And television has been that. They dont pay me enough to deal with animals like this. People are no longer embarrassed to admit they watch television. We have seen the news, and it is us. Slowly but surely, the 1970s are disappearing. The 1980s will be upon us. What a decade it is coming up. Happy new year as you begin the 80s in the television world, the landscape was, on any given evening, 9 out of 10 people were watching only one of three networks. More than 30 Million People are addicted to it. Social critics are mystified by its success. What is it . Its televisions primetime, prairie pot boiler, dallas. A move like that will destroy all of ewing oil, and itll ruin our family name. I assure you, a thought like that never crossed my mind. Brother or no brother, whatever it takes, ill stop you from destroying ewing oil. Dallas really did establish new ground in terms of the weekly, onehour show that literally captivated america for 13 years. Dallas is a Television Show which in some ways is rooted in the 1970s, and one of the crazy things that emerges is this character, jr ewing, as a pop phenomenon. Tell me, jr, which are you gonna stay with tonight . What difference does it make . Whoever it is, its got to be more interesting than the im looking at right now. He was such a delicious villain. Everyone was completely enamored by this character. At this point, so many people were watching television that you could do something so unexpected that it would become news overnight. Whos there . The National Obsession in 1980 around who shot jr its hard to imagine how obsessed we all were with that question, but we were. Who shot jr is about as ideal a cliffhanger as you possibly could get. Who did shoot jr . We may never get the answer to that question. I mean, the people who produced that program are gonna keep us in suspense for as long as they possibly can. We shot jr and then we broke for the summer. Then coincidentally, the actors went on strike and it delayed the resolution. And it just started to percolate through the world. I remember going on vacation to england that summer, and thats all that people were talking about there. Well, we know you dont die. I mean, you couldnt die . You dont know that. Well, how could you die . You couldnt come back next season. Thats what i mean. I couldnt come back, but the show could still go. Oh, but you wouldnt . What is that show without jr . Well, thats what i figure. Well, i guess if you dont know by now who shot jr, you probably do not care. But last night, some 82 million americans did and they watched the muchtouted dallas episode. It could become the most watched Television Show ever. Who shot jr is a reflection of oldfashioned television. Its a moment that gathers everybody around the electronic fireplace, which is now the television set. Now, about one special American Television program, a critic said it transcends in popularity every other american statement about war. And Something Special happened today to mobile Army Surgical hospital 4077 that will touch millions of americans. It was the kind of event that would draw the worlds press. Stage nine, 20th century fox studios, the end of the korean war the television version, mash. Its been an honor and a privilege to have worked with you. And im very, very proud to have known you. There were those landmark times when shows that had been watched through the 70s and into the 80s, like mash, had its final episode. And were all sad to see them go. Ill miss you. Ill miss you. A lot. All over the country, armies of fans crowded around Television Sets to watch the final episode and to bid mash farewell. The finale of mash was unprecedented. 123 Million People watched one Television Program at the same time. You know, i really should be allowed to go home. Theres nothing wrong with me. When we ended the show, we got telegrams of congratulations from Henry Kissinger and ronald reagan. The size of the response and the emotional nature of the response that we were getting was difficult for us to understand. Who shot jr and the last episode of mash are the last call for the precable world of television. Its like they are the last time that that huge audience will all turn up for one event. Alright, thats it. Lets roll. Hey. Lets be careful out there. Dispatch, we have a 911 Armed Robbery in progress. When quality does emerge on television, the phrase Too Good For Tv is often heard. One recent Network Offering that seems to deserve that phrase is Hill Street Blues. Hill street is one of the changing points of the entire industry in the history of tv. We had all watched a documentary about cops, and it had this real handheld, inthe moment quality that we were very enamored of. The minute you looked at it, it looked different. It had a mood to it. You could almost you could almost smell the stale coffee. We didnt want to do a standard cop show where, you know, you got a crime and