♪ ♪ 1990. 9, 8 -- >> oh, this horrible year that'll never end. when the 1980s feeling a lot of experimentation. >> "thesimpsons" inspired by the distrust of which television was talking to us. >> tv respects me, it laughs

with me and not at me. >> dope! >> the sitcom of the '80s. >> i love you guys were such a set of warm humor. >> they listen to the rap music which gives them a brain damage. >> i think there is a real yearning for another type of humor. >> we were able to spoof fatherhood which at the time and i stress at the time was bill cosby as the shiny example. stuff that got away with because

it is a cartoon. >> we are going to keep on trying to strengthen the american families to make american families like the waltons and less like the simont simpson. the sitting president is raging against sitcoms. >> they dealt with politics and popular culture and all kinds of issues of racism and sexism. >> don't ask me, i am just a girl. >> right on, say it sister. >> it is not funny, bart. millions of girls thinking this is the right way to act. >> they have found a way to talk about everything that's going on through our lives through the filter of "the simpsons." >> they did not bother to learn the language. >> yes, that's mine.

>> what happens with "the simpsons," anyone who tells us we should trust them and does not earn that trust. >> when they make fun of how fox works - >> you are watching fox. >> we are watching fox. they're telling you don't trust us either. >> eat my shorts. >> all right. >> eat your shorts? >> the simpsons is like shakespeare and we quote the simpsons all the time without knowing it. i wish i can create something that culturally, it is unlike anything else. >> tv -- "twin peaks" showed up

out of nowhere. it was incredible. just how slowly in the beginning of the news spread around this town of this young beautiful girl had die and that haunting music was so dark and beautiful. >> what on earth is essentially a art film doing in primetime television? >> american network television has long been considered the home of the blands, the cautious and the predictable. >> the abc network launched

their new series that was none of those things, "twin peaks," the series that'll change tv, it is directed by david lynch. >> david lynch was a film maker known for his tastes of ecentric and memorable. >> the idea that he would do television in the '90s was crazy. >> what do you think of what you do see? >> some of it i really enjoyed. >> are you being diplomatic? >> sort of. >> the beautiful thing about television is you have a chance to do continuing store are i and that's the main reason for doing it. i think "twin peaks" with the

additional attention that it got allows other networks to say let's do something different. >> it was an odd universe that this guy was dropped into. >> the days are coming and it ain't going to be long. no more schools and bodegas. you have experimentation and separate stage for a lot of what came later. it is kind of hard to pin down what exactly the "x-files" is. on the surface is about a show of investigatiining para normal activities. >> tell me i am crazy. >> that dynamic of skeptics.

>> you see it from a specific point of view. >> they are equal. >> yeah, absolutely. >> they're equal in a way that they switch gender stereotype. >> the intuitive one. >> they're rationalists and they're doctors. >> a lot of folks who enjoy the "x-files" may have been drawn to the show by its for a lack of a better way to put it, stick it to the man ethos. don't trust the government or big business, don't trust anybody but yourself and friends and family. it is a message some what dark and cynical. it is a breath of fresh air in the early '90s. the '90s was a time of the conspiracy and the internet was spreading beyond hard core computer users so you can have message board and everyone wants to talk about the black oil and

the bees and what the secret smoky man was up to and go all to dot tv and dot-tv and hyphen "x-files." the "x-files" changed the way people watch television. you can see how they do things different than they done five or ten years ago. >> sometimes it was challenging of network television that was cool and fun to watch and sometimes it seems to fall off the edge a little bit. ♪ ♪ let's be careful out there ♪ ♪ >> stephen wanted to try something brand new. >> this is the police. his idea was to combine a gritty

cop show with broadway musical. >> i saw one which a bunch of gang bangers were in jail and they began to sing. "life in the hood is no piece of pies, everybody in the hood will die." >> i thought oh, this is great. ♪ >> it circled the drain. >> i will give credit to anybody who goes outside the box and swings really hard.

>> i am creative and i am proud of it. i am glad we tried it. still, i don't want to do it again. for people living with h-i-v, keep being you.

and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding,

or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. if you're living with hiv, keep loving who you are. and ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ for every trip you've been dreaming of, expedia has millions of flexible booking options. because the best trip is wherever we go together. ♪

in the '90s what we realized is advertisers would pay

premiums for college educated young adults, 18 to 49. we started reinventing nbc and trying to speak to that audience. >> where is someone? i am starving. >> is there a table ready? the chinese restaurant was one of the early episodes of "seinfield" and truly nothing happened in the episode. they were waiting for a table. >> feels like walking over there and taking some food off someone's plate. >> we said to larry david, hey, nothing happened and larry was offended. wildly offended. >> nbc believed in the show so they said we are committing to four episodes. >> all right, four episodes. >> normally it is 13 or 8 or something. >> at least. we didn't think they had too much confidence in the show. >> we didn't think it would

work. we felt they had to go through their process and they would learn and they knew better than we did. >> my mother caught me. >> caught you, doing what? >> you know? i was alone -- >> the turning point for "seinfield" from a nice show then all of the cool people know about but that's it to massive hit was the entrepreneur sed called "the contest" where they try to obtastain from self-pleasure as long as possible. >> 6:30, it is time for your bath. >> george, i am hungry. hang on, mom. >> once you do 30 minutes on masturbation, you can get away with anything. >> i guess you will be going

back to that hospital. >> no, my mother, george. >> are you still master of your doma domain? >> i am king of the county. >> the week after that, people were talking about that at the workplace, still. >> 52 seconds. >> two of the greatest work in sitcom history. anyti >> i am out. >> one of the shorthand description of "seinfield," no hugs and no lessons. let's push it further than we have ever before. >> the big break was the characters were not nice people. >> someone help? >> shut up, you old pin. >> they were narcissist and they would screw each other at the drop of the hat.

>> and yet be best friends next week. 1990 we don't have to love them, we just have to laugh at them. >> i am really sorry. >> the idea of a character with darker tendencies -- that was so taboo. >> television comedy. >> are you about done? >> well, i am just getting warmed up. still a lot of things that were highly structured and we are able to find ways of pushing in those boundaries. it took us to a new level of comedy and it kind of define like yeah, nbc, thursday night this show expect the unexpected.

