gas station would have been open, anderson. that's how this path to cadyville began. >> fascinating development. last we heard from andrew wily, the dogs are still on the scent. randi, thank you. stay with cnn for any late developments. right now the premiere of the cnn original series "the seventies." tonight television take is a look at itself. >> what's on the idiot box? >> it's only an idiot box if an idiot is watching. >> i will tell you about the golden age of television. >> our obligation is to entertain. if we left something to think about, so much the better. >> television should not be just entertainment. >> charges were leveled at the commercial television network. >> congress has no right to interfere in the media. >> excuse me! >> you have a responsibility to give the audience what it tuned in to see.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the years of the '60s which end in a 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 look at tv i think of the '70s. >> what is the world coming to. >> the american public was hungry for more. >> more was allowed that hadn't been before. >> it was the last decade where it was a campfire television, where there was one in the living room. >> i want to watch an all black show for a change. >> oh, where are you going to find one? >> here's one -- the los angeles lakers against the milwaukee bucks. >> young people were interested in relevant things. so television began to reflect that. >> this is cbs. >> really it was very simple. you had three channels plus pbs. when the decade turned over into the '70s, television was very rural. >> hee haw! >> the beverly hill billies.

>> cbs had bevery hillbillies. green acres. >> petticoat junction. >> mayberryisms. >> fred silverman who was running programming at cbs said, "we are going to get rid of the shows that are the most highly rated and replace them with shows that they thought would be more appealing to that younger audience." >> it changed the face of television. >> my name is norman lear. >> until 1971 he was a very successful unheralded producer writer in hollywood. then heap burst upon the public consciousness when he took on bigotry with "all in the family." >> norman lear, created iconic shows. >> they revolutionized cbs and all of television. >> our world is coming crumbling down, the -- are coming. >> to use language like that on tv was unheard of it.

captured a certain moment. >> archie, 12% of the population is black. there should be a lot of black families living out here. >> only the beginning. i think it is wonderful. >> see how wonderful it is -- >> it scared me when i saw "all in the family" they better be careful. there was no doubt, the american people were going to accept it. >> do you have a quick answer for the people who say the show reinforces bigotry? >> my quick answer is no. >> everybody is going to see something they knew damn well was going on and nothing that surprising. >> edith, i'm out of toilet paper. >> no, we are not. i bought some yesterday it's in the cloz eset in the kitchen. >> i ain't in the kitchen. >> oh. >> hearing a toilet flush for the first time was a big deal and made headlines. [ toilet flushes ] >> what's the country coming to? >> what is it, bad news? >> we get out of vietnam or something? >> don't be a wise guy, huh.

>> i wasn't going to play around with mom dented the car. how are we going keep dad from finding out. not when i see everything going on in the country. >> just a guy is sensitive, intellectual and wears glasses you make him out to be a queer. >> a guy who wears glasses is a four-eyes, a guy -- >> "all in the family" did something new for television. it put something before the american public. archie's friend who was masculine and happened to be gay. >> how long you know me? 10, 12 years? >> yeah. >> in all that time did i ever mention a woman? >> oh, come on, steve. >> nixon objection to the show, that was a badge of honor. it was really culturally on

point. every time. for a sitcom that was unheard of. >> one, two, three. >> i wanted to do an episode where somebody could give archie what he earned. >> shut up all of you! >> 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. >> before that show was off the air, fred silverman was on the telephone with me saying "there is a show in that woman." >> hello? no, this is not mr. findley, it's mister findley. yes, mister findley has a much higher voice. >> get your coat on and come on? >> what makes you think you can order me around. >> you're my wife that gives me the right. >> when he says wife he means possession. >> so what, maude, you told me

you wanted to feel possessed. >> walter, i never said that standing up. and you know it. >> he really turned the spin-off series into an art form. >> norman lear hates to call it the lear factory. all come out of the building, allowing him to move show to show like a dervish. >> good times was like holy smokes. there are black people on tv. >> never before a whole black family on tv with the fame father. >> dynomite! >> you want to worry your head about nothing, go ahead and do it. i have $32 in the shoe box. and $6 in my pocket. >> you worked all night all they paid you were $6. >> there were a lot of folks who were not happy with the show. the black panthers were upset. when huey newton came to see me the come plant was why can't we see a black man who is doing

better than that? >> "the jeffersons" started as neighbors of archie bunker. >> don't call me honky? >> why are you so sensitive all of a sudden? >> how would you like it if i called you -- >> he called me -- >> that's no worse than -- >> your's right nothing is worse than -- except being married to one. >> norman lear set the stage for shows in that just brought gravitas to television. >> what are you staring at? >> i was thinking i ought to bring my neighbor's kids over here. this place is better than the zoo. (music)