you got your two cops and you go out and you catch the bad guy and you sweat him and he confesses and thats it. Cops have personal lives that impact their behavior in profound ways. Well, what about it . Is he here or is he elsewhere . Lets dont get excited counselor. Were working on it. Hows this for logic, furillo . If hes not here and if hes not elsewhere, hes lost. We didnt say that, counselor. Not lost, per se. You lost my client. Never in my entire life have i listened to so much incompetence covered up by so much unmitigated crap. Find my client, furillo, or i swear. Ill have you up on charges. Thered be these ongoing arcs for these characters that would play out over five, six episodes sometimes an entire season, and in a way for certain stories, over the entire series. And no one had really done that in an hourlong, dramatic show. These past four months, ive missed you. I had to find that out. Come home, pizza man. I think in the past, people had watched television passively, and the one thing i think we did set out to be were provocateurs. You want an accident report, you fill it out. What the hells the matter with you, man . Ill tell you something they dont pay me enough to deal with animals like this. The first thing they see is a white face, and all they want to do is do me in. You listen to me, renko. It was a white finger that pulled the trigger. Not a black one, it was a white one. It set a trend the idea that the audience can accept its characters being deeply flawed, you know, even though theyre wearing this uniform. And i thought that that was important to finally get across. Dont do it. No biting. We wanted to make a show that made you participate, made you pay attention, and i think that worked pretty well. And the winner is. Hill street blues. We got 21 nominations, and we went on to win eight emmys. And it put us on the map literally, and thats when people finally checked us out. Programming chief of one of the networks used to say to me about shows like hill street and st. Elsewhere, what the American Public wants is a cheeseburger, and what youre trying to give them is a french delicacy. And he said, your job is to keep shoving it down their throat until after a while, theyll say, that doesnt taste bad. and maybe theyll even order it themselves when they go to the restaurant. Nice of you to join us, dr. Morrison. The success of Hill Street Blues is a critical phenomenon influenced everything that came after it. And then of course you saw shows like st. Elsewhere. Do you know what people call this place . Not st. Eligius, st. Elsewhere a place you wouldnt want to send your motherinlaw. When it first came on, it was actually promoted as hill street in a hospital. You give your patients the wrong antibiotics. You dont know what medications theyre on. You write the worst progress notes. Youre pathetic. Pathetic. Phil what . dr. Moray needs you right away. Im sorry. St. Elsewhere broke every rule there was and then built some new rules. Bobby, the blood bank called a little while ago. They ran a Routine Panel on that pint of blood. Tcell count was off. They would have tragic things happen to these characters. There was real heartache in these peoples lives, and you really felt for them. Ive got aids . Television at its best is a mirror of society in the moment. St. Elsewhere challenged people. It challenged you as an actor, much less the audience, to think. The stuff they gave you was extreme, and what they did, whether they were dealing with aids or having one of their main Doctor Characters raped in a prison. They tackled lots of difficult subjects. St. Elsewhere was run by people who were trying to stretch the medium, and in the 80s, Television Producers were encouraged to stretch the medium. Okay, clear. Theres a different way to treat hiv. Its everyothermonth, injectable cabenuva. For adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete Hiv Treatment you can get every other month. Cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. Its two injections, given by a Healthcare Provider every other month. Its one less thing to think about while traveling. Hiv pills arent on my mind. A quick change in my plans is no big deal. Dont receive cabenuva if youre allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. Serious side effects include allergic reactions, postinjection reactions, Liver Problems, and depression. If you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. Tell your doctor if you have Liver Problems or Mental Health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. Some of the most common side effects include injectionsite reactions, fever, and tiredness. If you switch to cabenuva, attend all treatment appointments. Every other month and im good to go. Ask your doctor about everyothermonth cabenuva. Ever wonder what everyones doing on their phones . Theyre investing with merrill. Think miss allen is texting for