our world d will lookk like in n another 1010, 20, a huhundred yearars, where we willll go from h here, they y . no onene does. we jusust don't knknow where e ai will tatake us. [music p playing] tonighght televisision takes s a look at t itself. what's on the idiot box? it's only an idiot box if an idiot is watching it. asner: i'll tell you about the golden age of television. thisis period inin time will be looked upon as the platinum age. lear: our obligation is to entertain, anand if we'veve left somethino think k about, so o much the b .

kunta. kunta kinte. televisionon should nonot be jujust entertainment. charges were leveled at the commerercial televevision netw. congress has no right interfere with the media. well, excuse m me! we havave a respononsibility to give e the audienence what it tuned in to see.

ththe years ofof the '60s,, which h end in a f few hours, have a bad reputation that is not entirely justified. some things got worse, obviously, but tv and other news coverage is better, not worse. we simply developed more demanding standards. when i think of tv, i think of the '70s. whwhat is thisis d coming to?o? the american public was hungry for more. what was allowowed that hadn't bebeen before?e? it was t the last dedecade whe it wasas a campfirire televisi, wherere there wawas one in the liviving room.. i i want to wawatch an allll-blk shshow for a c chan. where you gonna find one? here's one -- the los angeles lakers against the milwaukee bucks. bianculli: young people were interested in relevant things, and so television began to reflect that.

man: this s is cbs. really it was very simple -- you had three channels, and plplus pbs. ken: when the decacade turnrned over ininto the '70, television was very rural. cbs had d "beverly h hillbilli" "grereen acres."." "petticoatat junction"n" and te kind of f rural fantntasies ofof mayberry y as a -- the hihillbilly shshows wewere everywhwhere, and then thehey weren't.t. elana:a: fred silverman, who ws running programming at cbs, said we're gonna get rid of the shows that are the most highly rated, and replace them with shows that they thought would bebe more appepealing to that yoyounger audidience. they changed the face of television. mymy name is n norman leara. until 1971, he was a very successful, if largely unheralded producer/writer in hollywood. but then he burst upon the public consciousness when he took on bigotry with his "all in the family." gilligan: norman lear and bud yorkin created absolutely iconic shows.

shshales: theyey revolutioiond not only cbs, but all of american television. our world d is comingg crumblining down. the coons are coming. to use language like that on tv was just unheard of, but it really captured a certain moment. archie, 12% of the population is black. there should be a lot of black families living out here. yeah, this is only a beginning, but i think it's wonderful. well, let's see how wonderful it is when the watermelon rinds come flying out the window. it scared me when i first saw "all in the family" a little bit. i thought, "they better be careful." lelear: ththere was nono doubt in n myd the american people were gonna accept it. do you havave a quick k answer fofor the peopople who sayay the show reinforces bigotry, and you know that charge started from the very beginning? yes, my quick answer is no. everybody was gonna see something they knew damn w well wawas going onon, and i thinink that's s surpris. archie: edith, we're out of toilet paper. no we're not. i bought some yesterday. it's in the closet in the kitchen. i ain't in the kitchen.

oh! hearing a toilet flush for the first time was a big deal and mamade headlinines. [ toilet flushes ] archie: what's this country coming to, anyhow? what is it, archie? bad news? what else? we get out of vietnam or something? don't be a wise guy, huh? i wasn't gonna play around with "mom dented the car, now how are we gonna k keep dad from fininding out a about it" not when i i see everyrything that's's going aroround in o our countryry. just because a guy is sensitive, a-and he's an intellectual and he wears glasses, you make him out a queer. i never said a guy who wears glasses is a queer. a guy who wears glasses is a four-eyes. a guy who's a fag is a queer. elana: "all in the family" did something really new for television. it put before the american public archie's f friend, whwho was veryry masculinen, and who happened to be gay. how long you known me? 10, 12 years? yeah. in all that time, did i ever mention a woman? oh, come on, steve.

nixon objejecting to t the sho- that w was a badgege of hono. anand it was r really cultltuy on point e every time.e. for a sitcom -- that wasas unheard o of. 1, 2, 3. [ camera shutter clicks ] lear: i wanted to do an episode where somebody could give archie what he earned. shut up,p, all of yoyou! shh.h. archie: we created a character that could really let him have it. maude! i'm only here because of edith. the fact that you happen to be here with her is beyond my control... like any other freak of nature. lear: before that show was off the air, fred silverman was on the telephone with me saying, "there's a show in that woman." [ telephonone rings ]] hello? no, this is not mr. findlay.

