2022. the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour and in this country, more than 40% of all workers are less than $15 an hour. but is it a job killer or smart legislation? coming up next on cnn, have a great night. see you tomorrow. tonight, television take as look at itself. >> it's only an idiot box if an idiot is watching. >> i'll tell you about the golden age of television, this time will be looked at as the platinum age. >> if we've left something to think about, so much the better.

>> television should not be just entertainment. >> congress has no right to interfere in the media. >> we have a responsibility to give the audience what it tuned in to see. ♪

thnc the year ofs the '60s some things got worse 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. the american public was hungry for more. >> more was allowed that hadn't been before. >> it was the last decade where it was a camp fire television. >> i want to watch an all black show for a change. >> where are you going to find one? >> here it is. los angeles lakers against the milwaukee bucks. >> this is cbs. >> really, it was very simple.

you had three channels, plus pbs. into the '70s, television was very rural. >> the beverly hillbillies. >> cbs had "beverly hillbillies" "green acres." >> and the hillbilly shows were everywhere and then they weren't. >> fred silverman who was running programming said we're going to get rid of higher rated shows and replace them with shows for the younger audience. >> it changed the face of television. >> my name is michael weir. >> he burst upon the public consciousness when he took on biggeotry with "all in the

family." >> our world is coming crumbling down. the cons are coming. >> to use language like that on tv was just unheard of but it really captured a certain moment. >> archie, 12% of the population is black, there should be a lot of black families out here. >> yes, this is only the beginning but i think it's wonderful. >> it scared me when i first saw "all in the family. "there was no doubt in my mind the american people were going to accept it? >> my quick answer is no. >> everybody is going to see something they knew dam well was going on and nothing that surprising. >> i bought some yesterday. it's in the closet in the kitchen. >> it ain't in the kitchen. >> hearing a toilet flush for

the first time was a big deal and made headlines. >> what is it? archie? bad news? >> we get out of vietnam or something? >> don't be a wise guy, huh? >> mom dented the car. how are we going to keep dad from finding out about it. not when i see everything going around in the country. >> you make him out a queer. >> i never said a guy who wears glasses is a queer. he's a four-eyes. a guy who's a far is a queer. >> they put before the american public, archie's friend who was masculine and happens to be gay. >> how long you known me? >> 10, 20 years. >> in all that time do you

remember me talking to a woman? >> 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. >> i wanted fto do an episode where somebody could give archie what he learned. he created a character who could really let him have it. >> 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 television with me saying they're slowing that woman. >> no, it's mrs. findly. mr. findly has a much higher

voice. >> now, get your coat and come on. >> what makes you think you can order me around like that, henry? >> because you're my wife. >> when he says wife, he means possession. >> you said a million times you want to be possessed. >> i said that standing up. >> all his series come out of this building, allowing him to move from show to show. >> there had never been a complete black family on tv before with the father. >> we don't live in the projects in chicago. >> don't worry about your head about nothing, go ahead and do it. but i got $6 in my pocket. >> all they paid you was $6.

>> there were a lot of folks not happy with the show. the black panthers were very upset. when hewy newton came to see me, the big complaints is why can't we see a black man that's doing better than that? >> the jeffersons started as the neighbors of archie bunker. >> why are you so sensitive all of a sudden? >> how would you like it if i called you -- >> nothing is worse than honky except being married to one. >> what are you staring at? >> i was just thinking, bring my neighbor's kids over here. this place is better than the zoo.

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>> they had nothing with initials so people would stay home on saturday nights snights. >> that may be the best night of television in all of television history. >> mary tyler moore was working as an associate producer on a tv show. >> you know you got spunk. i hate spunk. >> there were a lot of women entering the workplace and for a lot of them, mary tyler moore was the entry point. >> 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. >> all right. >> the first script had mary coming to minneapolis divorced

and very quickly cbs says no, no, no. >> at the beginning of the decade, divorce was considered scandilous. >> she went on dates with a lot of guys but they weren't really important. >> we were really hitting it off and i just thought -- >> you just thought. >> she's not obsessed with finding a husband. >> this was about people coping with one another and the workplace was like a family. >> i told him to copy for sue ann. >> oh, my god. i told the projectionest it was the other way around. >> oh, my god. >> local pit farmers said rising corn prices are rising them to find other means to feed their stock. here's one pig. just look at her gaubl up that slop.

