help pay
the orthodontist.

735
00:32:59,620 --> 00:33:00,586
This means something to me.

736
00:33:00,689 --> 00:33:02,206
What the hell are we
talking about here?

737
00:33:02,310 --> 00:33:05,310
We didn't even realize
that this was gonna be

738
00:33:05,413 --> 00:33:08,862
such a big deal, and strangely,

739
00:33:08,965 --> 00:33:11,517
all these guys would say to us,

740
00:33:11,620 --> 00:33:13,517
"Well yeah, I mean,
it's a good script,

741
00:33:13,620 --> 00:33:16,000
but who's gonna save them
in the end?"

742
00:33:16,103 --> 00:33:18,137
All right, come on.
We're taking you out of here.

743
00:33:18,241 --> 00:33:19,206
Come on.

744
00:33:19,310 --> 00:33:20,551
You're taking my wife?!

745
00:33:20,655 --> 00:33:23,103
You don't take one step.
You understand me?

746
00:33:23,206 --> 00:33:25,551
Sergeant Nelson, you have
until 8:00 tomorrow morning

747
00:33:25,655 --> 00:33:27,206
to turn yourself into IAD.

748
00:33:27,310 --> 00:33:28,068
Phyllis!

749
00:33:28,172 --> 00:33:29,965
If you don't, I will.

750
00:33:30,068 --> 00:33:34,206
It was a time where you
really saw an emergence of women

751
00:33:34,310 --> 00:33:37,344
on television
who were not necessarily

752
00:33:37,448 --> 00:33:40,896
just 20 and blond
and had a small role.

753
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:42,827
But women who had
substantial roles.

754
00:33:42,931 --> 00:33:47,137
♪ Thank you for being a friend

755
00:33:47,241 --> 00:33:51,137
♪ Traveled down the road
and back again ♪

756
00:33:51,241 --> 00:33:55,000
It was unpredictable
that an audience,

757
00:33:55,103 --> 00:33:58,344
a young audience,
a not so young audience

758
00:33:58,448 --> 00:34:02,482
and lots in between could relate
to those older ladies.

759
00:34:02,586 --> 00:34:04,206
Ma, if you couldn't see,

760
00:34:04,310 --> 00:34:07,068
why didn't you call me
to come get you?

761
00:34:07,172 --> 00:34:09,931
I tried to but every time
I put in a dime and dialed,

762
00:34:10,034 --> 00:34:11,827
a condom popped out.

763
00:34:15,793 --> 00:34:18,517
I got five in my pocket.
Here Dorothy.

764
00:34:20,034 --> 00:34:22,827
A lifetime supply.

765
00:34:22,931 --> 00:34:23,896
She was recently named

766
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:25,379
along with Norman Lear
and Jim Brooks

767
00:34:25,482 --> 00:34:27,827
as one of television's
most gifted creator/writers.

768
00:34:27,931 --> 00:34:30,551
And when you look back
at the past women role models

769
00:34:30,655 --> 00:34:33,965
on television, well it's easy
to see Susan Harris' impact.

770
00:34:34,068 --> 00:34:37,413
Susan Harris was the
greatest writer, in my opinion,

771
00:34:37,517 --> 00:34:39,137
of her generation, of that time.

772
00:34:39,241 --> 00:34:41,137
Singularly, so, you know,

773
00:34:41,241 --> 00:34:43,724
all credit to her for coming up
with so many iterations

774
00:34:43,827 --> 00:34:45,517
of something so amazing.

775
00:34:45,620 --> 00:34:49,137
Do you think there is
a woman's voice as a writer?

776
00:34:49,241 --> 00:34:51,965
Woman's voice-- well generally
they speak higher, softer.

777
00:34:53,896 --> 00:34:55,137
I should have known not
to ask that of a writer.

778
00:34:55,241 --> 00:34:58,310
Yes, of course,
there's a woman's voice.

779
00:34:58,413 --> 00:35:00,655
Women have
a different perspective.

780
00:35:00,758 --> 00:35:02,931
Women laugh
at different things.

781
00:35:03,034 --> 00:35:05,620
So yes, they're very definitely
is a woman's voice.

782
00:35:05,724 --> 00:35:09,517
Oh, do you know how
many problems we have solved

783
00:35:09,620 --> 00:35:12,620
over a cheesecake
at this kitchen table?

784
00:35:12,724 --> 00:35:14,103
No, Dorothy,
exactly how many?

785
00:35:14,206 --> 00:35:16,310
147, Rose!

786
00:35:16,413 --> 00:35:18,310
Oh.

787
00:35:18,413 --> 00:35:21,379
Hi Bryant. It's cutthroat prime
time time this fall

788
00:35:21,482 --> 00:35:23,137
as some 23 new shows compete

789
00:35:23,241 --> 00:35:25,724
in one of the hottest
ratings races in years.

790
00:35:25,827 --> 00:35:28,482
Here's one just about everybody
predicts will be a big hit.

791
00:35:28,586 --> 00:35:30,620
"Designing Women" on CBS.

792
00:35:30,724 --> 00:35:33,137
Four femmes forming
an interior decorating business

793
00:35:33,241 --> 00:35:34,862
and giving each other
the business.

794
00:35:34,965 --> 00:35:36,931
Suzanne,
if sex were fast food,

795
00:35:37,034 --> 00:35:41,413
there'd be an arch
over your bed.

796
00:35:41,517 --> 00:35:44,965
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
created one of the funniest,

797
00:35:45,068 --> 00:35:48,000
most unusual shows
in "Designing Women."

798
00:35:48,103 --> 00:35:50,689
They were a different group
of women

799
00:35:50,793 --> 00:35:53,724
than you really saw
on television.

800
00:35:53,827 --> 00:35:56,310
They were feisty,
they were sexy,

801
00:35:56,413 --> 00:36:01,448
and Linda's voice
came through shining.

802
00:36:01,551 --> 00:36:03,448
A man can get away
with anything.

803
00:36:03,551 --> 00:36:06,344
I mean, look at Reagan's neck.
It sags down to here.

804
00:36:06,448 --> 00:36:08,862
Everybody raves about
how great he looks.

805
00:36:08,965 --> 00:36:11,310
Can you imagine if Nancy
had that neck?

806
00:36:11,413 --> 00:36:14,000
They'd be putting her in
a nursing home for turkeys.

807
00:36:20,034 --> 00:36:21,551
They'd given me this 23 minutes

808
00:36:21,655 --> 00:36:23,793
to address whatever topic
I want.

809
00:36:23,896 --> 00:36:25,689
And it's such a privilege.

810
00:36:25,793 --> 00:36:27,586
It's more than the President
of the United States gets

811
00:36:27,689 --> 00:36:30,068
and it's kind of thrilling
to have that every week.

812
00:36:30,172 --> 00:36:33,103
I would lying if I said I didn't
put my opinions in the show.

813
00:36:33,206 --> 00:36:35,827
Excuse me, but you lovely ladies
look like you're in need

814
00:36:35,931 --> 00:36:38,034
of a little male
companionship here.

815
00:36:38,137 --> 00:36:40,793
Trust me when I tell you
that you have completely

816
00:36:40,896 --> 00:36:43,241
mis-assessed the situation
at this table.

817
00:36:43,344 --> 00:36:46,551
All right.
Moving onto scene B.

818
00:36:46,655 --> 00:36:48,793
I am a woman and I am a writer,

819
00:36:48,896 --> 00:36:53,206
but I don't really enjoy
being called a woman's writer.

820
00:36:53,310 --> 00:36:55,448
I think labels
are harmful to us.

821
00:36:55,551 --> 00:36:57,310
With "Murphy Brown,"

822
00:36:57,413 --> 00:37:01,206
just about everything
about that program felt new.

823
00:37:01,310 --> 00:37:03,517
The civil rights movement
and the women's movement

824
00:37:03,620 --> 00:37:07,482
had just begun to sort of be
reflected in the programming

825
00:37:07,586 --> 00:37:10,206
that you saw on television
in the '80s.

826
00:37:10,310 --> 00:37:12,931
Murphy, you know the Dunfries
Club is for men only?

827
00:37:13,034 --> 00:37:15,241
And they have great dinners
with great guests

828
00:37:15,344 --> 00:37:18,310
and I don't get to go for
one reason and one reason only.

829
00:37:18,413 --> 00:37:22,034
And it has to do with something
you've got and I don't.

830
00:37:22,137 --> 00:37:27,137
A tiny, pathetic,
little Y chromosome.

831
00:37:29,103 --> 00:37:32,862
"Murphy Brown" was sea change
because she was so popular

832
00:37:32,965 --> 00:37:36,172
and such a strong, independent,
tough woman.

833
00:37:36,275 --> 00:37:38,448
No matter what you think
of a guest or their views,

834
00:37:38,551 --> 00:37:40,724
you are obligated to ask the
questions in a dignified manner.

835
00:37:40,827 --> 00:37:42,862
Jim, she was unprofessional,
am I right?

836
00:37:42,965 --> 00:37:43,689
Well, I, uh...

837
00:37:43,793 --> 00:37:44,931
Do you believe this Jim?

838
00:37:45,034 --> 00:37:47,379
He thinks it's neat that
his office chair swivels

839
00:37:47,482 --> 00:37:49,344
and he's calling me unprofessional.

840
00:38:01,758 --> 00:38:04,551
You are in a good mood tonight.

841
00:38:04,655 --> 00:38:06,827
And I tell you, we have put
a great show together.

842
00:38:06,931 --> 00:38:08,758
It'll be on a week
from Thursday.

843
00:38:10,482 --> 00:38:13,172
Johnny Carson in the
'80s is making the transition

844
00:38:13,275 --> 00:38:14,655
from being
the king of late night

845
00:38:14,758 --> 00:38:16,344
to being a national treasure.

846
00:38:16,448 --> 00:38:19,827
He was a throwback to that
old show biz stuff.

847
00:38:19,931 --> 00:38:21,241
I haven't been on with you
for some time.

848
00:38:21,344 --> 00:38:22,689
You, you've been...
It's been a long time.

849
00:38:22,793 --> 00:38:24,241
Yeah, well, you've been
busy with other things.

850
00:38:24,344 --> 00:38:25,689
That's--

851
00:38:28,034 --> 00:38:30,931
The tide is starting
to turn in terms of

852
00:38:31,034 --> 00:38:32,724
where late-night television
is gonna go.

853
00:38:32,827 --> 00:38:34,655
But Johnny is kind of
holding out.

854
00:38:34,758 --> 00:38:38,724
He was not necessarily
of his time in the '80s.

855
00:38:38,827 --> 00:38:41,931
But he did sustain
a certain timelessness.

856
00:38:42,034 --> 00:38:43,275
He's the king.

857
00:38:43,379 --> 00:38:44,758
On your chair.

858
00:38:46,551 --> 00:38:50,724
Whoa!

859
00:38:50,827 --> 00:38:53,241
Hyah!

860
00:38:53,344 --> 00:38:54,551
He's all right.
He's just playing.

861
00:38:54,655 --> 00:38:55,827
Playing my

862
00:38:57,689 --> 00:39:01,241
My next guest not only has
a college degree,

863
00:39:01,344 --> 00:39:04,206
but he also has
a high-school degree.

864
00:39:04,310 --> 00:39:04,965
That's right, I do.

865
00:39:05,068 --> 00:39:06,275
- As well, un-huh.
- Yes.

866
00:39:06,379 --> 00:39:07,896
He's hosted "The Tonight Show"
practically as often

867
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,344
as Johnny Carson and now
he has his very own show,

868
00:39:11,448 --> 00:39:15,000
Weekday Mornings at 10:00
on NBC.

869
00:39:15,103 --> 00:39:16,862
Ladies and gentleman
what you're witnessing here

870
00:39:16,965 --> 00:39:20,034
is a good idea gone awry.

871
00:39:20,137 --> 00:39:21,931
Yes, and a fun-filled surprise

872
00:39:22,034 --> 00:39:26,000
turning into an incredible
screw up right here.

873
00:39:26,103 --> 00:39:29,896
David Letterman originally
had a one-hour daytime show.

874
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:34,448
And NBC, after like 13 weeks,
decided to cancel it.

875
00:39:34,551 --> 00:39:36,172
Today is our last show
on the air.

876
00:39:36,275 --> 00:39:37,689
Monday, Las Vegas.

877
00:39:40,482 --> 00:39:42,827
Have these people been
frisked before they...

878
00:39:42,931 --> 00:39:45,413
It was a dismal failure
in terms of the ratings.

879
00:39:45,517 --> 00:39:48,655
But not in terms of introducing
us to Letterman.

880
00:39:48,758 --> 00:39:50,655
David, thank you for being
with us tonight.

881
00:39:50,758 --> 00:39:52,620
Thank you very much for
having me, I appreciate it.

882
00:39:52,724 --> 00:39:54,517
And in spite of all
this nonsense

883
00:39:54,620 --> 00:39:57,034
that goes around in
the background, stay with it.

884
00:39:57,137 --> 00:39:58,965
Don't give up. And stay with us
here in New York.

885
00:39:59,068 --> 00:40:00,000
We like having you.

