[ 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. ♪

slowly but surely the 1970s are disappearing. a 1980s will be upon us. what a decade it is coming up.

happy new year. >> as you begin the '80s in the television world, the landscape was, on any given evening, nine out of 10 people were watching one of three networks. >> more than 30 million people are addicted to it. social critics are mystified by its success. what is it? television's prime time prairie pot boilers, dallas. >> it will ruin our family name. >> i assure you a thought like that never crossed my mind. >> brother or no brother i'll do what it takes to stop you in oil. >> a weekly one hour show that literally captivated america for 13 years. >> "dallas" is, in some way rooted in the 1970s and what emerges is this character, j.r. as a pop phenomenon. >> tell me, j.r., what slit are you going to stay with tonight?

>> what does it matter, it's got to be better than the slit i'm looking at right now. >> everyone was completely inamerred by this character. so many people were watching television that you could do something so unexpected that it would become news overnight. [ gun shots] >> the national obsession in 1980 around who shot j.r. it's hard to imagine how obse obsessed we all were with that question but we were. >> who shot j.r. is about as ideal a cliff hanger as you possibly could get. we may never get the answer. the people who produced that program are going to keep us in suspense as long as they can. >> we went to the summer and

incidentally, the actors went on strike and it started to perkulaper perkulate through the world. >> that's all people were talking about in england in the summer. >> i mean, you couldn't die. how could you die? you couldn't come back next season. >> i couldn't but the show could still go. >> what is that show without j.r.? >> well, that's what i figure. >> if you don't know by now who shot j.r., you probably don't care but last night some 82 million americans did and it could become the most watched television show ever. >> who shot j.r. is a reflection of old-fashioned television. it gathers everybody around the electronic fireplace, which is now the television set. >> it transsends in popularity every other american statement about war. and surgical hospital 407,

something happened that will touch millions of americans. >> 20th century fox studios, the en end of the korean war, the television show "m.a.s.h." >> i'm very, very proud to have known you. >> there were those landmark times when shows that the been watched through the '70s and into the '80s, like "m.a.s.h." had its final episode and we were all sad to see them go. >> miss you. >> i'll misyou a lot. >> all over the country armies of fans crowded around television sets to watch the final episode and to bid "mash" fair well. >> the finale was unprecedented. 123 million people watched one television program at the same time. >> you know, i really should be

allowed to go home. there's nothing wrong with me. >> when we entered the show, we got telegrams of congratulations from henry kissinger and ronald regan. the size of the response and the emotional nature of it was hard to understand. >> the last call for the pre-cable world of television. it's like they are the last time that huge audience will all turn up for one event. >> all right. that's it. let's roll. hey, let's be careful out here. >> dispatch. 911. >> when quality does emerge on television, the phrase, too good for tv, is often heard. one network offering that deserves that phrase is

"hillstreet blues". >> it's one of the turning points of the entire industry. >> we had all watched a documentary about cops and it had this real hand-held, in the moment quality that we were very enamered of. >> the minute you looked at it, it looked different. it had a mood to it. you could almost smell the stale coffee. >> we didn't want to do the standard cop show and you catch the bad guy and sweat him and he confesses and that's it. cops have personal lives that impact their behavior in profound ways. >> we're working on it. >> how's this for ladies and gentlemenic -- logic, if he's not here and not elsewhere, then

he's lost. never have i listened to so much mitigated crap. find my client. >> there would be these ongoing arcs that would play out over five, six, episodes and sometimes an entire season. and no one had really done that in an hour-long dramatic show. >> these past four months y s i missed you. i had to find that out. come home, pizza man. >> i think in the past, people had watched television passively. and the one thing i think we did set out to be were provocteres. >> they don't pay me enough to deal with animals like this. the first thing they see is a

white face. >> it was a white face that pulled the trigger, not a black one. >> the idea that the audience can accept its characters being deeply flawed, even though they're wearing this uniform. and that was important to finally get across. >> we wanted to make a show that made you participate. made you pay attention. and i think that worked pretty well. >> and the winner is. >> hillstreet blues. >> 21 nominations and we went on to win eight emimys and it put s on the map, literally. and that's when people finally checked us out. >> they used to say about shows like hillstreet, what america wants is a cheeseburger and what you're trying to give them is a french del case. your job is to keep shoveing it down their throat until after a while they'll say that doesn't taste bad and even order it

themselves when they geo to the restaurant. >> influenced everything that came after and you saw shows like "st. elsewhere". >> you know what they call this place? st. elsewhere, a place you wouldn't want to send your mother in law. >> it was actually promoted as hillstreet hospital. >> you don't know what medications they're on, you're pathetic. thuth pathetic. >> bill. >> what? >> doctor needs you. >> sorry. >> it broke every rule there was and built some new rules. >> they ran a routine panel, t cell count was off. >> they would have tragic things happen to these characters. there was real heart ache and you really felt for them. >> television at its best is a mirror of society in the home.

>> "st. elsewhere" challenges people and challenged you as a an actor to think the stuff they gave you was extreme and they were dealing with aids or having one of their main doctor characters raped in a prison. >> they tackled lots of difficult subjects. "st. elsewhere" was run by people who were trying to stretch the medium. and in the '80s producers were encouraged to stretch the medium. someone's hacked all our technology... say, have you seen all the amazing technology in geico's mobile app?