dining out with sue an. >> 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 female writers for this show. >> i went as somebody's guest. >> why do you think it's such a winner? >> i think because of the casting and 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 the authentic and good. people would say you're just like me and my girlfriends. >> how can you gorge yourself like that? >> well, eat something. >> i can't, i got to lose eight pounds by 7:30. >> he said valerie, i'm going to spin you off. that's a term that was

originated in the '70s. >> we got to tell each other everything. >> okay. joe, i want to be married. >> roda and joe's wedding became a huge international event. 50 million people tuned in to see that. >> suddenly she's in a happy relationship and they didn't know what to do that so they had to have her get divorced to reboot the show. >> why did you marry me? i feel so funny. >> just a matter of trust. >> she's not going to do it. >> where do we gefro from here? >> '70s also had this therapeutic over lay. >> 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 the

session. >> i didn't know much about therapy before that. >> it's in the galaxy. >> how long are you going to be in town? >> i didn't want to do a show where we had children. i didn't want to be the dum dad. [ applause ] >> howard, i just don't want to make anymore decisions. >> people will say gee, my dad and i used to watch the show and it's great. and you realize you're part of people's lives. >> a certain artistry developed. >> mash really changed what a sitcom can be. the sitcom can be cinematic. >> "m.a.s.h." was probably the

single most interest comedy. >> the television series had one thing a movie did not, which was heart. >> there are certain rules about a war and rule number one is young men die and rule number two is doctors can't change rule number one. >> it was about career we were talking about in doing things that had to do with vietnam and everybody knew it. >> war is war and hel is hel and of the two, war is a lot worse. >> we had 30 million people a week watching "m.a.s.h." >> i intend only to bump into nurse baker, repeatedly, if possible. >> these are people who would go through the scripts and say you can't use this word. this is freedom of speech. >> at the senate hearings on television violence today,

strong charges were levelled at the networks. >> the broadcast industry now stands charge woud with having molested the minds of our children. >> the family hour was established in response to complaints of too much sex and violence on early evening television. >> the two hours from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. between which children and parents can watch television without being made to feel uncomfortable. >> we sued. >> family hour is under attack from some producers, unions and others in the television industry. they have filed a lawsuit. >> they pass through a picket line protesting the hearing. >> congress has no right whatsoever to interfere in the content of the media. >> if you can sensor a joke

today, and tomorrow you can sensor any thought t just becomes easier the next day. >> they a judge ruled the so-called family hour was unconstitutional. a violation of the first amendment guarantee of free speech. >> the first amendment was upheld and a most important decision and it's truly a victory for everybody. e say reae first ingredient, it is number one. and we leave out corn, wheat and soy. learn more at beyondpetfood.com duracell quantum lasts longer so kevin jorgeson can power through the night. sfx: duracell slamtones e*trade is all about seizing opportunity. and i'd like to... cut. so i'm gonna take this opportunity to direct.

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thnc the rookies will not be seen tonight. >> we are look at what you watch most of the time. what are you looking at and is it good for you? >> it's like people got tired of talking about real stuff. there was a longing for a simpler time when it didn't seem like there was so much anger. and people weren't so mad at each other. >> this year there will be more nusta

nustalgau. >> i created "happy days". i thought it would be good if there were some families that didn't get cdivorced. it wasn't by accident everybody hugged each other, everybody in the family ate at the same time at the same table. >> it was a sweet, tender show. looking back on that era of the '50s with a certain affection. >> abc wanted faunzy's aye to compete directly with jimmy jay jaywalker's dynamite. >> does anyone say, thank you, arnold? no, what you know what they? >> sit on it, arnold. >> that's what they say. >> you watch fonzy and you just want to be fonzy.

>> hey, girls, knock yourselves out. >> it's a fantasy of what teen life could be. >> hey, you're here. luvern. this is lavern defauzio, she's mine and she's yours, as you can see. >> when lavern and shirley made a guest appearance, somebody said look at this two series, that's a series. >> tuesday night between 8:00 and 9:00 is called the death spot. death to any program that dares to go head on with happy days and lavern and shirley. >> it was one of the few sitcoms that ever debuted as number one. >> the absolute top, number one show this season is "lavern and shirley" a brainless exercise

inned a lessant sillinein ed a l ad lessance. >> it was two girls trying and the value of friendship. it must have something going for it. >> i don't rodeo dough dough. >> you rodeo dough dough. >> i don't voedio dough dough. >> they couldn't say sex so they said voedio dough. >> voedio. >> everybody knew what we were talking about. >> once. >> my son didn't want to. i said you know -- and he said i like it. but what's missing? spaceman because we were getting into space and that's when i created a spaceman. >> wait a minute, who are you? >> the writers said, he wants an alien. i had to makeup a story of a fonzy's running out of adversaries. >> we have the home planet

