Tonight is the first of three debates between presidential candidates Sen. John McCain and Barack Obama. The debate lineup will also include one meeting between vice presidential candidates Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin.
The first televised presidential debate took place in 1960 between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QazmVHAO0os
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Eight years after Nixon lost to Kennedy, he and Vice President Hubert Humphrey, as the major presidential candidates of 1968, were the first people interviewed for a new CBS news magazine program called "60 Minutes." The original hosts were Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner - both of whom have gone on to journalism immortality, along with Morley Safer, Ed Bradley, Steve Kroft and Lesley Stahl. Other prominent correspondents have included Dan Rather and Diane Sawyer.
Safer, who has been a "60 Minutes" correspondent since 1970, Kroft and Stahl are still part of the program, along with Bob Simon and Scott Pelley, and sometime correspondents, including Anderson Cooper, Lara Logan and, once in a while, Wallace. Also, commentator Andy Rooney has been part of the program since 1978.
Broadcasting & Cable had a special report on the program in its Sep. 20 issue:
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6597840
And when CBS celebrated its 75th anniversary, the program featured a tribute (The YouTube clip obviously came from a local station....):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPkiJSAy8Go
So Happy 40th to 60 Minutes. Long may it tick.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Week of Sept. 19: Oh, Mr. Grant! And Emmy Stuff
Mary Tyler Moore and Betty White will be presenters at this Sunday's Emmy Awards, a good excuse to go back and look at one of the all-time great television sitcoms.
Hulu has the first three seasons of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show":
http://www.hulu.com/the-mary-tyler-moore-show
"The Lars Affair," in which Betty White made her debut as Sue Ann Nivens, the Happy Homemaker with more than a touch of arsenic, would be shown in Season 4, but here's a YouTube clip about the character:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t-jpYWNaKw
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Speaking of Emmys, did you know that Betty White's first Emmy nomination came in 1951? That's one of the fun facts you can find out by looking at the database of past Emmy awards:
http://cdn.emmys.tv/awards/awardsearch.php
Enjoy the Emmys! And until next week, Happy Viewing!
Hulu has the first three seasons of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show":
http://www.hulu.com/the-mary-tyler-moore-show
"The Lars Affair," in which Betty White made her debut as Sue Ann Nivens, the Happy Homemaker with more than a touch of arsenic, would be shown in Season 4, but here's a YouTube clip about the character:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t-jpYWNaKw
*****************************
Speaking of Emmys, did you know that Betty White's first Emmy nomination came in 1951? That's one of the fun facts you can find out by looking at the database of past Emmy awards:
http://cdn.emmys.tv/awards/awardsearch.php
Enjoy the Emmys! And until next week, Happy Viewing!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Week of Sep. 12: A Look Back At Murphy Brown
Diane English's version of "The Women" is in theaters this week. So it's a good time to take a look at English's best-known creation - "Murphy Brown," which ran on CBS from 1988-98.
The show starred Candice Bergen in an Emmy-winning and truly star-making role as the title character, a newswoman ("Mike Wallace in high heels") who is a recovering alcoholic - out of the Betty Ford Center as the series begins. Murphy Brown is one of the correspondents of "FYI," along with anchor Jim Dial (Charles Kimbrough), daredeveil Frank Fontana (Joe Regalbuto) and former beauty queen Corky Sherwood (Faith Ford). The executive producer is 25-year-old Miles Silverberg (Grant Shaud). They all hash out life at the bar Phil's (Pat Corley played Phil.). Murphy comes home to a townhouse being remodelled by rebel Eldin Bernecky (Robert Pastorelli). During the course of the series, Murphy lost her mother (played by Colleen Dewhurst, who died in real life) and had a baby, and Corky got married and divorced. The series poked fun at two targets that are lots of fun to poke at - politicians and the press.
Sadly, only the first season of this very funny sitcom has been released on DVD so far - presumably because of music rights issues (The introductions frequently had Motown songs.) -but YouTube has tons of clips.