886
00:40:00,103 --> 00:40:01,379
I like being here.
Thank you very much.

887
00:40:01,482 --> 00:40:04,758
Dave is back in New York.
You're going to host

888
00:40:04,862 --> 00:40:08,448
a late-night television program
that premieres Monday night.

889
00:40:08,551 --> 00:40:11,137
What are, what are critics
likely to say Tuesday morning?

890
00:40:11,241 --> 00:40:14,344
I don't much care because I
found a way to deal with that--

891
00:40:14,448 --> 00:40:15,310
Pills and whiskey.

892
00:40:20,862 --> 00:40:22,137
You're on.

893
00:40:22,241 --> 00:40:24,896
Oh, I'm on. I'm sorry, I was
enjoying listening to you snort.

894
00:40:26,758 --> 00:40:30,379
They gave him the "Late Night"
show after "The Tonight Show,"

895
00:40:30,482 --> 00:40:31,758
and at the time, people thought,

896
00:40:31,862 --> 00:40:34,586
who's gonna watch television
at 12:30 at night?

897
00:40:34,689 --> 00:40:36,172
Who's up?
I'll tell you who's up.

898
00:40:36,275 --> 00:40:38,379
Young people. College people.

899
00:40:38,482 --> 00:40:40,344
Is it going well?
I know this is the first show

900
00:40:40,448 --> 00:40:42,000
and I think this guy
needs a little support.

901
00:40:42,103 --> 00:40:43,206
Dave Letterman.

902
00:40:43,310 --> 00:40:45,758
He was
antiestablishment at his core.

903
00:40:45,862 --> 00:40:50,586
He was thumbing his nose to
any existing social structures.

904
00:40:50,689 --> 00:40:52,517
Who are those women
- out there, by the way?
Neighbors.

905
00:40:52,620 --> 00:40:56,655
I'll get rid of them.
Hey, excuse me.

906
00:40:56,758 --> 00:41:00,517
Just keep it moving,
come on.

907
00:41:00,620 --> 00:41:04,896
He kind of spoofed
the whole notion of talk shows.

908
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:06,862
It's the "Late Night" guest cam.

909
00:41:06,965 --> 00:41:09,827
Please say hello to Tom Hanks.
Here he is.

910
00:41:11,724 --> 00:41:14,137
No one can go
on the "David Letterman Show"

911
00:41:14,241 --> 00:41:16,758
and try to steer it towards
a point of view

912
00:41:16,862 --> 00:41:18,344
or push something in particular.

913
00:41:18,448 --> 00:41:19,862
He just wouldn't stand for it.

914
00:41:19,965 --> 00:41:21,758
You're on to do one thing
and one thing only--

915
00:41:21,862 --> 00:41:23,517
be as funny as the rest
of the show.

916
00:41:23,620 --> 00:41:25,965
You know, we could get in
a two shot here, Dave.

917
00:41:26,068 --> 00:41:28,379
We could actually send
the crew home, couldn't we?

918
00:41:31,206 --> 00:41:33,000
You know, as a comedian,

919
00:41:33,103 --> 00:41:35,103
you want the biggest audience
that you could get.

920
00:41:35,206 --> 00:41:36,896
For Dave,
he knew a lot of things

921
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:39,413
that he would do
were gonna alienate people.

922
00:41:39,517 --> 00:41:40,310
And he didn't care.

923
00:41:40,413 --> 00:41:41,896
He wanted his thumbprint
out there

924
00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:44,034
and that's the most important thing.

925
00:41:44,137 --> 00:41:46,896
It's time for "Small Town News."
Paul?

926
00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:48,724
Excuse me. Paul?
Do you have any--

927
00:41:48,827 --> 00:41:50,172
do you have any accompanying
music here

928
00:41:50,275 --> 00:41:52,689
for "Small Town News"?

929
00:41:52,793 --> 00:41:54,862
Paul Shaffer,
ladies and gentlemen.

930
00:41:54,965 --> 00:41:57,551
The show making fun
of itself and turning itself

931
00:41:57,655 --> 00:42:01,103
inside out that way
was something kind of new.

932
00:42:01,206 --> 00:42:02,551
I mean,
don't we look like guys

933
00:42:02,655 --> 00:42:03,862
that you'd see hanging around
together?

934
00:42:03,965 --> 00:42:05,551
Absolutely.
Would you like to
hang around with me?

935
00:42:05,655 --> 00:42:06,758
Nope.

936
00:42:06,862 --> 00:42:08,965
I've said it before
and I'll say it again.

937
00:42:09,068 --> 00:42:11,758
This is the stupidest show
I've...

938
00:42:11,862 --> 00:42:14,241
I thought that I would never
want to do this show with you.

939
00:42:14,344 --> 00:42:15,241
Now why?

940
00:42:15,344 --> 00:42:17,206
Because you thought
I was a...

941
00:42:17,310 --> 00:42:18,413
An

942
00:42:20,137 --> 00:42:23,793
There's one rule I keep
trying to abide by

943
00:42:23,896 --> 00:42:27,275
and unfortunately I only get
to it about 12% of the time.

944
00:42:27,379 --> 00:42:29,827
And that is,
it's only television.

945
00:42:29,931 --> 00:42:32,344
We're not doing
cancer research.

946
00:42:32,448 --> 00:42:35,310
If the 40 year-odd history
of commercial broadcasting

947
00:42:35,413 --> 00:42:38,482
has taught us one thing, there's
nothing sacred about television.

948
00:42:38,586 --> 00:42:40,413
All right. Steven is upstairs.

949
00:42:43,931 --> 00:42:45,206
Hey Dave,
I was just curious,

950
00:42:45,310 --> 00:42:47,551
is there any way I can get
MTV on this...

951
00:42:47,655 --> 00:42:50,172
Actually, Steve, that's a--
that's just a monitor

952
00:42:50,275 --> 00:42:52,241
and all you can get
on that is our show.

953
00:42:52,344 --> 00:42:54,275
Oh. That's okay.

954
00:42:54,379 --> 00:42:57,310
There was a degree of cynicism

955
00:42:57,413 --> 00:42:59,551
that was needed in the art form
at that time.

956
00:42:59,655 --> 00:43:00,793
And it's a cynicism

957
00:43:00,896 --> 00:43:03,172
that just became common sense
after a while.

958
00:43:03,275 --> 00:43:04,379
Because it never got old.

959
00:43:04,482 --> 00:43:07,034
I've watched
Johnny Carson,

960
00:43:07,137 --> 00:43:10,206
and you are no
Johnny Carson.

961
00:43:16,344 --> 00:43:18,517
Good day, welcome to the Great
White North Canadian Corner.

962
00:43:18,620 --> 00:43:20,137
I'm Bob McKenzie,
this is my brother Doug.

963
00:43:20,241 --> 00:43:23,034
And today we got a real big show
'cause we got a...

964
00:43:23,137 --> 00:43:24,827
There was
a Second City Chicago company,

965
00:43:24,931 --> 00:43:27,206
there was a Second City
Toronto company.

966
00:43:27,310 --> 00:43:31,379
The Toronto one is the one
that fueled the SCTV series,

967
00:43:31,482 --> 00:43:34,965
which originally was syndicated
and got to the States that way.

968
00:43:35,068 --> 00:43:37,689
- Hail Caesar!
- Hail Caesar!

969
00:43:37,793 --> 00:43:38,965
Hail, hail.

970
00:43:39,068 --> 00:43:40,655
Thank you very much for
that marvelous reception.

971
00:43:40,758 --> 00:43:43,241
I particularly want to thank
my supporters over there

972
00:43:43,344 --> 00:43:45,827
in the Caesarian section.

973
00:43:45,931 --> 00:43:49,275
It's healthy to be an outsider,
you know, as a comedian.

974
00:43:49,379 --> 00:43:52,103
And Canadian
are always outsiders

975
00:43:52,206 --> 00:43:54,620
but they're looking at
the other culture,

976
00:43:54,724 --> 00:43:56,517
which is right next door
to them.

977
00:43:56,620 --> 00:43:59,206
I love you Sammy Maudlin!
I want to bear your children!

978
00:44:00,758 --> 00:44:06,034
It was the type of comedy
that had only been accessible

979
00:44:06,137 --> 00:44:08,206
if you could have gotten into
the improv clubs

980
00:44:08,310 --> 00:44:09,827
in Chicago or Toronto.

981
00:44:09,931 --> 00:44:12,793
I had never seen anything like
Second City TV.

982
00:44:12,896 --> 00:44:14,620
Alex Trembel:
James Bridgeman, Parkdale.

983
00:44:16,965 --> 00:44:18,724
Sorry, no, never mind.
I'm sorry.

984
00:44:18,827 --> 00:44:21,827
It was far more conceptual
in its humor

985
00:44:21,931 --> 00:44:23,655
because it didn't have to be performed

986
00:44:23,758 --> 00:44:25,172
in front of an audience.

987
00:44:25,275 --> 00:44:27,344
And there was also just the idea

988
00:44:27,448 --> 00:44:30,482
that it was this
sort of low-rent thing.

989
00:44:30,586 --> 00:44:32,724
It was this sort of
by the seat of their pants

990
00:44:32,827 --> 00:44:36,827
kind of operation
that gave it an authenticity.

991
00:44:36,931 --> 00:44:39,000
Now that our programming day
has been extended,

992
00:44:39,103 --> 00:44:40,413
I'm gonna be spending a lot...

993
00:44:40,517 --> 00:44:42,965
Where do you want me to
put the kielbasa Mrs. Prickley?

994
00:44:43,068 --> 00:44:44,275
Put it in the fridge, Butch.

995
00:44:44,379 --> 00:44:45,965
You were rooting for the show

996
00:44:46,068 --> 00:44:47,862
and the characters
that they had created.

997
00:44:47,965 --> 00:44:51,241
There was just something
that you got behind.

998
00:44:51,344 --> 00:44:53,344
Whereas, you know,
"SNL" right from the--

999
00:44:53,448 --> 00:44:56,379
from the gate
and through the '80s

1000
00:44:56,482 --> 00:44:59,413
was this big enterprise.

1001
00:44:59,517 --> 00:45:01,758
After five golden years,

1002
00:45:01,862 --> 00:45:05,137
Lorne decided to leave
and so did those close to him,

1003
00:45:05,241 --> 00:45:09,137
including me, Al Franken.

1004
00:45:09,241 --> 00:45:12,068
So NBC had to pick
a new producer.

1005
00:45:12,172 --> 00:45:14,758
Now most knowledgeable people,
as you might imagine,

1006
00:45:14,862 --> 00:45:18,724
hoped it would be me,
Al Franken.

1007
00:45:18,827 --> 00:45:20,068
There was a real question

1008
00:45:20,172 --> 00:45:22,103
of whether "Saturday Night Live"
would continue at all

1009
00:45:22,206 --> 00:45:23,551
or whether it would just die.

1010
00:45:23,655 --> 00:45:25,482
The press hasn't been
overly kind.

1011
00:45:25,586 --> 00:45:26,965
Yeah, I read that stuff.

1012
00:45:27,068 --> 00:45:28,862
"Saturday Night Live"
is Saturday Night Dead.

1013
00:45:28,965 --> 00:45:31,448
Oh, man, come on. Geez.

1014
00:45:31,551 --> 00:45:32,931
From yucks to yech.

1015
00:45:34,206 --> 00:45:36,103
My favorite, though,
is "Vile From New York."

1016
00:45:36,206 --> 00:45:37,310
Please, Bill, come on.

1017
00:45:37,413 --> 00:45:38,793
It's funny, it's funny.

1018
00:45:38,896 --> 00:45:40,275
They were having a hard time

1019
00:45:40,379 --> 00:45:43,068
and then came the man that saved
the show, Eddie Murphy.

1020
00:45:43,172 --> 00:45:46,448
♪ Wookin' pa nub

1021
00:45:46,551 --> 00:45:49,310
There was buzz about him
so you tuned in

1022
00:45:49,413 --> 00:45:52,275
and there was this
kind of explosion of talent

1023
00:45:52,379 --> 00:45:53,551
in front of your eyes.

1024
00:45:53,655 --> 00:45:56,206
Hey!
Too hot in the hot tub!

1025
00:45:56,310 --> 00:45:58,275
Burn myself!

1026
00:45:58,379 --> 00:46:00,896
It really kind of
rejuvenated the show.

1027
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:04,172
I am Gumby, damn it!
You don't talk to me that way.

1028
00:46:04,275 --> 00:46:05,896
After a while,

1029
00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:08,034
the show regained its status
and its clout

1030
00:46:08,137 --> 00:46:10,965
and became even more of
an institution than it had been.

1031
00:46:11,068 --> 00:46:12,034
Hey Bob.

1032
00:46:12,137 --> 00:46:15,172
Hey, penis looks great today.

1033
00:46:15,275 --> 00:46:17,413
Listen, Harry, if you're unhappy
with my work, tell me now!

1034
00:46:17,517 --> 00:46:18,793
You're through,
do you hear me?

1035
00:46:18,896 --> 00:46:20,482
Through! You'll never work
in this town again.

