decade. while we have deplored violence we have not done much about it. perhaps this is because confronting violence forces us to confront the serious defects of our society.

♪ the years of the '60s which end in a few hours have a bad republican tags that's not justified. some thing have gotten worse but

t.v. and other news culture is ber not worse. we simply develop for demanding standards. >> when i think of t.v. i think of the '70s. >> the american public was hungry for more. >> more was allowed than had 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. >> where you gone find one? >> here's one, lakers against milwaukee bulls. >> 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 p bs. >> when the decades turned over in the '70s television was very rural. >> cbs has "beverly

hillbillies hillbillies," "green acres". >> the shows were every where and then they were. >> fred zimmerman who was running programming at cbs says we're beginning to get rid of shows that are most highly rated and replay them with shows more appealing to the younger audience. >> they changed the face of television. >> my name is mirror man here. >> until 1971 he was a very successful writer in hollywood. then he burst upon the public consciousness when he took on bigotry in the family. >> he created iconic shows. >> they revolutionized cbs and all-american television. >> the coons are coming. >> to use language like that on t.v. was unheard of. >> 12% of the population is black, there should be a lot of

back families living out here. >> yeah it's the beginning but i think it's wonderful. >> well, it's wonderful when watermelon flies come flying out -- >> there was one thing where i was like be careful. >> there's no doubt where american people would accept it. >> you have a quick action where you say the show enforces bigotry. >> everybody was going to see something they knew verticvery was going on. >> i bought some yesterday it's in the closet in the kitchen. >> i'm not in the kitchen. >> hearing a toile flush for first time was a big deal. >> what is it archie? >> what else? >> we get out of vietnam or somethi something? >> a wise guy huh? >> i wouldn't going to play

around with mom dented the car and how are we going to keep dad from finding out about it, not when i see what's going on in our country. >> just because a guy who wears glasses is a queer. >> i never says a guy who wears glasses is a queer. a guys who wears glasses is a four eyes. >> it put before the public archie's friend who was masculine and happened to be gay? >> how long have you known me? >> ten or 12 years. >> in all that time did i ever mention a woman? >> oh come on. >> [inaudible]. >> nixon onning to the show, that was a banal of honor. it was really culturely on point every time. for a sitcom that was unheard

of. >> one, two, three. >> i wanted to be an episode where somebody could give archie what he earned. we created a character that could really learn habit. >> -- >> i'm only here because of edith. the fact you happen to be here with her is beyond my control like any other freak of nature. >> that show was off the air, fred sullivan was on the telephone with me saying is it showing that woman. >> hello, no this is not mr. friendly it's mrs. friendly. mr. friendly has a much higher voice. >> now get your coat and come on? >> what makes you think you can order me around like that? >> you're my wife i have the wife. >> when he says wife he means possession. >> so what maude.

>> really turn the spin off series into an art form. >> normally -- called the here factory. all the series come out of this building allowing heard leer -- leer to move -- >> "good times" was like holy smoke that's a black family. >> you never see a black show with the father present. >> we got $32 and a show box and i got another $6 in my pocket. >> you worked all night and all they paid you was $6. >> there were a lot of people not happy with the show. the black panthers were very upset. the big complaint was why can't we see a black man that's doing better than that. >> the jefr sons started as

neighbors of archie bonger. >> don't call me honky. >> why are youo sensitive all of a sudden. >> how wou you like it if i called you nigger. >> called me anything nigger. >> there nothing worst than honky. >> nothing worst than honky than being married to one. >> we set the stage that brought -- to television. >> i was just thinking i ought to bring my neighbors' kids over here. this place is better than the zoo. this beer has conviction.

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on saturday nights the cbs loan of in the early '70s was amazing. 8:00 "all in the family," 8:30, "mash." and it ended with the "carrol burn show." >> people would stay home on saturday nights. they wouldn't go to the movies or restaurants. >> that may have been the best night of television in all of television history. >> mary tyler moore was a single woman working on a nightly t.v. show. >> you know what, you got spunk. i hate spunk. >> there were a lot of young women entering the workplace.

and for some of them mary tyler moore was like a port of entry. >> i'm doing as good a job is he is. >> better. >> better. and i'm being paid less than he was because? >> you're a woman. >> the television -- could be the hero. she could be the main event. >> all right. >> out loud. >> her script -- season brooks had barry coming to minneapolis divorced and very quickly cbs said no no no no no no. >> at the beginning of the decade a divorce was considered somewhat scandalous. >> she wen on dates with a lot of guys but they weren't important. >> we seem to be hitting it off and i just thought. >> you just thought. >> she's not obsessed with

finding a husband. >> this was about people koe existing with one other and the workplace is like a family. >> oh my god, i told the pro jektness it was the other way around. >> oh my god. >> farmers served notice today that the rising corn prices are forcing them to fine other means he one pig, just look at her -- that stock. we'll be presenting a new feature on wjm dining out with sue an. >> once jim brooks said to me i know there's a wrld of comedy in my wife's purse i just can't access it. we 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 a winner? >> i think because of the casting and it's evolving.