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arj a lot of people used to say i was there. >> you used to have to depend on the five minutes at the end of your local news cast. there just hadn't been enough. give us a whole network of sports. >> there's just one place you need to go, espn sports center. >> what happens in the 1980s is sports become as tv show and what are tv slhows built around? characters. >> you cannot be serious. >> macken row the perfect villain, the new yorker people love to hate or the cool swede never giving any emotion away. >> what tennis really wants is to get its two best players playing over and over again in the final. clis that's what we want to tune into

over and over. >> three match points to martina nav . >> and he has a smile that -- >> there it is. "magic" johnson, this kid from michigan and larry bird, this guy who worked carrying trash, one for the los angeles lakers, the other for the boston celtics. it's a great story. >> lakers had several chances and here's larry bird. >> mag"magic" johnson leads the attack. >> when those championship games are in prime time and people are paying attention to that, televisions feeds into those rivalries and makes them bigger than they've ever been before. >> he challenged me with somewhat primitive skills. >> every mike tyson fight was an

event because every fight was an ax murderer. you could feel it on tv. >> he leads with a right hand, down he goes. >> tyson was made for tv because there was drama. >> it's all over. mike tyson has won it. >> not a lot of junior high school kids can dunk. >> everybody tries. >> i think he is starting to transcend, that he's becoming something of a colored figure. >> michael jordan becomes the model every athlete wants to shoot for. television turns them into world wide iconic. >> athletes in the '80s became a group of ongoing people we cared about. the '80s began to provide, thank

goodness. >> it's estimated it will go into 1 million more u.s. households this year. >> with cable television offering an array of different channel choices, that's an earthquake. >> i want my mtv. >> i want my mtv. >> i want my mtv. ♪ >> a new concept is born. the best of tv combined with the best of radio. this is it. welcome to mtv music television, the world's first 24-hour stereo, video music channel. >> what a concept. mtv was pow, in your face. you were not going to turn us off. >> mtv did nothing but play current music videos all day long. so, let me get this straight, you turn on the tv and it's like the radio? >> a music will continue nonstop on mtv music television, the

newest component of your stereo system. >> a generation was launched. 18 to 24-year-olds are saying i want my mtv, i want my mtv videos, i want my mtv fashion. >> they were the first netswork focused on the youth market. and they understand eachith ot the odd ynaudience and the netw. >> miami vice. ♪ >> friday nights on nbc are different this season thanks to "miami vice" an old theme with a lot of twists. shot entirely on location in south miami it centers around two undercover vice cops. >> i don't know how this is going to work. i mean, you're not exactly up my

alley, style and persona wise. heaven knows i'm no box of candy. >> television really was the small screen. and the screen play pilot from "miami vice" very much the approach was they call this a television series but we're going to make one-hour movies every week. >> stand by. >> action. >> you were just describing the show as a new wave cop show. >> it's a cop show for the '80s. i mean, we use a lot of mtv images and rock music to help describe the mood and feeling of our show. >> in a lot of ways, you don't get "miami vice" without mtv. music was such a big part of that show. >> there is an allure to using great music everybody was listening to as opposed to the routine tv scoring from that period. ♪ i can feel it coming in the

air tonight ♪ >> not only was it not afraid to let long scenes play out, it would drag -- a car from point a to point b could be a four-minute phil collins song and it was. >> being able to take a television series like "miami vice" and rock and roll until somebody says stop or are you crazy, you kaents can't do that nobody ever did. >> freeze police. duracell quantum lasts longer so kevin jorgeson can power through the night. sfx: duracell slamtones

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magnum? >> hammond? >> private investigator? >> oh, you are probably wondering about the goat. just let me drop off my friend, and then we'll talk. >> when we entered the '80s, a lighthearted like "magnum p.i." lot of one-hour dramas that were lighthearted like "magnum p.i." were very popular. after "m.a.s.h." went off the air, the next season there wasn't a single sitcom in the top ten. first time that had ever happened in tv history. the prevailing feeling was that the sitcom was dead.

>> brandon tartikoff, nbc programming chief, says reports of the sitcom's death were greatly exaggerated. >> time and time again, if you study television history, just when someone is counting a forum out, that's exactly the form of programming that's leads to the next big hit. ♪ >> 1984 "the cosby show" comes on. bill cosby is not new to tv but "the cosby show" is different. stands apart from everything else he's done. >> i wanted my scrambled. >> coming up. >> they talked about parenting. before that, the kids were cool and the parents were idiots. "cosby" says the parents are in charge and that was something new. >> instead of acting disappointed because i'm not like you, maybe you can just accept who i am and love me anyway because i'm your son. >> that's the dumbest thing i've ever heard in my life!

>> it helps the casting a lot in television. the kids were just great. >> if you were the last person on this earth, i still wouldn't tell you. >> you have to tell me what you did. just tell me what's they're going to do to you. >> unlike every other show on tv, it's showing an upper middle class black family. this wasn't "all in the family." they weren't tackling deep issues but that was okay. the mere fact they existed was a deep issue. >> the decade was waiting for something real. in other words, unless it's real, it doesn't seem like it moves anybody. if someone is feeling something, you get to the heart and the mind. if you can hit the hearts and minds, you've got yourself a hit. >> how was school? >> school? dear, i brought home two children that may or may not be ours. >> "the cosby show" brought this tremendous audience to nbc. and that was a bridge to us.

our ratings went way up. ♪ sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name ♪ >> even the theme song to "cheers" puts you in a good mood. >> hello, everybody. >> what's shaking, norm? >> by the end of the "cheers" pilot, not only did you know who everybody was, but you wanted to come back and see what was going to happen. it's like all you have to do is watch it once. you're going to love these people. these are universal characters, and the humor worked on so many levels. >> i was up until 2:00 in the morning finishing off kierkegaard. >> i hope he thanked you for it. >> you have to create a community that people are identifying with. and "cheers" gives you that community. >> i've always wanted to skydive. i've just never had the guts. >> what's did it feel like? >> i imagine a lot like sex. >> i have to imagine what sex is like.

but i have plenty of sex. and plenty of this, too. why don't you just get off my back, okay. >> in the first episode, there was a rather passionate annoyance. something is going on here. a really intelligent woman would see your line of bs a mile away. >> i never met an intelligent woman that i would want to date. >> on behalf of the intelligent women around the world, may i just say, phew. >> you saw what ted and shelly had together. we said, oh, no. we've got to do this relationship. >> ted and i understood what they were writing right away. >> if you'll admit that you are carrying a little torch for me, i'll admit that i'm carrying a little one for you. >> oh, i am carrying a little torch for you. >> well, i'm not carrying one for you.