The show was never funnier than when it poked at the dumbing down of television news. Here is a link to a clip from the first season, when Murphy and Corky filled in on a morning show for a week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFOAbZ83alY
There is also the famous/infamous episode, "You Say Potato, I Say Potatoe," filmed after then-Vice President Dan Quayle decided to take issue with fictional Murphy becoming a single mom. Here's the link to the first part of that episode, and the rest is available at the same page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btgn3qUD8Q8
Sorry to say, there are no clips from what was probably my favorite episode, Season 2's "Brown and Blue," when an offensive comedian (played by Michael Chiklis of "The Shield") tests Murphy's patience and Miles' bleeper.
After the contretemps with Quayle, the show slowly began to lose steam; the brightest spot was Garry Marshall's spot-on network executive, which he later said he'd based on real-life executives. Shaud would leave the show, to be replaced by Lily Tomlin, the gifted comedienne who has developed a reputation for joining series after they've peaked (The West Wing). Pastorelli, who sadly died of a drug overdose in 2004, also left before the series took its last bow.
Here's hoping the music issues can be worked out, and more seasons of this very funny series can be released on DVD.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
The show starred Candice Bergen in an Emmy-winning and truly star-making role as the title character, a newswoman ("Mike Wallace in high heels") who is a recovering alcoholic - out of the Betty Ford Center as the series begins. Murphy Brown is one of the correspondents of "FYI," along with anchor Jim Dial (Charles Kimbrough), daredeveil Frank Fontana (Joe Regalbuto) and former beauty queen Corky Sherwood (Faith Ford). The executive producer is 25-year-old Miles Silverberg (Grant Shaud). They all hash out life at the bar Phil's (Pat Corley played Phil.). Murphy comes home to a townhouse being remodelled by rebel Eldin Bernecky (Robert Pastorelli). During the course of the series, Murphy lost her mother (played by Colleen Dewhurst, who died in real life) and had a baby, and Corky got married and divorced. The series poked fun at two targets that are lots of fun to poke at - politicians and the press.
Sadly, only the first season of this very funny sitcom has been released on DVD so far - presumably because of music rights issues (The introductions frequently had Motown songs.) -but YouTube has tons of clips.
The show was never funnier than when it poked at the dumbing down of television news. Here is a link to a clip from the first season, when Murphy and Corky filled in on a morning show for a week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFOAbZ83alY
There is also the famous/infamous episode, "You Say Potato, I Say Potatoe," filmed after then-Vice President Dan Quayle decided to take issue with fictional Murphy becoming a single mom. Here's the link to the first part of that episode, and the rest is available at the same page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btgn3qUD8Q8
Sorry to say, there are no clips from what was probably my favorite episode, Season 2's "Brown and Blue," when an offensive comedian (played by Michael Chiklis of "The Shield") tests Murphy's patience and Miles' bleeper.
After the contretemps with Quayle, the show slowly began to lose steam; the brightest spot was Garry Marshall's spot-on network executive, which he later said he'd based on real-life executives. Shaud would leave the show, to be replaced by Lily Tomlin, the gifted comedienne who has developed a reputation for joining series after they've peaked (The West Wing). Pastorelli, who sadly died of a drug overdose in 2004, also left before the series took its last bow.
Here's hoping the music issues can be worked out, and more seasons of this very funny series can be released on DVD.
See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Week of Sep. 5: TV and the 49th and 50th States, and A Shout-Out To Cheers
Each presidential ticket has someone from either Alaska (Sarah Palin) or Hawaii (Barack Obama), so this week's look is at television shows from those states.
Alaska: There's really only one, and it's "Northern Exposure," the story of a New York doctor who went to Alaska. It ran on CBS from 1990-95, and during its glory years, starred Rob Morrow and Janine Turner. Here's a fan site with details:
http://www.moosechick.com/
The series is available on DVD, with cool packaging for individual seasons and the series.
Hawaii: "Lost" is filmed there now, of course. Shows that have been shot there include "Jake and the Fatman," "Baywatch Hawaii," "One West Waikiki" and more. ("Hawaiian Eye" was actually filmed in Hollywood, but did feature native Hawaiian Doug Mossman, who was also featured in the shows I'll mention below.)