they don't sacrifice the character for the sake of a good joke. >> that effort to keep the female sensible is what made it good. people would say you're just like me and my girlfriends. >> how could you gorge yourself like that and stay so skinny. i'm going crazy with hung err. >> well eat something. >> i can't. i got to lose ten pounds by 8:30. >> people at the network says valorie listen, i'm going the spin you off. i was like oh my god i'm firing. spin off was like a term in the late '70s. >> okay we're living to we got to tell each other everything. >> okay joe i want to be married. >> joe's wedding became a huge national event, 52 million people tuned in to see that. >> finally they had a relationship and didn't know

what to do with that. >> why did you mary me just ask me that why did you marry me? >> you made me marry you. >> i feel so funny. >> where do we go from here. >> that we'll have to discuss in future sessions. >> the '70s also had this they are pewic overlay. >> hi bob. >> hello. >> we decided to make him a psychologist. >> we seemed 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 bloom that will. it's in the garden galaxy. how long have you going to be in town? >> i didn't want to do a show, i didn't want to be the dumb dad. >> yoke where i just don't want to mak anymore decisions.

>> people will say gee, my dad and i use to watch this show and it was great. and you realize you're part of people's lives. >> the '70s was a year where a certain art century developed. >> "mash" changed people perception of what a sitcom could be. >> "mash was shot like a might have. and it was the single most unique situation comedy ever. >> i have a haeck, a tremendous headache, it goes all way down to my waste. >> the television series "mash" had certain heart. >> there's certain things about a war, rule number one is young men die, rule number two is you can't change rule number one.

>> war isn't hell, war is war, hell and hell and of the two war is a lost worse. >> we had 30 million people a week watching "mash". >> have you considered the foot? >> yeah but i like girls. >> from practices these are people who'd go through the skip and say we can't use this word. we feel like we were in the midst of a battle. this is freedom of speech. >> at the several hearings on television violence today strong charges will -- at the television networks. the broadcasting industry now having stands charge with having molested the nation's mind of our children -- established by the three networks in respond to complain on too much sectix and violence on early evening television. >> the hours during which parents and children are

supposed to be able to watch televig without being made to have uncomfortable. >> it seemed all together unfair and we sued. >> family hours are under attack from procedures, unions and others and television industry. they have filed a lute to have it alot beneficiaries. >> they passed through a picket line protesting the hearing. >> congress has no right whatsoever to interfere in the contend of the media. >> if you can censor a joke today and tomorrow you can censor expressn of any thought. >> the federal judge in los angeles rule the so-called father and mother hour on television from 7:00 to k9d p.m. was unconstitutional. the violence of first amendment guaranteed free speech. >> the first amendment was upheld and a most important decision and it's truly a victory for everybody.

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it good for you. >> somewhere around the late '70s some people got tired offend talking about real stuff. >> there was a longing for a sirch pler time. >> during last season the waltons caution on. >> goond john boy. >> good night. >> now that dinner's over let's try out the pi yan foe. i am taking questions. ♪ ♪ sunday, monday, happy days >> i thought it was be good if there were families that didn't get divorced. it wouldn't by accident on "happy days" hugged each other. wouldn't by accident everybody in the family ate at the same time at the same table. it was a tweet tender show. looking back on that era of the

'50s with a certain affection. >> abc wanted found zee's a to compete directly with jimmy jj walker's dynamite. >> sit on it. >> does anyone say, take you arnold, no. -on what they say. >> sit on it arnold. >> you watch fawn see and up to be found zee. >> hey girls knock yourself out. >> it's a fantasy of what teen life could be. >> hey they're here. laverne, this is laverne she's mine and this is shirley, she's yours as you can see. >> nice to meet you hitch chie. >> my pleasure. >> when laverne and shirley made

an appearance a camera man said look at this footage. >> tuesday night between 8:00 and 9:00 is called the dance spot. dance to any program that dears to go on. >> laverne and shirley was one of the few sitcoms that ever debuted as number one. >> the top show is "laverne and shirley." >> you have to go back to "i love lucy" to get the same comedy. >> i don't know the importance except it was two girls trying and the value of the friendship. it must have had something going for it. >> i don't -- >> they couldn't say sex so they said avoid owe doe.