advantage. >> then we got him on his own show and "mork and mindy" was the hit show of the '70s. >> the audience is willing to buy the premise just so they can watch robin williams. >> nanue nanue. >> and that's part of the balance of the television diet that there was a need toi iu'm barbecue. >> i can see what's going to heat up the polls. >> and tna, he explained how these tna shows are concocted. >> they won't have to run two or three times, so they jiggle and all are well endowed of course

and they say let's get three jiggled and write a script around it. >> there are some that will tell you it's peeked and on its way out. but they have showed like "the love boat" and "threes company." >> these were women who were -- you know. >> good morning, angels. >> good morning, charley. >> "charley's angels" became a very enduring trademark from the '70s. >> i'll be standing as erect as ever. >> oh, god. i did bat battle of the network star as couple of times and i hated it. networks would loan out their tv stars to compete in a series of

quasi- >> i think we have a lot to apologize for with the worst of television. >> it was the '70s. >> did i jiggle much? live and learn.

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public telesligz has been expected to do a great deal. almost half of noncommercial program hours are aimed at chil children. and it has come to be so many things to so many people. >> the pbs children's programming became the platinum standard 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 things very difficult to understand in a newspaper. >> i think back to mr. rogers and he'd say life is good, life is special, don't be scared. >> everybody is so special because everybody is different. >> just go and do the thing that you love and that always stuck with me. ♪ can you tell me how to get to

sesame street ♪ >> sesame street introduced my children to people with different back grounds. >> it isn't easy being green. >> count that penny. >> count it? >> count. >> "sesame street" was aggressive in terms of not only learning concepts of reading but concepts of interacting. >> i may be small. >> i may be small. fl b >> but i am somebody. >> i am somebody. >> 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 love you. >> i love you too. >> and now for something completely different. >> when i was 13 a show from

england came on pbs, which before that was only the realm of my parents and suddenly they're doing the most outlandish, racy, 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 and that's why i hope you'll watch it. >> you have this generation of comedy nerds who don't even know they're comedy nerds. >> this pattern is no more. it has ceased to be. >> "monty python" turned out to break so many rules. it changes everything just like with the beatles. you can say they came after the beatles. after "monty python." >> saturday will open a whole

new live venture. we happen to have producer of the program and members of the company. >> lauren michaels, this canadian comedy producer was given full reign. and he ultimately winds up hiring a bunch of improv comics. >> come on. >> george carlen was the first host and wanted to be a permanent host. >> there were a lot of names in terms of permanent hosts. >> that's one of those tv rules you musn't break until you do and then you realize, why don't you have a different host every week. but it was the cast that finally won people's hearts. >> we giveio you the sauce. >> 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. >> because it was live and partly because you knew television was in the hands of a television generation and these were kids, in quotes who just might do anything. >> the president within these very walls. that never happened when dig nixon was in the white house. >> every one of their episodes became worth ea of tell mudic study, if that's the word. >> lauren called me in the office and says you realize 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 prime time players because they felt they were too good. >> good evening, i'm chevy chase

and you're not. >> chevy chase became an instant star. >> chevy chase was on the show for one year. >> are you sad you left "saturday night live?" >> i'm deeply sorry. >> he decided he was too big for the show and left. and in some ways, it was a blessing because it showed that "saturday night live" was going to do much more than survive. >> hello, i'm bill murray, you can call me billy but around here everybody just calls me the new guy. >> when chevy chase leaves, bill murray comes in. i mean, that just opened up other doors and saturd"saturday live" was just kind of taking

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

abc. >> frank was there to do play by play. don was there to do replays and provide humor to the telecast. >> come on, let's go. >> the pairing of howard cassell 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 like a variety show. >> i've called it a traveling freak show and the head freak was howard. 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 our football? >> i don't understand too much. >> would you like to learn more about it? >> we were on a mission that took us very close to saying screw the football fan because he's going to come anyway.

we needed to appeal to women, the casual football fan. that's why we started telling stories that humanized the players. >> joe nameth, one of the greatest of all time. >> the things that people associate with. >> what's been your view of this american professional football scene? >> it makes rock concerts look like tea parties. >> i'd like to have your job as a sports caster. >> week after week it was one of the most highly rated shows in america. 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 take a look at what may be in store for television viewers in the decade of the '70s. it is television by cable that

could radically alter our way of life. >> there's nothing distinctive about cable, just a way for you to get what everybody else can't get. and that was the way until. hbo debuted and it is not an overnight success. and the repeated saying was getting people to pay for tv will be like getting them to pay for air. >> saturday mornings they'd play band music and slides of nothing. >> nobody knew what you could do or didn't do but you were desperately trying not to be commercial television. >> the beauty of it was you didn't have to pack everything quickly. you could warm up and get to know, take the stage, so to speak. >> i do t"the tonight show" andi have have to be funny in a