>> can you sing the theme song from "cheers." >> how does this start? ♪ ♪ making your way in the world today ♪ ♪ taking a break from all your ♪ worries, sure can help ♪ a lot sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪ where everybody knows your name ♪ >> we decided to end "cheers." it was a sad experience for everybody. this was our baby for 11 years and we are not around these people everyday. we have been serving it forever, it was time for everybody to sit. i was sipping along with them. >> time goes by so fast. people move in and out of your life. you must not miss an opportunity

to tell these people how much they mean to you. >> we have been through so much together. the legacy of cheers need to belong. that's what we as americans longing for. >> thank you, dpies. the final scene of "cheers" was what was sam's real first love? you can never be unfaithful to your one true love. >> i am the luckiest son-of-a bib bitch on earth. >> sorry, we are closed.

and see the difference. that doesn't happen. of an asthma attack... this is the sound of better breathing. fasenra is a different kind of asthma medication. it's not a steroid or inhaler. fasenra is an add-on treatment for asthma driven by eosinophils. it's one maintenance dose every 8 weeks. it helps prevent asthma attacks, improve breathing, and lower use of oral steroids. nearly 7 out of 10 adults with asthma may have elevated eosinophils. fasenra is designed to target and remove them. fasenra is not a rescue medication or for other eosinophilic conditions. fasenra may cause allergic reactions. get help right away if you have swelling of your face, mouth, and tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop your asthma treatments unless your doctor tells you to. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection or your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. this is the sound of fasenra. ask your doctor about fasenra.

if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. one of the worst things about a cois how it can make you feel. but, when used at the first sign, abreva can get you back to being you in just 2 and a half days. be kinder to yourself and tougher on your cold sores.

it's time you make the rules. so join the 2 million people who have switched to xfinity mobile. you can choose from the latest phones or bring your own device and choose the amount of data that's right for you to save even more. and you'll get nationwide 5g at no extra cost. all on the most reliable network. so choose a data option that's right for you. get nationwide 5g included and save up to $300 a year on the network rated #1 in customer satisfaction. it's your wireless. your rules.

only with xfinity mobile. okay, let's play show business. as a young kid in cleveland i always knew i would one day end up doing a talk show. arsenio hall has fired his talk

show to the crowd of "late night" television. [ applause ] how come i didn't hear all that people going on. >> too many white people. >> johnny was the big dog. i knew everybody on the planet was not watching him. it dawned on me that i could go many weeks and not see a mo-town group on "the tonight show." >> there was a whole world of talent that had never and would never have been on any late night show. the live crew came on and sang "me so horny." it was explosion in the audience. he appealed s to black and whit

young audience. it was a broader appeal than the power of be estimated. >> rap israel big among our team. >> having maya an gelou on. >> see my lai dy home last nigh. >> he didn't just have black people on the show. if you were him, you would want to be arsenio. >> you kind of were, i used the word chilling out. he said "you were pulled back a little bit." you were instruct not to be out spoken. >> i heard that. i think it is wishful thinking

on some part of the people. >> guess who suggested to do "the arsenio show" if you want to get a younger demo. he attracted a lot of people who were not fans before that night. >> '90s was a glorious moment for black television. you saw these reputatiresentati that you never seen before. "the fresh prince" this kid came from philadelphia. ♪ his mom says i am going to send you to live with your uncle, he shows up with baseball cap backward and he does not know

how to act in this environment. the black producer and directors and writers were playing with this kind of subverting expectations of what is blackness. >> the incredible work of "the fresh prince" was when it was showing the ways that being black is always going to be a problem no matter what. >> the vehicle registration, too. the thing is officer, this is not my car. >> the episode i remember they got pulled over. >> he's going to tell us to get out of the car. >> we had interaction with the officer that was horrible and racist in a lot of ways. >> no map is going to save you.

when you are driving a nice car in a nice neighborhood, none of that matters. >> we are dealing at a clip that was way ahead of their time. >> no, don't touch that dial. we are about to flip it for you to one of this year's most talked about tv show it is as they said on another network, fox. ♪ ladies and gentlemen. "in living color" was the first show created by and directed by african-americans. it was an exchange sort of opening the doors in america to let us come inside. >> welcome to the network. >> a lot of what they were doing

was trying to take the stereotypes or misperception of what black men are and turn them upside down. >> not only will you get all the cable stations but you will be able to talk directly to the astronauts. >> it brought this smart very controversial comedy, black folks never seen before that centered around their life experiences. >> hey, listen, martin, i just saw boys in the hood, all right? >> i didn't know. >> they knew they needed to capture this audience to grow. >> you think you are smart and cool but if you think you are getting a job here, you are a

damn fool. they gave black creators freedom to do whatever you want, just get the audience. ♪ >> the wb and upn took that concept from fox. >> your show is harder thanimpl. >> and really ran with it. >> i am a new millenium woman who'll not be defined by traditional network shows. >> shake it to the west. >> the african-american shows index lower in terms of household income. >> so over the course of the decade, the network started to move away from those shows. >> i will be damned if i am going to let them destroy my neighborhood. >> black creators felt used and abused. >> you made your money and you built your audience on us and now you are done.

oh yeah, we gotta take off. you downloaded the td ameritrade mobile app? yeah, actually i'm taking one last look at my dashboard before we board... and you have thinkorswim mobile- -so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. you two are all set. choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪ thewith type 1 diabetes,osed you should have a dexcom. knowing where your numbers are going before they get there-- it's a superpower. i've had other systems and i'm on because it's the best. and, because it works. it's easy to wear. it's easy to put on. you can see it right on your i can't imagine anything simpler. no fingersticks. i can't say that enough. i think that's an incredible advancemen this is the cgm technology

you've been waiting for.

the following movie is rated r. in 1991 was not a whole lot of original programming for cable but they were airing movies.

