here. i want to thank all of you for watching. good night. tonight television takes a look at itself. >> 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 of television. this period of time, what we looked upon as the platinum age. >> our obligation is to entertainment. we have left something to think about, so much the better. >> television should not be just entertainment. >> charges were leveled at the commercial television networks. >> congress has no right to interfere in the media. >> well, excuse me! >> we 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 think of tv, i think of the '70s. >> what is this 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 and 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. >> heehaw! >> "the beverly hillbillies." >> cbs had "the beverly hillbillies." "green acres."

>> "petticoat junction" and these rural fantasies of mayberryisms. >> the hillbilly shows were everywhere, and then they weren't. >> fred silverman who was running programming at cbs said, we're 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 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." >> norman lear and bud created absolutely iconic shows. >> they revolutionized not only cbs but all of television. >> our world is coming crumbling down, the [ expletive ] are coming. >> to use language like that on tv was just unheard of it. 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 the beginning, but i think it's wondersful. >> well, let's see how wonderful it is when the watermelon rinds come flying out the window. >> it scared me when i saw "all in the family," i thought they better be careful. there was no doubt in my mind the american people were going to accept it. >> do you have a quick answer for the people who say the show reinforces bigotry? and that charge started from the very beginning. >> yes. my quick answer is no. everybody is going to see something they knew damn well was going on and nothing that surprising. >> 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 made headlines. >> what's this country coming to anyhow? >> what is it, archi, bad news? >> what else? >> 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 about it? not when i see everything going around in our country. >> just because a guy is sensitive and an intellectual and 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 [ expletive ] is a queer. >> "all in the family" did something new for television. it put something before the american public. archie's friend who was very masculine and 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 objecting to the show, that was a badge of honor. >> and 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's a show in that woman. >> hello? no, this is not mr. findley, it's mrs. findley. yes, mr. findley has a much higher voice. >> now, get your coat on 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 told me

a hundred times you wanted to feel possessed. >> walter, i never said that standing up, and you know it. >> norman lear and bud yorkin turned the spin-off series into an art form. >> norman lear hates to call it the lear factory. all of his series come out of this building, allowing lear to move from show to show like a dervish. >> "good times" was like holy smokes, there's black people on tv. >> there had never been a complete black family on tv with a father. what made it so unique and universal is, we have the same problems in our household and we do not live in the projects in chicago. >> dynomite! >> you want to worry your head about nothing, go ahead and do it. but i have $32 in the shoe box. and i got another $6 in my pocket. >> you worked all night and all they paid you were $6? >> there were a lot of folks who were not happy with the show. the black panthers were very upset. when huey newton came to see me, the big complaint was, why can't we see a black man who's doing better than that? >> "the jeffersons" started as neighbors of archie bunker.

>> don't call me [ expletive ]! >> why are you so sensitive all of a sudden? >> how would you like it if i called you [ expletive ]? >> he called me [ expletive ]! >> that's no worse than [ expletive ]! >> you're right nothing is worse than [ expletive ] than being married to one. >> norman lear set the stage for other shows in the '70s that just brought gravitas to television. >> what are you staring at? >> i was just thinking, i ought to bring my neighbor's kids over here. this place is better than the zoo. go roam sleep in sleep out star gaze dream big wander more care less beat sunrise chase sunset do it all. on us. get your first month's payment

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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 "the mary tyler moore show," and you have "the bob newhart show." >> and it ended with the "carol burnett variety show" at 10:00. >> they used to call it murderers row. >> people had no dvrs, no vhss, 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've got spunk. >> yeah. >> i hate spunk!