backup . No shes totally in charge. Of her portfolio and daniel g. Shes building a greener future and hes. Running a pretend restaurant. And phil . Phil has questions, but none of them are about his portfolio. Digital tools so impressive, your money never stops working for you with merrill, a Bank Of America company. vo the fully electric audi etron family is here. With models that fit any lifestyle. And innovative ways to make your etron your own. Through elegant design and progressive technology. All the exhilaration, none of the compromise. The audi etron family. Progress that moves you. A lot of people used to say, i was there. Now people say they watch it on television. Theres just a lot of excitement connected to sports in the 80s. You used to have to depend on the five minutes at the end of your local newscast. There just hadnt been enough, you know . Give us a whole network of sports. Theres just one place you need to go for all the names and games making sports news espn sportscenter. What happens in the 1980s is sports becomes a tv show, and what are tv shows built around . Theyre built around characters. You cant be serious, man. You cannot be serious you guys are the absolute pits of the world, you know that . Mcenroe the perfect villain the new yorker that people loved to hate. Borg the cool swede, never giving any emotion away. What tennis really wants is to get its two best players playing over and over again in the final. Whether theyre john mcenroe and bjorn borg or chris evert and martina navratilova, thats what we want to tune in to over and over and over again. Oh, goodness me. Net court at three match points to martina navratilova. You know that this man has a smile that lights up a Television Screen from here to bangor, maine. And then there is magic johnson, this urban kid from michigan, and larry bird, this guy who worked carrying trash. One plays for the los angeles lakers, the other plays for the boston celtics. Its a great story. Off the mark. Lakers had several chances, and heres Larry Bird Chugging down the court. Magic johnson leads the attack. Look at that pass. Oh, what show what a great play. Oh, what show when those championship games are in primetime and people are paying attention to that, television feeds into those rivalries and makes them bigger than theyve ever been before. I dare them to challenge me with their somewhat primitive skills. Theyre just as good as dead. Every mike tyson fight was an event because every fight was like an ax murder. When he fought michael spinks, the electricity, you could just feel it watching it on tv. Here comes mike spinks in he leads with a right hand down he goes tyson was made for tv because there was drama. Its all over mike tyson has won it not a lot of Junior High School kids can dunk, especially at five feet. But Everybody Tries now. Everybody tries. I bet now. I think that he is starting to transcend just his sport. Hes becoming something of a public figure. Michael jordan becomes the model that every other athlete wants to shoot for. They want to be a brand. And thats what television does for these athletes. It turns them into worldwide, iconic brands. The inbound pass comes in to jordan. Heres michael at the foul line. A shot on ehlo. Good the bulls win athletes in the 80s became part of an Ongoing Group of people that we cared about. We just had an enormous, pent up demand for sports, and the 80s began to provide. Thank goodness. Cable television is continuing to grow. Its estimated that it will go into one million more u. S. Households this year. With Cable Television suddenly offering an array of different channel choices, the audience bifurcated. Thats an earthquake. I want my mtv I Want My Mtv I Want My Mtv a new concept is born the best of tv combined with the best of radio. This is it. Welcome to mtv, Music Television the worlds first 24hour, stereo, video music channel. Music television what a concept. Mtv was, pow in your face. You were not gonna turn us off. Mtv did nothing but play current music videos all day long. So let me get this straight you turn on the tv, and its like the radio . Im martha quinn. The music will continue nonstop on mtv Music Television, the newest component of your stereo system. When mtv launched, a generation was launched. 