hurry. six minutes and boom, boom, boom. >> it was a full performance. >> that's not regular television, it's subscription. you can say anything. >> because you're not using the public air waves, the scc can't manage your content. hbo gave cable something to sell. you were getting movies uncut in your home. all the naughty bits in tact. and then september, 1975 we debut coast to coast with the thrillau in manila. frazier, ali. and that's when hbo explodes. >> it's all over and muhammad ali at the end -- >> before that, you're counting growth in 10s of thousands for subscribers. after that, you're counting in millions. that's really day one for both businesses. hbo and the cable industry.

>> if your a fan, what you'll see in the next minutes to follow may convince you you've gone to sports heaven. >> in the mid-70s in the sports world there were these three giants, cbs, abc, nbc. >> the picture you're watching right now has been taken by a camera. >> this guy who had been fired from his job and just trying to figure out a way to deliver local cable sports and when he found out about the satellite, he said so can we cover the had whole state? and he said no you don't understand, for 25 cents, we can send us all over the country. and they didn't quite know what they had. >> and he wound up revolutionizing television sports. >> welcome to the espn sports center. in this very desk in the coming

weeks and months we'll be filling you in on the pulse of sports, not only in the country but around the world as well. >> they took all the left overs out there. >> i'll be handling the play by play for tonight's game. >> that gave birth to arguably the greatest media success story of all time. >> at its best it could provide relief towards bigness. at its worse, it could invade our privacy, tranquilize our children, remove us electronically from the flesh and blood world and we have to pay for the privilege. the question is, indeed, will the miracle be managed? my insurance rates are probably gonna double.

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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, i'm allister cook, we ought to put up a sign, discretion is advised. >> i was not allowed to watch because it had nudity in it. >> rather than try to come up with a show that will run for years and years, there was this idea that here is a limited story and lets do this one self-contained thing. >> we all did things during the ra reign of my mad brother. >> 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.

pbs was the station that hit gold with "rich man poor man". >> characters can grow and change and differ. >> listen, i want to talk to you. >> about what? >> about making an honest man out of me. >> if it was done right and compelling, the audience kept on coming back and back. >> you have topics that start to get important and serious and ground breaking for television. >> i don't want harm to come to you because of me. >> i won't listen to this. >> the reaction to holocaust program has been positive, 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 don't know, here's another depiction. >> the holocaust telecast caused heated and the german legislature debated the search for nazi war criminals. >> holocaust brought it home, it made it real, even though it was a hollywood creation. >> sunday night "roots" begins in eight parts. 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" based on a book by alex hailey and his family coming to america as slaves and what happens to them as the centuries goes on. >> i will go to my grave

believing that "roots" is america's story, not just black america. >> we all came over in ships. >> your name mean stay put but it don't mean stay a slave. >> we're very close to being men. >> what's your name? >> kunta kintai. >> the adult was a dream role. >> it was really genius to cast all of america's favorite televisions dads in the roles of the white slave owners and the villains. >> sleep well. >> it is difficult to explain in today's culture how unprecedented "roots" was. nobody had ever seen the story of slavery told from the point of view of the africans. >> it may be the first time that television allowed an embracing

of black pride. >> he's free, honey. >> one of the reasons it was so incredibly popular is not because abc had so much faith in it, but because abc didn't. >> earlier, they were broadcast in weekly install ments and the destormened if it were to fail, they could be done with it in seven or eight nights. >> it was high risk, high reward. >> the television premier on eight consecutive nights attracted the largest audience in the media. >> there's something about it that seems to touch all human beings. age and race. >> entertainment was meeting humanity. and i think that's the primary value is to lead humanity going forward. >> if there's a 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. >> those shows were about people who were kind and nice. they were not mean spirited shows. >> there was a certain elegance to that. i kind of miss it. >> oh, it was so delicious. five different flavors. archie was sitting at another table with jefferson pratt. remember him? anyway, archie was trying to get my attention.

[ laughter] [ applause ] ♪ it's a time of enormous term oil. >> the '60s are over, dad. >> here's michael at the foul line. good. >> we intend to cover all the news, all the time. we won't be signing off until the world ends. >> isn't that special. >> any tool for human expression will bring out both the best and the worst in us and television has been there. >> they don't pay me enough to deal with animals like this. >> people are no longer embarrassed to admit they watch television. >> we have seen the news and it is us. ♪