we needed to compete and i felt that if we didn't, we are going to kidn kind of getting swept o. i came up with the notion doing a cop show that was r-rated. when abc read our script, they want preserved. >> i was sitting with a pad and a pencil drawing pictures of breasts to try to show them what we would show and what we would not show. grown ups sitting in a room doodling. >> we heard some reports calling low-life -- >> the program premiered with an advertising boycott. >> channel 7, shame on you. >> that boycott lasted for weeks. >> they can use the nudity to go

deeper of being a cop. >> this character andy sepiwet. >> he was raging alcoholic and racist and sexeist and violent. >> can you provide names and addresses of these friends? >> you know you are racist scum bag. >> despite his flaws and prejudices, i think people identify with his pain. >> i wish there is a way to say this that won't hurt you. >> there was a famous episode where they are investigating the rape and murder of a young boy where they found a child

molester. >> you can see on dennis bronze's face, this is kalie ki him to not destroy this guy right now. he gets the confession and he walks out of the room and he breaks the door. i am choking reeing right now b that's a great moment. >> what is the best tv drama? >> i don't know. >> will they be bolder than it is? >> certainly. >> the '90s shows were influential to others making television, homicide is one of them. i am living in a danger zone. >> homicide life in the street was innovative in terms of its style. it used music and ways that

advance the narrative and it also used mutual film directors brought as look and style of the show that really stood out in television. >> tears coming out of your eyes. >> ain't no tears. >> they had so many african-american characters in the casts that several occasions there were only a few people on cameras interacting with each other. as late with the '90s that was not done on television. >> when a cop shoots somebody, he stands by it. he stands by the body. if not, cops are no better than anybody else. >> in the '90s, television was getting more complicated and stories starting to become more entreprene episodic. none of that happened in "l "law & order." >> you got a crime and the investigation into the crime.

>> you better be packing more than a dirty mouth. you got an arrest. >> hey, i am asking you a question. what's the charge? >> you had a trial. >> he's badgering your honor. >> sit down and shut up. >> you will address with court from now on. >> every time you watch, you got what you came for. >> tell me doctor, all those women you ran through your examination rooms. do you remember their faces or did you not even bother to look up. >> you had in "law & order" the kind of characters people take to heart. and if you are an actor, jeez, maybe it is not a bad medium after all. >> the supreme court's decision. the whole thing is a pain, they are both represented by account. >> it gets you hooked in.

it is life and death. >> do you hear me? >> look at me. "law & order" was like crack. you sit and watch me 50 minutes, not moving or barely breathing. there were times i almost passed out watching "law & order." >> forced steven spielberg to direct. he's bleeding, you need to tr s transfuse him. do you know how to start an iv? >> no.

>> people doing cpr and they're racing off to the surgical suite. >> someone coming in and they're talking medical jargon. they don't stop to explain what it is. >> i think i know what it is but because i think i watched a lot of e.r. over the years. >> bypass him. >> what do you think? >> you are the attending. >> there were so much information. you had to stay involved in it the whole time. >> come on. you can make it. >> hold on, buddy. >> there were a lot of research that said people didn't want to watch anybody having anything other than a happy outcome. >> it was not really showing what the world was for physic n

physicians. i had unbelievable respect for people who did this because i understand how humanly they are. when it comes to autism,

finding the right words can be tough. finding understanding doesn't have to be. we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. go to autismspeaks.org.

i ism n . new owners spending money. >> all of them want their money's worth. >> there is a danger that news will be mixed up with the rest of television and considered just another profit center. >> early 1980s, you have some of the broadcasting to public

service. 1990s, the country changed a great deal. you could not talk about public service. it was what the ratings going to be or demographics or the profit going to be. >> there are three made for tv movies now in the works about it. >> you make money off of sex. you make money off of murder. >> we enter into the world of news opera. >> so broadcast journalism loses its purity.

it all comes together with oj simpson. >> i am larry king in los angeles. the district attorney filed murder charges against o.j. simpson. >> i understand we are going to live picture in los angeles. police believed that o.j. simpson is in that car. >> the o.j. simpson's story starts with the chase and goes on his arrest and cowith his trl and it goes on and on. this is a long trial and a lot of evidence coming in. >> the o.j. simpson's case was a natural phenomenon that those of us who were covering it lived this case 24 hours a day because

there were so much demand for people talking about it. >> prosecuthe trial was on tele during the hours that traditionally been the time for soap operas. o.j. was very much a soap opera. >> he's impeached by his own witness. >> excuse me mr. bailiff, stand up and speak when it is your turn. >> the best tv show for the '90s was the o.j. trial. >> we the jury >> we the jury in the above entitled action find orenthal james simpson not guilty of the crime of murder. in violation of penal code section 187-a -- >> the verdict of the o.j. simpson trial viewed by 150 million people. it's more people than watch presidential election returns. that's crazy.

>> because there was trial footage every day, cnn saw its audience increase like five times. the success of cnn was not lost on other people. and so there were competing forces coming into play. >> how delighted i am we have now reached this moment when we can firmly announce the starting of a fox news channel. >> unfortunately, with cable news and the ability -- or the need to be on the air 24/7, where you try to get as many eyeballs as possible at one time, to gravitate toward those stories that are sensational, it brought us the ability to go too far. >> is the jonbenet ramsey murder investigation turning into a media circus? >> yes, it's tabloid. but on the other hand it's a tabloid era. here's the point. here's where the fear comes into it, i think, larry. it's the fear that says, gosh, if we don't cover it big time, our competition is.

when they cover it big time, they'll get a big jump in the ratings. the first thing is to last, to last and survive, we've got to do it. >> what you also see is a whole army of commentators, people who make their business talking about the news. >> what i say is what we should do is we should bomb his capability of producing oil. take out his refineries, his stations, his wells. >> they don't have any capability. >> they're certainly selling a lot of oil -- >> no they're not -- >> the networks were doing good journalism but they became much more preoccupied by profits. it's much cheaper to have someone in your studio pontificating than to have reporters out in the field reporting. >> i don't know if any of this is true. but what i heard is that the father went down, opened his basement room, which the fbi had bypassed. >> every single sentence on cnn, perhaps, on cnbc, on fox, on msnbc, begins with the words "i think" but after a while people

get confused by what is speculation, by what is innuendo, by what is fact. and as far as the viewer is concerned, be very, very careful of unsubstantiated information presented with great hype. four years clear. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. learn more at cosentyx.com.

tv is changing dramatically now with 150 channels that might be available in the near future. >> there are more choices than ever before. it's a tough job. you have to try and get a sense of what is the audience going to really make an attachment to. >> in the '90s, cable was coming on strong. so we had to examine who are we going to be? well, we wanted to be smart, sophisticated comedy. >> six months ago i was living in boston. my wife had left me, which was very painful. then she came back to me. which was excruciating. >> i thought frasier was dead with "cheers." but we thought, we got a built-in audience, and great potential to build out the character to another place. ♪ >> "frasier" was kind of like one-act plays.

