>> the average time spent watching television is five to six hours per day. >> let's change the channel. >> we want to rap about our -- >> here is the news. >> we must give the american viewers what they deserve. >> television has grown faster than a teenager and now it is time to grow up. ♪ ♪

the tv was the center of the

house. i don't remember a time without tv. >> by 1960, essentially every household in america had a television. it was a new way of bringing the world to you. >> when something big happened on television it really did happen to the entire country and impacted the entire country at the same time. >> keep an awakened eye on the world. >> suddenly television was the main event. everything else changed even the way you went about the business of getting someone elected president. >> david, would you hit the one-minute button. 30 seconds and the cut please. >> in 1960 the nixon-kennedy debate was a first in television.

a lot of people were watching that night and it introduced a lot of people to kennedy. >> the tight shot on camera one. >> hear me now speaking in is that about the right tone of voice. >> good evening, the television and radio stations of the united states and their -- >> when the networks offered a debate, kennedy immediately said yes because he was sure he could do better than nixon. >> i think mr. nixon is an effective leader of his party. i hope he would grant me the same. the question before us is which point of view and which party do we want to lead the united states. >> mr. nixon do you have a comment on that statement? >> i have no comment. >> if you are live on television and there is a camera right here there is no place to hide. once you see a guy sweating when asked a question, are you sure he is the leader for you? >> that the question before the american people and only you can decide what you want this country to be and what you want to do with the future. i think we're ready to move. >> if you saw it on television, clearly kennedy won that debate. >> it was the beginning of a new form of political craftsmanship.

you could structure the message appropriately for the tv camera you were in and if you couldn't, you were toast. >> please give a warm hand to mr. john kennedy. >> may i ask you a tough question right off the bat? >> whether i'm democrat or republican? >> television was now the medium that mattered. it wasn't before 1960 and it was every day after 1960 after those presidential debates. >> try to find a western. >> once everyone had a tv set in their living room and advertisers got a grip of how effective a way it was to sell products what you were doing is

trying to create entertainment that would appeal to as many people as possible. >> eat your brussels sprouts. >> i can't. >> no excuses. >> "leave it to beaver" was something that a lot of families understood. it's the first show that was ever shot from the perspective of a child. >> beaver. >> most people have had a lot of the experiences that the beef or wally had and everyone in their life has an eddie haskell. >> some dumb kid fell in his soup. >> good evening, mr. cleaver. some poor unfortunate child is trapped up there. >> everyone has that moment when they were so embarrassed and

thought they would never get over it but they did. >> tonight's special report from the scene of the 1961 emmys. >> whether it's a situation comedy or western or drama, i think it's the quality of the show itself that's important. >> the "andy griffith show" a kinder, gentler place. >> the core of the "andy griffith show" was this rock at the center of it. wisdom. >> i have taken parts of the people i know in my life and put them into andy taylor. i hope there comes a time when you have to stop the play acting and tell the truth. >> don't you believe me, pa? don't you, pa? >> people appreciate emotional honesty. they appreciate it more than laughs. it's great the you can achieve

both simultaneously and the "andy griffith show" did that often. for a sitcom it shows unexpected depth. >> the second dance number should come before the big sketch. >> i don't know. >> i like it. >> now i like it. >> me too. >> now i like it too. >> what do you know? look at that tie you're wearing. >> i only wrote what i knew about which was my life. and if you're writing about that, nobody can say that's not true. it is true, i'm living it. >> on the "dick van dyke show" we could relate to them because these are real people. >> women are -- >> honest and direct. >> no. >> courageous -- >> we all have the same needs, feels, relationships with husbands and wives. that's the comedy we did, the problems of living. >> how much do you like that baby? >> don't tell me you are jealous already.

>> the season opening episode for the 1963 season was seared into my head. >> our wives had a baby in the same day and the hospital was very busy. >> they thought they got the wrong baby from the hospital. so he calls the parents of the other kid and thinks you know, we may have your kid and you may have our kid. >> hi, we're mr. and mrs. peters. >> come in. >> mrs. peters, won't you come in? >> it was beautiful. absolutely beautiful. here they're tackling a subject without tackling it. >> why didn't you tell me on the phone.