1036
00:46:20,586 --> 00:46:21,551
Don't leave me hanging
by a thread!

1037
00:46:21,655 --> 00:46:23,000
Let me know where I stand!

1038
00:46:23,103 --> 00:46:26,620
We were a little worried at
first because we had a new cast,

1039
00:46:26,724 --> 00:46:28,000
but everyone loves us.

1040
00:46:28,103 --> 00:46:30,413
You guys have been so nice
to us during our stay.

1041
00:46:30,517 --> 00:46:31,896
Isn't that special?

1042
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:33,413
I am Hans.

1043
00:46:33,517 --> 00:46:37,344
And I am Franz. And we just
want to pump you up!

1044
00:46:37,448 --> 00:46:39,206
A lot of things
that they could do

1045
00:46:39,310 --> 00:46:42,655
on "Saturday Night Live"
they couldn't do on a sitcom.

1046
00:46:42,758 --> 00:46:47,620
The humor was more daring
and more satirical.

1047
00:46:47,724 --> 00:46:49,137
And it was political.

1048
00:46:49,241 --> 00:46:53,413
You still have, uh, 50 seconds
left Mr. Vice President.

1049
00:46:53,517 --> 00:46:57,793
Well let me just sum up,
on track,

1050
00:46:57,896 --> 00:47:02,206
stay the course,
a thousand points of light.

1051
00:47:02,310 --> 00:47:03,482
Stay the course.

1052
00:47:03,586 --> 00:47:06,000
Governor Dukakis, rebuttal?

1053
00:47:06,103 --> 00:47:08,103
I can't believe I'm losing
to this guy.

1054
00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:12,241
I'll get it.
Oh, geez.

1055
00:47:12,344 --> 00:47:13,724
It's Garry Shandling's Show.

1056
00:47:13,827 --> 00:47:16,137
People were taking
all the old principles of comedy

1057
00:47:16,241 --> 00:47:18,206
and trying to turn them
into something new.

1058
00:47:18,310 --> 00:47:21,482
We spent years and years
watching sitcoms and dramas

1059
00:47:21,586 --> 00:47:22,655
and talk shows by then.

1060
00:47:22,758 --> 00:47:24,827
We knew them by heart
that if somebody

1061
00:47:24,931 --> 00:47:27,620
played on that and parodied it,
we got it instantly.

1062
00:47:27,724 --> 00:47:30,344
Yeah, I appreciate you coming in
under these conditions Lewis.

1063
00:47:30,448 --> 00:47:32,793
I really do. You want to
hold the credits.

1064
00:47:32,896 --> 00:47:34,793
Okay. Now, see, we were
gonna show the credits

1065
00:47:34,896 --> 00:47:35,896
and you screwed that up, okay?

1066
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:37,931
'Cause you're late.

1067
00:47:38,034 --> 00:47:41,206
"The Garry Shandling Show"
was aware of the fact

1068
00:47:41,310 --> 00:47:43,000
that it was a situation comedy.

1069
00:47:44,344 --> 00:47:47,551
It highlighted the cliches
in funny ways.

1070
00:47:47,655 --> 00:47:49,137
Are you looking into
the camera?

1071
00:47:49,241 --> 00:47:50,655
No.

1072
00:47:50,758 --> 00:47:51,724
No, I didn't.

1073
00:47:51,827 --> 00:47:52,689
Don't-- Don't look into
the camera.

1074
00:47:52,793 --> 00:47:53,344
I didn't.
Don't.

1075
00:47:53,448 --> 00:47:54,620
I didn't.

1076
00:47:54,724 --> 00:47:55,862
You don't come in here
and look in the camera.

1077
00:47:55,965 --> 00:47:57,310
I didn't.

1078
00:47:57,413 --> 00:47:59,965
I'll bop you.

1079
00:48:00,068 --> 00:48:02,344
I will,
if I see a tape of this show...

1080
00:48:03,586 --> 00:48:05,448
...and you're looking
into the c--

1081
00:48:07,689 --> 00:48:09,827
Well, it's about that time.

1082
00:48:09,931 --> 00:48:11,551
"Pee-Wee's Playhouse" on CBS,

1083
00:48:11,655 --> 00:48:13,620
a so-called Saturday morning
kids show

1084
00:48:13,724 --> 00:48:16,034
that adults could watch
and wink at each other

1085
00:48:16,137 --> 00:48:18,034
as they were watching it.
It was very clever.

1086
00:48:18,137 --> 00:48:19,448
Ha-ha!
Morning Conky.

1087
00:48:19,551 --> 00:48:20,758
What's today's secret word?

1088
00:48:22,344 --> 00:48:24,793
Today's secret word is good!

1089
00:48:24,896 --> 00:48:28,448
It was a show certainly for kids

1090
00:48:28,551 --> 00:48:31,793
and it was for
stoned baby boomers

1091
00:48:31,896 --> 00:48:35,068
who were totally wasted
on Saturday morning

1092
00:48:35,172 --> 00:48:37,172
and watched
"Pee-Wee's Playhouse"

1093
00:48:37,275 --> 00:48:38,068
and saw God.

1094
00:48:38,172 --> 00:48:39,551
I sure had a lot of fun.

1095
00:48:39,655 --> 00:48:41,172
See you all real soon.

1096
00:48:41,275 --> 00:48:44,000
Until then, everybody be good!

1097
00:48:44,103 --> 00:48:45,344
Ha-ha!

1098
00:48:59,137 --> 00:49:02,482
1968, the summer before
junior high school.

1099
00:49:02,586 --> 00:49:07,689
And I don't mind saying I was
a pretty fair little athlete.

1100
00:49:07,793 --> 00:49:11,034
"The Wonder Years"
was a guy in modern times

1101
00:49:11,137 --> 00:49:12,896
looking back on his childhood.

1102
00:49:13,000 --> 00:49:14,551
That in itself is not new,

1103
00:49:14,655 --> 00:49:18,206
but "The Wonder Years" did it
with a wit and with the music.

1104
00:49:18,310 --> 00:49:22,758
It was a brilliantly written
show and a great performance

1105
00:49:22,862 --> 00:49:24,482
by that entire young cast.

1106
00:49:24,586 --> 00:49:25,793
Hey, Steve.

1107
00:49:25,896 --> 00:49:27,517
It looks like my baby brother

1108
00:49:27,620 --> 00:49:30,000
and his girlfriend
have found each other.

1109
00:49:30,965 --> 00:49:32,931
She's not my girlfriend.

1110
00:49:33,034 --> 00:49:36,068
Kevin Arnold has to cope
with all the timeless problems

1111
00:49:36,172 --> 00:49:38,000
of growing up during
one of the most turbulent times

1112
00:49:38,103 --> 00:49:39,310
that we have known.

1113
00:49:39,413 --> 00:49:42,448
Kevin Arnold is just
like a regular kid

1114
00:49:42,551 --> 00:49:44,103
except in the 1960s.

1115
00:49:44,206 --> 00:49:47,586
And he's not really aware
of many of the events.

1116
00:49:47,689 --> 00:49:49,206
Like in one of the episodes,

1117
00:49:49,310 --> 00:49:52,620
the whole family's watching
the Apollo 8 take off.

1118
00:49:52,724 --> 00:49:55,448
But I'm just sitting there
trying to call a girl.

1119
00:49:55,551 --> 00:49:58,172
The first episode
of "The Wonder Years,"

1120
00:49:58,275 --> 00:50:01,310
anybody who saw it
remembers the ending

1121
00:50:01,413 --> 00:50:03,931
where, you know--
the first kiss

1122
00:50:04,034 --> 00:50:06,103
with Winnie and Kevin Arnold.

1123
00:50:06,206 --> 00:50:08,931
The song that they play
is "When a Man Loves a Woman."

1124
00:50:09,034 --> 00:50:13,275
That moment seemed
so pure and so real.

1125
00:50:13,379 --> 00:50:18,448
♪ When a man loves a woman

1126
00:50:18,551 --> 00:50:21,310
♪ Can't keep his mind
on nothing else ♪

1127
00:50:21,413 --> 00:50:24,172
The tone of the baby boomers
of the 1960s is about rebellion,

1128
00:50:24,275 --> 00:50:25,482
about being students.

1129
00:50:25,586 --> 00:50:27,689
By the 1980s,
it's time to grow up.

1130
00:50:27,793 --> 00:50:30,034
And so they shave their beards,

1131
00:50:30,137 --> 00:50:32,689
give up their dashikis,
and they put on power suits--

1132
00:50:32,793 --> 00:50:33,655
A whole new notion.

1133
00:50:33,758 --> 00:50:35,068
Ah, the yuppies.

1134
00:50:35,172 --> 00:50:36,241
Last year the politicians

1135
00:50:36,344 --> 00:50:37,862
were all talking about
winning their votes.

1136
00:50:37,965 --> 00:50:39,862
Now those young,
urban professionals

1137
00:50:39,965 --> 00:50:42,137
and the rest of
their baby boom generation

1138
00:50:42,241 --> 00:50:44,931
are being wooed by advertisers
and their agencies.

1139
00:50:45,034 --> 00:50:46,344
By the '80s,

1140
00:50:46,448 --> 00:50:48,655
it was pretty clear
that the generation

1141
00:50:48,758 --> 00:50:50,379
after the generation of the '60s

1142
00:50:50,482 --> 00:50:53,551
may be embodied by Alex Keaton
on "Family Ties."

1143
00:50:53,655 --> 00:50:55,896
Soon to be a lot more interested
in the corner office

1144
00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:57,620
than the new Jerusalem.

1145
00:50:57,724 --> 00:50:58,896
You're a young man.

1146
00:50:59,000 --> 00:51:01,482
You shouldn't be worried
about success.

1147
00:51:01,586 --> 00:51:04,517
You should be thinking about
hopping on a tramp steamer

1148
00:51:04,620 --> 00:51:06,034
and going around the world.

1149
00:51:06,137 --> 00:51:08,689
The '60s are over, Dad.

1150
00:51:08,793 --> 00:51:10,241
Thanks for the tip.

1151
00:51:10,344 --> 00:51:13,896
You weren't laughing
at Michael J. Fox's character

1152
00:51:14,000 --> 00:51:15,413
for being too conservative.

1153
00:51:15,517 --> 00:51:18,413
You were actually
laughing at the parents

1154
00:51:18,517 --> 00:51:20,862
for being too hopelessly liberal.

1155
00:51:20,965 --> 00:51:23,586
What is this?
I found it in the shower.

1156
00:51:23,689 --> 00:51:25,620
That's generic brand shampoo.

1157
00:51:25,724 --> 00:51:27,241
Ah!

1158
00:51:27,344 --> 00:51:30,965
This is him. This is the guy
I've been telling you about.

1159
00:51:31,068 --> 00:51:33,103
This is everything
you'd want in a President.

1160
00:51:33,206 --> 00:51:35,551
The genius
of "Family Ties" is it allows

1161
00:51:35,655 --> 00:51:37,724
a kind of youthful Reaganite
to emerge

1162
00:51:37,827 --> 00:51:39,034
that's focused
more on the future,

1163
00:51:39,137 --> 00:51:41,137
that's focused more on
the a critique of the '60s.

1164
00:51:41,241 --> 00:51:44,620
Michael J. Fox as Alex Keaton

1165
00:51:44,724 --> 00:51:48,068
really became
the center of the show.

1166
00:51:48,172 --> 00:51:51,620
And writers were smart enough
to see

1167
00:51:51,724 --> 00:51:55,862
that they had something special
and they wrote to that.

1168
00:51:55,965 --> 00:51:58,000
It's not fair, Alex.

1169
00:51:58,103 --> 00:51:59,137
Yeah.

1170
00:51:59,241 --> 00:52:01,103
There's nothing you can do
about it, Jen.

1171
00:52:01,206 --> 00:52:04,103
My advice to you is
that you just enjoy

1172
00:52:04,206 --> 00:52:06,551
being a child for
as long as you can.

1173
00:52:06,655 --> 00:52:08,413
I know I did.

1174
00:52:08,517 --> 00:52:10,862
It's the best two weeks
of my life.

1175
00:52:12,068 --> 00:52:14,344
Alex is a little Bill Buckley.

1176
00:52:14,448 --> 00:52:16,965
He-- the <i>Wall Street Journal</i>
is his Bible.

1177
00:52:18,068 --> 00:52:19,896
He has a tie to go with
his pajamas.

1178
00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:24,000
He's very conservative
and a very intense 17-year-old.

1179
00:52:24,103 --> 00:52:25,655
Now the first thing
your teacher's gonna ask

1180
00:52:25,758 --> 00:52:27,000
is what you did
over the summer.

1181
00:52:27,103 --> 00:52:29,103
Now, a lot of kids are gonna
say, I went to the zoo.

1182
00:52:29,206 --> 00:52:31,586
Or I went to the beach.
Or I went to a baseball game.

1183
00:52:31,689 --> 00:52:32,620
What are you gonna say?

1184
00:52:32,724 --> 00:52:34,758
I watched
the Iran Contra hearings.