♪ >> mother and i moved here when i was a small boy after the tragic death of my father. i kept the pain of that loss buried deep within me like a serpent coiled within a damp cave. okay, that's it. >> we always assumed the audience was smarter than most other people did. and we played to that. >> just unschooled like liza doolittle. >> henry higgins. she'll be ready for a ball in no time. >> leave it to you to put the pig back in pygmalion. >> kelsey grammar played pom positive like nobody you've ever seen and got huge laughs. >> don't consider a move until my fingers have completely cleared the piece. >> what's taking so long? >> but i am analyzing my options unlike your wing-it approach i like to plan a strategy, like a general leading his troops into battle. >> checkmate, schwarzkopf.

>> i think "frasier" stands as the single most successful spinoff, at least in the history of sitcoms. >> and the emmy goes to "frasier." >> "frasier." >> "frasier." >> we were lightning hot and it was critical for us to be leading the way, not just following. ♪ >> "friends" is about that time in your life when your friends are your family. >> ow! >> when david crane and i lived in new york we were part of a group of six people. we were all attached at the hip. we went everywhere together and celebrated everything together. and there's that period where you're looking to be out there on your own and the people you rely on are the ones who live down the hall. >> here we go. pivot. pivot.

pivot! pivot! pivot! pivot! >> shut up! shut up! shut up! >> "friends" permeated the culture in a way that was really special. everybody was obsessed with the show. and it became like which one of these characters are you? if you were a girl, were you phoebe, monica or rachel? >> i got to tell you this really does put me in a better mood. >> the kids who were watching, the young audience, saw a lifestyle that was aspirational. i wish i had an apartment in new york city that no one seems to be worried about the rent for. i wish that i looked like matt leblanc. i wish that i had jennifer aniston's hair. one of the things that made "friends" a phenomenon is people beyond the laughs actually bonded with these characters.

they emotionally were invested in ross and rachel's relationship. >> i could not have done this without you. >> okay. more clothes in the dryer? >> i was dropping my daughter off for sunday school at our temple, and literally my rabbi stopped me and said, what's going to happen with ross and rachel? >> you look pretty tonight. >> oh, thanks. >> the one with the prom video is one of my favorites. >> you guys, we don't have to watch this. >> yeah, we do. >> come on. come on. >> where's chip? why isn't he here yet? >> he'll be here, okay? take a chill pill. >> this seemed like a really surprising way to get rachel to know how ross feels. >> i can't go to my own prom without a date. >> take her. you can wear my tux. >> dad, she won't want to go with me. >> she's learning something new and he thinks, oh, god, please don't let her see this.

please don't let her see this. >> rachel, ready or not, here comes your knight in shining -- oh, no. >> bye! >> chip! >> oh, dear. >> ross sees himself and you see that look on his face and how sad he is because he wanted to take her to the prom. >> when she crossed the room, i still kind of get chills from it. when she crossed the room and gave him that kiss -- [ cheers and applause ] >> -- the audience went insane. >> at the height of must-see tv, thursday nights on nbc, 75 million americans watched thursday night. that was at the time one-third of the country. >> ooh! what is this stuff?

>> the sweater is angora. >> well, it's wonderful. >> the machine that was nbc in the '90s for comedy was untouchable. >> you're not from around here, are you? >> it generated so much viewership and money and awards. >> you do not need this. >> it's the top of our wedding cake. >> we're not -- it's not a scrapbook, it's a freezer. >> no! >> we were all kind of part of this chapter in television where we realized we were in the right place at the right time. >> let's see how you like this, naughty boy. >> we certainly associate nbc of the '90s of having extremely successful sitcoms but they weren't the only network that found their way to having some success. tgif was on abc on friday, and it was their block of family-oriented comedies. >> i can't take it. i need the cake.

>> it was not sophisticated television. but these were shows that people adored. [ laughing and snorting ] >> cbs. >> cbs was in a really bad spot. they had just fallen apart over the early part of the '90s and had gone through a couple different network executives. >> but then suddenly they had this hit with an unknown comic. this was the year of seinfeld, no hugging, no learning, and this was a show being made as if it was produced in the era of the dick van dyke show. >> i love you. >> there was hugging. there was learning. >> i love you, son. >> all right, all right. >> if you worked for me, your job was so go home, get in a fight with your wife and come back in and tell me about it. >> don't sleep on the couch. i just cleaned down there. >> in fact, the pilot i put in this true thing that happened to

me wherein i sent my parents a gift for the holidays of the fruit of the month club. >> and did you know you sent me a box of pears from a place called fruit of the month. >> that's right. that's right. how are they? >> and my mother reacted as if i had sent her a box of heads from a murderer. >> why did you do this to me? >> oh my gosh. >> i can't talk. there's too much fruit in the house! >> oh! what is happening? >> what do you think we are, invalids? we can't go out and get our own fruit? >> i tried to tell him. >> all right. i'm cancelling the fruit club. >> the real story is where the real connection with your audience is. thank god, all your families are crazy, too. >> looks like you got the whole family together. >> yeah, yeah, it's dysfunction palooza.

♪ ♪ smooth driving pays off. ♪ with allstate, the safer you drive the more you save. ♪ you never been in better hands. allstate. click or call for a quote today. so are we. prudential helps 1 in 7 americans with their financial needs. that's over 25 million people. with over 90 years of investment experience, our thousands of financial professionals can help with secure video chat or on the phone. we make it easy for you with online tools, e-signatures, and no-medical-exam life insurance. plan for better days. go to prudential.com or talk to an advisor.

plan for better days. who invented we're car vending machines and buying a car 100% online. now we've created a brand-new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old. we wanna buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate answer a few questions. and our techno wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll come to you, pay you on the spot and pick up your car, that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car, and say hello to the new way at carvana. it would be for me to discover all of these things that i found through ancestry. i discovered my great aunt ruth

signed up as a nursing cadet for world war ii. you see this scanned-in, handwritten document. the most striking detail is her age. she was only 17. knowing that she saw this thing happening and was brave enough to get involved and do something- that was eye opening. bring your family history to life like never before. get started for free at ancestry.com look at that. rakuten's app is super helpful, i open the app, find the store i want to use, start buying and it gets me tons of cash back. i'm an on the go kind of rakuten user for sure. i love the rakuten app, it has all my favorite stores at the top. i use rakuten for almost everything i buy. i just got paid to shop. my favorite thing about rakuten is just getting money back in the mail. i mean, who wouldn't want cash back. you should sign up using my referral code because then we both get money. shop. get cash back. repeat. sign up today and get cash back with rakuten.