>> diane knew how to tease sam. sam knew how to tease diane, and i guess we know how to tease the audience. >> incredible chemistry between the two of them ignited the show. that's what's drove the show for the first five years. >> what's the matter? >> i'm devastated. i need something brutal to blast me into sweet oblivion. make it a mimosa. >> we had the luck to be able to rotate cast and every time we put somebody in, they were explosions. >> there was something very special about that setting, those characters that i never got tired of writing that show. >> sophisticated surveys, telephonic samplings, test audiences. all of those help to separate winners from losers and make midcourse corrections. you can't cut all comedies from the same cookie cutters.

all you can hope is every night turns out like thursday. >> yo, angela! >> next. >> how rude. >> quick, i'll give him that. >> all television and, oh, maybe sitcoms are alive again. and that's all that it took. it took one success. >> a few years from now, something new may tempt the people that pick what we see. it's a safe guess whatever gets hot for a season or two those who create good television comedy will be laughing all the way to the bank. flrs one inflammatory substance. flonase controls six. and six is greater than one. flonase changes everything.

the bud light party wasn't invited to the debates. but we don't need them. we have debates of our own every night. a hotdog is a sandwich. over bud lights, of course. it's pronounced jif. you cannot outrun a zebra. here's to good natured civil debates. also, it's gif.

♪ this is my last broadcast as the anchorman of the "cbs evening news." for me it's a moment for which i long have planned but which nevertheless comes with some sadness. for almost two decades, after all, we've been meeting like this in the evenings, and i'll miss that. and that's the way it is, friday, march 6th, 1981. i'll be away on assignment and dan rather will be sitting in here for the next few years. good night. >> uncle walter had dominated, certainly cbs, but in a way, the country. people used to say he was the most trusted man in the country. >> once walter cronkite retires, all three network news anchors within a couple of years switch over to a new generation.

the '80s may have been the last gasp where people liked and trusted the media. >> nuclear arms and how to prevent global destruction expected to be the major topic of president reagan's news conference tonight. that conference will be nationally televised within the hour. leslie stahl is at the white house. >> the white house is hoping -- >> in the '80s, women came into the newsroom. when i first joined, it was '72. there are very few. by the '80s, there were more and more. the decade of the '80s was still a teime of sink or swim. you had to be resilient in your own way to survive in a period when you were going up against a lot of people who still didn't think women had what it took. >> these are some of the most famous faces in broadcasting. all of them happen to be women. >> the best producers, i'm going to get fired -- the best producers at cbs news are women. and they're at the level of taking hold and making decisions about individual pieces. they are not yet executive producers of all the news shows.

but they will be. >> the past 24 hours, christine craft has taken her cause to many of the nation's news and talk programs. >> i didn't set out to be joan of ark, but i think what happened to me deserves some attention. >> reporter: christine craft had a very successful career but there she was in her late 30s and the tv station said to her, we're taking you off the air because you've gotten older and you aren't as attractive as you once were, which was outrageous. she decides to make an issue of it. she filed a lawsuit and it became a huge national topic of discussion. >> a jury said she got a raw deal because she is a woman. >> women in television news everywhere were asked, what do you think about christine craft? >> unfortunately in recent years the emphasis has been on physical appearance and to the extent this decision helped swing the emphasis back to substance and to good journalism. i think we've got something to be happy about.

>> it was important to make the point that what mattered was, what's kind of reporter are you? it took the christine craft incident, i think, to bring that conversation out into the open. >> this coming sunday, a new television network opens for business. cnn. cable news network. you are throwing all the dice on this one. >> why not? nothing ventured, nothing gained. >> well, on that original point, mr. turner, thank you very much, indeed. >> i wanted to see what was going on in the world. and it was no way that you could do it watching regular television stations. news only comes on at 6:00 and 10:00. but if there was news on 24 hours, people could watch it any time. >> we decided on june 1 and barring satellite problems in the future, we won't be signing off until the world ends. >> it was widely believed it was a fool's errand. how could this possibly find an audience? >> well, he did. >> camera three. >> good evening. i'm david walker.

>> i'm lois harp. >> television news before this was stuff that had already happened. for the first time, cnn brought the world to people in realtime. >> cnn, the world's most important network. >> i didn't do cable news network because somebody told me it couldn't be done. i figured it was a very viable concept, and i went ahead and did it. it was after we announced we were going to do it that the detractors showed up. >> is cable news network just going to be a new means of delivering the same kind of fare? >> no. it already does provide different fare. cable news network is a perfect and maybe the best example of that. >> people love news. and we had lots of it. and the other guys had not very much. so choice and quantity won out. >> new york city, hello. >> the major catastrophe in america's space program. >> i am lou dobbs along with myron kandel.

>> jessica mcclure trapped for almost three days in a dry well. >> the iron curtain between east germany and west berlin has come tumbling down. >> i'm pat buchanan, the conservative on "crossfire." >> the american people appreciated the new television. they certainly came to cnn in droves. >> mr. gorbachev and i both agree on the desirability of freer and more extensive personal contact between the peoples of the soviet union and the united states. >> we began to realize that the best way to get a message to a foreign leader was to have the president go in the rose garden and make a statement. because everybody was watching cnn. >> cnn was a breakthrough. it changed the whole world. >> it changed quickly. the network news business. that business that we weren't the only ones. and it was hard. it's hard to be on the top little perch and have to come down off it.

>> a special segment tonight, the network news. the first in a two-part series on the profound changes taking place in television news. changes being brought about by business, competition and technology. >> there were a variety of reasons why people who worked at the broadcast networks were freaked out in 1980s. one of them was cnn. and the rise of cable. another was being taken over by foreign entities in corporate america. >> new owners spend billions buying the networks recently, and all of them want their money's worth. >> people began to find out that news could be a profit center. and that focused a lot of attention on us. a lot from people in wall street, for instance. >> if you think about the news divisions of cbs, nbc and abc, they were part of a really proud tradition. a journalistic tradition that really matters. we serve the public. this is not about profit and loss. the people who worked at those news stations were very freaked out by what it meant they were now owned by these larger corporate entities.