it's mrs. findlay. yeah, mr. findlay has a much higher voice. now, get your coat and come on. what makes you think you can order me around like that, henry? you're my wife. that gives me the right. when he says "wife," he means possession. so what, maude? you've told me a hundred times you want to feel possessed. walter findlay, i never said that standing up, and you know it. gilligan: norman lear and bud yorkin really turned the spin-off series into an art form. man: norman lear hates to hear it called "the lear factory." all his series come out of this building, allowing lear to move from show to show like a dervish. "good times" was like, "holy smokokes, there's black pepeople on tvt" ththere had nenever been a completete black famamily on tv before witith the fathth. hanks: what made it so unique and universal was that we have the same problems in our household, and we do not live in the projects in chicago. dy-no-mite! you want to worry your head about nothing, go on and do it. but we got $32 in the shoebox, and i got another $6 right here in my pocket.

you worked all night, and all they paid you was $6? there were a lot of folks who were not happy with the show. the e black pantnthers werere very upseset. lear: when huey newton came to see me, the big complaint was, "why can't we see a black man ththat's doingng better ththan " "the jeffersons" started as neighbors of archie bunker. don'n't call me e honky! oh! why you so sensitive all of a sudden? how would you like it if i called you "nigger"? [ gasps ] he called me "nigger." that's no worse than "honky." you're right. nothing's worse than honky except being married to one. norman lear set the stage for other shows in the '70s ththat just brbrought gravavs toto televisioion. what are you staring at? i was just thinking, i'd bring my neighbor's kids over here. this place is better than the zoo.

ken: on saturday nights, the cbs lineup in the early '70s was amazing. connelly: 8:00 -- "all in the family," 8:30 -- "m-a-s-h," 9:00 --- "the m mary tyler r moore sho" you u had ththe "the bobob newhart s sh" anand it endeded with "the carol b burnett varariety " at 1 10:00. they used to call it murderers' row.

ken: people had no dvrs, they had no vhs, they had nothing with initials, so people e would stayay home on saturdaday nights. ththey wouldn'n't go to ththe m. they wouldldn't go to o restaur. that may be the best night of television in all of f televisionon histo. connellyly: mary tylyler mooe was a sisingle woman woworking as a an associatate pr on a n nightly tv v show. you knowow what? you got spspunk. well, , yes. i hahate spunk! there wewere a lot o of young wn enentering thehe workplacece , and for sosome of themem, mary tylyler moore was likeke a port ofof entry. i'm doing g as good a a job asas he did. betterer. betterer. and i'm bebeing paid l less ththan he was s because.... you're a w woman. the telelevision fememale coululd be a herero. she could be thehe main evene. read i it? all l right. out loud! asnener: the firirst script t wn allan buburns and jijim broos

had mary c coming toto minneapololis divorcec, and,d, oh, very y quickly cbcbs, "no, no,o, no, no."" elana: at the begeginning of f the dec, divorce e was consididered sosomewhat scacandalous. connellyly: she wentnt on dats with a a lot of guguys, but ththe guys weren't rereally imporortant. we seememed to be hihitting it , and i jujust thoughtht -- you just t thought. she's s not obsessssed with f finding a h husband. don't t forget to take yoyour pi. i won't.t. i won'. haharper: thisis was aboutut pe copiping with onone another, and ththe workplacace was s like a famamily. i told ted to close with the copy for sue ann.n. oh, my god. what's wrorong? i i told the p projectionint it w was the othther way aror. oh, , my god. lolocal pig fafarmers servrved e today y that risining corn pris are forcining them to o find or means s to feed ththeir stoc. hehere's one p pig thatat doesn't s seem to noto. just l look at herer gobble p that s slop.

startiting tomorrorow, we'll e presenenting a newew feature o , "dining g out wiwith sue annnn nivens." harprper: ononce jim brorooks said t to, "i know ththere's a woworld ofof comedy inin my wife's's p. i jujust can't a access it." we'v've got to f find some f fe writers fofor this show. did you crcrash ththe men's roroom? of course e not. i i went as sosomebody's g gu. man: whyhy do you ththink itit's such a a winner? i think k because of the casasting, and i think because of the writingng. they donon't sacrififice the e characterr for r the sake of a gooood jo. ththat effort t to keep the femamale sensibibility is whahat made itt authenentic and gogood. people w would say, , "you're t likeke me and mymy girlfriene" how can yoyou gorge yoyoursef like that and d stay so skskin? i'm m going cry withth hunger. well, eaeat somethining. i can't.t. i gotta l lose 10 p pounds by 8 8:. frfreddie silvlverman, hehead of the e network atat th, said, , "valerie, , listen, i'm goining to spin n you of, and d i thought,t, "oh, my y god, i'm f fired,"