and now ladies and gentlemen, here's johnny! ♪ >> johnny carson wasn't just the host of "the tonight show." johnny carson was the man that america said good night to for 30 years. ♪ >> and on my watch, johnny decided that 30 years was a great time to take a bow and say

thank you and good night. >> 30 years is enough. it's a good time to get out while you're still on top of your game plan. >> johnny carson retiring in the early '90s was the great moment where a huge chunk of the ice shelf breaks off. something that has been there for centuries, for thousands of years, suddenly is no longer there. >> a tremendous part of history. and that's lovely to have made your mark on an era like that. >> johnny had told no one what he had planned to do, and we weren't prepared. and that set off a game of musical chairs for who would get the throne, and there only was one late-night throne. >> hi, you guys! >> jay leno had been pretty much carson's regular substitute host when he went on vacation. >> you know what's amazing, only six months ago people were talking about donald trump as a presidential candidate. right? that's true. since then he's had an affair, left his wife, run up debt of

several million dollars so i guess he's going to be running as a democrat, huh? >> jay leno wanted to essentially just continue doing a johnny carson-type show. and david letterman was the show immediately following carson. and they had different styles. >> what is your name? >> i'm going to ask you to turn the cameras off, please. >> okay, we just wanted to drop off this basket of fruit -- >> part of dave's thing was he attacking authority, he liked that. >> he needed a corporate bad guy to go up against. i was oftentimes that target. >> i can hear this warren littlefield guy whining all year long about not getting his name on the card last year. >> he's on it. >> look, what about me? i could be on there, couldn't i? >> it was always letterman's dream to be the host of "the tonight show." he idolized johnny carson, rightfully so. >> the big decision that's had the entertainment industry buzzing is due this week. that of course is the fate of

nbc's "late night" stars jay leno and david letterman. >> most of us thought the person who deserved to get it was david letterman. he didn't get it. jay leno got it. >> leno, who earlier rode his motorcycle into a news conference hosted by nbc entertainment president warren littlefield, still has a bruised ego about the way the network wavered in its support for him. >> when we found out leno was going to get "the tonight show," we were all obviously depressed. we felt like we were being punished for making fun of them and not cooperating and not being as collaborative as we could have been. and we also felt like we were being disrespected because we did 11 years of great shows. >> just how pissed off are you? [ laughter and applause ] >> by all rights, david letterman should have taken over

for johnny carson, but his agent took a very, very aggressive stand. we're going to really control all of late night. it's going to cost you a fortune. and they put our backs to the wall. >> i can only tell you it's been an honor and a privilege to come into your homes all these years and entertain you. and i hope when i find something i want to do and i think you will like and come back, that you will be as gracious inviting me into your home as you have been. i bid you a very heartfelt good night. >> "the tonight show" without johnny carson as the regular host made its debut last night. jay leno emerged from behind the curtain, stepping into the big shoes that were filled for 30 years by johnny. >> cbs came to us and made a very attractive offer. >> here we go, number ten. head cbs, tails cbs. number nine -- >> letterman did place a call to johnny carson asking for his advice and johnny said, if it was me, i would leave.

and i think that advice was really the linchpin. letterman always took johnny's advice. >> the late-night wars are about to begin in earnest on american television. david letterman is now headed for cbs. >> cbs had lured him over with a salary more than four times that of leno and given him what he really wanted, the 11:30 time slot. now as dave and jay prepare to go head to head, one thing is clear -- late-night tv will never be quite the same. >> all of a sudden, there's a talk show war. >> start up your remote controls. the late-night race is about to begin. >> on monday, david letterman's new show debuts here on cbs. followed a week later by chevy chase on fox and a week after that by conan o'brien on nbc. these combatants join "the tonight show" with jay leno, arsenio, and nightline. >> it became a crowded space and the competition became that much

more difficult. >> in the third corner, his ratings fading rapidly, arsenio hall. some tv writers think arsenio could be the big loser in this free-for-all. >> when letterman came in, it essentially diluted arsenio's brand because there were so many alternatives. >> i'm sad to see you go because america is going to have a big chunk missing out of its existence. >> losing arsenio, yeah, it was bad. he was the lone voice, gone. >> david letterman had the suits at nbc pausing for a moment. did we make the right choice? because he came out gangbusters and he was beating jay leno in the ratings. >> there's some people who say, you blew it, that by picking leno to replace carson over letterman, that that was a big programming mistake.

>> it was a shaky start. a really, really shaky first season start. >> it's true confessions time for actor hugh grant who is trying hard to put his recent encounter with a hollywood prostitute behind him. >> when hugh grant was arrested, it was big, live action news and hugh grant was supposed to do "the tonight show" that night. >> what the hell were you thinking? [ drum sting ] [ cheers and applause ] >> it all came together in that moment and everyone saw it and that's it. we were never number two again. >> hey, hey! >> for us it was the fun experience. we got our own theater, an unlimited budget, we've got access to every star in the business who wants to do the show. >> somebody bring me the jaws of life! >> so, i think going to cbs was heaven-sent. it really was. >> good night, everybody!

perso. oh. their award-winning content is tailored to fit your investing goals and interests. and it learns with you, so as you become smarter, so do its recommendations. so it's like my streaming service. well except now you're binge learning. see how you can become a smarter investor with a personalized education from td ameritrade. visit tdameritrade.com/learn ♪ there's a reason 1 serum is sold every minute! visit tdameritrade.com/learn revitalift hyaluronic acid serum. with our highest concentration of hyaluronic acid. visibly replumps skin. and reduces wrinkles. revitalift hyaluronic acid serum from l'oréal.

in the mid-1990s if you took a look at the list of the 50 most-watched shows on cable, at the top would be nickelodeon. "rug rats," "blues clues." >> don't you know cartoons will ruin your mind?

>> "ren and stimpy" had some very surreal, high-concept humor to it. this is the beginning of the splintering of the television audience and splintering of the family audience, really, because with families having three or four tvs in the house you had a kid watching nickelodeon, the dad watching espn sports, the mom watching lifetime. you know, they were in their own separate universes watching television. by the time of the '90s, mtv wasn't merely a music channel. they were having great success in terms of creating shows that incorporated music but that also were shows and programs that stood on their own. >> yes! >> huh huh huh! huh huh huh! huh huh huh! that was cool! >> "beavis and butthead" established what mtv could be because the shows were about making fun of music videos just like people in the audience were doing.