>> the television news isn't profitable at some point there won't be any more television news on the networks. >> i worry about people only worried about money and power getting a hold of television. it has higher purposes than that. >> we have seen the news, and it is us. flrs ahhh the sweet taste of victory! prilosec otc. one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. whewhat does it look like?ss, is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student? is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity she deserves? is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the natural world? whatever your definition of success is, helping you pursue it, is ours. t-i-a-a.

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♪ sometimes ambition in a woman is considered to be a dirty word unfortunately. >> i don't hear the female voices reverberating in the halls. >> i'm sure there aren't more shows about women. >> directing scheeems to be an a almost impossible to break through. >> i think the '80s were the era when women were being looked at. with a little skepticism, but definitely with more acceptability. you could see the door opening. but it wasn't wide open. >> cagney and lacey was huge. that there would be two women and they had a serious job and they solved crimes and were out on the streets and tough. that was emblematic or ot in front of what was happening in the country. >> so we're a terrific team.

>> this is true. >> by that point, hundreds of buddy cop shows. these buddies were women. it had never been done before. >> i didn't go after this job because i couldn't find anything else. all right. i did not come here because i needed some kind of work to help pay the orthodontist. this means something to me. >> what the hell are we talking about here? >> we didn't even realize this was going to be such a big deal. and strangely, all these guys would say to us, well, yeah. i mean, it's a good script, but who is going to save them in the end? >> come on. we're getting out of here. >> my wife. >> you don't take one more step. understand me? >> sergeant nelson, you have until 8:00 tomorrow morning to turn yourself in. if you don't, i will. >> it was the time where you really saw an emergence of women on television who were not necessarily just 20 and blond

and had a small role. but women who had substantial roles. ♪ thank you for being a friend ♪ traveled down the road and back again ♪ >> it was unpredictable that an audience, a young audience, a not so young audience and lots in between, could relate to those older ladies. >> ma, you couldn't see, why didn't you call me to come get you? >> i tried to. every time i put in a dime and dialed, a condom popped out. i got five in my pocket. here, dorothy. a lifetime supply. >> she was recently named as one of television's most gifted creative writers. when you look back at the past women's role models on tv, it's easy to see susan harris' impact. >> susan harris was the greatest

writer of her generation at that time, singularly. so all credit to her for coming up with so many iterations of something so amazing. >> do you think there is a woman's voice as a writer? >> woman's voice? they speak higher, softer? >> i should know not to ask that of a writer. >> yes, of course, there's a woman's voice. women have a different perspective. women laugh at different things. so, yes, there very definitely is a woman's voice. >> oh, do you know how many problems we have solved over a cheesecake at this kitchen table? >> no, dorothy. exactly how many? >> 147, rose. >> cut-throat primetime time this fall as some 23 new shows compete in one of the hottest ratings races in years. here's one just about everybody pred predicts will be a big hit "designing women".

>> if sex were fast food, there would be an arch over your bed. >> she created one of the funniest, most unusual shows in "designing women". >> they were feisty and sexy and linda's voice came through shining. >> a man can get away with anything. look at reagan's neck, it sags down to here. >> and everybody raves about how great he looks. if nance had that neck, they would put her in a nursing home for turkeys. [ laughter ] >> they had given me this 23 minutes to address whatever topic i want and is such a privilege, more than the president of the united states gets and it is thrilling to get that every week. i would be lying if i didn't say i put my opinions in the show. >> excuse me, but yu lovely

ladies look like you are in need of male companionships. >> trust me when i say you have misassessed the situation at this table. >> i am a woman and i am a writer, but i don't really enjoy being called a woman's writer. i think labels are harmful to us. >> with murphy brown, just about everything about that program felt new. the civil rights movement and the women's movement had just begun to be reflected in the programming you saw in television in the 80s. >> you know the club is for men only. >> and they have great dinners with great guests and i don't get to go for one reason and one reason only and it has to do with something you've got and i don't. a tiny, pathetic, little, y chromosome. >> murphy brown was change, because she was so popular and such a strong, independent,

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are you in a good mood tonight and we have put a great show together. it will be on a week from thursday. [ laughter ] >> johnny carson in the '80s is making the transition from the king of late night to being a national treasure he was a throw-back to the old show biz stuff. >> i've been on with you for a long time. >> a long time. >> well, you've been busy with other things. >> and the tide is turning in terms of where late-night television is going to go and johnny was holding out and he was not of his time in the '80s but he did sustain a certain timelessness. he'sking. [ laughter ] >> my next guest not only has a college degree, but he also has

a high school degree. >> that is right, i do. >> as well. he's hosted the tonight show as long as johnny carson and now he has his very own show, weekday mornings at 10:00 on nbc. [ laughter ] >> david letterman originally had a one-hour daytime show and nbc, after like 13 weeks, decided to cancel it. >> today is our last show on the air. monday in las vegas -- >> have these people been frisked? >> it was a dismal failure in terms of the ratings, but not in terms of introducing us to letterman. >> david, thank you for being with us tonight. >> thank you for having me. i appreciate it. >> despite of this nonsense that goes on in the background, stay with us and don't give up. stay with us here in new york.

>> dave is back in new york. you're going to host a late-night television program that premiers on monday night. what are critics going to say on tuesday morning? >> i don't much care because i found a way to deal with that with pills. >> david, you're on. proceed. >> i'm enjoying listening you to snort. >> they gave him the late-night show, after the tonight show. and at the time, people thought who is going to watch television at 12:30 at night. who is up? i'll tell you who is up. young people. college people. >> i think this guy needs support, david letterman. >> he was anti-establishment at his core. he was thumbing his nose to any existing social structures. >> i'll get rid of them. hey, excuse me. come on, get out. >> he kind of spoofed the whole

notion of talk shows. >> it is the late night guest cam. please say hello to tom hanks. here he is. >> no one could go on the david letterman show and try to steer it toward a point of view or push something in particular. he just won't stand for it. you are on to do one thing and one thing only and be as funny as the rest of the show. >> we could get in a two-shot here, david. >> as a comedian, you want the biggest audience that you could get. for dave, he knew a lot of things that he would do that were going to alienate people, but he didn't care. he wanted his thumbprint out there and that was the most important thing. >> paul. excuse me, paul, do you have any accompanying music here for small-town news. paul schaefer, ladies and gentlemen. >> the show making fun of itself and turning it self-inside out that way was something kind of