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on saturday nights, the cbs lineup in the early '70s was amazing. 8:00 "all in the family." 8:30, "m.a.s.h. "9:00, mary tyler moore show, and you have the bob newhart show. >> people had no dvrs, no vhs, nothing with initials. so people would stay home on saturday nights. they wouldn't go to the movie. they wouldn't go to restaurants. that may be the best night of television in all of television history. >> mary tyler moore was a single

woman working as an associate producer on a nightly tv show. >> you know what? you have got spunk. >> yeah. >> i hate spunk! >> there were a lot of young women entering the work place then. and for some of them, mary tyler moore was like a port of entry. >> i am doing as good a job as he did. >> better. >> better. and i'm being paid less than he was because -- >> your're a woman. >> the television female could be a hero. she could be the main event. >> rita. all right. >> out loud! >> the first script written by allen burns and jim gricks had mary coming to minneapolis divorced. and quickly cbs said, no, no, no, no, no. >> at the beginning of the decade, divorce was considered somewhat scandalous. >> she went on dates with a lot of guys. but the guys were valley

important. >> we seem to be hitting it off. and i just. >> you just -- >> she know it obsessed with finding a husband. >> don't forget to take your pill. >> i won't. >> this was about people coping with one another. and the work place was like a family. >> i told ted to close the, the copy for sue ann. >> oh, my god. i told the projectionist it was the other way around. >> oh, my god. >> local pig farmers served notice that rising corn prices are forcing them to find other moons to feed their stock. here's one pig. just look at her gobble up that slop. we're presenting a new feature, dining out with sue ann gibbons. >> once jim said to me i know there is a world of comedy in my wife's purse. i just can't access it. we have got to find some female writers for the show.

>> did you trash the men's room? >> of course not. >> i went as somebody's guest. >> why do you think it is such a winner? >> i think because of the casting. and i think because of the writing. they've don't sacrifice the character for the sake of a good joke. >> that effort to keep the female sensibility is what made it authentic and good. people would say "your's just mike like me and my girlfriends." how can you george yoorge yours stay so skinny? >> well eat something? >> i can't. >> the head of the network said valerie, listen, i will spin you off. i thought, oh, my god, i'm fired. because spin-off is a term that was originated in the '70s. >> if we're going to start living together we have got to till each other everything. >> okay, joe, i want to be married. >> the wedding became a huge national event.

52 million people tuned in to see that. >> suddenly rhoda is in a happy relationship. they didn't know what to do with that. they had to have her get divorced to reboot the show. >> why did you marry me? >> you made me marry you. >> i feel so funny. >> it's a matter of trust. >> oh, she is not going to do it. >> and, where do we go from here? >> that will have to discuss in future sessions. >> the 70s also had this their putting overlay. >> hi, bob. >> hi, bob. >> hello? >> we decided to make him a psychologist. >> we seem to have run out of thing to say. >> why don't we pray. >> let's pray for the end of this session. >> i didn't know anything about therapy prior to that. >> i'm from the planet pluton. it's in the galaxy. >> how long are you going to be in town?

>> i didn't want to do a show, where were your children? i didn't want to be the dumb dad? >> sit, boy. >> howard, i don't care, i just don't want to make any more decisions. >> people will say, gee my dad and i used to watch the show. and it was great. and then you realize you are part of people's lives. ♪ >> the '70s was the era where a certain artistry developed. and "m.a.s.h." changed people's perception of what the sitcom can be. the sitcom can be cinematic. >> "m.a.s.h." was shot as a movie. maybe the single most unique comedy ever. >> i have a headache. a tremendous headache. it goes all the way down to my waist. >> the television series "m.a.s.h." had one thing the movie did not, which was heart. >> there are certain rules about