Two shows stand above all the others, however:
*"Magnum, P.I." --Ran on CBS from 1980-88, starring Tom Selleck in his Emmy-winning role as Naval intelligence officer turned private investigator Thomas Magnum, as well as Texan John Hillerman as the very British Jonathan Quayle Higgins, Larry Manetti as Rick and Roger E. Mosley as T.C. Too many classic episodes to mention, with stars that included Carol Burnett, Eugene Roche, and Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. The show was the first hit of the Donald Bellisario dynasty that also includes "JAG" and "NCIS." But Magnum wouldn't have gotten very far without:
*"Hawaii Five-O" --The granddaddy of them all ran on CBS from 1968-80 and starred Jack Lord as Five-O's chief Steve McGarrett, James MacArthur as second-in-command Dan Williams (from the second episode through the end of the 1978-79 season), Kam Fong as Chin Ho Kelly (1968-78), Zulu as Kono Kalakaua (1968-72), Al Harrington as Ben Kokua (1972-75) and Herman Wedermeyer as Duke Lukela (1971-80). A bridge between the "Dragnet"-style police shows of the 1950s and 60s and more introspective shows like "Cagney & Lacey" and the current format favored by "Law & Order." Creator Leonard Freeman proved that Hawaii could shine on a weekly television series, and the series brought the role of Lord's career.
*********************************
A note that the 10th season of "Cheers" is available on DVD. "Cheers" ran on NBC from 1982-93 and produced, in my opinion, an even better spinoff, "Frasier."
Here's a link to the great theme song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD8ljNobUys&feature=related
By the way, Nicholas Colasanto, who played "Coach" until his untimely death in 1985 also has a Hawaii Five-O link, having directed a few early episodes. He was a prolific director as well as actor.
Assuming that my computer has power after Hurricane Ike's planned assault, see you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing and may the hurricanes miss you!
Alaska: There's really only one, and it's "Northern Exposure," the story of a New York doctor who went to Alaska. It ran on CBS from 1990-95, and during its glory years, starred Rob Morrow and Janine Turner. Here's a fan site with details:
http://www.moosechick.com/
The series is available on DVD, with cool packaging for individual seasons and the series.
Hawaii: "Lost" is filmed there now, of course. Shows that have been shot there include "Jake and the Fatman," "Baywatch Hawaii," "One West Waikiki" and more. ("Hawaiian Eye" was actually filmed in Hollywood, but did feature native Hawaiian Doug Mossman, who was also featured in the shows I'll mention below.)
Two shows stand above all the others, however:
*"Magnum, P.I." --Ran on CBS from 1980-88, starring Tom Selleck in his Emmy-winning role as Naval intelligence officer turned private investigator Thomas Magnum, as well as Texan John Hillerman as the very British Jonathan Quayle Higgins, Larry Manetti as Rick and Roger E. Mosley as T.C. Too many classic episodes to mention, with stars that included Carol Burnett, Eugene Roche, and Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. The show was the first hit of the Donald Bellisario dynasty that also includes "JAG" and "NCIS." But Magnum wouldn't have gotten very far without:
*"Hawaii Five-O" --The granddaddy of them all ran on CBS from 1968-80 and starred Jack Lord as Five-O's chief Steve McGarrett, James MacArthur as second-in-command Dan Williams (from the second episode through the end of the 1978-79 season), Kam Fong as Chin Ho Kelly (1968-78), Zulu as Kono Kalakaua (1968-72), Al Harrington as Ben Kokua (1972-75) and Herman Wedermeyer as Duke Lukela (1971-80). A bridge between the "Dragnet"-style police shows of the 1950s and 60s and more introspective shows like "Cagney & Lacey" and the current format favored by "Law & Order." Creator Leonard Freeman proved that Hawaii could shine on a weekly television series, and the series brought the role of Lord's career.
*********************************
A note that the 10th season of "Cheers" is available on DVD. "Cheers" ran on NBC from 1982-93 and produced, in my opinion, an even better spinoff, "Frasier."
Here's a link to the great theme song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD8ljNobUys&feature=related
By the way, Nicholas Colasanto, who played "Coach" until his untimely death in 1985 also has a Hawaii Five-O link, having directed a few early episodes. He was a prolific director as well as actor.
Assuming that my computer has power after Hurricane Ike's planned assault, see you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing and may the hurricanes miss you!
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