>> whoa, check out his neck. >> yeah. there's like all these bones and stitches moving around. >> yeah. >> my manager would call me, like, hey, you got this big bump because you were on "beavis and butthead" last night. >> i sit there like a doughnut watching these guys. and i find them endlessly entertaining because i know and you know and the world knows, these guys are always, will be, and cannot be anything but idiots. >> that's right. >> mtv has a detrimental, damaging, developmental effect on the sexuality, on the morality, on the spirituality, maybe even the physical development of our young people. ♪ >> now we hit the '90s and once you can go for an audience of 5 million and have a successful show, you can say, i don't care if the parents don't like this.

>> can i tell you something, miss ellen? >> of course, wendy. >> don't [ bleep ] with me! >> what? >> you heard me. stay away from my man, bitch, or i'll whoop your sorry little ass back to last year! >> trey parker and matt stone were two of the funniest people i ever met. and their success story is proof that if you just stay true to yourself, you don't have to do anything else. >> people think, oh, you came and did the show and now you're big sellouts. the truth is, we were sellouts to begin with. >> perhaps there is no stopping the corporate machine. >> i mean, we were sleeping at friends' houses, had no money, and then one fox executive had seen a cartoon we had made in college and he said, make me another christmas video i can send out as a christmas card. he gave us like 700 bucks. we went and made this five-minute short. >> i come seeking retribution. >> he's come to kill you because you're jewish, kyle. >> oh [ bleep ].

>> it went around the tv community like wildfire. >> i mean, it -- it was the funniest thing you'd ever seen in your life. >> go, santa! >> somebody showed me the short. >> go, jesus! >> i thought it was hysterical. i called and said get them in here right away. >> oh, my god! they killed kenny. you bastards! >> "south park" was able to be topical. >> "south park" really, really detests hypocrites. >> christians and republicans and nazis, oh, my! >> well, okay, mrs. cartman, i'll legalize 40th trimester abortions for you. >> could you imagine back then that these people would ever get on network television or any kind of television? >> howdy ho! >> it's a miracle.

"south park" is a miracle. >> the early '90s the hbo shows start to kind of come into their own. >> and then have i always had these breasts? >> a lot of people want freedom. they don't want to go back to the networks, which are saying you can come to us where you'll make more money but you'll also have content restricted. you could go to cable and have no restrictions. not make as much money but have freedom of expression, which almost everybody who works in these mediums wants. >> some of the content truly was, you can't get this anywhere else. >> you're a fantasy maker, the only limit on the kinds of fantasies is people's imagination. >> hbo turned to people who said, i can't do that on television, but you can do it on hbo. >> white people don't trust black people.

that's why they won't vote for no black president. like a black brother will [ bleep ] up the white house. like the grass won't be cut. dishes piled up. cousins running through the white house. cookouts. basketball going in the back. >> in the late '80s hbo was just sort of gaining ground for series. >> by the '90s hbo had started to begin its explosion. >> when we started doing "dream on" one of the things hbo said to us was, it's got to be something that couldn't be on network tv. ♪ >> because hbo was driven by subscribers and not by commercials and selling advertising time, they had a different way of looking at success or failure. what they were looking for was critical acclaim. >> you've watched letterman, you've watched leno, but what about larry? larry sanders, that is. he's the tv alter ego of comedian garry shandling.

>> garry shandling wanted to do a show that deconstructed the kind of show "the tonight show" was. >> just pretend like you're talking to me till we're off the air so it won't seem weird. >> okay. blah, blah, blah, blah. >> "the larry sanders show" was sort of cathartic. because in the world of "the larry sanders show," there was a network. >> you want me to [ bleep ] your budget? is that what you want me to do? >> so it became this weird funhouse mirror thing, where you could use stuff from your misery, your career, as fodder. >> don't take this as a threat but i killed a man like you in korea, hand to hand. my boy doesn't want to do any more commercials. >> larry sanders to me was, aside from being a brilliant television show -- >> can you say, hey now. >> hey now. >> it was my everyday life. >> i'm here for three good reasons. last show. big ratings. movie coming out. bim, bam, boom.

>> "the larry sanders show" was very unique in that it was very deadpan. and really groundbreaking in its day. >> i think it made people really go, that's the level of work you may be able to do on a cable network. >> please, do not flip around. come right back. >> hey now! oh, you sound good.

the holidays are a time for giving. to your friends... your family... to your teachers. in that spirit of giving, chevy's proud to give our employee discount to everyone. the chevy price you pay, ...is what we pay. not a cent more. because giving, ...and giving back, is what the holidays are all about. use the chevy employee discount for everyone to get a total value of over eight thousand four hundred dollars on this silverado. get the chevy employee discount for everyone today.

in the '90s you suddenly had shows that were aiming at a young audience. one of the things that really made "90210" stand out is it was one of the first dramas to really get into the teenager's point of view. >> do you have protection? >> of course. it's always been my problem. lots of protection but nothing to protect. >> i wanted to do a tv series that was going to be relevant to teenagers. and it's not about the parents solving the kids' problems. it's about the kids basically solving their own problems. >> what are we supposed to do, sit him down and have a kid-to-parent talk. >> no, you can't talk to parents on that mature level. tragic but true. >> if the '60s had beatle mania, the '90s had "90210" mania.

when tv guide had its "youth-quake" cover, that was a sign that suddenly television was focused on these young people. ♪ "my so-called life" was the punk rock version of "90210." it was earnest but not at all saccharine. it didn't have easy answers. it showed teen heartbreak in a way that was staggeringly real for the time. >> you like this. >> like what? >> like how you are. >> hey jordan, you coming or not? >> how am i? how am i? >> "my so-called life" was your actual life. and the idea that everyone in high school is a misfit, that you have this deep insecurity about who you're supposed to be. >> you know how sometimes the last sentence you said like echoes in your brain? and it keeps just sounding stupider?

and you have to say something else just to make it stop. >> oh, i just remembered. i owe you $30. >> "my so-called life" was not necessarily the show the cheerleader or captain of the football team were watching. they were still watching "90210". but it was the people who maybe didn't recognize themselves in "90210" who felt like, ah-ha, now i recognize myself in "my so-called life." >> demarco asked me if you were getting a sex change. >> exactly. i don't want to be a girl. i just want to hang with girls. >> ricky was out on the show eventually, and that was a story line treated with great sensitivity. >> and i belong nowhere. with no one. and i don't fit. >> i mean, it was -- it was so deeply felt. it was saying to the viewer, things that you have gone through, they matter. >> "buffy the vampire slayer"

depicted high school in a similar way to "my so-called life" except rather than just feeling like hell, it actually was hell. her high school was literally built on top of hell. and so all of these creatures would come up that she would have to fight. >> three in one night. >> it was a brilliant metaphor for adolescence and all the demons that you have to slay. >> you know, buffy was a teenager, and she was still finding out who she was. one of the story lines that was very popular and much talked about was where she has sex with her boyfriend for the first time, and then in sort of the world of buffy, he becomes literally evil. >> there must be part of you inside that still remembers who you are. >> dream on, schoolgirl. >> in order to save the world, literally, she knows she has to send him to hell.