1185
00:52:36,344 --> 00:52:39,068
If mom and dad
thought this generation

1186
00:52:39,172 --> 00:52:41,068
was going to the dogs,
think again.

1187
00:52:41,172 --> 00:52:42,586
This is the generation

1188
00:52:42,689 --> 00:52:44,896
that has discovered hard work
and success.

1189
00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:47,068
American culture
is changing in the '80s.

1190
00:52:47,172 --> 00:52:48,379
And in terms of television,

1191
00:52:48,482 --> 00:52:50,241
there's a whole notion
of demographic segmentation.

1192
00:52:50,344 --> 00:52:54,448
Networks were beginning
to not be afraid

1193
00:52:54,551 --> 00:52:58,275
to appeal to
a very specific demographic.

1194
00:52:58,379 --> 00:53:01,068
Hi, handsome.
Look at that shirt.

1195
00:53:01,172 --> 00:53:02,344
Is that a power shirt
or what?

1196
00:53:02,448 --> 00:53:04,586
Nice suit Ellen,
good shoulder pads.

1197
00:53:04,689 --> 00:53:06,275
You looking to get drafted
by the Eagles?

1198
00:53:07,758 --> 00:53:09,724
"Thirtysomething" said,
we're not gonna have cops,

1199
00:53:09,827 --> 00:53:10,758
lawyers, or doctors.

1200
00:53:10,862 --> 00:53:12,068
We're just gonna be
about people.

1201
00:53:12,172 --> 00:53:14,793
What are we doing here?
Why did we start this business?

1202
00:53:14,896 --> 00:53:16,310
To do our thing.

1203
00:53:16,413 --> 00:53:18,206
But right now we got two wives,

1204
00:53:18,310 --> 00:53:20,931
three kids, four cars,

1205
00:53:21,034 --> 00:53:23,000
two mortgages, a payroll.

1206
00:53:23,103 --> 00:53:24,482
And that's life, pal.

1207
00:53:24,586 --> 00:53:26,413
You be the breadwinner now.

1208
00:53:26,517 --> 00:53:28,448
Is that what I am?

1209
00:53:28,551 --> 00:53:30,655
"Thirtysomething"
is a very important show

1210
00:53:30,758 --> 00:53:33,724
as you're going into this era
of television

1211
00:53:33,827 --> 00:53:35,448
being more introspective
and more emotional.

1212
00:53:35,551 --> 00:53:36,931
And some people
weren't buying it.

1213
00:53:37,034 --> 00:53:39,034
But for other people, when they
were talking about things

1214
00:53:39,137 --> 00:53:42,448
like having kids and who
was gonna go back to work

1215
00:53:42,551 --> 00:53:44,310
and some of these issues
that hadn't been talked about

1216
00:53:44,413 --> 00:53:46,448
a whole lot,
it was important to people.

1217
00:53:49,517 --> 00:53:51,137
I was so looking forward--

1218
00:53:51,241 --> 00:53:54,344
I was so looking
forward to doing this,

1219
00:53:54,448 --> 00:53:57,034
to be a grownup
for just an hour.

1220
00:53:57,137 --> 00:54:00,275
In the beginning,
there was talk of this being

1221
00:54:00,379 --> 00:54:02,379
the yuppie show
and you mentioned it tonight.

1222
00:54:02,482 --> 00:54:04,206
You-you said
that if there were a category

1223
00:54:04,310 --> 00:54:06,620
for the most annoying show,
this might win as well.

1224
00:54:06,724 --> 00:54:08,586
No, what some people
perceive as annoying

1225
00:54:08,689 --> 00:54:09,793
has nothing to do with yuppie.

1226
00:54:09,896 --> 00:54:12,137
I think yuppie is a word
made up by demographers

1227
00:54:12,241 --> 00:54:13,586
and advertisers to sell soap.

1228
00:54:13,689 --> 00:54:15,793
I don't think it has anything
to do with what the show is.

1229
00:54:15,896 --> 00:54:19,000
"Thirtysomething"
was not a giant hit.

1230
00:54:19,103 --> 00:54:21,965
But it was a niche hit.

1231
00:54:22,068 --> 00:54:25,758
It attracted an enormously
upscale group of advertisers.

1232
00:54:25,862 --> 00:54:28,068
The network cared
who was watching,

1233
00:54:28,172 --> 00:54:29,517
not how many were watching.

1234
00:54:29,620 --> 00:54:31,793
And that was more and more
catching on in the '80s.

1235
00:54:34,827 --> 00:54:37,275
The prosecution will
ask you that you look to the law

1236
00:54:37,379 --> 00:54:40,344
and this you must do.

1237
00:54:40,448 --> 00:54:44,103
But I ask of you that you
look to your hearts as well.

1238
00:54:44,206 --> 00:54:45,448
Thank you.

1239
00:54:45,551 --> 00:54:49,103
"L.A. Law" was partly
a classic lawyer show.

1240
00:54:49,206 --> 00:54:51,551
But it was intertwined
with their personal lives

1241
00:54:51,655 --> 00:54:53,517
and different lawyers
who were sleeping together

1242
00:54:53,620 --> 00:54:55,586
and trying to get ahead.

1243
00:54:55,689 --> 00:54:57,551
The reality level on that show

1244
00:54:57,655 --> 00:54:59,758
was like a foot or two
off the ground.

1245
00:54:59,862 --> 00:55:02,137
And you were willing to go
with that

1246
00:55:02,241 --> 00:55:04,689
because it was a whole new spin
on a law show.

1247
00:55:04,793 --> 00:55:06,241
Unh-unh, tell the truth.

1248
00:55:06,344 --> 00:55:08,344
If you had to do it
all over again

1249
00:55:08,448 --> 00:55:10,068
and she walked into your office
and she said,

1250
00:55:10,172 --> 00:55:11,482
take my case,
would you?

1251
00:55:11,586 --> 00:55:13,000
Well...

1252
00:55:13,103 --> 00:55:17,620
Of course you would, because it
is juicy, newsy, exciting stuff.

1253
00:55:17,724 --> 00:55:19,137
It was really fun

1254
00:55:19,241 --> 00:55:22,137
to take the "Hill Street Blues"
format

1255
00:55:22,241 --> 00:55:25,448
and use it to frame

1256
00:55:25,551 --> 00:55:29,931
an entirely different
social and cultural strata

1257
00:55:30,034 --> 00:55:32,344
with vastly different results.

1258
00:55:32,448 --> 00:55:35,931
I wonder if I might engage
with my client privately.

1259
00:55:36,034 --> 00:55:37,241
Certainly.

1260
00:55:37,344 --> 00:55:41,689
What are you
doing for dinner tonight?

1261
00:55:41,793 --> 00:55:44,517
I was planning on
having you.

1262
00:55:44,620 --> 00:55:46,931
In that case, skip lunch.

1263
00:55:47,034 --> 00:55:49,689
The formula
had gotten established

1264
00:55:49,793 --> 00:55:51,655
of how you can do
a dramatic show

1265
00:55:51,758 --> 00:55:54,413
and yet still have
an awful lot of fun.

1266
00:55:54,517 --> 00:55:57,310
We didn't used to be able
to accept that very easily

1267
00:55:57,413 --> 00:55:58,724
in a TV hour.

1268
00:55:58,827 --> 00:56:01,034
And even before
the '80s are out,

1269
00:56:01,137 --> 00:56:02,517
it's like, "Oh, okay, I get it.

1270
00:56:02,620 --> 00:56:04,793
You know, so it's like, all
right, what are the rules now?"

1271
00:56:04,896 --> 00:56:06,172
- What are you doing?
- I'm doing what I

1272
00:56:06,275 --> 00:56:07,793
should have done all along....should have done all along.

1273
00:56:07,896 --> 00:56:09,206
What I wanted to do originally....do originally.

1274
00:56:09,310 --> 00:56:10,034
What I should have done

1275
00:56:10,137 --> 00:56:10,896
last night.
...last night.

1276
00:56:11,000 --> 00:56:12,172
- Stop that David!
- Stop that David!

1277
00:56:12,275 --> 00:56:14,758
I'm calling the police, David!...the police, David!

1278
00:56:16,034 --> 00:56:17,275
- Hello, police?
- Hello, police?

1279
00:56:17,379 --> 00:56:19,827
The networks realized
there was an audience

1280
00:56:19,931 --> 00:56:21,758
looking for something
less predictable

1281
00:56:21,862 --> 00:56:23,655
than traditional prime-time
fare.

1282
00:56:25,137 --> 00:56:26,620
"Moonlighting"
was another of those shows

1283
00:56:26,724 --> 00:56:28,517
that said, "Okay,
I see the formulas

1284
00:56:28,620 --> 00:56:29,655
that we've had up to here.

1285
00:56:29,758 --> 00:56:31,827
Let's do different things.

1286
00:56:34,896 --> 00:56:35,620
Hello.

1287
00:56:35,724 --> 00:56:37,034
Hello.

1288
00:56:37,137 --> 00:56:39,310
We're looking a little
"pale" [pail] today, aren't we?

1289
00:56:39,413 --> 00:56:40,931
- And who have we here?
- I don't know.

1290
00:56:41,034 --> 00:56:44,103
Moonlighting was a really
experimental show.

1291
00:56:44,206 --> 00:56:46,000
They had a Shakespeare episode.

1292
00:56:46,103 --> 00:56:47,965
They had a black and white episode.

1293
00:56:48,068 --> 00:56:49,827
They did a musical episode.

1294
00:56:49,931 --> 00:56:51,724
They tried a lot
of different stuff.

1295
00:56:51,827 --> 00:56:55,137
I don't give a flying fig
about the lines in my face,

1296
00:56:55,241 --> 00:56:58,517
the crow's feet by my eyes,
or the altitude of my caboose.

1297
00:56:58,620 --> 00:57:01,620
Well, I'm at a loss.

1298
00:57:01,724 --> 00:57:03,551
I don't know what
a flying fig is.

1299
00:57:03,655 --> 00:57:06,689
That's okay, they do.

1300
00:57:08,206 --> 00:57:10,793
There's no trouble on the set.
There is no trouble on the set.

1301
00:57:10,896 --> 00:57:13,517
Well, we have a very
volatile relationship.

1302
00:57:13,620 --> 00:57:15,793
There is a hate/love element
to it.

1303
00:57:15,896 --> 00:57:17,379
Easy come, easy go!
Ha!

1304
00:57:17,482 --> 00:57:18,413
The flirtations were great,

1305
00:57:18,517 --> 00:57:20,137
and Bruce and Cybill were great.

1306
00:57:20,241 --> 00:57:22,655
Glenn Caron kept them apart
for a long time.

1307
00:57:22,758 --> 00:57:24,896
And bravo to him.

1308
00:57:25,000 --> 00:57:28,379
What they did was they took
the Sam and Diane dynamic

1309
00:57:28,482 --> 00:57:30,655
from "Cheers" and escalated it.

1310
00:57:30,758 --> 00:57:32,551
"Cheers" was,
"Will they or won't they?"

1311
00:57:32,655 --> 00:57:35,448
"Moonlighting" was,
"Do they even want to?"

1312
00:57:35,551 --> 00:57:37,068
Stay away from me.

1313
00:57:37,172 --> 00:57:38,620
Here I come.

1314
00:57:38,724 --> 00:57:41,103
But I don't want you.
I never wanted you.

1315
00:57:41,206 --> 00:57:42,241
Yeah, right.

1316
00:57:42,724 --> 00:57:46,068
Does entertaining mean
at some point stopping the tease

1317
00:57:46,172 --> 00:57:47,172
of Dave and Maddie?

1318
00:57:47,275 --> 00:57:48,586
I mean, do they get together
at some point?

1319
00:57:48,689 --> 00:57:50,896
I hope so. Well, that, that's
gonna be resolved this year.

1320
00:57:51,000 --> 00:57:53,137
We like to think of it as two
and a half years of foreplay.

1321
00:57:53,758 --> 00:57:55,000
People who had been watching

1322
00:57:55,103 --> 00:57:57,689
"Moonlighting" for years
were waiting for this moment.

1323
00:57:57,793 --> 00:57:59,379
And your emotions
are already there,

1324
00:57:59,482 --> 00:58:02,206
built onto the emotions that
you're seeing on the screen.

1325
00:58:02,310 --> 00:58:04,896
So when "Be My Baby"
by the Ronettes starts playing,

1326
00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:06,965
it's like a perfect storm
of romance.

1327
00:58:10,931 --> 00:58:14,931
♪ The night we met I knew I

1328
00:58:15,034 --> 00:58:17,620
♪ Needed you so

1329
00:58:28,137 --> 00:58:30,965
In recent years, it seems
that television has become

1330
00:58:31,068 --> 00:58:33,241
a kind of an electronic confessional

1331
00:58:33,344 --> 00:58:35,758
where guests are willing
to expose painful

1332
00:58:35,862 --> 00:58:38,413
and sometimes embarrassing
aspects of their lives

1333
00:58:38,517 --> 00:58:40,793
quite readily
to millions of viewers.