>> there were a lot of young women entering the workplace then. and for some of them, mary tyler moore was like a port of entry. >> i'm doing as good a job as he did. >> better. >> better. and i'm being paid less than he was because -- >> you're a woman. >> the television female could be a hero. she could be the main event. >> read it? all right. >> out loud! >> the first script written by allen burns and jim brooks had mary coming to minneapolis divorced. and very 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 really important. >> we seem to be hitting it off, and i just thought. >> you just thought? >> she's not 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 workplace was like a family. >> i told ted to close the copy for sue ann. >> oh, my god. >> what's wrong? >> i told the projectionist it was the other way around. >> oh, my god. >> local pig farmers served notice today that rising corn prices are forcing them to find other means to feed their stock. here's one pig. just look at her gobble up that slop. starting tomorrow we'll be presenting a new feature on wjm, "dining out without with sueann nivens." >> once jim brooks said to me, i know there's a world of comedy in my wife's purse. i just can't access it. we've got to find some female writers for the show. >> did you crash the men's room? >> of course not. i went as somebody's guest. >> why do you think it's such a winner?

>> i think because of the casting. and i think because of the writing. they 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, you're just like me and my girlfriends. how can you gorge yourself like that and stay so skinny? i'm going crazy with hunger. >> well, eat something? >> i can't. i have to lose ten pounds by 8:30. >> fred silverman, head of the network at the time, said valerie, listen, i'm going to spin you off. and 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 tell each other everything. >> okay, joe, i want to be married. >> rhoda and joe's wedding became a huge national event. 52 million people tuned in to see that. >> suddenly rhoda is in a happy relationship, and they didn't know what to do with that.

then they had to have her get divorced to try to reboot the show. >> why did you marry me? answer me that. why did you marry me? >> you made me marry you. >> i feel so funny. >> it's just a matter of trust. >> oh, she's not going to do it. >> where does that leave us? where do we go from the here? >> that we'll have to discuss in future sessions. >> the '70s also had this therapeutic overlay. >> hi, bob. >> hi, bob. >> hi, bob. >> hello? >> we decided to make him a psychologist. >> we seem to have run out of things 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 [ indiscernible ] it's in the [ indiscernible ] 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're part of people's lives. ♪ >> the '70s was the era where a certain artistry developed. "m.a.s.h." really changed people's perception of what the sitcom can be. the sitcom could be cinematic. >> "m.a.s.h." was shot like a movie. and "m.a.s.h." was maybe the single most unique situation 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 in my estimation 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 korea, but we

were talking about and doing things that had to do with vietnam. and everybody knew it. >> rolling. action. >> war isn't hell. war is war and hell is hell and of the two war is a lot worse. >> we had 30 million people a week watching "m.a.s.h. >> have you ever really considered the foot? >> yeah, but i prefer girls. >> you better not bump into henry in the jungle. >> i only intend to bump into nurse baker, repeatedly if possible. >> these were people who would go through the scripts and say, you can't use this word. we felt like we were in the midst of a battle. this is freedom of speech. >> at the senate hearings on television violence today, 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. >> 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 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, like those from mary tyler moore enterprises, they passed through a picket line protesting the hearing. >> congress has no right whatsoever to interfere in the content of the media. >> if you can censor a joke today, then tomorrow you can censor of expression of 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 unconstitutional, a violation of the first amendment guarantee of free speech. >> the first amendment was

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"the rookies" will not be seen tonight so we may bring you the following special program. >> 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? is it good for you? >> somewhere around the middle or late '70s it's like people got tired of talking about real stuff. >> if the good lord provided us with berries, i think we should eat them. >> 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. >> oh, good. >> 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. in the vein of "american graffiti." looking back on the era of the '50s with a certain affection. >> eh. >> abc wanted fonzi's "eh" to compete directly with jimmy "j.j." walker's "dynomite." >> eh. >> catch phrases were big. >> sit on out howard. >> sit on it howard. >> does anyone 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. i'm really sorry it was a slip of the fingers, slip of the fingers. >> it's a fantasy of what teen life could be. >> hey, dafazio. here. all right.

laverne. this is laverne dafazio. she is mine. this is shirley feeney. she is yours. as you can see. >> nice to meet you, ritchie. >> my pleasure. >> when laverne and shirley made a guest appearance. the cameraman said look at the two shot. that's a series. >> shamele, shamozle, hossenfere incorporated. >> tuesday night's death spot, death to any program that goes against abc's "happy days" or "laverne & shirley." >> "laverne & shirley" was one of the few sitcoms that debuted as number one. >> the top number one show this season, "laverne & shirley." >> you have to go all the way back to "i love lucy" to get the same sort of slapstick and physical comedy. >> i never really 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 couldn't say sex.