>> everybody knew what they were talking about. i said you don't like it, they said i like it. but what's missing? spacemen. because we were getting into space and that's where i created a spaceman. >> came who are you? >> i am your mother. >> he wants an alien. i had to make up the story, found zee's running out of adversaries. >> that's right. found zee never lost yet we got the home planet advantage. >> then we got him on his own show. and "morning and mindy" was a hit show. >> willing to bond the premise so they can launch robin williams. >> excuse me zblc! >> that was part of the balance

i think of the television die diet. there's also a need to escape. >> i'm going to a beach barbecue. >> i can see what's going to heat up the coals. >> if there's any single phenomenon it's t and a. from jacob he explain wad the holy t and t. >> they take their clothes off three times a day. and then they say, now, let's get three undress requested three jiggle and write a script around it. >> abc has shows like "the love boat" and "three's company". >> these were women who were, you know. >> good morning angels. >> good morning charley.

>> "charlie east angels" became an enduring -- >> identify already arranged for the three of you to go to prison. good luck angels. >> oh god, i did "battle of the memory stars" a couple times and i hate it. >> networks would loan us their t.v. stars to compete in events. >> -- >> she's got a great set of legs. what the heck. >> i think we have a lot of apologize for with the worst of television. >> my only deference was, it was the '70s. did i giggle much?

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public television has been expected to do a great deal. almost half of noncommercial program hours are in the children and it has come to me so many thing, just so many people. >> the p best -- >> the pbs program has become

the standard of how you treat kids. it was fred rogers who made it okay to speak to an audience of kids like that you were human beings. >> it was some thing very difficult to understand in the newspaper. >> every now and then i think back to mr. rogers he'd say live is good don't be scared. >> just go and do the thing you love, that always stuck with me. >> see you tomorrow. ♪ can you tell me how to get to sesame street ♪ >> sesame street introduced my kids to children of different backgrounds. >> 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 in celebrities. everybody wanted to hang with the muppets. >> aren't you johnny trash? >> cash. >> cash. >> i'm leaving. >> i love you. >> i love you too. >> thanks. >> now for something completely different. >> this show from england came on pbs which before that was only the realm of my parents. and suddenly they're doing the most outland dish racy non-secondter type of rumor and killing me, the 13-year-old. >> it's extraordinary what you can do on television but you can

do it on pbs so hope y'all watch it. >> this generation of comedy nerds who don't even know they're comedy nervous. >> bony python turned out to break so many rules, it changes everything just like with the beetles. you can say, oh, they came after the beetles. you look at saturday night live. >> beginning october the 11, saturday night we open up a new venture from new york city. we happen to have the venture of this comedy. what should we look for on the program? >> anxiety. >> hi, i'm lauren michael the producer of saturday night. >> he end up hiring a bunch of come cometics. >> george car lon was the first host and wanted to be a

permanent host. >> nice to see you. welcome and thanks for joaning us live. >> it was a lot of things about a permanent host. >> that's one of the t.v. rules that you must not break until you do and then you realize why don't you have a different host every week. but it was the cast that won everybody's heart. >> come on who is this. >> i'm bash ra -- >> thank you very much your beautiful you're beautiful thank you. >> you were drawn to the t.v. set because you knew something insane might happen. >> live. >> live. >> probably because it was live and you knew television was in the hands of the generation. and these were kids who just might do anything. >> having sex with the president within these very walls. that never happened when dick nixon was in the white house.

>> it was television and that's what made it attractive. >> every one of their episodes became worthy oftal mudic study if that's the word. >> when -- the host wouldn't -- >> that's not quite it. >> because the thing was all the rage. >> they call themselves the not ready for prime time players not because they felt they weren't good enough bah they feel they were too good. >> good evening i'm chevy chase and you're not. >> our top story tonight. >> chevy chase was on the show for one year. >> i'm deeply deeply sorry. >> he decided that he was t big for the show and so he left. in some ways ks him leaving

after the first year was a blessing because it showed saturday night live was going to do much more. ♪ >> hello i'm bill murray. >> when chase leaves, bill murray comes in. >> come on talk. >> make up -- sorry felas. >> i mean that opened up other doors and "saturday night live" was just kind of taking off. >> you'll never have to scale clip or -- -- >> no. >> where do we come from? >> france. >> it was the show for us, it was a show about us. i wanted to be apart of it. it was linked with the times. >> good afternoon.