1334
00:58:40,896 --> 00:58:42,758
At the beginning of the decade,

1335
00:58:42,862 --> 00:58:45,275
we get the dominance
of Phil Donahue.

1336
00:58:45,379 --> 00:58:48,827
And that's sort of
a maturation of women's issues.

1337
00:58:48,931 --> 00:58:51,517
And he seemed to talk to them,
in the audience,

1338
00:58:51,620 --> 00:58:53,793
he seemed to talk to them
through the TV screen.

1339
00:58:53,896 --> 00:58:56,137
I'm glad you called.
Kiss the kids.

1340
00:58:57,413 --> 00:58:58,758
We'll be back in just a moment.

1341
00:58:58,862 --> 00:59:02,000
If you look at the body
of work we've had,

1342
00:59:02,103 --> 00:59:05,000
you know, you're gonna see
the '80s there.

1343
00:59:05,103 --> 00:59:06,689
I'm not here to say
you're wrong,

1344
00:59:06,793 --> 00:59:08,482
but let's understand this.

1345
00:59:08,586 --> 00:59:11,206
When you bring a moral judgment
without knowing them,

1346
00:59:11,310 --> 00:59:14,103
against them for the way
that they look

1347
00:59:14,206 --> 00:59:18,931
they feel that confirms
the reason for their rebellion,

1348
00:59:19,034 --> 00:59:20,827
if that's what you
want to call it.

1349
00:59:20,931 --> 00:59:23,448
He really believed
that daytime television

1350
00:59:23,551 --> 00:59:28,379
needed to talk about the ideas
we were thinking about,

1351
00:59:28,482 --> 00:59:30,482
the issues we were
concerned about.

1352
00:59:30,586 --> 00:59:33,068
I don't want to
characterize his question,

1353
00:59:33,172 --> 00:59:34,620
but why don't you get this fixed

1354
00:59:34,724 --> 00:59:36,482
instead of doing
this screwy stuff?

1355
00:59:36,586 --> 00:59:38,344
There's not
a single recorded case

1356
00:59:38,448 --> 00:59:41,724
in history of any transsexual,
that ever,

1357
00:59:41,827 --> 00:59:43,275
through psychological treatment, changed.

1358
00:59:43,379 --> 00:59:45,068
It has never happened yet.

1359
00:59:45,172 --> 00:59:48,344
We were putting very important
people on the program.

1360
00:59:48,448 --> 00:59:50,068
All kinds of people.

1361
00:59:50,172 --> 00:59:52,413
Gay people.
People going to jail.

1362
00:59:52,517 --> 00:59:54,344
People running for office,
you know?

1363
00:59:54,448 --> 00:59:56,000
Sometimes the same people.

1364
00:59:56,103 --> 00:59:58,896
It was a magic carpet ride.

1365
00:59:59,000 --> 01:00:01,517
You really do paint
a very, very grim, picture

1366
01:00:01,620 --> 01:00:05,206
of the sitting President
of the United States.

1367
01:00:05,310 --> 01:00:07,137
Let me just say this--
I think he's probably

1368
01:00:07,241 --> 01:00:09,241
the laziest president
that I've ever seen.

1369
01:00:09,344 --> 01:00:12,965
The audience for Phil Donahue
built and built and built

1370
01:00:13,068 --> 01:00:17,793
and built
and led the way to "Oprah."

1371
01:00:24,379 --> 01:00:26,310
Whoo!

1372
01:00:26,413 --> 01:00:29,413
Hello, everybody. Hello!

1373
01:00:29,517 --> 01:00:33,862
Oprah has a
particularly magical combination

1374
01:00:33,965 --> 01:00:37,206
of her own background,
her own experience,

1375
01:00:37,310 --> 01:00:42,379
her own incisive mind,
and empathetic spirit.

1376
01:00:42,482 --> 01:00:45,034
Thank you. I'm Oprah Winfrey

1377
01:00:45,137 --> 01:00:48,241
and welcome to the very first
national "Oprah Winfrey Show"!

1378
01:00:49,896 --> 01:00:51,620
I was surprised
at the rocket pace

1379
01:00:51,724 --> 01:00:54,931
that "Oprah" took off
because it took us a lot longer.

1380
01:00:55,034 --> 01:00:57,620
The Donahue show rearranged
the furniture,

1381
01:00:57,724 --> 01:01:00,448
but Oprah remodeled
the whole house.

1382
01:01:00,551 --> 01:01:02,689
There are a lot of
other people who are watching

1383
01:01:02,793 --> 01:01:05,551
who really don't understand
what you mean when you say,

1384
01:01:05,655 --> 01:01:07,000
well, you know, we're in love.

1385
01:01:07,103 --> 01:01:09,000
Because I remember questioning
my gay friends saying, you mean,

1386
01:01:09,103 --> 01:01:11,724
like, you feel about him
the way I feel about...

1387
01:01:11,827 --> 01:01:14,655
It's kind of a strange concept,

1388
01:01:14,758 --> 01:01:16,586
you know, for a lot of people
to accept.

1389
01:01:16,689 --> 01:01:19,241
Oprah was connecting
with people in a way

1390
01:01:19,344 --> 01:01:21,310
that no one had on TV before.

1391
01:01:21,413 --> 01:01:24,137
And it was really special
to see.

1392
01:01:24,241 --> 01:01:26,034
Well, did you know
that for the longest time,

1393
01:01:26,137 --> 01:01:27,862
I wanted to be a fourth grade
teacher because of you?

1394
01:01:27,965 --> 01:01:32,206
My, I was not aware
of inspiring anyone.

1395
01:01:32,310 --> 01:01:34,758
I think you did exactly what
teachers are supposed to do.

1396
01:01:34,862 --> 01:01:36,724
They create a spark
for learning.

1397
01:01:36,827 --> 01:01:38,965
That's the reason I have
a talk show today.

1398
01:01:39,068 --> 01:01:42,310
Oprah Winfrey now dominates
the talk show circuit

1399
01:01:42,413 --> 01:01:44,793
both in the ratings
and popularity.

1400
01:01:44,896 --> 01:01:49,206
I want to use my life as
a source of lifting people up.

1401
01:01:49,310 --> 01:01:50,310
That's what I want to do.

1402
01:01:50,413 --> 01:01:52,068
That's what I do every day
on my show.

1403
01:01:52,172 --> 01:01:54,448
You know, we get accused
of being tabloid television

1404
01:01:54,551 --> 01:01:55,827
and sensational and so forth,

1405
01:01:55,931 --> 01:01:58,000
but what I really think we do
more than anything else

1406
01:01:58,103 --> 01:02:01,206
is we serve as a voice
to a lot of people

1407
01:02:01,310 --> 01:02:04,241
who felt up until perhaps
my show or some of the others,

1408
01:02:04,344 --> 01:02:05,448
that they were alone.

1409
01:02:05,551 --> 01:02:08,931
This is what 67 pounds of fat
looks like.

1410
01:02:09,827 --> 01:02:11,793
I can't, I can't lift it.

1411
01:02:11,896 --> 01:02:13,586
It is amazing to me
that I can't lift it,

1412
01:02:13,689 --> 01:02:15,965
but I used to carry it around
every day.

1413
01:02:16,068 --> 01:02:19,344
There's nothing
more endearing to an audience

1414
01:02:19,448 --> 01:02:24,068
than to have that kind of
honest and humility and courage

1415
01:02:24,172 --> 01:02:25,551
on the part of a host.

1416
01:02:25,655 --> 01:02:28,965
And that, I think,
has a lot to do with her power.

1417
01:02:29,068 --> 01:02:30,793
It feels like I can
do some good here.

1418
01:02:30,896 --> 01:02:34,241
And I really do think that
the show does a lot of good.

1419
01:02:37,413 --> 01:02:40,551
American television
is drowning in talk shows.

1420
01:02:40,655 --> 01:02:43,620
But it's never seen anything
like Morton Downy, Jr.

1421
01:02:43,724 --> 01:02:44,862
I want to tell you
this story--

1422
01:02:44,965 --> 01:02:46,379
Sit down and shut up!

1423
01:02:46,482 --> 01:02:47,793
Other competitors come

1424
01:02:47,896 --> 01:02:49,620
and take the television
talk show

1425
01:02:49,724 --> 01:02:51,275
into two different directions.

1426
01:02:51,379 --> 01:02:52,482
So you start seeing
the phenomenon

1427
01:02:52,586 --> 01:02:54,344
of daytime television shows

1428
01:02:54,448 --> 01:02:56,689
becoming less tame
and more wild.

1429
01:02:56,793 --> 01:03:02,241
The '80s brought a lot
of belligerence to television.

1430
01:03:02,344 --> 01:03:04,241
Whether it was
Morton Downey, Jr.

1431
01:03:04,344 --> 01:03:06,482
being the offensive,

1432
01:03:06,586 --> 01:03:09,724
caricature-ish person
that he was,

1433
01:03:09,827 --> 01:03:11,206
or Geraldo.

1434
01:03:11,310 --> 01:03:13,551
He did his own
outlandish things.

1435
01:03:13,655 --> 01:03:15,482
Stay with us ladies
and gentlemen.

1436
01:03:15,586 --> 01:03:18,482
We're gonna get into the mind
of another all American boy

1437
01:03:18,586 --> 01:03:20,310
who came under the influence
of Satanism

1438
01:03:20,413 --> 01:03:23,103
and took part in a crime
without passion or motive.

1439
01:03:23,206 --> 01:03:24,655
Geraldo Rivera
takes the power

1440
01:03:24,758 --> 01:03:26,448
of the talk show
to a whole other level,

1441
01:03:26,551 --> 01:03:29,034
trying to put people on stage
who hate each other,

1442
01:03:29,137 --> 01:03:30,413
who are gonna fight.

1443
01:03:30,517 --> 01:03:32,448
In the case of the temple
of Set and the church of Satan,

1444
01:03:32,551 --> 01:03:35,206
we have not had any problems
with criminal behavior.

1445
01:03:35,310 --> 01:03:39,620
Yet when you hear story after
story after story of people

1446
01:03:39,724 --> 01:03:41,379
committing
these wretched crimes,

1447
01:03:41,482 --> 01:03:43,586
these violent crimes
in the devil's name?

1448
01:03:43,689 --> 01:03:46,241
The more tension there is,
the more conflict there is,

1449
01:03:46,344 --> 01:03:48,724
the more violence there is,
the more the ratings go up.

1450
01:03:48,827 --> 01:03:50,655
And the American people
love to complain about it,

1451
01:03:50,758 --> 01:03:52,103
but they also love to watch.

1452
01:03:52,206 --> 01:03:55,206
Geraldo Rivera is back
in a controversy tonight.

1453
01:03:55,310 --> 01:03:56,586
Rivera drew sharp criticism

1454
01:03:56,689 --> 01:03:59,172
with his recent television
special on devil worship.

1455
01:03:59,275 --> 01:04:02,172
But today he found himself
in a real free for all.

1456
01:04:02,275 --> 01:04:05,172
I get sick and tired of seeing
Uncle Tom here, sucking up,

1457
01:04:05,275 --> 01:04:06,482
trying to be a white man.

1458
01:04:06,586 --> 01:04:08,413
Go ahead, Troy, go ahead.
Now, let me tell you--

1459
01:04:09,551 --> 01:04:10,517
- Sit down, man.
- Hey!

1460
01:04:10,620 --> 01:04:11,620
Come on. No.

1461
01:04:11,724 --> 01:04:13,000
You got it coming.
You got it coming.

1462
01:04:13,103 --> 01:04:14,379
Dude...
Get up and get it.

1463
01:04:14,482 --> 01:04:15,413
Nah.
Hey, hold it!

1464
01:04:15,517 --> 01:04:16,517
Hold it!
Sit down!

1465
01:04:23,310 --> 01:04:24,793
Rivera suffered a broken nose

1466
01:04:24,896 --> 01:04:26,275
but he says the show
will be broadcast

1467
01:04:26,379 --> 01:04:29,310
later this month
in its entirety.

1468
01:04:29,413 --> 01:04:33,172
Well, that's not something,
you know, I would have done.

1469
01:04:33,275 --> 01:04:36,275
But there was a lot
of hypocrisy.

1470
01:04:36,379 --> 01:04:39,448
One of the major magazines
put the picture of Geraldo

1471
01:04:39,551 --> 01:04:41,517
getting hit with a chair
on the cover.

1472
01:04:41,620 --> 01:04:43,172
And the article said,
"Isn't this awful?

1473
01:04:43,275 --> 01:04:44,517
Look what's happened
to television."

1474
01:04:44,620 --> 01:04:46,172
And yet they couldn't wait
to use it

1475
01:04:46,275 --> 01:04:47,689
to sell their own magazine.

1476
01:04:47,793 --> 01:04:49,827
Let's go to the audience,
all right.

1477
01:04:49,931 --> 01:04:51,862
I want to speak to you guys.
You guys are...

1478
01:04:51,965 --> 01:04:53,931
Over the years,
broadcasting has deteriorated.

1479
01:04:54,034 --> 01:04:55,689
And now in this era
of deregulation,

1480
01:04:55,793 --> 01:04:57,103
it's deteriorating further.

