. >> john lithgow, who you worked with in qurgs garth" said i'm the male glenn close and she's the female. do you know what he means by that? >> i wouldn't mind being taller, but he's very tall. i think he meant that we've kind

coming up next, star of stage and screen, john lithgow is here.back now at 8:47. when it comes to john lithgow, what can't he do? emmy winner, golden globes, oscar nominee. where it all began on broadway, starring alongside flen close, good friend, in a play called "the delicate balance." how many shows, do you know? i do. >> it's in the 20s. >> 26. i was reading last night that the first time you appeared on broadway in "the changing," i hope i'm not wrong here, you won a tony. >> that's right. >> first time? >> three weeks after my broadway debut. >> i would have quit. that would have been it. how do you ever top it? >> i should have. >> at this stage of the game, having done so many shows -- i know every show is different. but is the process the same as you're in rehearsals and previews and things like that? >> well, no. it's always different, which is one of the exciting things about it. i mean, "a delicate balance" follows on the heels of king lear, which i did this past summer in the park. what could be more different than that? >> in terms

from these foundations and individuals: and by: and the annual financial support of: hello, i'm john lithgowwelcome to "american cinema." in 1946, hollywood didn't think a tv screen only inches in size could ever compete with a theatre screen 30 feet wide. movies were king. television was a novelty developed by radio industry. barely 6,000 sets were in use across the entire country. by 1951, it was a new world and television was a part of it. movie theatres were closing in waves, 55 in new york alone. to make matters worse, hollywood was coming apart. anti-trust action dismantled the entire studio system. the monopoly of the movies was over. hollywood's reaction to tv was like one of its plot lines. at first denial, then feeling threatened, followed by fierce competition until embracing the adversary. yet it was television that produced a new generation of movie directors that told stories in new ways, with movies like "the manchurian candidate," "bonnie and clyde," and "mash." the studios didn't disappear; they adapted. and so did the movies. today, we are on the verge of another revolution

from these foundations and individuals: and by: and the annual financial support of: hello, i'm john lithgowwelcome to "american cinema." the end of world war ii in 1945 brought an era of homecoming, of rediscovering family, of rebuilding. that year, hollywood premiered "the best years of our lives," a story of a returning veteran and his family that won the academy award for best picture of the year. but another picture premiered that year that portrayed a different version of america. it was called "detour," about a man who wandered from a life of little possibility to one of total doom. the motion picture association first reviewed the picture, they refused to give it a rating. it had broken a rule. the murderer was not brought to justice at the end. instead, he was left to wander aimlessly on american highways. for such stark stories, these films had their own look. though they were uniquely american, french film critics came up with the name that stuck: "film noir," which literally translates "black film." they were black and white, they were dark, and they were often raw. in this breed

you went to go see -- >> i went to see "king lear," shakespeare in the park with john lithgow. me and i'd been tweeting for like a a couple weeks. i just started tweeting and i tweeted this tweet. >> jimmy: "amazing. shakespeare, not good. no stakes, not relatable. i think i'm realizing shakespeare sucks." you can't say that! what is wrong with you? >> apparently you can't say that. no, no. >> jimmy: you can't say that. >> and twitter went crazy -- like, shakespeare, turns out to have a huge internet presence, a huge twitter presence -- >> jimmy: is shakespeare on twitter? >> not himself, but like -- yeah, no. and then people kept writing articles about it, and like -- the "washington post," the "wall street journal," the new yorker wrote a whole article calling me a dumbass -- [ laughter ] and then like "national review" it was like the right and left organized and agreed on one thing, and that's, i am an idiot. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: -- just awful feedback. people can just be so cruel. they -- >> i think it's because i'm on public broadcasting. i think it's like, because i'm

. >> john lithgow, who you worked with in qurgs garth" said i'm the male glenn close and she's the female >> i wouldn't mind being taller, but he's very tall. i think he meant that we've kind of done everything. we started out basically the same time, in our generation that started in theater in new york. and he has done a lot of television. i've done television. he has done film. you know. and stage and we -- >> is there a natural chemistry there? >> oh, yeah. since "garth" he has been my friend. >> a co-worker of yours has said recently, you starred in "damages" with her. she said at first i was intimidated and then i learned she's just very shy. don't give me the shy look now. don't play shy on me. are you shy? >> when i was a child, i was morbidly shy. outside of my real family circle. and i think when you have that, you still have kind of a shyness. >> quite a career choice. >> not at all. so many actors are shy. they have this ability to express themselves -- it's easier for me to get up on stage and do something than it is to sing for my parents in the living room. >> you also get