a war. rule number one is young men die. rule number two is doctors can't change rule number one. >> it was about a korea that we were talking about and doing things with vietnam. everybody knew it. >> rolling. >> war isn't hell. war is war and hell is hell and of the two war is a lot worse. >> we had 32 million people a week watching m.a.s.h. >> have you ever kidded the foot? >> i prefer girls. >> you better not bump into henry in the jungle? >> these were people who would go through the scripts and say we can't use this word. we felt look we were in the midst of a battle. this is freedom of speech. >> at the hearings on television violence today, strong charges were leveled at the commercial television networks. >> the broadcasting industry now stands charged with having molested the mind 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. >> 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 seemed altogether unfair. and we sued. >> family hour is under attack from some producers, unions and others in the television industry. they have filed a lawsuit to have it abolished. >> as those scheduled to testify arrive, mary tyler moore enterprises. >> congress has no right whatsoever to interfere in the content of the media. >> if you can censor a jek today, then tomorrow you can censor any thought, if you can censor a joke. it just becomes easier the next day. >> a federal judge in los angeles ruled the so-called family hour on television from 7:00 to 9:00 was

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seen tonight so we may bring you the following special program. >> tonight television take is 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? is it good for you? >> somewhere around the middle or late '70s it's like people got tired of talking about real stuff. there was a longing for simpler time when it didn't seem like there was so much anger and contentiousness when people weren't so mad at each other. >> during last season the waltons caught on. >> good night, john boy. >> good night. >> this year there will be more nostalgia and wholesome family drama. >> now that dinner is over. let's try out the piano. i'm taking requests. ♪ sunday monday happy days >> i created happy days not what a family really was. i thought it would be good if there were some families that didn't get divorced. >> you guys are really -- >> it wasn't by accident everybody on "happy days" hugged

each other. it wasn't by accident that everybody in the family ate at the same time at the same table. it was a sweet tender show. american graffiti. looking back on the era of the '50s with a certain affection. >> abc wanted fonzi's "eh" to compete directly with jimmy j.j. walker's "dynomite." >> eh. >> catch phrases would be. >> sit on it, how war. >> sit on it howard. >> does any one say, thank you, arnold. you know what they say? >> sit on it, arnold. >> that's what they say. >> you watch fonzi and you just want to be fonzi. >> oh. >> hey, girls. knock yourselves out. >> it's a fantasy of what teen life could be. >> hey, dafazio.

all right. this is laverne dafazio. she is mine. this is shirley feeney. she is yours. >> nice to meet you. >> when laverne and shirley made a guest appearance. the cameraman said look at the two shot. that's a series. >> shamele, shamozle -- >> tuesday night's death spot, death to any pre grogram that g against happy days or laverne and shirley. >> one of the few sitcoms that debuted as number one. >> the top number one show this season, laverne and shirley. >> you have to go all the way back to "i love lucy" to get the same slapstick and physical comedy. >> never thought about its importance except that it was two girls trying and the value of friendship. it must have something going for it. >> i don't rodeo-do-do-do.

>> you rodeo-do-do-do. >> i don't rodeo-do-do-do. >> they didn't say sex. but they said rodeo-do. >> once. >> laverne and shirley, happy days. he said i like it. but what's missing? spacemen. because we were getting into space. so that's when i created -- a space man. >> wait a minute, who are you? >> i am mork from ork. >> the writers, he wants an alien. i had to make the story up. fons fo fonzi is running out of adversaries. >> fonzi never lost yet. we have the home planet advantage. >> then we have him on the own show. and "mork & mindy" was the hit show of the '70s. >> ah. >> the audience talk about a willing suspension of disbelief is willing to buy the premise.

>> mind if i do? >> just so they can watch robin williams. >> nanu-nanu. >> excuse me! >> that was an interesting part of the balance i think of the television diet. there was an attempt to ex-mrr deeper into the psyche of what makes us tick there was also a need to escape. >> i'm going to a beach barbecue. >> uh-huh. i can see what is going to heat up the coals. >> this is any single phenomenon that tilted the books. it's the cbs affiliates meeting he explained how t & a shows are concocted. >> they take the clothes off three times. and get idea. so they jiggle. and then they say, now, let's get three undressed scenes. and three jiggles. and write a script around it. >> there are some who will tell you t & a has peaked and is on its way out. abc has shows like "the love boat" and "three's company."