1481
01:04:57,206 --> 01:05:01,172
Give people light, and they will
find their own way. Relax.

1482
01:05:01,275 --> 01:05:03,586
America will survive
the talk shows.

1483
01:05:19,517 --> 01:05:21,482
A big thing that changes
in the '80s

1484
01:05:21,586 --> 01:05:23,482
is the number of hours spent
watching television.

1485
01:05:23,586 --> 01:05:24,965
Goes up.

1486
01:05:25,068 --> 01:05:26,655
The number of hours spent

1487
01:05:26,758 --> 01:05:28,448
talking about television
goes up.

1488
01:05:28,551 --> 01:05:30,000
One of the symbols
of this phenomenon

1489
01:05:30,103 --> 01:05:31,896
is "Entertainment Tonight."

1490
01:05:32,000 --> 01:05:35,965
Hi, I'm Tom Hallick and welcome
to our opening night,

1491
01:05:36,068 --> 01:05:38,931
the premiere edition
of "Entertainment Tonight."

1492
01:05:39,034 --> 01:05:42,000
All of the critics
were kind of unanimous

1493
01:05:42,103 --> 01:05:43,586
in that they said,

1494
01:05:43,689 --> 01:05:44,931
"It'll never last

1495
01:05:45,034 --> 01:05:47,689
because there simply isn't
enough entertainment news

1496
01:05:47,793 --> 01:05:49,068
to fill a half-hour every night.

1497
01:05:49,172 --> 01:05:51,862
"Entertainment Tonight"
has surveyed TV critics

1498
01:05:51,965 --> 01:05:53,793
in the United States and Canada

1499
01:05:53,896 --> 01:05:56,758
to find out which television
shows had the most impact

1500
01:05:56,862 --> 01:05:58,413
on viewers over the years.

1501
01:05:58,517 --> 01:06:02,206
Now, up until this time, nobody
had done television like this.

1502
01:06:02,310 --> 01:06:03,655
Nobody.

1503
01:06:03,758 --> 01:06:06,724
Burt Reynolds,
the hottest actor in Hollywood.

1504
01:06:06,827 --> 01:06:07,551
I'm surprised
to see you here.

1505
01:06:07,655 --> 01:06:08,310
Well, I'm glad to see you.

1506
01:06:08,413 --> 01:06:09,413
Well, thank you.

1507
01:06:09,517 --> 01:06:10,586
We can meet here every night
if you'd like.

1508
01:06:10,689 --> 01:06:11,448
Thank you.
I'd love it.

1509
01:06:12,482 --> 01:06:13,620
A lot of what makes

1510
01:06:13,724 --> 01:06:15,413
successful television programming

1511
01:06:15,517 --> 01:06:18,862
is being in the right place
at the right time.

1512
01:06:18,965 --> 01:06:20,413
And it was the right time.

1513
01:06:20,517 --> 01:06:23,241
Entertainment
journalism evolved

1514
01:06:23,344 --> 01:06:26,724
as the audience got more curious
and had more access.

1515
01:06:26,827 --> 01:06:27,931
Until that point,

1516
01:06:28,034 --> 01:06:29,896
the entertainment business
had been something

1517
01:06:30,000 --> 01:06:32,172
that we didn't know
all that much about.

1518
01:06:32,275 --> 01:06:35,103
We could go behind
the scenes in our effort

1519
01:06:35,206 --> 01:06:38,137
to really give
an insider's look.

1520
01:06:38,241 --> 01:06:41,137
The crafty old J.R. of "Dallas"
fame was with his mother,

1521
01:06:41,241 --> 01:06:44,034
actress Mary Martin
as he was presented with a star

1522
01:06:44,137 --> 01:06:45,482
on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1523
01:06:45,586 --> 01:06:48,793
It was very honorific
of the industry.

1524
01:06:48,896 --> 01:06:50,793
They would do serious coverage
of it.

1525
01:06:50,896 --> 01:06:52,827
It wasn't salacious
and you would see actors

1526
01:06:52,931 --> 01:06:56,448
speaking as actors instead of
on a Johnny Carson show.

1527
01:06:56,551 --> 01:06:58,172
What are you like
off camera?

1528
01:06:58,275 --> 01:06:59,965
I'm like this.
Oh, this is on camera.

1529
01:07:00,068 --> 01:07:01,448
This is on camera.

1530
01:07:01,551 --> 01:07:05,137
It was the beginning
of a lot of money being made

1531
01:07:05,241 --> 01:07:08,448
talking about entertainment
and celebrities.

1532
01:07:08,551 --> 01:07:10,551
Robert Redford plays
the good guy in the movies,

1533
01:07:10,655 --> 01:07:12,482
but don't tell that to
his neighbors in Utah.

1534
01:07:12,586 --> 01:07:13,586
They are still bitter

1535
01:07:13,689 --> 01:07:15,620
and Redford is the target
of their ire.

1536
01:07:15,724 --> 01:07:17,862
The audience grew and grew.

1537
01:07:17,965 --> 01:07:19,620
And that was showing us
that the appetite

1538
01:07:19,724 --> 01:07:23,310
for celebrity news was big.
It was big.

1539
01:07:23,413 --> 01:07:26,448
Get ready for "Lifestyles
of the Rich and Famous,"

1540
01:07:26,551 --> 01:07:30,137
television's most dazzling hour
of excitement!

1541
01:07:30,241 --> 01:07:32,413
Hi, I'm Robin Leach in Monaco,

1542
01:07:32,517 --> 01:07:34,862
the glittering gem
of the Riviera.

1543
01:07:34,965 --> 01:07:40,034
And you've got a VIP ticket to
Prince Rainier's private party.

1544
01:07:40,137 --> 01:07:42,724
Your Sunday newspaper
is still delivered

1545
01:07:42,827 --> 01:07:45,000
with the comics around the news.

1546
01:07:45,103 --> 01:07:48,206
And that was what I always
thought "Lifestyles" was.

1547
01:07:48,310 --> 01:07:50,103
We were the comic
around the news.

1548
01:07:50,206 --> 01:07:53,965
Except we did it as seriously
as they did news.

1549
01:07:54,068 --> 01:07:56,655
Finally in the driving seat
of his own career,

1550
01:07:56,758 --> 01:07:59,137
he burned rubber
in a new direction.

1551
01:07:59,241 --> 01:08:01,448
David Hasselhoff-- rock idol.

1552
01:08:01,551 --> 01:08:05,827
It was a time where
pushing the limits with wealth

1553
01:08:05,931 --> 01:08:10,068
and ostentatiousness in a lot
of cases was very comfortable.

1554
01:08:10,172 --> 01:08:12,758
One of the earliest stories
that we presented to you

1555
01:08:12,862 --> 01:08:16,172
on "Lifestyles" was about
the amazing real-estate wizard

1556
01:08:16,275 --> 01:08:17,551
Donald Trump.

1557
01:08:17,655 --> 01:08:19,586
If he didn't shock and surprise
you back then,

1558
01:08:19,689 --> 01:08:22,172
he's had plenty of time since.

1559
01:08:22,275 --> 01:08:25,413
With all of this costing
billions, not millions,

1560
01:08:25,517 --> 01:08:27,172
do the figures
ever frighten you?

1561
01:08:27,275 --> 01:08:28,758
The answer is no.
It's my business.

1562
01:08:28,862 --> 01:08:30,758
It's my life.
It's my lifestyle.

1563
01:08:30,862 --> 01:08:33,379
I love it.
The good, the bad.

1564
01:08:33,482 --> 01:08:36,586
Does this bring with it
political aspirations?

1565
01:08:36,689 --> 01:08:38,655
No political aspiration.

1566
01:08:38,758 --> 01:08:41,931
Bob Brown: Your show has gotten
a lot of ridicule.

1567
01:08:42,034 --> 01:08:45,172
There are people who say
it's nothing more than trash.

1568
01:08:45,275 --> 01:08:46,931
That doesn't upset me
because I think

1569
01:08:47,034 --> 01:08:48,862
it's the best trash
there is on television.

1570
01:08:48,965 --> 01:08:52,068
I am not in the business
of brain surgery.

1571
01:08:52,172 --> 01:08:54,206
I am in the business
of fluff.

1572
01:08:54,310 --> 01:08:55,965
It's the fantasy element

1573
01:08:56,068 --> 01:08:58,103
at a time when the access
is possible.

1574
01:08:58,206 --> 01:09:00,965
It's escapism
and it's aspirational.

1575
01:09:01,068 --> 01:09:03,206
You want to stand in a hot tub
with a glass of champagne?

1576
01:09:03,310 --> 01:09:04,758
Rock on!

1577
01:09:04,862 --> 01:09:08,896
We'd never seen that
kind of wealth ever before.

1578
01:09:09,000 --> 01:09:11,689
We didn't mock it,
we didn't say it was right,

1579
01:09:11,793 --> 01:09:13,551
and we didn't say it was wrong.

1580
01:09:13,655 --> 01:09:16,689
We were just through
the keyhole.

1581
01:09:16,793 --> 01:09:19,310
Sometimes, you know,
it absolutely amazes me.

1582
01:09:19,413 --> 01:09:23,103
I walk away from a shoot and I
think, "Well, we did it again."

1583
01:09:23,206 --> 01:09:25,689
There was more of everything
in TV by the '80s.

1584
01:09:25,793 --> 01:09:28,965
Your opportunities for watching
stuff is increasingly vast.

1585
01:09:29,068 --> 01:09:32,068
NBC presents "Real People."

1586
01:09:32,172 --> 01:09:35,000
My name's Michael B. Wilson.

1587
01:09:35,103 --> 01:09:36,931
The thought dawned on me
that the application

1588
01:09:37,034 --> 01:09:38,655
of a small motor on a pair
of roller skates

1589
01:09:38,758 --> 01:09:40,517
might really be a great thing.

1590
01:09:40,620 --> 01:09:42,655
Somebody once said
that each one of us

1591
01:09:42,758 --> 01:09:44,793
will be a star for 15 minutes.

1592
01:09:44,896 --> 01:09:46,862
And I think that that's
probably going to happen.

1593
01:09:46,965 --> 01:09:49,172
American culture used to
be a culture that celebrated

1594
01:09:49,275 --> 01:09:52,206
privacy and in the 1980s
as we're watching celebrities

1595
01:09:52,310 --> 01:09:56,344
sort of play out onstage,
"Hey, I want to join, too."

1596
01:09:56,448 --> 01:09:59,137
All the world becomes a stage
and you start seeing shows

1597
01:09:59,241 --> 01:10:01,379
like "Real People"
or "The People's Court."

1598
01:10:01,482 --> 01:10:02,620
The People's Court--

1599
01:10:02,724 --> 01:10:06,379
Where reality television
is taken one step further.

1600
01:10:06,482 --> 01:10:09,827
To see more TV, producers had to
come up with

1601
01:10:09,931 --> 01:10:13,241
new and different ways
to give them television.

1602
01:10:13,344 --> 01:10:15,241
Don't. Be. Stupid.

1603
01:10:15,344 --> 01:10:17,241
Carl, get over here!

1604
01:10:19,172 --> 01:10:20,448
I told you
not to be stupid!

1605
01:10:20,551 --> 01:10:23,137
What "Cops" did
was it took away the script

1606
01:10:23,241 --> 01:10:27,275
and just brought the camera
people and the crews on location

1607
01:10:27,379 --> 01:10:29,896
to try and catch
actual things happening.

1608
01:10:30,000 --> 01:10:31,241
Cocaine...

1609
01:10:31,344 --> 01:10:33,551
Possession of
a stolen firearm no less.

1610
01:10:33,655 --> 01:10:35,448
What else are you gonna do?

1611
01:10:49,206 --> 01:10:51,275
With this ring...

1612
01:10:51,379 --> 01:10:52,344
With this ring...

1613
01:10:52,448 --> 01:10:53,172
I thee wed.

1614
01:10:53,275 --> 01:10:54,862
I thee wed.

1615
01:10:54,965 --> 01:10:56,310
With my body...

1616
01:10:56,413 --> 01:10:57,517
With my body...

1617
01:10:57,620 --> 01:10:58,517
I thee bond.

1618
01:10:58,620 --> 01:11:00,137
I thee bond.

1619
01:11:00,241 --> 01:11:03,068
The biggest television
event of the 1980s

1620
01:11:03,172 --> 01:11:05,137
is the marriage
of Charles and Diana.

1621
01:11:05,241 --> 01:11:07,586
It's like the world stopped
when that happened.

1622
01:11:07,689 --> 01:11:09,862
I mean, that was, like,
just massive.

1623
01:11:09,965 --> 01:11:12,137
This was the final act
of a spectacle

1624
01:11:12,241 --> 01:11:15,758
that may never again be seen
in this century, if ever.

1625
01:11:15,862 --> 01:11:17,689
The Archbishop
of Canterbury called the wedding

1626
01:11:17,793 --> 01:11:20,068
of Prince Charles
and Lady Diana Spencer today

1627
01:11:20,172 --> 01:11:21,655
the stuff of fairy tales.