because spinin-off is a a tem thatat was origiginated in t th. if we're gonna start living together, we gotta t tell eachch other eveverything. okayay, joe, i want to o be married. rhododa and joe'e's weddingg becameme a huge nanational eve. 52 milillion peoplple tunened in to sesee that. suddenenly rhoda's's in a hapappy relatioionship, and ththey didn't t know whwhat to do w with that.. thenen they had d to have her get t divorced to tryry to rebootot the sho. why did d you marry y me? justst answer meme that. why didid you marrrry me? you madede me marry y you. i feel so o funny. just a m matter of t trust. [ giggggles ] oh, shshe's not gonna dodo it. rhoda: butut, doc, whwhere does t that leave e us, and where e do we go from herere? that, we'l'll have to o discus in futurure sessions. the e '70s also o had this therapeueutic overlalay. hi, bob! oh, hi, , bob. hi, bobob! hello? we decideded to make h him a psycychologist. you u seemed to o have run ot of t things to s say. why don't we pray?

yeah, let's pray for the end of this session. i didn't know anything about therapy prior to that. i'm from the planet blothar. it's's in the gagaldou galaxaxy. how w -- how lonong are youu going g to be in t town? i didn't w want to do o a shw where we h had childreren. i didn't w want to bee the dudumb dad. sit, w whitey. howardrd, i don't t care wherere we eat. i i just don't want toto make anyny more decicisions. pepeople will l say, "gee, my d and i usused to watctch this s, and itit was greatat." and d then you r realize you're parart of peoplple's li. [ "suicicide is paininless" pla] ththe '70s wasas the era w we a a certain arartistry devevel. gilligan:: "m-a-s-h-h" really c changed many peoeople's percrception ofof what a sisitcom cann b. a sitcomom could be e cinemat. ken: "m-a-a-s-h" was s shot like e a, and "m"m-a-s-h" wawas maybe

the singlele most uniqique situtuation comemedy ever. i have a h headache, a tremendodous headachche. it goes alall the way y down toto my waist.t. gilligan:: the telelevision sereries "m-a-" had d one thing g the movie, inin my estimamation, did d , whicich was hearart. therere are certrtain ruless about t a war, and rurule number r one is y young men d di. rurule number r two is dococs cacan't changege rule numbmber. farrell: i it was abouout kor, but we w were talkining about anand doing ththings ththat had to o do with vivie, and evererybody knewew it. man:n: rolling. . action. hawkeye: war isn't hell. war is war, and hell is hell, and of t the two, war is a a lot worsese. we had 3 30 million n people a k wawatching "m-m-a-s-h." have you e ever reallyly consididered the f foot? yeah, , but i prefefer girls. better n not bump ininto heny and thatat general. i intend only to bump into o nurse bakeker, rerepeatedly i if possiblel. prograram and pracactices -- these wewere peoplee who o would go t through thehe s and say, "you can't't use this s word" we felelt like we e were inin the midstst of a batttt. this is frfreedom of s speec.

at the senenate hearinings on t television n violence t t, strong charges were leveled at the commercial television networks. the broadcasting industry now stands charged with having molested the minds of our nation's children to serve the cause of corporate profit. the family hour was established by the three networks and the federal communications commission in response to complaints of too much sex and violence on early-evening television. wallace: the family hour, the two hours from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., during which parents and children are supposed to be able to watch television without being made to feel uncomfortable. so it just seemed altogether unfair, and we sueued. family h hour is undnder attak from s some producucers, unio, and others in the television industry. they have filed a lawsuit to have it abolished. brown: as those scheduled to testify arrive, like grant tinker and allan burns of mary tyler moore enterprises, they pass through a picket line protesting the hearing. congress has no right whatsoever

to interfere in the content of the media. alda: if you can censor a joke today, then tomorrow you can censor the expression of any thought if you can censor a joke. it just becomes easier the next day. brinkley: a federal judge in los angeles ruled the so-called "family hour" on television from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. was unconstitutional, a violation of the first amendment guarantee of free speech. the first amendment was upheld in a most important decision, and it's really, truly a victory for everybody.