>> jiggle tv referred to the fact that these were women who were, you know, who were, you know -- >> good morning, angels. >> good morning, charlie. >> "charlie's angels" became an enduring trademark of the '70s. >> i already made arrangements for you three to go to prison. >> open your towel. >> good luck, angels. >> battle of the network stars. >> oh, god. i did that battle of the network stars a couple of times. and i hated it. >> a pretty good time on billy crystal. >> networks would loan out their tv stars to compete in a series of quasi-olympic type events. >> steams to be wobbling. >> erin gray. >> a great -- for frz. >> we have a lot to aapproximately jazz for the wao for. >> my only defense, it was the

'70s. >> did i jiggle much. >> uh. live and learn.

>> public television has been expected to do a great deal. all most half of noncommercial program hours are aimed at children, and it has come to be so many things, to so many

people. >> the pbs children's programming in the 70s became the platinum standard on the planet for how you use this medium to educate kids. ♪ would you be mine could you be mine won't you be my neighbor ♪ >> it was fran rogers who made it okay to speak to an audience of kids like they were human beings. >> there are some thing that are very difficult to understand in the newsnewspaper. >> every now and then i think back to mr. rogers, he would say don't be scared. life is special. >> everybody, life is special because everybody is different. >> just go and do the thing you love. that stuck with me. ♪ can 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 that easy being green ♪

>> count it. >> count it? >> count. >> "sesame street" was aggressive in terms of learning not only concepts of reading, but concepts of interacting. >> i may be small. >> i may be small. >> but i am. >> but i am. >> some body. >> some body. >> "sesame street" was as big as it got in terms of celebrity. everybody wanted to hang with the muppets. >> aren't you johnny trash? >> cash. >> cash, cash. >> education champion's television really matured in the '70s. >> i'm leaving. >> i love you. >> i love you too. >> oh, thanks. >> now for something completely different. >> when i was 13 the show from england came on pbs, which before that was only the realm of my parents. >> ew. >> what do you mean, ew. i don't like -- >> suddenly they're doing the most outlandish, racy,

nonsequitor type of humor and killing me, the 13-year-old. >> it's extraordinary what you can't do on american television. i think you can do on pbs. i hope you all watch it. >> attack me with it. come on! >> you get the generation of comedy nerd who don't know that they're comedy nerds. >> this is no more. it has ceased to be. >> "monty python" turned out to bara break so many rules. it changes everything. just like the beatles, oh, they came after the beatles. look at "saturday night live," sctv. >> saturday night will open up a live venture from new york city. we just happen to have the producer of the program, memers of the company. what should we look for on the program? >> anxiety. >> learn michaels, canadian comedy producer given free

reign. >> hi. i'm learn michaels. >> he hires improv comics. >> rehearsal, let's do 28 face slap sz. co -- slaps. >> george carlin was the first host. wanted to be permanent host. >> hello. welcome. thank you for joining us live. >> there were a lot of names bandied about in terms of permanent hosts. >> one of the tv rules you must not break until you do. until you rool i. why don't you have a different host every week. but it was the cast that finally won people's hearts. awe call on, who is this? >> candy-gram. >> you cut your own steaks. we give you the sauce. >> i'm barbara wawa. >> thank you, thank you very much. you're beautiful. you're beautiful. thank you. >> you were drawn to the tv set, you knew something insane might happen. >> live, live. >> live from new york. >> partly because it was live. partly because you knew television was in the hand of the television generation. >> and these were kids in quotes

who just might do anything. >> women having sex with the president within these very walls. that never happened when dick nixon was in the white house. >> every one of their episodes became worthy of telemudic study if that's the word. >> when i hosted, loren called me into his office and said, you real i the kids are the stars. the host wasn't nearly as impactful. because the thing was all the rage. >> they called themselves the not ready for primetime players. not because they felt they weren't good enough, but because they felt they were too good. >> good evening, i'm chevy chase. and you are not. >> chevy chase became an instant star. >> our top story tonight. >> chevy chase was on the show

for one year. >> are you sorry you left "saturday night live"? >> i'm deeply, deeply sorry. >> chevy decided he was too big for the show. so he left. in some ways, chevy leaving after the first year was a blessing. because it showed that "saturday night live" was going to do much more than survive. ♪ there are some thing that just aren't explainable ♪ >> hello, i'm bill murray. you can call me billy. but around here everybody calls me the new guy. >> when chevy chase leaves. bill murray comes in. >> come on, pop! >> cut, cut, makeup get in here, please. sorry, fellows. >> that just opened up other doors. and "saturday night live" was just kind of taking. >> two wild and crazy guys! >> you will never have to cut again. >> roseanne, roseanne-dan. >> cheeseburger, cheeseburger. >> where do we come from?