>> miss the expression on your face? >> the network worried about the fact that the african-americans might be upset by it. the network was always a little behind. there is always somebody back there who doesn't have b-a-double l-s balls. >> in the hollywood, the co-writer, carl reiner, "dick van dyke." >> i wish somebody had told me. i would have worn my hair. i would have worn my hair. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. i just talked to ups. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like smart pick ups. they'll only show up when you print a label and it's automatic. we save time and money. time? money? time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! (all) awesome! i love logistics.

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real funny one, go ahead, start, say it. >> knock, knock. >> who is there? >> there was only three networks, there was only one late night show, really, jack parr -- >> they don't understand what -- how we do this show. we just keep talking with no script. >> i know, it is agony. >> jack parr invented the late night television talk show. >> you feel confident? there is not a man in the world to beat me. i'm as good as liberace. >> jack had in his corner his personality. his fabulous, complex, frightening, neurotic, but in other cases, enthusiastic,

informed personality. it made for great television. >> how much time have i done? >> i don't have a watch either. how much? has it been charming? i'll quit now, then. >> here's johnny! >> johnny carson inherited "the tonight show" but he made it his own. >> it is going to be wild tonight, i can always tell. >> he hosted a nightly party. >> are you married? >> oh. >> and if his buddies came, and they started playing together you felt like what it must have felt like to go to las vegas at 3:00 a.m. and have the rat pack come out. >> no, but where is the guy you talk to? >> it was a beautiful thing to watch a guy working at his best. >> okay. bingo. get your axe and let's go. [ laughter ] >> if you watch it closely, he is gauging how much longer he can wait to let the laugh die before what he says will be irrelevant to what happened. and he gets it just on the nose. it is beautiful to watch. >> i didn't even know you were jewish! >> johnny was the best audience

in the world. and he loved comedy. >> the woman is watching him from the corner of her eye and says to him what are you looking at? the guy says i'm looking at that ugly baby. that's a bad-looking baby, lady. >> johnny was there listening for you. he wanted you to score. and when you scored, he scored. >> i said now calm down. he said madam, the pennsylvania railroad will go to any length

to avoid having differences between the passengers. perhaps it would be more of a convenience if we rearranged your seating. and as a small compensation, if you come with me to the dining car, we'll give you a free meal. maybe we'll find a banana for your monkey. [ laughter ] >> i'm dick cavett, funnier than chet hutley, and as pure and honest as new jersey. >> you could get people like norman mailer and woody allen. >> my only new year's resolution this year, i think i'm going to try to sleep through the nixon administration. >> you have authors on there. heavyweight boxers. >> there were conversations. >> when you mentioned the national anthem and talk about playing it in any unorthodox

way, you immediately get a guaranteed percentage of hate mail from people who say how dare -- >> that is not unorthodox? it isn't unorthodox? >> no, no, i thought it was beautiful. there you go. >> i just thought anything that is interesting ought to have a place on a talk show rather than young pretty actresses who use the word "excited" in every sentence. >> you're not frequently seen on television. is that by choice? >> it is the most impressive medium. it is the medium that will either save america or send it down into demise, there is no question. >> i'm getting out of it myself. >> really? we'll be right back after this. >> what you do is book the best possible guests from different kinds of businesses, maybe not everybody in show businesses, some politics, some newspaper people. get them all on the stage together and hope something works. but it is a great show, a great platform for people who have

something to say. >> the point is they take these scripts out of the drawers. they change the things around. maybe it doesn't work on "green acres" but that is why night after night you turn on these serials and they saul seem they came out of the same bread box. >> back then you had copy cats. you had "the adams family" and then "the munsters," you have "bewitched." and then "i dream of jeanie." if one person is doing this fantastical hit, we're going to do that. >> now, is that considered a crime? >> i'm afraid not. there are not laws to protect us against bad tv shows yet. so you're safe. >> well, thank you. >> what i'm surprised by are some of the shows i can't even imagine the pitch meetings for. like "hogans heros." >> it's a story about american prisoners of war in a nazi concentration camp which doesn't sound like it's exactly a funny comedy. >> why don't they trust us? >> that shows you how weird the