1628
01:11:21,758 --> 01:11:24,068
Good evening.
The royal couple at this hour

1629
01:11:24,172 --> 01:11:25,413
is off on the honeymoon,

1630
01:11:25,517 --> 01:11:27,827
while a lot of people
here in London tonight

1631
01:11:27,931 --> 01:11:30,379
are still talking about
the events of the day.

1632
01:11:30,482 --> 01:11:32,965
When you have great
moments like the royal wedding,

1633
01:11:33,068 --> 01:11:35,379
they're a part of history
and it's done beautifully

1634
01:11:35,482 --> 01:11:37,965
and everybody has a chance
to watch it all on television.

1635
01:11:38,068 --> 01:11:41,793
Everybody just wants to drink
a toast to Chuck and Di.

1636
01:11:41,896 --> 01:11:44,896
A princess who must
now be aware as it was

1637
01:11:45,000 --> 01:11:48,103
on this day that every single
move she makes in public

1638
01:11:48,206 --> 01:11:50,551
will be recorded and observed.

1639
01:11:50,655 --> 01:11:53,482
A very difficult life indeed.

1640
01:11:53,586 --> 01:11:56,068
We'll be back in just a moment
with some closing observations

1641
01:11:56,172 --> 01:12:00,000
and one final look at
what has justifiably been called

1642
01:12:00,103 --> 01:12:01,896
the wedding of the century.

1643
01:12:02,000 --> 01:12:04,896
By the authority
of the state of New York,

1644
01:12:05,000 --> 01:12:08,655
I pronounce that they
are husband and wife.

1645
01:12:08,758 --> 01:12:10,137
You may kiss the bride.

1646
01:12:12,862 --> 01:12:16,137
Your wedding was seen by an
astonishing number of people--

1647
01:12:16,241 --> 01:12:17,931
16 and 19 million viewers.

1648
01:12:18,034 --> 01:12:19,206
How do you account for
that kind of popularity?

1649
01:12:19,310 --> 01:12:21,310
Oh, I can't. I can't.

1650
01:12:21,413 --> 01:12:24,896
The way it's grown, it's just--
it's amazing to me.

1651
01:12:25,000 --> 01:12:28,482
It did appear in
the '80s that it was a good time

1652
01:12:28,586 --> 01:12:29,827
for daytime soap operas,

1653
01:12:29,931 --> 01:12:31,827
especially for a show
like "General Hospital,"

1654
01:12:31,931 --> 01:12:34,689
which had that huge success
with Luke and Laura's wedding.

1655
01:12:34,793 --> 01:12:37,758
I remember
when Luke and Laura got married

1656
01:12:37,862 --> 01:12:40,655
because it was nighttime newsworthy.

1657
01:12:40,758 --> 01:12:45,000
The soap opera discovers
the blockbuster mentality,

1658
01:12:45,103 --> 01:12:46,827
the sweeps month mentality.

1659
01:12:46,931 --> 01:12:50,206
Like, what can we do to get
even more people watching.

1660
01:12:50,310 --> 01:12:52,620
You have a wedding.
You have a kidnapping.

1661
01:12:52,724 --> 01:12:54,206
You have an evil twin.

1662
01:12:54,310 --> 01:12:56,793
And prime time stole
from daytime.

1663
01:12:56,896 --> 01:12:59,655
After "Dallas" proved
that Ewing Oil was better

1664
01:12:59,758 --> 01:13:01,689
than real oil for CBS,

1665
01:13:01,793 --> 01:13:03,862
the networks rushed
to give the public more.

1666
01:13:03,965 --> 01:13:06,965
The great prime-time
soap operas of the 1980s.

1667
01:13:07,068 --> 01:13:10,517
"Dallas," "Dynasty."
They're all about excess.

1668
01:13:10,620 --> 01:13:12,551
This is about being
over the top,

1669
01:13:12,655 --> 01:13:14,172
stabbing each other in the back,

1670
01:13:14,275 --> 01:13:17,137
going for the gusto,
and having fun.

1671
01:13:17,241 --> 01:13:21,103
I know what's wrong with you.
The empty armed Madonna.

1672
01:13:21,206 --> 01:13:23,655
Mourning the baby
that she couldn't have

1673
01:13:23,758 --> 01:13:26,862
and the baby that she
almost got to adopt.

1674
01:13:26,965 --> 01:13:28,344
That is it, isn't it?

1675
01:13:28,448 --> 01:13:31,793
Oh, you miserable bitch!

1676
01:13:36,448 --> 01:13:38,482
There was a bigness
to the stories.

1677
01:13:38,586 --> 01:13:40,517
And that they could afford
to do on a network,

1678
01:13:40,620 --> 01:13:41,862
if you're doing one episode
a week.

1679
01:13:41,965 --> 01:13:43,344
Now you can't do that
if you're doing five episodes

1680
01:13:43,448 --> 01:13:45,689
a week for a daytime show.

1681
01:13:45,793 --> 01:13:49,344
So just the production value
gave it that pizzazz.

1682
01:13:49,448 --> 01:13:52,931
If you can't have it,
watch other people with it.

1683
01:13:53,034 --> 01:13:55,517
Or so say the three networks
who are programming

1684
01:13:55,620 --> 01:13:57,862
nearly 40%
of their prime-time fare

1685
01:13:57,965 --> 01:13:59,620
with series about the very rich.

1686
01:13:59,724 --> 01:14:02,344
And the public is devouring it
at such a rate

1687
01:14:02,448 --> 01:14:05,275
that make believe money
has become ratings gold.

1688
01:14:06,793 --> 01:14:08,689
The characters
were larger than life.

1689
01:14:08,793 --> 01:14:12,620
They were more evil and more
cunning and manipulative.

1690
01:14:12,724 --> 01:14:15,241
And more gorgeous.
I mean, really.

1691
01:14:15,344 --> 01:14:17,413
Look at the way
they were dressed.

1692
01:14:17,517 --> 01:14:20,586
Look at the way they lived.
Everything, it was fascinating.

1693
01:14:20,689 --> 01:14:21,862
- Alexis?
- Yes.

1694
01:14:21,965 --> 01:14:24,206
I didn't thank you
for your present.

1695
01:14:31,310 --> 01:14:34,862
It's he you should
slap, dear, not I.

1696
01:14:34,965 --> 01:14:36,862
Julie Brown: We all wanted
to live like, you know,

1697
01:14:36,965 --> 01:14:39,000
we were on "Dynasty,"
like the Carringtons.

1698
01:14:39,103 --> 01:14:41,827
And it all just ended up
being a wonderful picture

1699
01:14:41,931 --> 01:14:44,551
of fun and debauchery.

1700
01:14:44,655 --> 01:14:47,413
Greed was encouraged
in the '80s.

1701
01:14:47,517 --> 01:14:51,793
There was a sense of conspicuous
consumption as being okay.

1702
01:14:51,896 --> 01:14:53,448
And those shows
kind of exploited that.

1703
01:14:53,551 --> 01:14:55,931
Catherine Mann: Prime-time
families like the Carringtons

1704
01:14:56,034 --> 01:14:58,793
who live here in luxury
on the "Dynasty" sound stage

1705
01:14:58,896 --> 01:15:01,586
are not the only rich folk
on TV.

1706
01:15:01,689 --> 01:15:03,068
In the last five years,

1707
01:15:03,172 --> 01:15:06,172
more than half of all new shows
have featured the wealthy.

1708
01:15:06,275 --> 01:15:08,689
10 years ago,
that figure was zero.

1709
01:15:08,793 --> 01:15:11,620
There was an accident.
Your father's dead.

1710
01:15:12,827 --> 01:15:15,068
Falcon Crest was a wine family.

1711
01:15:15,172 --> 01:15:16,413
There's Lorenzo Lamas

1712
01:15:16,517 --> 01:15:18,724
and there's Ronald Reagan's
first wife,

1713
01:15:18,827 --> 01:15:21,241
Jane Wyman is on that show.

1714
01:15:21,344 --> 01:15:22,896
Emma is pregnant.

1715
01:15:24,655 --> 01:15:26,103
I know a doctor who can
take care of it right away.

1716
01:15:26,206 --> 01:15:28,310
That will never happen.

1717
01:15:28,413 --> 01:15:31,758
All of those shows were,
"Oh, my God, what's next?

1718
01:15:31,862 --> 01:15:34,517
What's gonna happen with that?
He can't get away with that."

1719
01:15:34,620 --> 01:15:36,344
And then you tune in.
It was appointment television.

1720
01:15:36,448 --> 01:15:38,517
What will
become of the missing twins

1721
01:15:38,620 --> 01:15:39,793
on Knots Landing?

1722
01:15:39,896 --> 01:15:40,758
What?

1723
01:15:40,862 --> 01:15:42,689
They all had spin-offs.

1724
01:15:42,793 --> 01:15:44,620
"Dallas" had the spin-off
"Knots Landing."

1725
01:15:44,724 --> 01:15:47,517
"The Colbys" was the spin-off
for "Dynasty."

1726
01:15:47,620 --> 01:15:49,931
They were seeing how much
they could max this stuff out.

1727
01:15:50,034 --> 01:15:51,172
'Cause it was really successful.

1728
01:15:51,275 --> 01:15:53,241
Where's your son Miles?

1729
01:15:53,344 --> 01:15:55,068
Isn't he going to be a part
of this venture,

1730
01:15:55,172 --> 01:15:57,724
or is he just playing polo
as usual?

1731
01:15:59,172 --> 01:16:01,000
The Colbys can always find room
for another trophy.

1732
01:16:02,551 --> 01:16:05,034
You had these people
fighting over oil

1733
01:16:05,137 --> 01:16:09,517
and mansions and it was fantasy,

1734
01:16:09,620 --> 01:16:13,827
but in a kind of
so over the top way

1735
01:16:13,931 --> 01:16:15,620
that it was fun.

1736
01:16:15,724 --> 01:16:19,413
There's nothing devious
about using your femininity.

1737
01:16:19,517 --> 01:16:21,689
These shows took themselves

1738
01:16:21,793 --> 01:16:24,965
so unseriously
that they were camp.

1739
01:16:25,068 --> 01:16:27,586
But that was okay
with the central audience

1740
01:16:27,689 --> 01:16:28,896
that was loving them.

1741
01:16:29,000 --> 01:16:29,965
It was entertainment.

1742
01:16:30,068 --> 01:16:31,724
We weren't trying to do
high drama.

1743
01:16:31,827 --> 01:16:33,620
We were there to entertain.
We were glossy.

1744
01:16:33,724 --> 01:16:35,310
There was no getting around it.

1745
01:16:35,413 --> 01:16:37,448
We knew what we were there for
and we did it as best we could.

1746
01:16:47,620 --> 01:16:49,931
Australia's most
important export

1747
01:16:50,034 --> 01:16:53,172
may be neither its animals
nor its beer nor its films.

1748
01:16:53,275 --> 01:16:55,068
Could in fact be
one Rupert Murdoch.

1749
01:16:55,172 --> 01:16:57,827
55-year-old Mr. Murdoch
is in the midst of building

1750
01:16:57,931 --> 01:17:01,310
what <i>Forbes</i> magazine says is
the most extensive media empire

1751
01:17:01,413 --> 01:17:02,655
in history.

1752
01:17:02,758 --> 01:17:04,586
A huge development
in television.

1753
01:17:04,689 --> 01:17:06,827
The gemini
of the three broadcast networks

1754
01:17:06,931 --> 01:17:08,896
was presumed to be complete
and Rupert Murdoch

1755
01:17:09,000 --> 01:17:11,620
having disrupted the newspaper
business in Australia,

1756
01:17:11,724 --> 01:17:13,000
the television business
in Britain.

1757
01:17:13,103 --> 01:17:14,413
He arrives in America
and basically says,

1758
01:17:14,517 --> 01:17:15,620
I don't really see why
there should only be

1759
01:17:15,724 --> 01:17:16,448
three broadcast networks.

1760
01:17:16,551 --> 01:17:17,448
I'm gonna make another one.

1761
01:17:17,551 --> 01:17:19,724
This was a big, bold bet.

1762
01:17:19,827 --> 01:17:21,482
Meantime,
he will have to become

1763
01:17:21,586 --> 01:17:24,896
an American citizen if he
is to own TV stations here.

1764
01:17:25,000 --> 01:17:27,448
Something Murdoch says
he is willing to do.

1765
01:17:27,551 --> 01:17:29,172
There are some people
who are saying

1766
01:17:29,275 --> 01:17:33,103
that it'll take you 20 years
to get your Fox network

1767
01:17:33,206 --> 01:17:34,724
on a par with the big three.

1768
01:17:34,827 --> 01:17:36,275
Are you prepared
to wait that long?

1769
01:17:36,379 --> 01:17:38,413
Sure, I certainly intend
to live that long.

1770
01:17:38,517 --> 01:17:40,655
But I don't believe
in the 20 years.

1771
01:17:40,758 --> 01:17:43,000
The reaction to Murdoch's idea

1772
01:17:43,103 --> 01:17:46,034
for a fourth network was similar
to the reaction at Ted Turner

1773
01:17:46,137 --> 01:17:48,172
starting CNN.
It's ridiculous, you know.