but they said rodeo-do. >> you rodeo-do. >> everybody knew what they were talking about >> once. . i asked my son about this. "laverne & shirley" and "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 spaceman. >> wait a minute, who are you? >> i am mork from ork. >> the writers, he wants an alien. i had to make the story up. fonzi is running out of adversaries. >> that's right, fonzi has never lost a hall attacker yet. and we have the home planet advantage. >> then we have him on his own show. and "mork & mindy" was the hip 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 explore 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. >> if there is anything that has tilted the ratings books in cbs' direction. it's the cbs affiliates meeting he explained how t & a shows are concocted. >> they take the clothes off three times. they get idea. and then they have to run three times. so they jiggle. they're all well-endowed. of course. 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. but 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 -- [ laugher ] >> good morning, angels.

>> good morning, charlie. >> "charlie's angels" became an enduring trademark out of the '70s. >> i've already made arrangements for you three to go to prison. >> open your towel. >> i'll be standing as erect as ever. >> good luck, angels. >> oh, god, i did "battle of the network stars" a couple of times. and i hated it. >> i think i made up some pretty good time on billy crystal. >> networks would loan out their tv stars to compete in a series of quasi-olympic type events. >> she is leaning so far over it seems to be wobbling a little bit. >> erin gray with that spry, supple body. >> she has a great set of legs. >> i think we had a lot to apologize for. it was the worst of television. >> my only defense is it was the '70s. >> did i jiggle much? [ laughter ] well, live and learn.

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public television has been expected to do a great deal. almost 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 fred rogers who made it okay to speak to an audience of kids like they were human beings. >> there are some things that are very difficult to understand in a newspaper. >> every now and then i think back to mr. rogers, and i think he would say, don't be scared. life is good. life is special. >> that's why everybody is so special because everybody is different. >> just go and do the thing you love. that always stuck with me. >> see you tomorrow. ♪ 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 that penny. >> yeah, count it. >> okay. >> count. >> one. >> "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. >> somebody. >> somebody. >> "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. >> educational children's television really matured in the '70s. >> i'm leaving. >> i love you. >> i love you, too. >> oh, thanks. >> and now for something completely different. >> when i was 13, this show from england came on pbs, which before that was only the realm of my parents. >> ewww! >> what do you mean, ewww? >> i don't like spam. >> and 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 it on pbs. that's why i hope you all watch it. >> attack me with it. come on! >> oh! >> you get the generation of comedy nerds who don't even know that they're comedy nerds. >> this is no more. it has ceased to be. >> "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. look at "saturday night live," sctv. oh, after, after "monty python." >> beginning soon, saturday night will open up a live venture from new york city. we just happen to have the producer of the program, members of the company. what should we look for on your program? >> anxiety. >> loren michaels, this canadian comedy producer was given free reign. >> hi, i'm loren michaels. >> he ends up hiring a bunch of

improv comics. >> rehearsal, let's do 28 face slaps. >> george carlin was the first host and 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. >> that's one of those tv rules you mustn't break until you do. then you realize, why don't you have a different host every week? but it was the cast that finally won people's hearts. >> come on, who is this? >> andy-gram. >> oh, no! >> 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 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. and these were kids in quotes 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 -- television, that's partly what made it attractive. >> no problem. >> 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 realize the kids are the stars. the host wasn't nearly as impactful. >> that's not quite it. >> because the thing was all the rage. >> 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. >> good evening, i'm chevy chase, and you are not. >> chevy chase became an instant star. >> our top story tonight. >> our top story tonight -- [ indiscernible ] >> chevy chase was on the show for one year. >> are you sorry you left "saturday night live"? >> i'm deeply, deeply sorry. [ laughter ]

>> chevy decided that 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 things 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! >> all right, all right. >> cut, cut, cut! makeup, can we get in here, please. sorry, fellows. >> that just opened up other doors, and "saturday night live" was just kind of taking off. ♪ two wild and crazy guys >> you will never have to cut again. >> roseann, roseanna-danna. >> cheeseburger, cheeseburger. >> congratulations! >> 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. it was inextricably linked with the times.