>> buffy knows in an instant that angel has become good again. >> buffy! >> so she has this moment of reckoning that she has to decide whether to do this or not, and she makes the sacrifice to push him back into hell. >> the show was really working on multiple levels. in buffy in particular, we saw a character that was a reluctant protagonist. forced to make tough decisions. >> there was a kind of opening of the floodgates in the '90s for women. the idea of being an ideal, i think, was kind of smashed through a lot of the characters on television. >> look, if you're a successful saleswoman in this city, you have two choices. you can bang your head against a wall and try to find a relationship or you can say screw it and just go out and

have sex like a man. >> "sex and the city" was a huge success right from the start. it was very funny, very clever, and very candid. >> are relationships the religion of the '90s? >> these are women who are making a good living, they were independent, they were single, and they were sort of feeling their power. >> i said all of them. bad waiter, bad waiter. >> what do you tip for that? >> i wanted these women to be objectifying men in the way men had always objectified women. >> all right. my turn. >> sorry, i have to go back to work. >> you didn't used to be able to discuss sex as sex. network shows, there never were people talking about orgasms or organs or sex. >> okay, words are essential. tell me exactly how he worded it. >> we've been seeing each other for a couple of weeks, i really like you, and tomorrow night after dinner i want us to have anal sex.

>> these are women who shared everything with each other and they're discussing what anal sex means. >> it goes up there, there's going to be a shift in power. either he'll have the upper hand or you will. >> and should she do this or not? >> this is a physical expression that the body -- well, it was designed to experience. and p.s., it's fabulous. >> what are you talking about? i went to smith. >> the show took an interesting turn by really focusing on the relationship between the women and telling the story of them as really soul mates together as well. >> you did the right thing buying that apartment. you love it, right? >> yeah. >> and you won't be alone forever. >> historically women are often set up in narratives in which only one can succeed. and so showing women not competing with each other and as supporting each other was also an important narrative change. >> okay, girls, see you tomorrow. >> okay. >> night-night. >> the show had a message of freedom and liberation

especially for women that really resonated. i think "sex and the city" helped make hbo a place for people to think, i wonder what they'll be doing next. want to brain better?

unlike ordinary memory supplements- neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try our new gummies for 30 days and see the difference.

♪ i shop on rakuten rakuten ♪

in 1991 we got a call from mtv and they were toying with the idea of doing some kind of a scripted show about young people. >> they said it was like a mix between "the big chill" and "the breakfast club." >> but ultimately decided the idea of a show with writers and actors would be too expensive for them. >> the real world, that's what this was supposed to be. >> so we essentially applied all the drama rules to documentary to get our, what we called at that time, a docusoap. >> this is the true story. >> true story. >> of seven strangers -- >> it was kind of a social experiment to watch what happens when you put these strangers together in a house. when people stop being polite and start getting real. >> do you sell drugs? why do you have a beeper? >> you hadn't seen anything like that on television, that kind of open, honest discussion of race. >> i can try as much as i can to try to deal with you, but ignorance is ignorance. stupidity is stupidity. and that's it.

black white, green, purple, blue, whatever. >> "the real world" becomes this big bang moment for reality tv. the idea is that, oh my god, all we have to do is take cameras and put them on people and we'll get great stuff. you had in the next season in l.a. a young woman who gets an abortion, and the camera literally goes right up to the doctor's door. >> give me a hug. >> by the third season in san francisco you have a young man who is dealing with aids. >> i'm hiv positive. >> when pedro told me he was hiv positive, it was just like -- no, not him. i like this guy and i don't want him to have to suffer. >> it was such a triumph that pedro had the courage at his age to come out as someone with aids. in my small gay community on campus, we all felt like, wow, he was our hero. >> he falls in love. and he and his partner, shawn, have a ceremony. you know, this is long before same-sex marriage was legal. the tv shows weren't doing this. movies weren't doing this.

>> i have to believe that all the pain that i'm going through, that all the anger, all the frustration, that there's something bigger than that. >> aids has claimed a young man who made an enormous impact on a generation of young americans. pedro zamora died in miami today at the age of 22. >> i'm really glad i got to know pedro zamora. i'm grateful that his rich and fulfilling work is still remembered today. and i hope you enjoy and learn from pedro's life of compassion and fearlessness. >> you have to credit "the real world" with sort of helping the acceptance of the lgbt community. because there weren't many portrayals of gay people, period, on television at that point. >> her name is marla. i'm seeing a woman. >> in the '90s, gay characters were always secondary or third. there was never a gay character that was the lead of a show.

>> so you want to go look at apartments tomorrow? >> great idea! >> ellen degeneres, the comedian, was about to come out. as a lesbian. and she does it on "time" magazine. yep, i'm gay. but they decide that the character ellen plays on tv will also come out. >> it is just reprehensible that abc, now owned by disney of all companies, is going to feature ellen as coming out of the closet. it won't be long before god knows what, you know. bestiality, incest, who knows. >> we were getting bomb threats. disney was really getting a lot of flack for even thinking about having a coming-out episode with ellen. >> i'm 35 years old. i'm so afraid to tell people. i mean, i just -- susan, i'm gay.