new. >> don't we look like guys you see hanging around together. >> absolutely. >> would you like to hang around with me? >> nope. >> i'll say it again, this is the stupidest show -- >> i thought i would never want to do this show with you. >> now why? >> because you thought i was -- >> a [ bleep ]. >> there is one rule i keep trying to abide by and unfortunately i only get to it about 12% of the time and that is, it is only television. we're not doing cancer research. in the 40-year odd history of commercial broadcasting has taught us something, there is nothing sacred about television. >> steven is upstairs. >> dave, i was just curious, is there any way i can get mtv on this. >> that is just a monitor and all you can get on that is our show. >> oh, that's okay. >> there was a degree of cynicism needed in the artform and it was a cynicism that

became common sense after a while because it never got old. >> i watched johnny carson, and you are no johnny carson. [ laughter ] >> today we got a real big show because -- >> there was a second city chicago company and a second sit toronto company. the toronto one is the one that fueled the sc tv series that was syndicated and got to the states that way. >> thank you very much for that marvelous reception. i want to thank my supporters over there in the cesarean section. >> it is healthy to be an outsider. as a comedian, and canadians are outsiders but they are looking at the culture that is right next door to them.

>> it was the type of comedy that had only been accessible if you got into the improv clubs in toronto or chicago. i had never seen anything like second city tv. >> it was far more conceptual humor because it didn't have to be performed in front of an audience. and the idea was it was this low-rent thing. by the seat of our pants kind of operation that give it an authenticity. >> now that our programming day has been extended -- >> where do you want me to put the kielbasa. >> put it in the frig. >> you were rooting for the show and the characters they created. there was something you got behind. whereas snl right from the gate and through the '80s was this big enterprise. >> after five golden years,

lauren decided to leave and so did those close to him, including me, al frank. so nbc had to pick a new producer. now most knowledgeable people, as you might imagine, hoped it would be me, al frank. >> well there was a question of whether saturday night live would continue at all. whether it would die. >> saturday night live is saturday night dead. >> oh, come on. >> from yucks to yak. >> and my favorite is vile from new york. >> it is funny. >> they were having a hard time. and then came the man to save the show, eddie murphy. >> you tune in and there was this explosion of talent in front of your eyes. >> it really kind of rejuvenated the show.

>> i'm gum by, you don't talk to me that way. >> after a while the show regained its status and clout and became even more of an instituti institution than it had been. [ laughter ] >> you guys have been so nice to us during our stay. >> isn't that special. >> we just want to pump, you up. >> a lot of things they could do on saturday night live they couldn't do on a sitcom. the humor was more daring and more sitir cal and it was political. >> you still have 50 seconds left mr. president. >> let me just sum up, on track, stay the course. a thousand points of light.

stay the course. >> governor decaucus, rebuttal? >> i can't believe i'm losing to this guy. >> it is gary shand ling show. >> people were taking the old principles of comedy and turn them into something new. we spent years watching sitcoms and dramas and talk shows and we knew them by heart, if somebody played on that and parodiyed that, we got it. >> i appreciate you coming in under these conditions. you want to hold the credits. we we we were going to roll the credits but you were late. >> he was aware it was a situation comedy. >> it highlighted the cliches in funny ways. >> don't look into the camera. >> i didn't. >> you don't come in here and look in the camera. >> i didn't. >> i'll bop you. i will. if i see a tape of this show --

and you're looking into the camera -- >> well, it's about that time. >> pee wee's playhouse, a saturday morning kids show that adults would watch and wink at each other at the same time was very clever. >> it was a show certainly for kids and it was for stoned baby boomers who were totally wasted on saturday morning and watched pee wee's playhouse and saw god. >> everybody be good. don't let dust and allergies get between you

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1968, the summer before high school and i don't mind saying i was a pretty good athlete. >> the wonder years was a guy looking back on his childhood. that in itself is not new but the wonder years did it with the wit and the music. and it was brilliantly written and a great performance by that entire young staff. >> hey, steve -- >> she's not my girlfriend.

>> kevin arnold has to cope with growing up during one of the most turbulent times that we've known. >> kevin arnold is just a regular kid except in the 1960s and he's not really aware of many of the events, like in one of the episodes, the whole family is watching the apollo taking off and i'm sitting there trying to call a girl. >> the first episode of the wonder years, anybody who saw it, remembers the ending where the first kiss with winnie and kevin arnold. the song they play is "when a man loves a woman." that moment seems to pure and so real. ♪ when a man loves a woman, can't keep his mind on nothing else ♪ >> it is about rebellion and being students. by the 1980s, it is time to grow up. and so they shave up their beards and put on power suits, a

whole new notion. >> oh, the yuppies. last year the politicians were talking about earning their votes and now the rest of the baby boom generation are being wooed by advertisers and their agencies. >> it was clear that after the generation of the '60s, embodied by alex keaton on family ties were more interested in the corner office than the new jerusalem. >> you are a young man you shouldn't be worried about success. you should be thinking about hopping on a steamer and going around the world. >> the 60s are over, dad. >> thanks for the tip. >> you weren't laughing at michael j. fox character for being too conservative. you were laughing at the parents for being too hopelessly liberal. >> what is this? i found that in the shower. >> that is generic brand shampoo. >> this is him. this is the guy i've been telling you about. this is everything you want --