"thehe rookies"" will n not be seenen tonigt so that we may bring you the following special program. grimsby: tonight television takes a look at itself. we are looking at what you watch most of the time, entertainment programming on the three commercial networks. what are you looking at, and is it good for you? somewhere around the middle or late '70s, it's like people got tired of talking about real stuff. well, , if the gooood lord prprovided us s with berriries, i think we ought to eat them. connelly: there was a longing for a simpler time when it didn't seem like there was so much anger and contentiousness, when people weren't so m mad at e each other.r. grimsby: dururing last s seas, "t"the waltonsns" caught on. girl: good nightht, john-boyoy. jojohn-boy: gogood n. this year there'll be more nostalgia and wholesomome family drama. now that dinner's over, let's try out the piano. okay. i i am taking g requests.. [ plays s flourish ] ]

♪ sununday, mondaday, happy d ♪ i created d "happy dayays" not t what a famamily reallyly. i thought t it would b be god ifif there werere some famamis that didndn't get didivorced. oh, , you guys are realally m-- wow! itit wasn't byby accidentt everybybody on "hahappy days" hugs eacach other. itit wasn't byby accidentt everybody in t the familyy ate e at the same time at the same table. shales: it w was a sweetet tender shw in the v vein of " "american g graffiti."" looking baback on thatat era ofof the '50ss withth a certainin affection. ay-y-y!! abc wanteded fonzie's s "ay-y" to comompete direcectly with j jimmy "j.j.j." walkers "dy-nono-mite!" 'cause i i'm the fononz! ay-y-y-y! catchphrasases were bibig. sit on it,t, marvin! sit onon it, marvivin! sit t on it, howoward. dodoes anyone e say, "t"thank you, , arnold"? no. you know w what they s say? sit onon it, arnolold. sisit on it, a arnold. ththat's what t they say.. you watctch fonzie,, and you u just want t to be fon. [ snaps fifingers ] aww.

hey,y, girls. knock yoururselves outut. i'm rereally sorryry. it w was a slip p of the fini. it's a a fantasy of what t teen life e could b. hey, d defazio! they're hehere. all right.t. mwah! lavernrne. thisis is lavernrne defazio.o. she's s mine. and d this is shshirley feenen. shshe's yours,s, as you cacan. ninice to meetet you, ririchie. my pleasasure. marsrshall: whwhen lavernene and shirlry made a a guest appppearance, one ofof the camereramen sai, "l"look at thihis two-shoto. thatat's a serieies." schlemiel!l! schlimazezel! hasenpfefferer incorporarate. wallace: t tuesday nigight betwtween 8:00 a and 9:00 is calalled the dedeath spot - dedeath to anyny program that dareses to go heaead-on against abc's "happy days" and "laverne & shirley." "laverne & & shirley"" was onone of the f few sitcos that ever r debuted asas number. the ababsolute topop number-onow this seasoson is "laverne & shirley," a seemingly harmless, but essentially brainless exercise in adolescent silliness.

you have to go all the way back to "i love lucy" to g get the samame sort off slapststick and phphysical com. i meanan, we neverer thoughght about itits importan, except that, you know, it was two girls trying, and the value of f friendship. itit must haveve somethingg going g for it. i don'tt vo-deeee-oh-doe-d. you vo-deeee-oh-doe-dodoe. i don'n't vo-d-dee-oh-doe-e. ththey couldn'n't say "sexe" so t they said " "vo-dee-oh-h-" you vovoe-dee-oh.. everybody y knew whwhat they wewere talkingng a. once.. my s son didn't t watch "laverne & & shirley"" or "hahappy days."." i saidid, "you donon't like i" he says, " "i like it,t, but whwhat's missising? spspacemen!" 'cause we were getting into space. and so that's when i created a spaceman. whoo-oo-o-oo! wait a mininute. whwho are you?u? i am mork k from ork.. the wrwriters all l rolled their eyeses. "a"an alien? he wantsts an alien.n." i i had to makake up a stotor- fonzie's's running o out of advdversaries.. that's rigight. fonznzie's neverer lost a.....y.