>> ellen coming out was a huge moment for me personally because, you know, i was a closeted gay guy. gay child at that time. and it was the bravest thing i saw. >> that felt great. that felt so great. >> initial report suggests abc made a bundle on ellen's highly publicized outing on national tv last night. the broadcast was accompanied by coming-out parties all around the country, including one in birmingham, alabama, where the local abc station refused to broadcast the show. >> she did a great thing. she was brave. >> i made the decision that i wasn't going to live my life as a lie anymore. i was -- i belong with everybody else. and that's what i finally did. >> we used to say ellen opened the door and we knocked it down. ♪ i love my mister

♪ tell me lazy tell me so ♪ tell me i'm crazy maybe i know ♪ ♪ can't help loving that man of mine ♪ >> take it, jack! >> and pas de bouree, pas de bouree, i'm gay! >> "will & grace" was a great show in sort of helping a mainstream straight community connect to the gay community. >> i think i can fix this thing with your landlord but might get a little ugly. >> play hardball, baby. throw low and inside. he's crowding the plate and we've got to -- >> grace, sports, you're losing me. >> i figured 25% of the country wouldn't watch the show just based on the fact that we had two gay men on it. >> give it to me! >> but if we could make believe that will and grace would get together. >> will, i told you, you live with a hetero long enough, you're going to catch it.

>> maybe we could get people to watch thinking that would happen, knowing it would never happen. >> suffering sappho! >> you know, it's a shame. an image like this is completely wasted on us. >> i remember the network calling every other week saying, can will just fall in love with grace? and the creators were like, well, that's weird, he's gay. gay people don't do that. that's why they're gay. >> why wasn't i your girlfriend, queer bait? >> "will and grace" was the first time you saw characters on television that made gay normal. you wanted to be friends with them. >> guess what we are. >> uh -- a catholic girl gone bad -- and karen, what are you supposed to be? >> the best feeling i get is when people come up and say, thank you for all you do for the gay community, and thank you for

playing that part in that show. and you feel so fortunate to have been a part of something so great.

what was happening at the end of the '90s was audiences started to look towards television for what they had

only found before in feature film. >> victory is mine. victory is mine. great day of the morning, people. victory is mine. >> and actors no longer felt that it was a comedown to come work in television. >> what did i ever do to you except deliver the south? >> you shouldn't have made me beg. >> the segment of the audience that showed up to watch "west wing," they watched "the mcneil lehrer newshour," they watched "west wing," and documentaries in foreign languages, right? >> if the name of this nominee is leaked out before i want it to be leaked out, i'm going to blame you and you're going to find that unpleasant. >> i've got to tell you something, toby. you're hot when you're like this. >> '90s television was the first wave of what we now have, remarkably specific niche programming. ♪

>> "freaks and geeks" really sympathized with the losers and had great empathy for its characters. ♪ because you don't see that i got something going right here ♪ >> "freaks and geeks" breaks my heart every time i think about it. >> i'm sorry. did i crush your twinkies? >> it lasted 18 episodes. and they're perfect 18 episodes but nbc hated it so much. >> roll down the windows because i got a big one a-brewing. >> they thought it was a show by losers, about losers, for losers. they hated it. they wanted no part of it. they killed it. >> at the end of the '90s, the jig is starting to be up for the networks. basically, quality migrates to cable. >> "oz" comes on in '97. and it's set in this fictional penitentiary.

wow. what a strange show that was. >> in "oz," sometimes the things you can't touch are more real than the things you can. for instance, fear, hatred, loneliness, are more real to me than a shank and a soul. >> it was jaw-droppingly violent. it was a men's prison. it probably should be. but you know, it kind of announces the idea that hbo is going to get serious about doing scripted dramas. >> it's finished. it's over. >> but hbo really in my mind comes to its own in 1999 with "the sopranos." ♪ ♪ woke up this morning ♪ got yourself a gun >> "sopranos" just is one of those shows that was a benchmark change. it changed a lot of things for everybody. >> throw out the handbook. tony soprano, the lead actor in

a drama, he killed a man. we watched him. he took his daughter on a college tour. >> pretty, huh? >> yeah. >> it was just a melding of a guy and a world -- >> what the [ bleep ] you doing? what the [ bleep ] you doing? >> and a behavior that promoted all the feelings that you would have for a guy that you love in a guy that you hate. you know? >> "sopranos" came on tv and it really showed us the future, whether we realized that was going to be the future of television or not. >> this husband of yours, carmella, how much we love him. he's the best. >> oh, come on. he's like a father to me. >> just make sure nothing happens to him. >> that character in that show was a great inspiration to a great many shows that came after it including one that i worked on. >> you know what i want, tony?

i want those kids to have a father. >> they got one, this one, me. tony soprano. and all that comes with it. >> oh, you prick. >> the '90s is a mixed decade of tv. some of my favorite shows of all time aired in that decade and everybody was watching them. there was still that communal sense from the earlier decades of tv but it was being applied to shows that were reaching higher and farther, and they were great. >> because there was so many channels and because so much storytelling was going on, you started to get more variety of stories being told. >> get the skull film, schedule a c.a.t. scan, and call the neurosurgery resident. >> objection! >> it showed us women in their depth and began to show us much more of a range of the african-american community. >> i'm always here for you. >> started focusing on teenagers in a more realistic way. >> things changed us. evolved. >> what are you talking about? >> had you thinking a little more outside the box in terms of

what people might want to watch. >> you're out of order, he's out of order. this whole trial is sexy. >> after ten years of the '90s, we had a whole new television world that could take us anyplace we wanted and even places we had never imagined. >> was that the oven timer? >> that's right, my friend. it's time for "baywatch"! >> can you believe they gave stephanie skin cancer? >> i still can't believe they promoted her to lieutenant. >> you're just saying that because you're in love with yasmine bleeth. >> how could anyone not be in love with yasmine bleeth? >> hey, hey, they're running. see? this is the brilliance of the show. i say always keep them running. all the time running, run. run. run, yasmine, run like the wind.

television on! >> hbo did a lot of its best work when it was bending a genre. take something that's familiar and give it some chili pepper. >> advertising is based on one thing, happiness. >> is there any taboo that you wouldn't break? >> not if there was a funny idea. >> what is wrong with you? >> there's so much different storytelling and so many different stories being told about so many different people. >> i don't think dramatic series television has ever been stronger. >> there's no longer this theory of what popular entertainment must be. >> incoming! >> who are the heroes? the people who watch this show. ♪

♪ ♪ this is the week when the major broadcast networks unveil their fall lineup of shows. and every executive in hollywood knows how well "the sopranos" is doing on cable, which is a network problem. >> i think hbo altered everything for this reason alone, is there was no