>> the genius of family ties it allows a youth to recognize that is focused on the future and the critique of the 60s. >> michael j. fox as alex keaton really became the center of the show. and writers were smart enough to see that they had something special and they wrote to that. >> it's not fair, alex. >> yeah, there is nothing you can do about it, jim. my advice that you just enjoy being a child for as long as you can. i know, i did. it is the best two weeks of my life. >> alex is a little bill buckley. the "wall street journal" is his bible. he has a tie to go with his pajamas. he is very conservative and intense 17-year-old. >> the first thing the teacher will ask is what you did over the summer. a lot of kids will say i went to the zoo or to the beach or to a

baseball game. what are you going to say? >> i watched the iran contra hearings. >> if mom and dad thought this generation was going to the dogs, think again. this is the generation that has discovered hard-work and success. >> american culture is changing in the '80s. and in terms of television, there is demographic segmentation. >> networks were beginning to not be afraid to appeal to a very specific demographic. >> hey, handsome. look at that shirt. >> nice suit, allen. good shoulder pads. you looking to get drafted by the eagles. >> 30-something said we're not going to have cops, lawyers or doctors. we're just going to be people. >> why did we start this business? >> to do our thing. but right now we have two wives, three kids, four cars, two montgome mortgages and apparel. that is the life now. >> 30 something is a very important show as you are going

into the era of television being more introspective and emotional. and some people were buying it. but for other people when they were talking about having kids and going back to work and some of the issues that hadn't been talked about a whole lot, it was important to people. >> i was so looking forward -- i was so looking forward to doing this. to be a grown-up. >> in the beginning, there was talk of this being the yuppy show. and you mentioned it tonight. you said if there were a category for the most annoying show, this might win as well. >> what some people perceive as annoying has nothing to do with yuppy. it is a word that is made up. it doesn't have anything to do with what the show. >> 30 something was not a giant hit. but it was a niche hit. it attracted an enormously upscale group of advertisers. >> the network cared who was

watching and not how many were watching and that was catching on in the 80s. >> the prosecution will ask you to look to the law but i ask you to look to your hearts as well. thank you. >> l.a. law was partly a classic lawyer show. but it was intertwined with their personal lives and different lawyers who were sleeping together and trying to get ahead. >> the reality level on that show was like a foot or two off the ground. and you're willing to go with that because it was a whole new spin on a law show. >> tell the truth. if you had to do it all over again and if she walked into your office and said take my case, would you? of course, you would. because it is juicy, newsy, exciting stuff. >> it is really fun to take the hill street blues format and use it to frame an entirely different social and cultural strata with vastly different

results. >> i wonder if i might engage with my client privately. >> certainly. >> will you join me for dinner tonight? >> i was planning on having you. >> okay, skip lunch. >> the formula had gotten established of how you can do a dramatic show, and yet still have an awful lot of fun. >> we didn't used to be able to accept that very easily in a tv hour. and even before the '80s were out, it is like, okay, i get it. so it is like, all right, what are the rules now. >> what are you doing? >> i'm doing what i should have done all along. what i wanted to do originally. what i should have done last night. stop that, david. i'm calling the police station. hello, police. >> the networks realized there was an audience looking for something less predictable than traditional prime time fare. >> moonlighting was another show that said i see the formulas up until here. let's do different things.

>> hello. >> hello. >> moonlighting was a really experimental show. they had a shakespeare episode and a black and white episode and a musical episode. they try aid lied a lot of stuf >> i don't give a -- >> well, i'm at a loss. >> that's okay. they do. >> there is no trouble on the set. >> we have a very volatile relationship. there is a hate-love element to it. >> the flirtations were great and bruce and -- glenn karen kept them apart for a long time and bravo to him. >> and they took the sam and diane dynamic from cheers and

escalated it. moonlighting was, do they even want to. >> stay away from me. >> here i come. >> but i don't want you. >> does entertaining mean stopping the tease of dave and mattie, do they get together at some point? >> that is going to be resolved this year. we like to think of it as two and a half years of foreplay. >> people were macing for this moment and -- were waiting for this moment and your emotions are already there so when be my baby starts playing, it is a perfect storm of romance. ♪ duracell quantum lasts longer so kevin jorgeson can power through the night. sfx: duracell slamtones

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in recent years, it seems that television has become a kind of electronic confessional. where guests with willing to expose painful and sometimes embarrassing aspects of their lives quite readily to millions of viewers. >> at the beginning of the decade we get the dominance of phil donahue and that is a maturation of women's issues and he seemed to talk to them in the audience and through the tv screen. >> i'm glad you called. kiss the kids.

we'll be back in just a moment. >> if you look at the body of work we've had, you're going to see the '80s there. >> i'm not here to say you're wrong. but let's understand this. when you bring a moral judgment without knowing them, against them for the way that they look, they feel that confirms the reason for their rebellion, if that is what you want to call it. >> he believed that daytime television needed to talk about the ideas we were thinking about, the issues we were concerned about. >> i don't want to characterize his question, but why don't you get this fixed instead of doing this screwy stuff? >> there is not a single recorded case in history of any transsexual that ever, through psychological treatment, changed. it has never happened yet. >> and we were putting very important people on the program. all kinds of people. gay people. people going to jail. people running for office. sometimes the same people. it was a magic carpet ride.

>> you really do paint a very, very grim picture of the sitting president of the united states. >> let me just say this. i think he's probably the laziest president i've ever seen. >> the audience, for phil donahue, built and built and built and led the way to oprah. >> hello, everybody. >> oprah has a particularly magical combination of her own background, her own experience, her own incisive mind, and empathetic spirit. >> thank you. i'm oprah winfrey and welcome to the very first national "oprah winfrey show." >> i was surprised at the rocket pace that oprah show took off.

donahue rearranged the furniture but oprah remodeled the whole house. >> people out there don't understand when you say we're in love. and remember questioning my gay friend, you mean you feel about him the way i feel about -- it is a strange concept for a lot of people to accept. >> oprah was connecting with people in a way that no one had on tv before. and it was really special to see. >> did you know that for the longest time i wanted to be a fourth grade teacher because of you. >> i was not aware of inspiring anyone. >> i think you did exactly what teachers are supposed to do, they create a spark for learning. it is the reason i have a talk show today. >> oprah winfrey now dominates the talk show circuit, both in the ratings and popularity. >> i want to use my life as a source of lifting people up. that is what i want to do. that is what i do every day on my show. we get accused of being tabloid television and sensation and so