and we gotot the home-e-planet adadvantage. then we e got him onon his own , and "morork & mindy"y" was ththe hip showow of the '70s. [ [ thunk! ] shazazbot! ah! hah!h! rosesenthal: the audienence -- talklk about a w willing suspensionon of disbelelief - is willingng to buy ththe premi. mimind if i dodo? ...jusust so they y can watch robin wiwilliams. [ burps ]] nana-nu! na-nunu! well, excucuse me! burton: ththat was an n interesg partrt of the babalance, i t t, ofof the televevision diete. that thehere was an n attempto explorore deeper i into the pse of w what makes s us tick. bubut there wawas also, yoyou , a need t to escape.. i'm going to a beach barbecue. uh-huh. i can see what's gonna heat up the coals. wallace: if there's any single phenomenon that has tilted the rating book in abc's direction, it's "t" and "a." herb jacobs, at the cbs affiliates meeting, he explained to us how these "t"-and-"a" shows are concocted. and they take their clothes off three times, they get ideas, and then they want to have to run two or three times,

so they jiggle, and all are well-endowed, of course, and then they say, "now, let's get three undress scenes and three jiggles, and write a script around it." wallace: there are some who will tell you that "t" and "a" has peaked and is on its way out. but abc has shows like "the love boat" anand "three's's company."" connelly: "jiggle tv" referred to the fact that these were women who were -- you know, who -- who were, you know... [ [ laughs ] chcharlie: good mornining, angelsls. angels: good morning, charlie. ken: "charlie's angels" became a very enduring trademark out of thehe '70s. chcharlie: i've alreaeady made ararrangems for yoyou three toto go to pri. opopen your totowe. i'llll be standiding as e erect as evever. good l luck, angels. farrell: oh, god, i did "battle of the network stars" a couple of times, and i hated it. i thinink i made u up some prey gogood time onon billy cryrys. connelly: networks would loan out their tv stars to compete in a series of quasi-olympic type events. cosell:: she's leaning so far over in the boat, she seems to be wobbling a great deal.

erin gray with that lithe, supple body. crystal: [ laughs ] she's got a great set of legs. what the heck! i think that we have a lot to apologize for with t the worst o of televisi. my only dedefense was,s, it was t the '70s. [ laughshs ] did i i jiggle mucuch? [ [ laughs ] enh.....live and l learn.

publblic televisision has ben expepected to dodo a great d . almost half of non-commercial program hours are aimed at children. and it has come to be so many things to so many people. burton: the pbs children's programming in the '70s became the platinum standard on the planet for how you use this medium to educate k kids. ♪ wouldld you be mimine? could you be mine? ♪ ♪ won't you be my neighbor? ♪ burton: it was fred rogers who made it okay to speak to an audience of kids like they were human beings. there are some thingngs that ae very d difficult t to understd in a newspaper. gilligan: every now and then i think back to mr. rogers, and i think, "he would say, 'don't be scared, lilife is goodod, life is s spe" everybody is so special because everybody is different. just go and do the thing that you love, and ththat always s stuck with. see e you tomorrrrow.

♪ could you tell me how to get, how to get to sesame street? ♪ "sesame street" introduced my children to the interaction of people with different backgrounds. ♪ it's not bad being, being green ♪ john john: count this penny. count that penny? yeah, count it. okay. count it. one. bianculli: "sesame street" was aggressive in terms of learning not only concepts of reading, but concepts of interacting. i may be small... all: i may be small... ...but i am... ...but i am... ...somebody! ...somebody! "sesame street" was, you know, as big as it got in terms of celebrity. everybody wanted to hang with the muppets. aren't you johnny trash? cash. cash. cash. [ thunk ] educational children's television really matured in the '70s. i'i'm leaving.g. whew! i love you. i love you, too. oh, thanks. and now for something completely different.

rosenthal: when i was 13, this show from england came on pbs, which before that was only the realm of my parents. ugh! what do yoyou mean, ugugh? i don't like spam! and suddenly they're doing the most outlandish, racy, non sequitur type of humor... [ squawk! ] ...and killing me, the 13-year-old. itit's extraorordinary whahatu can't dodo on american television. i think you can do it on pbs, and that's why i hope you all watch it. come at me with that banana! come on, attack me with it! come on! aaah! [ gunshot ] and so you have this generation of comedy nerds who don't even know that they're c comedy nerdrd. this parrot is no more. it has ceased to be. bianculli: "monty python" turned out to break so many rules. i mean, it changes everything. just like with the beatles, you can say, "oh, they came after the beatles." you look at "saturday night live," you look at "sctv" -- oh, afteter -- afafter "montyty python."" beginning g on octoberer the 1, saturday night will open up a whole new live venture

from new york city. we just happen to have the producer of the program, members of his company. what should we look for on your program? anxiety. sepinwall: lorne michaels, this canadian comedy producer, was given free rein... hihi. i'm lornrne michaelsl, the producer of "saturday night." sepinwall: ...and he ultimately winds up hiring a bunch of improv comics. rehearsasal of warmumups. let't's do 20 faface-slaps.. come on.n. slap. come o on, make itit hurt. george cararlin was the first t host, and wawanted to bebe a permrmanent hostst. nice to see you. welcome. and thanks for joining us live. there were a lot of names bandied about in tererms of a pepermanent ho. shales: that's one of those tv rules that you mustn't break until you do, and then you realize, why y don't you u have a different host every week? but it was the cast that finally won the people's hearts. come o on, who isis this? man: candygram. aah! no! you got that? you cut your own steaks! we give you the sauce! i'm barbara wawa. thank you. thank you. thank you very much. you're beautiful. you're beautiful. thank you.