18 to 24yearolds were saying, I Want My Mtv. I want my mtv videos. I want my mtv fashion. Yo mtv was the First Network really focused on the youth market and becomes hugely influential because they understand each other, the audience and the network. Mtv had a giant impact visually and musically on every part of the tv culture that came next. Freeze miami vice. Friday nights on nbc are different this season, thanks to miami vice. Its a show with an old theme, but a lot of new twists. Described by one critic as containing flashes of brilliance, nonetheless. Shot entirely on location in south miami, the story centers around two undercover vice cops. I dont know how this is gonna work, tubbs. I mean, youre not exactly up my alley style and persona wise. Heaven knows im no box of candy. Television very much was the small screen. What was interesting about tony yerkovichs Pilot Screenplay for miami vice is that it was exactly not that. Very much the approach was, okay, they call this a Television Series, but were gonna make onehour movies every single week. Okay, here we go. Standby. Action police, police you were just describing the show as sort of a newwave cop show. Yeah, its a cop show for the 80s. I mean, we use a lot of mtv images and rock music to help describe the mood and feeling of our show. In a lot of ways, you dont get miami vice without mtv, because in a lot of ways, miami vice was a long video. The music was such a big part of that show. There was an allure to using great music that everybody was listening to as opposed to the routine kind of tv scoring of that period. And i can feel it coming in the air tonight. Not only was it not afraid to let long scenes play out, it would drag a car going from point a to point b could be a fourminute phil collins song, you know, and it was. Oh, lord. Being able to take a Television Series like miami vice and lets really kind of rock n roll with this until somebody says, stop, are you guys crazy . You cant do that. And nobody ever did. Walk in, or call 1800aspendental. [upbeat music] [sound of tape application] i just need you to sign option three. [cheering] [upbeat music] for everything we need. For everything we want. For everything we do. [cheering] were all better off with an ally. Finding the perfect designer isnt easy. But, at upwork, we found her. Shes in austin between a dog named klaus and her favorite shade of green. Its actually salem clover. And you can find her right now on upwork. Com when the world is your workforce, finding the perfect project manager, designer, developer, or whomever you may need. Tends to fall right into place. Find toprated talent who can start today on upwork. Com go Freeze Police Thomas Magnum . Marion hammond . The private investigator . Oh. Youre probably wondering about the goat. Um, just let me drop off my friend, and then well talk. When we entered the 80s, a lot of onehour dramas that were light hearted, like magnum, p. I. , were very popular. After mash went off the air, the next season, there wasnt a single sitcom in the top 10. First time that had ever happened in tv history. The prevailing feeling was that the sitcom was dead. Brandon tartikoff, nbc programming chief, says reports of the sitcoms death were greatly exaggerated. Time and time again, if you Study Television history, just when someone is counting a form out, that is exactly the form of programming that leads to the next big hit. So 1984, the cosby show comes on. Now, bill cosbys not new to tv. Hes had other tv shows. But the cosby show is very different. It stands apart from Everything Else hes done. Mom, i wanted my eggs scrambled. Coming right up. They talked about parenting. Previous to that, on television, the kids were cool and the parents were idiots. And then cosby says the parents are in charge, and that was something new. Instead of acting disappointed because im not like you, maybe you can just accept who i am and love me anyway because im your son. Thats the dumbest thing ive ever heard in my life you know, it helps, the casting of anything helps a lot in television. And the kids were just great. If you were the last person on this earth, i still wouldnt tell you. You dont have to tell me what you did. Just tell me what theyre gonna do to you. Unlike every other show on tv, its showing an upper middleclass black family. This wasnt all in the family. They werent tackling, you know, deep issues. But that was okay. The mere fact that they existed was a deep issue. The decade was waiting for something real. In other words, unless its real it doesnt seem like it moves anybody. If someones feeling something, you get to the heart, you get to the mind. And if you can hit the hearts and minds, you got yourself a hit. How was school . School, dear . I brought home two children that may or may not be ours. Cosbys show brought this tremendous audience to nbc. And that was a bridge to us. I mean, our ratings went way up. Sometimes you want to go where Everybody Knows your name. Even the theme song to cheers put you in a good mood. Evening everybody. Norm norman. Whats shaking norm . All four cheeks and a couple of chins, coach. By the end of the cheers pilot, not only did you know who everybody was, but you wanted to come back and see what was gonna happen. Its like all you have to do is watch it once, youre gonna love these people. These are universal characters and the humor worked on so many levels. Last night i was up till 2 00 in the morning finishing off kierkegaard. I hope he thanked you for it. You have to create a community that