'60s was right there. >> there is another one of our fine shows this year. pit stop! moving story of an effeminate race car driver, who was really an astronaut for the mafia. 9:30 eastern time, 8:30 central time, quarter after 2:00 pacific time.

cbs presents this program in color. >> i didn't have color television until i was 16 years old. yes, i lived like an animal. >> the following program is being brought to you in living color on nbc. >> getting the color tv was huge because suddenly we could watch walt disney's wonderful world of color on sunday nights. which was just an acid trip of a show. we just could not believe it. tinker bell going bing, bing, bing, and it was like special effects, par excellence. ♪ the world is a carousel of color ♪ >> it also happened just coincidently at the time when what we think of as the mod '60s came in, colors were all over the place just as tv could start to take advantage of them. >> hi. >> well, glad you could make it. >> i remember saying stay tuned

for "gidget" next, in color. >> in color on abc. >> it was a big marketing thing. >> color tv was a huge step forward as far as the technology went. and yet, i think of "lost in space." it started off as a black and white show and went to color. it didn't get any better when it went to color. >> dr. smith, you're alive. >> of course i'm alive. do i look like a corpse? >> the period has a reputation for it have as a kind of candy. >> "gilligan's island" made no sense whatsoever logistically. how is the professor able to build all this stuff but not it makes no sense if you pull any single thread on it but it was just the kind of show

designed to live forever in syndication. >> who are you looking for? >> a nun, who else. >> are you kidding? >> "flying nun" is a crazy show. like, what is that about? >> look, it is very simple. you see i only weigh 90 pounds and the combination of my cornet and the wind lifts me. >> which was just complete nonsense. let's face it. it was the height of the '60s, and everybody was eating granola and dropping out and doing god knows what else, and i wasn't. >> hello, central? i'm switching to my eyeglasses. put a hold on my wallet but keep my shoe open. >> television more than ever in the '60s was a place to escape to. >> let's go. ♪ >> seemed like it was sort of almost a willful respite from the stuff that was going on in

the world and in real life. >> here is a bulletin on cbs news. there has been an attempt as you know on the life of president kennedy. he was wounded. in an automobile driving -- >> in the early '60s, television was by and large seen as something as a back water to print journalism. and even to radio. but the kennedy assassination was the moment that television journalism came of age. >> continue full-day coverage of the presidential funeral. and the final procession -- >> more and more people were depending on television to give them the headline news of the day. >> 330 americans were killed in combat last week in vietnam. but the number of wounded, 3886 was the highest of any week in the war. >> most of the 1960s, the contrast between what you saw in your entertainment and what you in the news was, you know, planetary. >> never has this descent been as emotional. as intense. >> in the '60s, it was one thing

after another. each year it was filled with important events. >> governor wallace has ordered 500 alabama national guardsmen into tuscaloosa. at the moment, they are under his control. >> whether it was the civil rights movement or it was the kennedy assassination or the space race, when there was a huge thing that happened, it happened on tv. >> the witness to the violence, said it seemed to be unprovoked on the part of the demonstrators. >> television became the fire in which the whole tribe gathered around to listen to the elders telling them what was going on. >> police reinforcements moving down the street now. [ chanting ] [ chanting "the whole world's watching" ]

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gentlemen, tonight, live from new york. >> from hollywood. >> from beautiful downtown burbank. >> here is the star of our show, bob hope! >> variety was the backbone of television back then.

one year, there were like 18 different variety shows. everybody had a variety show. >> everybody was different because of who was helming the show. ♪ >> dean martin was just so loose he acted as though he was doing the whole show drunk without a rehearsal. >> this is a real international show, now, where else could you see a smooth italian and a slippery pole? >> he was funny, he was really, really funny. ♪ >> he always looked as if he was a bit lost. people thought that it was because he was tiddly.

but that was part of the charm. >> here he is, ed sullivan! >> thank you. >> no matter who controlled the tv set on the other nights, on sunday night at 8:00, you were going to watch ed sullivan. >> now, ladies and gentlemen, a very -- >> ed sullivan was a phenomenon. he was a powerful force. >> quiet, please. >> the beauty of the sullivan kind of variety show is that if you didn't like something, something else would be around in four minutes. >> no. >> no. >> why? >> it is very difficult. >> easy. >> advertisers wanted everybody. and so they got everybody. a little kid and his grandparents to watch the same show. >> they would have an elephant on, and then the next thing somebody doing shakespeare, and the next thing, a comic. there would be an acrobat and then an opera singer the next bit, which was true variety.