shales: you were drawn to the tv set because you knew something insane might happen... live! live! live from new york! ...partly because it was live, but partly because you knew television was now in the hands of the television generation. ♪ nbc, smart as a peacock ♪ and these were "kids" who just might do anything. yes, having sex with women! the president, within these very walls. that never happened when dick nixon was in the white house. it was counter television, and that's partly what made it attractive. no problblem. hanks: every one of their episodes became worthy of talmudic study, if that's the word. klklein: when n i hosted,, lorne calleded me into h his ofe and said, "you realize the kids are the stars. the host wasn't nearly as impactful... thatat's not quiuite it. uhuh... ...because the thing was all the rage. [ [ melody plalays ] bianculli: they called themselves "the not ready for prime time players," not because they felt they weren't good enough, but because they felt they were too good.

gogood eveningng. i'm chchevy chase,e, and you're not. chevy chase became an instant star. our totop story totonig. [ shouting ] our top story tonight... ...president ford flew to paris for a summit conference... ...president ford flew to paris for a summit conference... ...and boy, are his arms tired. ...and boy, are his arms tired. chevy chase was on the show for one year. carson: arare you sorrrry you t "satururday night t li? i'm deeply, deeply sorry. [ laughs ] miller: chevy decided that he was too big for the show, and so he left. in some ways chevy leaving after the first year was a blessing because e it showedd that " "saturday n night liv" was going to do much more than survive. ♪ there are some things that just aren't explainable ♪ hello, i'm bill murray. you can call me "billy," but around here, everybody just calls me "the new guy." when chevy chase leaves, bill murray comes in. come on.n. okayay, all of i it in. murray: cut! cut! makeup, can we get in here, please? sorry, fellas. i mean, that just opened up other doors, and "saturday night live" was just kind of taking off.

two wild and crazy guys! super bass-o-matic '76. you'll never have to scale, cut, or gut again. "dear roseanne rosannadanna..." [ greek accent ] cheeseburger! cheeseburger! cheeseburger! back to graduation! no! where do we come from? france. jane, you ignorant slut. it was the show for us. it was the show about us. miller: you wanted to be a part of it. it was inextricably linked with the times. ththat's the n news. gogood night.. and have a pleasant tomorrow.

[ alarm rings ] monday! monday! monday's the greatest day of the week! hanks: throughout high school, there was one show that was religious broadcasting that you had to watch 'cause if you didn't see it, yoyou wouldn't have anything t to talk abobout for r all of tueuesday anand most of f wednesdayy and a bibig part of f thursda. why? b because mononday nights nfl fofootball nigight, that's'. [ theme music plays ] "monday night football" got its start on september 21, 1970, with the cleveland browns hosting the new york jets. welcome to abc's monday night prime time national football league television series.

jackson: and this game is under way on abc. ohlmeyer: frank was there to do play-by-play. don was there to do replays and provide some humor to the telecast. and howard was there to be the straw that stirred the drink. let's hearar it! cocome on! letet's go! letet'! bianculli: the pairing of howard cosell with don meredith is a classic sitcom odd-couple kind of pairing. miller: you couldn't help but be swept up by what those guys were saying. the booth itself was almost like a variety show. we have ouour extra here witith us this s evenin. i've called it a traveling freak show, and it really was kind of a -- and the head freak was howard, ain't no question about that. connelly: the tension between the two of them made for the kind of thing you just wanted to see every week. professiononal footbl is rapapidly growiwg into a very big business. you understand football? our football? not what they call football in europe. i like to watch it, but i don't understand too much. would you like to learn more about it? ohlmeyer: we were on a mission that took us very close to saying, "screw the football fan bebecaue hehe's gonna c come anywaya"

what we neneeded to dodo was apappeal to wowomen. we needed to appeall to thehe casual fofootball fa. that's w why we stararted tetelling storories -- to h humanize ththe players. joe namamath, one ofof the great of all time, unfortunately, his legs do not go with that arm. ohlmeyer: there's things that people associate with. recognize this fellow? what's been your view of this american professional football scene? it's an amazing event and sights. it makes rock concerts look like tea parties. i'd like to have your job and be a sportscaster. connelly: that show became, week after week, one of the most highly rated shows in america. ♪ turn out t the lightsts, the e party's ovover ♪ it showed that football was an entertainment experience on par with any primetime show you could imagine. maybe it was better becacause you dididn't knoww how itit was gonnana end. "60 minutes" decided to peer into the electronic future to take a look at what may be in store for television viewers in the decade of the '70s.