1774
01:17:48,275 --> 01:17:50,586
What does he know
about television?

1775
01:17:50,689 --> 01:17:53,137
We don't think of ourselves
as ABC, CBS or NBC.

1776
01:17:53,241 --> 01:17:54,413
We don't have to reach everyone.

1777
01:17:54,517 --> 01:17:56,793
There's no question
we have an inferior lineup

1778
01:17:56,896 --> 01:17:58,379
of stations to our counterparts.

1779
01:17:58,482 --> 01:17:59,793
That means we'll all have
to work harder

1780
01:17:59,896 --> 01:18:02,137
to get our-our message across
and get shows sampled.

1781
01:18:02,241 --> 01:18:05,931
They had an idea that,
"In order to succeed

1782
01:18:06,034 --> 01:18:08,068
we have to differentiate
ourselves from the networks.

1783
01:18:08,172 --> 01:18:10,344
We have to do things
they would not do."

1784
01:18:10,448 --> 01:18:12,827
Fox started throwing anything
against the wall,

1785
01:18:12,931 --> 01:18:14,310
not knowing what was gonna go.

1786
01:18:14,413 --> 01:18:17,862
First shows were things like
"21 Jump Street"...

1787
01:18:17,965 --> 01:18:20,310
What exactly are we
looking for here?

1788
01:18:20,413 --> 01:18:21,827
...Joan Rivers
in terms of late night...

1789
01:18:21,931 --> 01:18:24,620
We have been banned in Boston,
which I think is wonderful.

1790
01:18:24,724 --> 01:18:28,448
WXNE, so pick a finger WXNE.

1791
01:18:28,551 --> 01:18:30,275
...and "The Tracey Ullman Show."

1792
01:18:30,379 --> 01:18:33,379
Oh, Polly!

1793
01:18:33,482 --> 01:18:35,758
It was a sketch show

1794
01:18:35,862 --> 01:18:40,758
and they needed something
to go between the sketches.

1795
01:18:40,862 --> 01:18:42,482
And again, they were looking
for something different.

1796
01:18:42,586 --> 01:18:44,482
I gotta have those candy bars.

1797
01:18:44,586 --> 01:18:47,241
You better not be thinking
of stealing those candy bars.

1798
01:18:47,344 --> 01:18:48,413
That's it!

1799
01:18:48,517 --> 01:18:52,206
"The Simpsons"
would never have come along

1800
01:18:52,310 --> 01:18:55,137
had it not been for
"The Tracey Ullman Show."

1801
01:18:55,241 --> 01:18:58,068
Ultimately, crime hurts
the criminal.

1802
01:18:58,172 --> 01:19:01,379
But that's not true Mom.
I gotta free ride home didn't I?

1803
01:19:01,482 --> 01:19:02,241
Bart!

1804
01:19:02,344 --> 01:19:04,241
Fox was thrilled

1805
01:19:04,344 --> 01:19:06,068
that it was different.

1806
01:19:06,172 --> 01:19:07,655
They said, sure,
be experimental.

1807
01:19:07,758 --> 01:19:08,793
Do whatever you want.

1808
01:19:08,896 --> 01:19:10,655
We're just happy to have
a show on the air.

1809
01:19:13,275 --> 01:19:14,724
I'm home!

1810
01:19:14,827 --> 01:19:15,620
"Married With Children"

1811
01:19:15,724 --> 01:19:17,827
was their first big, big hit

1812
01:19:17,931 --> 01:19:20,758
in that way that said
if all the rest of television

1813
01:19:20,862 --> 01:19:23,586
is going this way,
we're going that way.

1814
01:19:23,689 --> 01:19:26,862
Bud, Kelly, you want to come
down and help me in the kitchen?

1815
01:19:31,034 --> 01:19:34,724
There, that should buy us
about 10 minutes.

1816
01:19:34,827 --> 01:19:38,413
7 more than we'll need.

1817
01:19:38,517 --> 01:19:40,448
The title of
"Married With Children"

1818
01:19:40,551 --> 01:19:42,689
on the script
was "Not The Cosby Show."

1819
01:19:42,793 --> 01:19:45,275
How great. I mean, you know,
you have to love that.

1820
01:19:45,379 --> 01:19:48,137
They just were taking the piss
out of American families.

1821
01:19:48,241 --> 01:19:49,551
Fun, great fun.

1822
01:19:49,655 --> 01:19:50,965
Hurry up Bud.

1823
01:19:51,068 --> 01:19:52,206
Never wanted to get married,
I'm married.

1824
01:19:52,310 --> 01:19:53,551
Never wanted to have kids,
I got two of them.

1825
01:19:53,655 --> 01:19:55,448
How the hell did this happen?

1826
01:19:55,551 --> 01:19:58,448
The Bundys were almost like
a purposeful reaction

1827
01:19:58,551 --> 01:20:00,724
to the perfection
of the Huxtables.

1828
01:20:00,827 --> 01:20:01,931
And it was funny because,
you know,

1829
01:20:02,034 --> 01:20:04,275
you had this wonderful,
perfect black family

1830
01:20:04,379 --> 01:20:06,275
and these horrible,
miserable white people.

1831
01:20:06,379 --> 01:20:07,931
And each show worked
on its own terms

1832
01:20:08,034 --> 01:20:10,379
because you could find things
to relate to in both.

1833
01:20:10,482 --> 01:20:11,758
Howdy neighbor.

1834
01:20:11,862 --> 01:20:12,758
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1835
01:20:12,862 --> 01:20:14,275
I hate these people.

1836
01:20:14,379 --> 01:20:15,758
Why don't we sit down?

1837
01:20:15,862 --> 01:20:18,862
There was a lot of fun to be had
in, you know, Al and Peg Bundy.

1838
01:20:18,965 --> 01:20:22,448
After Fox introduces
"Married With Children,"

1839
01:20:22,551 --> 01:20:25,448
it does very, very well,
then back on ABC,

1840
01:20:25,551 --> 01:20:28,586
they came up with another
major hit, "Roseanne."

1841
01:20:28,689 --> 01:20:30,241
You think this is
a magic kingdom

1842
01:20:30,344 --> 01:20:32,241
where you just sit up here
on your throne.

1843
01:20:32,344 --> 01:20:33,310
Oh yeah?

1844
01:20:33,413 --> 01:20:34,689
Yeah! And you think
everything gets done

1845
01:20:34,793 --> 01:20:36,172
by some wonderful wizard.

1846
01:20:36,275 --> 01:20:38,137
Oh, poof,
the laundry's folded.

1847
01:20:38,241 --> 01:20:39,689
Poof,
dinner's on the table.

1848
01:20:39,793 --> 01:20:42,137
You want me to fix dinner?
I'll fix dinner.

1849
01:20:42,241 --> 01:20:43,448
I'm fixing dinner!

1850
01:20:43,551 --> 01:20:48,137
Oh, but, honey, you just
fixed dinner three years ago.

1851
01:20:48,241 --> 01:20:49,965
Typical American families

1852
01:20:50,068 --> 01:20:52,344
weren't on television
for the longest time.

1853
01:20:52,448 --> 01:20:54,724
The Donna Reed days, you know,
the early days,

1854
01:20:54,827 --> 01:20:57,862
the "Father Knows Best," hardly
anybody really lived like that.

1855
01:20:57,965 --> 01:21:00,620
That was the way advertisers
wanted you to live.

1856
01:21:00,724 --> 01:21:02,827
I know what just might
make me feel better.

1857
01:21:02,931 --> 01:21:05,034
Me too, but I bet
it's a different list

1858
01:21:05,137 --> 01:21:06,206
than what you got.

1859
01:21:06,310 --> 01:21:08,827
The ideal situation
is if you can subvert

1860
01:21:08,931 --> 01:21:11,862
whatever common stuff
is said about families

1861
01:21:11,965 --> 01:21:13,103
and about parenting.

1862
01:21:13,206 --> 01:21:15,241
What's in this, lead?

1863
01:21:15,344 --> 01:21:17,724
Oh, I got you kids
new leg irons.

1864
01:21:18,862 --> 01:21:21,793
Her loudness
and her unfilteredness

1865
01:21:21,896 --> 01:21:23,758
were key to why we liked her.

1866
01:21:23,862 --> 01:21:25,827
She was saying stuff
about working class people,

1867
01:21:25,931 --> 01:21:28,068
she was saying stuff
about men and women.

1868
01:21:28,172 --> 01:21:30,862
So it was about marriage
and about raising kids

1869
01:21:30,965 --> 01:21:32,275
and about how hard it is.

1870
01:21:32,379 --> 01:21:35,068
Oh, great, I'm just gonna
look like a freak, that's all.

1871
01:21:35,172 --> 01:21:35,896
What else is new?

1872
01:21:36,000 --> 01:21:37,551
Shut up!

1873
01:21:37,655 --> 01:21:40,620
This is why some animals
eat their young.

1874
01:21:40,724 --> 01:21:45,172
TV in the '80s was a big decade
for the evolution of comedy,

1875
01:21:45,275 --> 01:21:47,103
for the evolution of drama.

1876
01:21:47,206 --> 01:21:49,137
It just pushed everything forward.

1877
01:21:49,241 --> 01:21:50,793
Do you think perhaps
this generation

1878
01:21:50,896 --> 01:21:53,344
are paying more attention
to the dialogue,

1879
01:21:53,448 --> 01:21:56,000
to the relationships
that they see on television

1880
01:21:56,103 --> 01:21:57,689
than in years previous?

1881
01:21:57,793 --> 01:22:00,896
Well, clearly the people
that are watching our shows are.

1882
01:22:01,000 --> 01:22:03,827
And "Thirtysomething"

1883
01:22:03,931 --> 01:22:06,724
and "Cheers"
and "St. Elsewhere."

1884
01:22:06,827 --> 01:22:09,965
These are shows
that are smartly written.

1885
01:22:10,068 --> 01:22:12,344
It's their words
that define them.

1886
01:22:12,448 --> 01:22:15,000
And I think that's
what people like.

1887
01:22:15,103 --> 01:22:16,689
What we're supposed to be here

1888
01:22:16,793 --> 01:22:18,586
is the one thing
people can trust.

1889
01:22:18,689 --> 01:22:21,172
If you go out there
like a bunch of night riders,

1890
01:22:21,275 --> 01:22:24,793
what the hell are you but just
another vicious street gang?

1891
01:22:24,896 --> 01:22:27,724
That decade spawned
an extraordinary number

1892
01:22:27,827 --> 01:22:32,931
of shows that really carved out
a unique niche for themselves.

1893
01:22:33,034 --> 01:22:36,517
We began to turn television
into an art form.

1894
01:22:36,620 --> 01:22:39,689
And for the first time,
people were proud to say,

1895
01:22:39,793 --> 01:22:41,689
"I write for television."

1896
01:22:41,793 --> 01:22:45,448
Up until that point,
television was second class.

1897
01:22:45,551 --> 01:22:48,172
In the '80s,
it was something else entirely

1898
01:22:48,275 --> 01:22:50,931
and it was new and it was
kind of interesting.

1899
01:22:51,034 --> 01:22:53,448
It's like everyone in the '80s

1900
01:22:53,551 --> 01:22:55,241
starts to want to tell
their stories.

1901
01:22:55,344 --> 01:22:57,758
That's what really changes things.

1902
01:22:57,862 --> 01:23:00,827
The unexpected
was more welcome in the '80s.

1903
01:23:00,931 --> 01:23:03,931
Predictability lost its cache.

1904
01:23:04,034 --> 01:23:08,275
Television has an impact
on every era, every decade.

1905
01:23:08,379 --> 01:23:11,448
Television still shapes
the thinking of America like

1906
01:23:11,551 --> 01:23:12,793
no other element
in our country.

1907
01:23:12,896 --> 01:23:15,965
Sometimes for the better,
sometimes for the worse.

1908
01:23:16,068 --> 01:23:20,379
It gave rise to people
pursuing artistic content

1909
01:23:20,482 --> 01:23:24,379
in a way that I think has raised
the bar in television production

1910
01:23:24,482 --> 01:23:25,793
exponentially.

1911
01:23:25,896 --> 01:23:27,965
I love you guys!

1912
01:23:28,068 --> 01:23:30,275
There's a shift
in the '80s from just wanting

1913
01:23:30,379 --> 01:23:33,344
to placate the audience
to wanting to please

1914
01:23:33,448 --> 01:23:34,827
and challenge the audience.

1915
01:23:34,931 --> 01:23:36,586
And that's the decade
when it happened.

1916
01:23:36,689 --> 01:23:39,344
We had one hell of a run.
Didn't we partner?

1917
01:23:39,448 --> 01:23:41,206
Yeah. We sure did, sonny.

1918
01:23:41,310 --> 01:23:43,344
I'm gonna miss you man.

1919
01:23:43,448 --> 01:23:46,310
I'm gonna miss you,
too, sonny.

1920
01:23:46,413 --> 01:23:50,551
Can I give you a ride
to the airport?

1921
01:23:50,655 --> 01:23:51,655
Why not?