♪ go downtown things will be great when you're downtown ♪ >> anything that was current was on "the ed sullivan show." >> a young richard pryor. joan rivers. >> rodney dangerfield. >> everybody wanted a showcase. if you got on sullivan you could talk about it. did you see sullivan? >> my whole life i don't get no respect, no respect from anyone. >> as a performer you couldn't get a better place to sell your product. >> when i started out they would say variety is a man's game. it's dean, milton berle, jackie gleason, but variety is what i know. i felt it was in my genes to do this.

>> she had been so good on the garry moore show, she always knew she could sing and dance and be funny. >> on my show, i would do prat falls and jump out of windows and get pies in the face, and it was heaven. >> i think it is -- >> you know, i still see a rerun of carroll burnett show, and i say they're funny! there has never been a better three-wall sketch show ever. >> and the best in bed, too, remember? >> you never went to bed with -- >> well. >> not supposed to curtsy, you're supposed to bow. well, i get dizzy when i bend over. >> when tim conway came on his goal in life was to destroy harvey. >> here's tim with our own harvey korman as a new dentist with his very first patient. we used to have a pool back stage, not as to whether harvey was going to break up, but how

far along he would get on a sketch before he broke up. >> novocaine. okay here. novocaine. take a firm hold of the hypodermic needle. right. >> they never knew what he was going to do. but they knew it was not going to be what they expected. >> when they did the dentist sketch none of that was rehearsed. >> yeah, be right with you. >> poor harvey was helpless, tears coming down. and tim swears that harvey wet his pants during that sketch. >> i don't know why that worked so well. watching two actors break character and just crack each other up. should not be as entertaining. but somehow when it is tim conway and harvey korman doing it, i could just watch that stuff forever. >> i just thought if we have fun, the audience will.

we're going to go out there and do what we do best and it worked. >> you can plan it and write it and rehearse it. you hoped for magic. it was carol, carol, the magic of carol burnett. (receptionist) gunderman group.

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wow! [ narrator ] on a mission to get richard to his campbell's chunky soup. it's new chunky beer-n-cheese with beef and bacon soup. i love it. and mama loves you. ♪

addict? >> well, perhaps he has been staring at this electronic blessing, the tv set for so long that his life became his. and he is at a stage of confusion that he no longer knows whether or not he is watching the action or participating in it. ♪ >> you unlock this door with the key of imagination. beyond it is another dimension. >> there was desire on the part of writers and producers to push the envelope and stretch the medium. you certainly saw that with the "twilight zone." it was a very cinematic show. >> this is not a new world, it has patterned itself since the beginning of time. >> rod serling who created "the twilight zone" realized he could through a lens of fantasy or

science fiction he could tell stories about racism, he could tell stories about fascism. >> tonight, i shall talk to you about glorious conformity. >> it was a way to deal with a lot of the issues that america was starting to go through at that time. but in a fantastic setting so that there is some divide between you and the show. >> they sent four people, a mother and father and two kids who looked just like humans. but they were not. >> "the twilight zone" had these little oh, henry like little twists and was allowed to have happy endings. >> they picked the most dangerous enemies they could find and it is themselves. now sixth months a fugitive, this is richard kimball a new identity and for as long as safe, a new name. >> "the fugitive" was a character study. >> beware the eyes of strangers, keep moving. >> everybody wanted to see what happened to "the fugitive". >> i'm about ready to give up.