it is television by cable, a communications revolution that could radically alter our way of life. mesce: cable, for a quarter of a century, there's nothing distinctive about it. it's just a way for you to get what everybody else can already get. and that's the way it is up until... welcome to home e box office subscription television. ...hbo debuts november 8, 1972. and it is not an overnight success. presentingng the pennsnsylvana polka feststival. mesce: and the oft-repeated saying was, getting people to pay for tv will be like getting them to pay for air. shales: saturday mornings, they would play band music, and you'd see slides of nothing -- i don't know. memesce: nonobody knew w what you c cou. nobody knew what you couldn't do, but you were desperately trying not to be commercial television. how much time we got? ladies and gentlemen, robert klein. klein: the beauty of it was, you didn't have to pack everything quickly. you could d warm up and get toto know, and take the stage, so to speak. the talk shows are okay, you know? i do "the tonight show." i sit, come in, i have to be funny in a hurry.

i get so little time, 6 minutes, and boom-boom-boom. it wasn't this contrived -- it was a full-throated performance. this is not regular television. it's subscription. you can say any-- [bleep] mesce: because you're not using public airwaves, the fcc can't regulate your content. i ununderstand y you had two orgasmsms yesterdaday. can you tell us about them? mesce: hbo gave cable something to sell. you were getting movies uncut in your home, alall the naugughty bits i in. and then september 1975, we debut coast to coast with "the thrilla in manila," one of the all-time classic heavyweight fights -- frazier/ali -- and that's when hbo explodes. man: it's all over, and muhammad ali at the end of the 14th round... mesce: before that, you're counting growth in tens of thousands of subscribers. after that, you're counting in millions. that's really day one for both businesses --

hbo o and the cacable industs. if you're a fan, what you'll see in the next minutes to follow may convince you you've gone to sports heaven. miller: in the mid-'70s in the sports world, there were just these three giants -- cbs, abc, nbc. and then in connectiticut, sosomebody got a holold of a a transpondnder. ththe picturee you'rere watching g right now has been taken by a camera sent through some sophisticated equipment to this earth transmitting station. miller: this guy, bill rasmussen, who had been fired from his job and just trying to figure out a way to deliver local cable sports. then when they found out about the satellite, they said, "so, can we e cover the whole e state?" and ththe guy lookoked and he e, "no, you d don't undererstand" shales: "for another 25 cents or whatever, you can send this all over the country." and they went, "oh, gee, why would anyone want to do that?" they didn't quite know what they had. and he wound up revolutionizing television sports. welcome, everyone, to the espn sportscenter.

from this very desk in the coming weeks and months, we'll be filling you in on the pulse of sporting activity, not only around the country, but around the world, as well. miller: they didn't have the money to go out and buy baseball games or nfl games. what they did do was they took all the leftovers out there. i'm joe boyle, and i'll be handling the play-by-play for tonight's game between the badgers and the blue demons. that gave birth to arguably the greatest media success story of all time. at its b best, cacable televivision couldld pe a refreshing relief from the trend toward bigness, toward centralization. at its worst, cable tv could invade our privacy, tranquilize our children, remove us electronically from the flesh-and-blood world, and we'd have to pay for the privilege. the question is, indeed, will the miracle be managed?

i'm a little anxious, i'm a little excited. i'm gonna be emotional, she's gonna be emotional, but it's gonna be so worth it. i love that i can give back to one of our customers. i hope you enjoy these amazing gifts. oh my goodness. oh, you guys. i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets. you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity.