>> france. >> it was the show for us. it was the show about us. >> you wanted to be a part of it. there was inextricably linked with the times. >> good afternoon. >> good night. >> good night. after all, healthier doesn't happen all by itself. it needs to be earned... every day... from the smallest detail to the boldest leap. healthier means using wellness to keep away illness... knowing a prescription is way more than the pills... and believing that a single life can be made better by millions of others. ♪ healthier takes somebody who can power modern health care... by connecting every single part of it. realizing cold hard data can inspire warmth and compassion... and that when technology meets expertise... everything is possible. for as long as the world keeps on searching for healthier...

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>> it became clear there was something very wrong with nixon. >> people have got to know whether their president is a crook. well i'm not a crook.

>> monday, monday, mondays the greatest day of the week. >> through out high school there was one show religious broadcasting that you had to watch. if you didn't see it you wouldn't have anything to talk about for all of tuesday and most of wednesday and a big part of thursday. >> why? because monday night is nfl pro football night. that's why. >> monday night football got its start september 21st, 1970, with the cleveland browns hosting the new york jets. >> welcome to abc's monday night primetime national football league television series. and this game is under way on abc. >> 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.

>> come on! let's go! let's go! >> the pairing of howard cosell with don meredith is a classic sitcom odd couple kind of pairing. you couldn't help but be swept out by what those guys were saying. the booth itself was almost like a variety show. >> here with us this evening. >> i call it a traveling freak show it really was. and the head freak was howard. there ain't ♪ ♪ question about it. >> the tension between the two of them. something you wanted to see every week. >> professional football is rapidly growing into a very big business. >> you understand football. >> i look to watch it. i don't understand too much about it. >> would you look to learn more about it? >> we were on a mission that took us close to saying, screw the football fan. he is going to come any way. what we need to do is a pell to women. we need to appeal to the casual football fan. that's whey we started telling stories. that humanized the players. >> joe namath one of the greatest of all times.

unfortunately his legs do not go with that arm. >> the things people associate with. >> roy this fellow. >> what's been your view of this american professional football season. >> it is an amazing event, sight. makes rock concerts look look tea parties. >> i would look to have your job, be a sportscaster. >> that show became week after week one of the most highly rated shows in america. ♪ >> it showed football was an entertainment experience on par with any primetime show you could imagine. >> maybe it was better because you didn't know how it was going to end. >> "60 minutes" decided to peer into the electroning future to take a look at what may be in store for tell vgs vievision vi the decade of the '70s. television by cable, a communication that would radicalize our lives. >> that's the way it is up until --

>> welcome to home box office subscription television. >> hbo debuts november 8, 1972, it is not an overnight success. >> the oft repeated saying was getting people to pay for tv will be like getting them to pay for air. >> saturday mornings they would play band music and see slides of nothing. >> nobody knew what you could do. nobody knew what you couldn't do. but you were desperately trying not to be commercial television. >> at this time, we have got, ladies and gentlemen, robert klein. >> the beauty of it was you didn't have to pack everything quickly. you could warm up and get to know and take the stage so to speak. >> the talk shows are okay. you know, i do "the tonight show" come in, i have to be funniy ein a hurry. six minutes. boom, boom, boom, boom. >> it was contrived. it was the full-throated performance. [ bleep ]. >> this is not regular television. this is subscription. you can say anything.

[ bleep ]. >> you are not using public airwaves, the fcc cannot regulate your content. >> i understand you had two orgasms yesterday. can you tell us about them? >> hbo gave cable something to sell. we were getting movies uncut in your home, all of the naughty bits intact. and then september 1975. we debuted coast to coast with the thriller in manila one of the all-time classic fights, frasier-ali. >> mohamed ali end of the 14th round. >> before that, you're counting growth in tens of thousand of subscribers. after that, you're counting in millions. that's really daytona day one for boone -- that's really day one for hbo and the cable fan. >> if what you see in the next few minutes convince you you have gone to sports heaven. >> in the mid '70s in the sports world there were 3/4 giants.