>> when it ended, it broke the viewership records set by the beatles on ed sullivan. it was one of the first tv shows that actually went somewhere. >> you know, youngstown is not exactly on our course. >> in a lot of ways, television was showing slices of the world that people may have never seen before. "route 66" was an innovative show because it was actually filmed on location. so the audience was exposed to things that were not their exact orbit. >> space, the final frontier. >> you know, there is a little bit of the mayberry aspect to the world of "star trek." follow me here. people want to believe that such

a place can exist. the idea of a future in which a lot of the biases and the fears of the past has evolved out of us. >> where i come from, size, shape or color makes no difference. >> there is one episode where some of the members of the crew were taken over by these mental giants. >> this psychokinetic power of yours, how long have you had it? >> they forced captain kirk and and lieutenant ohura to kiss. it was the first interracial kiss on television. ♪ >> nbc asked me if i would do my own special. and i had always adored harry belafonte. we decided to do one duet called "the path of glory." it is an anti-war song and we just felt strongly about it. i just touched his arm. the sponsor went crazy. my star doesn't touch a black man's arm. >> petula clark said, i'm not doing it over, and it is my show and it is going out that way.

>> we weren't having any of that nonsense, no way. so it went out the way we wanted it to go out. i didn't really have any other problems with sponsors but that sort of gave me a taste of what could happen. ♪ ♪ a car that's moving fast and clean and strong ♪ ♪ get the leather seats you can't go wrong ♪ >> in the tv business, the '60s was probably about the last decade during which the sponsors had a really iron grip on content. >> brought to you by dash. >> even if they tried to keep tv this white homogenous whole milk product, the world found its way in. it just had to. >> what's the trouble, driver? >> can't you ever remember to

bring a silencer? >> it ruins the liner in my suit. >> with "i spy," robert culp and bill cosby were equals. cosby is this pioneer in terms of a black male lead in a drama. he made race a nonissue. because he's undeniable. >> the winner is bill cosby. >> bobby and i tried to put forth an example of the way it should be, racially, in this country. we need more people in this industry to put forth that message and let it be known that the bigots and the racists, that they don't count. thank you. >> as television changed, it was helping all americans to understand that this is what america looks like. >> frankly, you're not exactly what i expected. >> no?

>> no, not from what i read yet. >> did you expect me to be older or younger? >> julia was going to be the first time a black woman starred in her own television show. >> has mr. colton told you? >> told me what? >> i'm colored. >> what color are you? >> she was a black woman raising her own son. it has a universality that is just something new. >> and you keep out of mischief. >> i'll just watch the old tv. >> good. >> in the '60s, america was exploding in a way that needed to be reflected on tv. ♪ >> stand still! >> "dragnet" came back in the late '60s and friday was now in a very different world than he had been in in the black and white days. and suddenly there were the dirty hippies.

>> jack webb would lecture you about the dangers of marijuana smoking and crazy drug culture. >> they're trying to deal with the counter culture but they don't understand it. so it is basically the stereotypes of what the hippies were like. and it plays exactly like that. >> keep your nose out of my purse. >> keep yours out of the acid. next time i will. next time i will. i lost my sight in afghanistan, but it doesn't hold me back. i go through periods where it's hard to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. non-24 is a circadian rhythm disorder that affects up to 70% of people who are totally blind. talk to your doctor about your symptoms and learn more by calling 844-844-2424. or visit my24info.com.

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nbc presents, "ron and martin's laugh-in." ♪ >> our country would be much better off with a strong leader. >> i know, but sinatra can't do everything. >> when "laugh-in" came along we'd never seen anything that was kind of like grownups acting goofy and hit that way, you know? it had girls dancing in bikinis, they had the joke wall. >> who's in there with you? >> cool hand luke. >> and it was nothing but jokes. >> i was at the hospital. >> anything serious? >> a black widow bit me. >> it never would have happened if he'd been a gentleman. >> we took it to the network and the network said, what the hell is this? this makes no sense. i said, right! >> hi, you two.

>> they acknowledged the hippie generation, yet the hosts were in tuxedos smoking cigarettes. they were still your parents. but other people let loose on the show were this kind of young vaudeville. >> hey. it must be sock it to me time! >> hey, she socked it to herself. >> we knew that sock it to me didn't mean sock it to me. right? so we thought, oh. >> sock it to me. >> sock it to me. >> ha-ha. >> sock it to me. >> it wasn't as subversive as it sounds. yes it was. it was -- it was fun. >> sock it to me? >> it was the first time a presidential candidate had ever appeared on a comedy show. and that may have got him elected. and i've had to live with that. anyway -- >> the family that watches

"laugh-in" together really needs to pray together. >> it seemed that it was just happening right now, it was about right now. that was the greatest thing ever. the fusion of politics and comedy and everything else into one television show. >> when we take over, i'm going to look out for you. >> the subjects that were verboten, we don't talk about these things, were starting to come up in tv. because it was well executed, it changed everything. >> this is the smothers brothers comedy hour. production 124 air, take one. ♪ >> good evening and welcome to the smothers brothers show. >> if rowan and martin and the smothers brothers are the new stars of tv comedy, it is the comedy itself rather than the comedians which is more often in the spotlight. these two programs have consciously tried to influence people by comedy techniques that break through the traditional song and skit routines and the by subject that's right that is often on the cutting edge of what is new.