[ thememe music plplays ] bianculli: the best thing pbs did for adults in the '70s was the miniseries -- the idea of novels for telelevision. goodod evening.. i'm alalistair cooke. we're at the ninth episode of "i, claudius." we ought to put up a sign, "discretion is advised." i was not allowed to watch it 'cause it had the nudity in it. i veryry much wantnted to. sepipinwall: ratather than ty to c come up with a show that would run for years and years,

it was this idea that here is a limited story, we're e gonna tellll it inin "x" numbeber of episoso, and lelet's just d do this oe self-contained thing. we all did things during the reign of my mad brother that we might not otherwise have done. bianculli: it looks cheap. it was the script and the performances that mattered. in other words, it could be good for you, but it was fun at the same time. the e miniserieses is such a ae success fofor public t televis. abc was the e network that hit golold wiwith "rich manan, poor man" you can n tell a storyry that isisn't controlllled by the cl. characacters can g grow and che anand differ. hey...i want to talk to you. about what? about making an honest man out of me. it's a subject i rarely discuss in the nude. what we saw in the '70s was that the big-event television, if it was done right, and if it was compelling, the audienence kept onon comingng back and d back. bianculli: here you have topics that start to get serious and important and groundbreaking for television. karl: there's no life left here, and i don't want harm to come to you because of me.

i won't -- i won't listen to this. [ gunshots ] the majority reaction to the "holocaust" program has been positive. it has not been without debate. bianculli: with "holocaust," "the heat was you shouldn't even touch this subject. it's disrespectful." but finally the thinking was, "no, to not talk about it would be disrespectful, to not pererpetuate ththe memy for anotheher generatition, so if you're too young to know, here's a depiction. [ speaking german ] francis: not since the war have emotions been so high in germany. the "holocaust" telecast caused heated discussion. its most tangible political effect was shown when the german legislature debated the search for nazi war criminals. "holocaust" made it easier for lawmakers to vote to continue the hunt for nazis. klein: holocaust brought it home. it made it real even though it was a hollywood creation. sunday night, "roots" begins in eight parts on abc.

if it sounds like i'm plugging it, i am. basically, television will never be the same again. there was really no bigger television event than roots. itit was baseded on a 197676 k by alex hahaley about his family in africa and coming to america as slaves and what happens to them as the centuries go on. i will g go to my grgrave belieg thatat "roots" i is america'a's. it's's not justt black k america's s story. we migight have cocome over in the b bottom of t the shi, but wewe all came e over on sh. your name e means "statay put," but it d don't meann stay a s slave. as a 19-9-year-old k kid, you k, "r"roots" was s my first j j. we'r're not chilildren. we'r'ry closose to being men, yobototo. man: what's your name? kuntnta. kunta k kinte. the character that i got to portray in "roots," kunta kintnte the adulult, was s a dream rorole. buburton: itit was realllly ingeniouos to cast all of america's's favoritete televisioion dads

in the roles of the white slalave ownerss and ththe villains. i'llll be by to o fetch youu in the m morning, cacaptain. slsleep well.. it is difffficult to e explan in today's's culture how unprecedented "roots" was. no one had ever seen the story of slavery before, told from the point of view of the africans. [ [ indistinctct singing ] bianculllli: it mayay be the fifirst time ththat televisision allowewd an e embracing o of black prp. then we's free. we's free, honey. onone of the r reasons thahat "" was soso incrediblbly popular is n not becausese abc had d so much fafaith in it, but bebecause abc c didn't. burton: earlier miniseries were broadcast in weekly installments, and the abc executives determined that if "roots" were to fail, they couldld just be d done witt in s seven or eieight nights. connnnelly: it was higigh risk, hihigh rew. ifif it didn't't work, you were o out a lot o of tv t, and not mamany people e watchi. man: the television premiere on eight consecutive nights

attracted the largest audience in history of the medium. there's something about it that seems to touch all human beings. it transcends age and race. burton: : entertainmnment was e in h humanity, and i think that's the primary value is t to lead humumanity forwr. if t there's a l legacy of televisision in thehe '70, it's that you matter. lear: while there's a lot going on in the world, televivision was a a reminder rw much little things mean to us, ththe smallestst of situatati. rosenthal: no matter what the subject matter was, it wanted to include you. you're in the family. don't make fun of the outsider. include them. its legagacy is look how l long it's l laste. ththose shows,s, they're a at pepeople who w were kind a and. ththey were nonot meanan-spirited d shows. buburton: therere was a certan elegance to that.

i kind of miss it. oh, it w was so delilicious. five diffeferent flavovors. anyway, archie was sitting at another table with ethel and jefferson pratt. remember him? anyway, archie was trying to get my attention, so first he put two straws in his nose like a walrus. and then he... goldman:n: rock is p probably the most i important cultural e event inin the history of america, and out swarmed a whole generation of freaks. itit's what guguys seemem to get ofoff on, they like this high-energy sort of event. cornelius: and if the sight and sound of soul is your pleasure, you can bet your bottom, we got 'em baby.