people are identifying with. And cheers gives you that community. Boy, i tell you, ive always wanted to skydive. Ive just never had the guts. What did it feel like . Well, imagine its a lot like sex, sammy. Not that i have to imagine what sex is like. But ive had plenty of sex, and plenty of this, too. What dont you just get off my back, okay . In the First Episode, there was a rather passionate annoyance. I was saying, uh, somethings going on here. A really intelligent woman would see your line of b. S. A mile away. Ive never met an intelligent woman that id want to date. On behalf of the intelligent women around the world, may i just say, phew when we saw what ted and shelley had together, we said, oh no, we gotta do this relationship. Ted and i understood what they were writing right away. If youll admit that you are carrying a little torch for me, ill admit that im carrying a little one for you. Well, i aam carrying a little torch for you. Well, im not carrying one for you. Diane knew how to tease sam. Sam knew how to tease diane. And i guess we knew how to tease the audience. This incredible chemistry between the two of them ignited the show. And thats what drove the show for the first five years. Oh, im devastated. I need something expeditious and brutal to numb my sensibilities and blast me into sweet oblivion. How about a boilermaker . Make it a mimosa. We had the luck to be able to rotate cast, and every time we put somebody in, there were explosions. Bwah there was something very special about that setting, those characters, that i never got tired of writing that show. Sophisticated surveys, telephonic samplings, Test Audiences all of those things help to separate winners from losers and make midcourse corrections. But you cant cut all comedies from the same cookie cutters. All you can hope is that every night turns out like thursday. Yo, angela larry, larry. Next. How rude. Hes quick, ill give him that. All of television said, oh, well, maybe the sitcoms are alive again. And thats all that it took. It took one success. A few years from now, something new may tempt the people who pick what we see. But its a very safe guess that whatever gets hot for a season or two, the men and women who create Good Television comedy will be laughing all the way to the bank. Rything. Whats the 1 Retinol Brand used most by dermatologists . Its neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair® smooths the look of fine lines in 1week, Deep Wrinkles in 4. So you can kiss wrinkles goodbye neutrogena® were carvana the company who invented Car Vending Machines and buying a car 100 percent online now weve created a brand new way for you to sell your car whether its a year old, or a few years old we want to buy your car so go to carvana enter your License Plate answer a few questions and our Techno Wizardry calculates your cars value and gives you a real offer in seconds when youre ready well come to you pay you on the spot and pick up your car thats it so ditch the old way of selling your car and say hello to the new way at carvana dehydrated hair . Hyaluronic acid, for your hair. New Elvive Hyaluron plump by loreal paris. With hyaluronic acid to lock in moisture and hydrate for up to 72 hours. Elvive hyaluron plump from loreal paris. Were worth it. This is my last broadcast as the anchorman of the cbs evening news. For me, its a moment for which i long have planned, but which nevertheless comes with some sadness. For almost two decades, after all, weve been meeting like this in the evenings, and ill miss that. And thats the way it is, friday, march 6, 1981. Ill be away on assignment and dan rather will be sitting in here for the next few years. Goodnight. Uncle walter had dominated certainly cbs, but in a way, the country. People used to say that he was the most trusted man in the country. Once Walter Cronkite retires, all three Network News Anchors within a period of a couple of years switch over to a new generation. The 80s may have been the last gasp where people watching the media, liked and trusted the media. Nuclear arms and how to prevent Global Destruction are expected to be the major topic of president reagans News Conference tonight. That conference will be nationally televised within the hour. Lesley stahl is at the white house. The white house is hoping that tomorrows. In the 80s, women came into the newsroom. When i first joined, it was 72, and there were very few. By the 80s, there were more and more. The decade of the 80s was still a time of sink or swim. You had to be resilient in your own way to survive in a period when you were going up against a lot of people who still didnt think women had what it took. These are some of the most famous faces in broadcasting, all of whom happen to be women. The best producers, im gonna get fired the best producers at cbs news are women. And they are at the level of taking hold and making decisions about individual