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monday, monday, monday is the greatest day of the week! >> throughout high school there was one show that was 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 football night. that's why. >> monday night football got its start 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. >> 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 up by what those guys were saying. the booth itself was almost like a variety show. >> we have our extra here with us this evening. >> i call it a traveling freak show, and it really was. and the head freak was howard. there ain't no question about that. >> the tension between the two of them made for the kind of thing you wanted to see every week. >> professional football is rapidly growing into a very big business. >> you understand football? >> i like 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 because he is going to come anyway. what we needed to do is appeal to women. we needed 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 that people associate with. >> recognize this fellow? >> what's been your view of this american professional football season?

>> it's an amazing event, sight. it makes rock concerts look like tea parties. >> i would like to have your job, be a sportscaster. >> that show became week after week one of the most highly rated shows in america. ♪ turn out the lights >> it showed football was an entertainment experience on par with any prime-time 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 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. >> cable. for quarter of a century there's nothing distinctive about it. it's just a way for you to get everything that everybody else can get. that's the way it is up until -- >> welcome to home box office subscription television. >> hbo debuts november 8, 1972, and it is not an overnight success. >> presenting the pennsylvania polka festival.

>> and 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 you'd 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. >> how much time have we 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," i come in, i have to be funny in a hurry. it gets a little tiring. six minutes, boom, boom, boom, boom. >> it wasn't as contrived. a what a full-throated performance. >> this is not regular television. this is subscription. you can say anything. [ bleep ] >> because you're not using public air waves, 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. you were getting movies uncut in your home, all the naughty bits intact. and then september 1975 we debut coast to coast with the thrilla in manila one of the all-time classic heavyweight fights, frasier/ali. that's when hbo explodes. >> 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 day one for both businesses, hbo and the cable industry. >> if you're a fan, what you will see in the next few minutes to follow will convince you you have have gone to sports heaven. >> in the mid '70s in the sports wold r world there were just these three giants, cbs, nbc, and abc. and then in connecticut somebody got a hold of a transponder.

>> the picture you are watching right now has been taken by a camera sent through some sophisticated equipment to this earth transmitting system. >> 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, 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. 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 and 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 around the world as well. >> 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 jim boyle, i'll be handling the play-by-play tonight. >> it 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 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? are you up for whatever? don't answer. grab a bud light and show it. try new things, make new friends, explore new places.

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the best thing pbs did for adults in the '70s was the miniseries, the idea of novels for television. >> good evening. i'm alister cook. we're at the ninth episode of "i, claudius." we ought to put out the sign "discretion is advised." >> i was not allowed to watch it because it had nudity in it. i very much wanted to. >> rather than try to come up with a show that will run for years and years, it was this idea that here is a limited story. we're going to tell it in "x" number of episodes. we'll just do this one self-contained thing. >> we did things 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 miniseries 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? characters can grow and change and differ. >> 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, big television, if it was done right and in a compelling way, the audience kept coming back and back. >> here you have topics that expect to get serious and groundbreaking 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, but it has not been without debate. >> 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 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 discussions. its most tangible political effect was when 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. 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." it was based on a 1976 book by alex haley about his family in africa and coming to america as slaves and what happened 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 in ships. >> your 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 you in the morning, captain. sleep well. >> it is difficult to explain in today'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. >> it may be the first time that

television allowed an embracing of black pride. >> them is freed. 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 miniseries were broadcasts in weekly installm t installments. and abc executives determined if "roots" were to fail, they could just be done with it in seven or eight nights. >> it was high risk, high reward. you were a lot of tv time and not a lot of people watching. the television premiere on the eighth consecutive night 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 meeting humanity. i think 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. >> its legacy is look how long it's lasted. >> there were 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 frank put two

straws up his nose. the following is a cnn special report. >> the shocking crime. >> ron and nicole were butchered. >> the riveting car chase. >> 911, what are you reporting? >> this is a.c. i have o.j. in the car. >> now o.j. simpson on trial for murder. >> stop domestic violence! >> this was the perfect soap opera. >> the characters like kato kaelin. >> itee