forth, but what we do more than anything else is we serve as a voice that felt perhaps up until my show or perhaps others, that they were alone. >> that is what 67 pounds of fat looks like. i can't lift it. it is amazing, that i used to carry it around every da >> there is nothing more enduring to an audience than to have that kind of honesty and humility and courage on the part of a host. and that, i think, has a lot to do with her power. >> it feels like i could do some good here and i really do think that shoate dow does a lot of g >> american television is drawning in talk shows. but it has never seen anything like morton downey jr. >> sit down and shut up. >> other competitors come and take the television talk show in two different directions. so you see the phenomenon of daytime television shows becoming less tame and more

wild. >> the '80s brought a lot of belligerence to television. whether it was marton downey jr. being the offensive person that he was or geraldo, who did his own outlandish things. >> stay with us, we're going to get into the mind of an american boy who came under the influence of satanism. >> he takes the power of the talk show to a whole different level to put people on stage who hate each other and who will fight. >> in the case of the temple and the set and church of satan, we have not had problems with criminal behavior. >> but when you hear story after story of people committed wretched and violent crimes in the devil's name. >> the more attention there is, the more conflict and violence there is, the more the ratings go up and the american people love to complain about it but they also love to watch. >> rivera drew sharp criticism with his recent television

special on devil worship but today he's in a real free for all. >> i get sick and tired of seeing uncle tom here trying to be a -- >> go ahead. >> sit down. >> hey, hold it. hold it. >> he suffered a broken nose but said the show will be broadcast later in month in its entirety. >> well, that is not something i would have done. but there was a lot of hypocrisy. >> one of the major magazines put geraldo getting hit with the chair on the front of the cover. and they said this is awful, look at what happened to television and yet they couldn't wait to use it to sell their own magazine. >> over the years, broadcasting has deteriorated and in this area of deregulation it is

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the '80s was the numbers of hours spent watching television, goes up. the number of hours spent talking about television is going up. and one of those symbols of television phenomenon is entertainment tonight. >> the critics were unanimous in saying that it would never last because there simply isn't enough entertainment news to fill half an hour every night. >> entertain tonight has surveyed critics in the united states and kindergartcanada to - >> up until this time, nobody had done television like this. >> burt reynolds, the hottest actor in hollywood. >> i'm surprised to see you here. >> i'm glad to see you. we can meet here every night if you want. >> what makes successful television programming is being in the right place at the right time. and it was the right time. >> entertainment journalism is

more curious and more access and until that point the entertainment business was something we didn't know all that much about. >> we could go behind the scenes in our effort to really give an insiders' look. >> he was with his mother as he was presented with a star on the hollywood walk of fame. >> it was very honorivic of the industry. they would do serious coverage of it. it wasn't sal sasaciousalacious. >> it was the beginning of a lot of money being made talking about entertainment and celebrities. >> robert redford -- >> the raaudience grew and grew and that told us that the

appetite for celebrity audience was big. it was big. >> get ready for lifestyles of the rich and famous. >> hi, i'm robin leach in monaco. >> and you've got a vip ticket to the private party. >> your sunday newspaper is still delivered with the comics around the news. and that was what i always thought lifestyles was. we were the comic around the news. except we did it as seriously as they did news. >> finally in the driving seat of his own career, he burned rubber in a new direction. david hasselhoff, rock idol. >> it was a time where pushing the limits with wealth and ostentatiousness in a lot of cases was very comfortable. >> one of the earliest stories we presented to you on lifestyles was about the amazing real estate wizard donald trump. if he didn't shock and surprise you back then, he's had plenty

of time since. >> with all of this costs millions, not billions, do the figures ever frighten you. >> no, the answer is it is my business and my life. it is my lifestyle. i love it. the good, the bad. >> does this bring with you inspiration. >> no political aspiration. >> and people say it is nothing more than trash. >> that doesn't upset me because i think it is the best trash there is on television. >> i'm not in the business of bringing -- >> that is the fantastic element at a time when the access is possible. >> it is escapism and aspirational. >> you want to stand in a hot tub with a glass of champagne, rock on. >> we've never seen that kind of wealth ever before. we didn't mock it. we didn't say it was right and we didn't say it was wrong. we were just -- >> and sometimes it amazes. me. i walk away from a shoot and say, well, we did it again.

>> there was more of everything in tv by the 80s. your opportunity for watching stuff is increasingly vast. >> nbc presents real people. >> somebody once said that each o one of us will be a star for 15 minutes and i think that will happen. >> american culture celebrated privacy and in the 1980s as we're watching celebrities play out on stage, hey, i want to join too. all the world is a stage and you start seeing shows like real people or the people's court. >> to see more tv producers had to come up with new and different ways to give them television. >> don't be stupid! i told you not to be stupid. >> what cops did, was it took away the script and just brought

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>> with this ring -- >> with this ring -- >> i thee wed. >> i thee wed. >> with my body -- >> the biggest television event of the 1980s is the marriage of charles and diana. it is like the world stops when that happened. that was like, just massive. >> this was the final act of a spectacle that may never again be seen in this century, if ever. >> the arch bishop of canterbury called this the stuff of fairytales. >> the couple is off on the honeymoon while the people here in london are still talking about the events of the day. >> when you have great moments like the royal wedding, they are part history and everybody can watch it on television and

everybody wants to drink a toast to chuck and di. >> a princess that must be aware as it was on this day that every single move she makes in public will be recorded and observed. a very difficult life indeed. >> we'll be back in just a moment with closing observations and one final look at what has justifiably been called the wedding of the century. >> by the authority of the state of new york, i pronounce that they are husband and wife. you may kiss the bride. >> your wedding was seen by an astonishing number of people. 16 and 19 million viewers. how do you account for that kind of poppopularity? >> oh, i can't. >> it did appear in the '80s it was good for day time soap operas, especially for general hospital who had the success with luke and laura's wedding.