>> our government is asking us as citizens, good citizens, to refrain from traveling to foreign lands. >> okay. all you guys in vietnam, come on home. >> times were changing so quickly. in the '60s. and we didn't change them. >> we just reflected them. >> i can't hear you, what are you doing? >> getting ready to go to college. >> cbs gave the smothers brothers that show because they were clean-cut folk satirists. you know, they wore blazers. they could sing well. they were funny. >> mom liked you best! >> you lower your voice. >> mom liked you best. >> they told us what they thought we could do and what we should do and it was totally wrong. and tommy came in saying, i would like to show where we can be relevant. ♪ if we could get a war without blood and gore i would be the first to go ♪ ♪ but until then mr. mcnamara ♪ i'm just 18 and i always carry a purse ♪

>> if you were in counterculture started making these shows and they don't want to play by the rules that other people did before then but who would expect the smothers brothers of all people to be the ones raising this much of a fuss. >> good script. >> i held my breath every time they did the show. because i knew the network people were befouling their trousers with fear. >> nothing funny in this. yeah, boys, we're through censoring your show. >> they said that the social subjects we touched on were not appropriate for the 9:00 family viewing hour. they came up with any excuse to make it difficult. >> and i came up with any excuse to push it. >> yeah. ♪ cbs would like to give us notice ♪ ♪ and some of you don't like the things we say but we're still here ♪ ♪ oh, yeah we're still here >> they were going to speak truth to power. and they were not compromising.

>> you have something important? >> something very important to say on american television. >> a lot of times we don't have the opportunity to say anything important because on american television, every time you try to say something important -- [ cheers and applause ] >> well, whether you can say it or not, keep trying to say it. that's what's important. you get that? >> there's no way in the world if anything is meaningful and truthful that you're not going to offend someone. you've got to be able to say what it is. say how it is. and take the consequence. >> cbs announced today that the smothers brothers comedy hour will not return to the cbs television network next season. network president robert woods said it became evident that brothers, quote, were unwilling to accept the criteria of taste established by cbs. cbs news efforts to reach the brothers for comment have been unsuccessful. >> i was angry.

but we never regretted it. we never did regret it. >> what do you think television, honestly, do you think it's good? >> yes, i do. i think particularly for what it is. for the amount of hours that it gives you for enjoyment. i'der in education or for pure entertainment, it's remarkably good. >> what television did in '60s was to show the american people to the american people. until then, we did not truly know much about each other. we knew only what we had seen, which was very little. and what we had read, which was even less. >> a few years ago i thought it was the end of the world. >> no, it's just the beginning. >> i think people looked at television for answers, maybe. that the world's just confusing, it's going to hell all over the place. maybe something on here will help. >> there was no denying the shift in attitudes towards sex, towards race relations, towards politics. it was all televised. >> that i will faithfully execute the office.

>> that i will faithfully execute the office. >> when it works, television conveys impression and evokes memories. when it works well, television makes us feel. >> good morning. it's t-minus 1:29:53 and counting. >> television created a sense of national unity around cultural events. >> okay, neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now. >> you could turn on a machine and be somewhere else. >> you're looking good. >> boy. >> television changed absolutely everything. >> beautiful view. isn't that something?

there's the beatles! >> nothing but a bunch of british elvis presleys. >> it's not true, it's not true! >> when the beatles arrived, from then on, a thousand different things arose. ♪ >> is it a sex thing or -- >> it's sexual. >> yeah. >> completely. ♪ >> there is a desire to get power in order to use it for good. ♪ how does it feel >> pop musicians in today's generation, they can rule the world. ♪