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. monday, monday monday the

greatest day of the week. >> throughout high school there was a show that was religious broadcasting that you had to watch. if you didn't see out you wouldn't have anything to talk about for tuesday, wednesday and a big part of thursday. >> why, because monday night's nfl football that's why. >> "mind night football" got its start with the cleveland brown hosting the jets. >> and this game is underway on abc. >> fred was there to do play by play. don was there to do replays and provide humor to the telecast. and howard was there to be the straw that stirred the drink. >> come on let's go. >> the pairing of howard with don is a classic sitcom odd couple kind of pairing. you couldn't help but be swept up by woo those guys were

saying. the both itself was like a variety show. >> i called it a traveling freak show and it really was. the head freak was howard. >> the attention between the two of them made to be something you want to see every week. >> the football was growing -- >> we're on a mison who took it 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 to tell stories to humanize the player. the things that people associate with. >> recognize this fela. >> what's been your view of this more than professional football? >> it's an amazing event. makes rock concerts look like

tea parties. >> that show became week after week, one of the most highly rated shows in america. it showed football was an entertainment experience on par with any prime time show you can 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 what may be in store for the television viewer in decades of the '70s. it's television by cable. >> cable, for a quarter of century there was nothing distension about it. >> welcome to home box office subscription television. >> november 8, 1972 and it is not an overnight success. >> the pennsylvania professional. >> and the saying was getting people to pay for t.v. would be

like getting them to pay for air. >> saturday morning they'd play band music. >> phone know who could do or who you couldn'to but you were trying not to be commercial television. >> ladies and gentlemen, prohibrobert klein. >> the beauty of it you didn't have to pack everything quickly. you could warm up and get to know. >> the talk shows are okay but when i got to do "the tonight show." you to be in a hurry and get some time. >> it was a full -- performance. >> it's not regular television you can say anything [ bleep ]. >> of course you're not using public air ways. >> 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 t coast to coast with one of heavy weigh fights. >> mohamed ali at the end of the 40th round. >> before that you're counting growth if tens of thousands of subscribers. after that you're counting millions. that's day one for both businesses, hbo and the cable business. >> if what you see in the minutes to follow may quince you you're gone to sports heaven. >> there were these three giants, cbs, actiobc, nbc and t in connecticut somebody got a hold of a transponder.

this guy bill, who had been fired from his job and tried to figure out a way to deliver local cable sports. then when he found out about the satellite he said so can we cover the whole state. and the guy looked and said no you don't understand for another 20 carinents or what ever you c send this all over the country. and they were like oh gee. they didn't know what they had. he wound up revolutionizing television sports. >> welcome everyone to the sports center. at this desk in the coming months we'll be filling you in on the pulse of supports not only in the country but around the world as well. >> they took all the left overs out there. >> joel will be handing the play by play between the badgers with the blue demons. >> that gave brith to the the arguably media story of all

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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 alastair cook here with the ninth episode of "i, claudius." we ought to put up a 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 would 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, and let's just do this one self-contained thing. >> we all did things during the reign of my mad brother that we might not otherwise have 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 even tell a story that isn't controlled by the clock? characters that 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 was big-event television, if it was done right and if it was compelling, the audience kept coming back and back. >> here you have topics that start to get serious and important 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 reaction to the 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'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 discussion. its most tangible political effect was shown when the german legislature debated the search for nazi war criminals. "holocaust" made it easier for lawmakers to vote to continue the 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 happens to them as the centuries go on. >> i will go to my grave believing that "roots" is america's story.

it's not just black america's story. >> we might have come over in the bottom of the ship, but we all came over on ships. >> my name means stay put. but it don't mean stay a slave. >> as a 19-year-old kid, it was my first job. >> we're not children. we're very close to being men. >> what's your name? >> kunta. kunta kintae. >> the character that i got to portray in "roots" was a dream role. >> it was really genius to cast all of america's favorite television dads in the roles of the white slave owners and the villains. >> i'll be by to fetch ya in the morning, captain. sleep well. >> it is difficult to explain in today's culture how 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 free. is free, honey. >> one of the reasons that "roots" was so incredibly popular is not because abc had so much faith in it, but because abc didn't. >> earlier miniseries were broadcast in weekly installments. and the abc executives determined that if "roots" were to fail, they could just be done with it in seven or eight nights. >> it was high risk, high reward. if it didn't work, you were out a lot of tv time and not many people watching. >> the television premiere on eight consecutive nights attracted the largest audience in the history of the medium. >> there's something about it that seems to touch all human beings. it transcends age and race. >> entertainment was meeting humanity. i think that's the primary value is to lead humanity 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. and archie was sitting at another table with jefferson pratt, remember him? anyway, archie was trying to get my attention. so first he put two straws up his nose. like a walrus.

it's probably the most important cultural event in the history of america. and a whole new generation of freaks. >> what guys seem to get off on. they like these high-energy sort of events. >> sight and sound and soul are your pleasure, you can bet your bottom dollar we got them, baby. >> unless you've been living in a sealed cave, you probably noticed that america's latest craze is disco dancing. >> this is punk rock, its purpose is to promote violence, sex and destruction in that order. >> rock and roll is pure stamina! ♪