>> i remember because it was night time news worthy. the soap opera discovers the blockbuster mentality, the sweeps month mentality. what can we do to get even more people watching? you have a wedding. you have a kidnapping and prime time stole from daily -- >> the great time time soap raws, dallas and dynasty, they are all about excess. this is about being over the top, and stabbing each other in the back and going for the gusto and having fun. >> i know what is wrong with you. the empty armed madonna, mourning the baby that she couldn't have and the baby that she almost got to adopt. that is it, isn't it? >> you miserable -- >> there was a bigness to the stories.

and they could afford to do it on a network if you are doing one episode a week. you can't do that if you are doing five episodes a week for a daytime show. so just the production value gave it that pizzazz. >> if you can't have it, watch other people with it, or so say the three networks programming nearly 40% of the prime time fare about series of the very rich and the public is devouring it at such a rate that money has become gold. >> the characters were larger than life and more evil and more cunning and manipulative. and more gorgeous. i mean, really, look at the way they were dressed. look at the way they lived. everything, it was fascinating. >> i didn't thank you for your present. >> we all wanted to live like on dynasty, like the kerringtons

and it was a wonderful picture of fun and debauchery. >> greed was encouraged in the '80s. there was a concept of conspicuous consumption being okay and those shows exploited that. >> the kerringtons who live here in luxury on the dynasty sound stage are not the only rich folk on tv. in the last five years more than half of all new shows featured the wealthy. ten years ago, that figure was zero. >> it was an accident. your father is dead. >> falcon crest was a wine family. there is lorenzo llamas and reagan's first wife is on that show. >> emma is pregnant. >> i know a doctor who could take care of is right away. >> that will never happen. >> all of the shows, where oh, my god what is next. what is going to happen next? and he can't do that. it was a point to tune into

television. >> what will become to the missing twins on knott's landing. >> and the colbys was a spinoff for dynasty. they would see how much they could max this stuff out because it was really successful. >> where is your son miles? isn't he going to be part of this venture or just playing polo as usual. >> the colbys could always find room for another trophy. >> you had people fighting over oil and mansions and -- it was fantasy, but in a kind of so over the top way that it was fun. >> there is nothing devious about using your femininity. >> these shows took themselves so unseriously that they were camp but that was okay with the central audience that was loving them. it was entertainment. we weren't trying to do high drama. we were there to entertain. we were high glossy. and there was no getting around

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australia is the most important export might be neither the animals nor the dear or the film, but one rupert murdock. he is building what forbes magazine said is the most extensive media empire in

history. >> a huge development in television, the three television business in britain and he arrives in america and says, i don't see why i can't have three broadcast networks. i'm going to make another one. >> and meantime he'll have to become an american citizen if he is to own tv stations here which he said he will do. >> some people say it will take your fox network on the network with the par of the big three. are you prepared to wait that long. >> i intend to live that long but i don't believe the 20 years. >> the idea of the fourth network was similar to ted turner starting cnn. it is ridiculous. what does he know about television. >> we don't think of ourselves as cbs, abc or nbc. we don't have to reach everyone. we have an in fearer line and we have to get our message across

and get shows sampled. >> they had an idea, in order to succeed, we have to differentiate ourselves and do things they would not do. >> fox started throwing anything against the wall not knowing what would go. first things were like 21 jump street. joan rivers in terms of late night. >> we have been banned in -- >> and the tracy allman show. >> it was a sketch show. and they needed something to go between the sketches. again, they were looking for something different. . >> the simpsons would never have come along had it not been for the tracy uhlman show. >> crime hurts the criminal. >> that is not true, mom, i got a free ride home. >> didn't i. >> fox was thrilled that it was

different. they said, sure, be experimental, do whatever you want. we're just happy to have a show on the air. >> married with children was the first big hit in that way that said, if all of the rest of television is going this way, we're going that way. >> bud, kelly, you want to come down and help me in the kitchen? >> that should buy us about ten minutes. seven more than we'll need. >> it was not "the cosby show." >> the bundys were like a purposeful reaction to the perfection of the huck stables because you had this wonderful

perfect black family and this horrible miserable white family and you could find things to relate to in both. >> howdy neighbor. >> yeah, yeah. >> there was a lot of fun to be had with al or peg bundy. >> after fox introduced married with children and it does very well, then back on abc they came up with another major hit. roseanne. >> you want me to fix dinner. i'll fix dinner. i'm fixing dinner. >> oh, honey, but you just fixed dinner three years ago. >> typical american families weren't on television for the longest time. the donna reed days, the early days and the father knows best, hardly anybody really lived like that. that is the way advertisers wanted to you live.

>> i know what will make you feel better. >> the ideal situation is if you can sub vert whatever common stuff is said about families or parenting -- her loudness and her unfilteredness were key to why we liked her. she was staying stuff about working-class people and saying stuff about men and women. so it was about marriage and raising kids and about how hard it is. >> tv in the '80s was a big decade for the evolution of comedy, and the evolution of drama. it just pushed everything forward. >> do you think perhaps this generation are paying more attention to the dialogue, to the relationships that they see on television than in years previous? >> well clearly the people that are watching our shows are. and 30 something and cheers and

st. elsewhere, these are shows that are smartly written. it is their words that define them. and i think that is what people like. >> we're supposed to be here, is the one thing people can trust. if you go out there like a bunch of night riders, what are you but just another vicious street gang. >> that decade spawned an extraordinary number of shows that really carved out a unique niche for themselves. we began to turn television into an artform. and for the first time people were proud to say, i write for television. >> up until that point, television was second-class. in the '80s, it was something else entirely and it was new and it was kind of interesting. >> it is like everyone in the '80s starts to want to tell their stories. that is what really changes things. >> the unexpected were more welcome in the '80s.

predictability lost its cache. >> television has an impact on every era, every decade. >> television still shapes the element of thinking like no other element in our country. sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. >> it gave lives for people pursuing artistic content that was raised the bar in television production exponentially. >> there is a shift in the '80s from wanting to placate the audience to wanting to please and challenge the audience and that is the decade when it happened. >> we had one rell of a rhell o didn't we, partner. >> i'm going to miss you, part any. >> i'm going to miss you, too, sonny.

tonight television takes a look at itself. >> what's on the idiot box. >> it's only an idiot box if an idiot is watching. >> this golden age will be looked upon as the platinum age. >> our obligation is to entertain. >> kunta. kunta kinte. >> congress has no right to interfere with the media. >> excuse me! >> you have a responsibility to give the audience what it tuned in to see.