cbs, nbc, abc. and then in connecticut, somebody got ahold of a transponder. >> the picture you are watching, taken by a camera sent through sophisticated equipment sent to the air transmitting system. >> bill rothinson, fired from his job trying to figure out a way to deliver local cable sports. when they found out about the satellite. they said can we cover the whole state? the guy looked and said you don't understand. >> for another 25 cents or whatever you can send this all over the country. 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 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 the world as well. >> they didn't hatch the money to go out and buy baseball games and nfl games. what they did was take all the

leftovers out there. >> i'm gentlemen boil, handling the play-by-play. >> gave birth to arguably the greatest media success story of all time. >> at its best. cable television could provide a refreshing relief from the trend toward bigness, toward centralization. at its worst cable tv >> remove us electronically for the world. the question is, indeed, will the miracle be managed. get the complete balanced nutrition of ensure. with nine grams of protein... and 26 vitamins and minerals. and now with... ...twice as much vitamin d ...which up to 90% of people don't get enough of. the sunshine vitamin! ensure. take life in.

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>> the best thing pbs did for adults in the '70s was the mini series. the idea of novels for television. >> good evening. we're at the ninth episode. of i.claudius. >> i was not allowed to watch it because it had nudity in it. >> rather than try to come up with a show, we're going to tell it in x number of episodes. we'll just do this one self contained thing. >> during the reign of my mad brother that we might not have otherwise done. >> 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 mini series was such a huge success for public television. abc was the network that hit gold with rich man, poor man. >> how do you tell a story that isn't controlled by the clock? ar characters can grow and change and differ. >> i want to talk to you. >> about what? >> about making an honest man out of you. >> it's a subject i rarely discuss in the nude. >> what we saw in the '70s, if it was done right and compelling, the audience kept oncoming back and back. >> here you have topics that expect to get serious and ground breaking for television. >> 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. >> the majority of reaction to the holocaust program has been positive, it has not been without debate. >> with holocaust, the heat was you shouldn't every touch this subject.

it's disrespectful. but, finally, the thinking was no, to not talk about it would be disrespectful. to not perpetuate the memory for another generation. so if you're too young to know, here's a depiction. >> not since the war have emotions been so high in germany. the holocaust telecast caused heated tension. the german legislature debated the search for nazi war criminals. holocaust made it easier for lawmakers to hunt for nazis. >> holocaust brought it home. it made it real, even though it was a hollywood creation. >> sunday night, roots begins in eight parts on abc. basically, television will never be the same again. >> there was really no bigger television event than, "roots." it was based on a 1976 book about his family in africa and

coming to america and slaves and what happens to them as the centuries go on. >> i will go to my grave believing that "roots" is america's story. it's not just black america's story. >> we might have come over in the bottom of the ship, but we all came over on ships. >> my name means stay put. but it don't mean stay a slave. >> we're not children. we're very close to being men. >> what's your name? >> kunta. kunta kintae. >> the character that i got to portray in roots was a dream role. >> it was really genius to cast all of america's favorite television dads in the roles of the white slave owners and the villains. >> i'll be by to fetch ya in the morning, captain. sleep well. >> it is difficult to explain in today's culture how unprecede unprecedented "roots" was.

>> it may be the first time that television allowed an embracing of black pride. >> them is free. is free today. >> one of the reasons that "roots" was so incredibly popular was not because abc had so much faith in it. but because abc didn't. >> earlier broadcasts were weekly installments. and abc executives did he recalled if "roots" were to fail, they could just be done with it in seven or agt nights. >> it was high risk, high reward. you were a lot of tv time and not a lot of people watching. >> the television viewing attracted the largest audience in the history of media. >> there was something about it that touched all human beings. it transcends age and race. >> entertainment was humanity. that's the primary value to lead

humanity forward. >> if there's legacy of television in the '70s, it's that you matter. >> while there's a lot going on in the world, television was a reminder of how much little things mean to us. the smallest of situations. >> 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. >> this legacy is look how long it's lasted. there are shows about people who were kind and nice. they were not mean-spirited shows. >> there was a certain elegance to that. and i kind of miss it. >> oh, it was so delicious. five different flavors. and archie was sitting at another table with jefferson pratt, remember him?

anyway, archie was trying to get my attention. so he put two straws up his nose. and then he shot. >> tonight, television takes a look at its own. >> what's on the idiot box. it's only an idiot box if an idiot is watching. >> i'll tell you about the golden age in television. >> our education is to entertain. >> kunta, kunta kintae. >> television should not just be entertainment. >> congress has no right to interfere in the media. >> excuse me. >>