pieces. Theyre not yet Executive Producers of all the news shows, but they will be. For the past 24 hours, Christine Craft has taken her cause to many of the nations news and talk programs. I didnt set out to be joan of arc, but i think that what happened to me deserves some attention. Christine craft had a very successful career, but there she was in her late 30s and the tv station said to her, were taking you off the air because youve gotten older and youre not as attractive as you once were, which was outrageous. And she decided to make an issue of it. She filed a lawsuit, and it became a Huge National topic of discussion. A jury said she got a raw deal because she is a woman. And so women in Television News everywhere were asked, what do you think about Christine Craft . I think unfortunately in recent years, the emphasis has been increasingly on physical appearance, and to the extent this decision helped swing the emphasis back to substance and to good journalism, i think weve got something to be happy about. It was important to make the point that what mattered was what kind of reporter are you . But it took the Christine Craft incident, i think, to bring that conversation out into the open. This coming sunday, a new Television Network opens for business cnn. Cable news network. Youre throwing all the dice on this one . Why not . Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Faint heart never won fair lady. Well, on that original point, mr. Turner, thank you very much indeed. I wanted to see what was going on in the world. And there was no way that you could do it watching the regular television stations. The news only comes on at 6 00 and 10 00. But if there was news on 24 hours, people could watch it any time. We sign on on june 1, and barring Satellite Problems in the future, we wont be signing off until the world ends. There was a widespread belief this was a fools errand. How can this possibly find an audience . Well, he did. Ready camera three. One center up. Good evening. Im david walker. And im lois harp. Now heres the news. President carter has arrived. Television news before this was stuff that had already happened. For the first time, cnn brought the world to people in real time. Cnn the worlds most important network. I didnt do Cable News Network because somebody told me it couldnt be done. I figured it was a very viable concept, and i went ahead and did it. It was after we announced that we were going to do it that the detractors showed up. Is Cable News Network just gonna be a new means of delivering the same kind of fare . No. It already does provide different fare, and Cable News Network is a perfect and maybe the best example of that. People love news, and we had lots of it. And the other guys had not very much. So choice and quantity won out. New york city, hello. A major catastrophe in americas space program. Im lou dobbs along with financial editor myron kandel. Jessica mcclure trapped for almost three days now in a dry artesian well. The iron curtain between east germany and west berlin has come tumbling down. Good evening, im pat buchanan, the conservative in crossfire. The American People appreciated the new television. They certainly came to came to cnn in droves. Mr. Gorbachev and i both agree on the desirability of freer and more extensive personal contact between the peoples of the soviet union and the United States. We began to realize that the best way to get a message to a foreign leader was to have the president go in the rose garden and make a statement. Because everybody was watching cnn. Cnn was a breakthrough. It changed the whole world. It changed quickly, The Network News business. That business that we werent the only ones. And it was hard, you know. Its hard to be on the top little perch and have to come down off it. A special segment tonight, The Network News. The first in a twopart series on the profound changes taking place in Television News, changes being brought about by business, competition, and technology. There are a variety of reasons why people who worked at the broadcast networks were freaked out in the 1980s. One of them was cnn and the rise of cable. Another was being taken over by foreign entities in corporate america. New owners spent billions buying the networks recently, and all of them want their moneys worth. People began to find out that news could be a profit center. And that focused a lot of attention on us. A lot from people in wall street, for instance. If you think about the News Divisions of cbs, nbc, and abc, they were part of a really proud tradition a journalistic tradition that really matters. We serve the public. This is not about profit and loss. And the people who worked at those News Divisions were totally freaked out by what it meant that they were now owned by these larger corporate entities. If the Television News isnt profitable at some point, there wont be any more Television News on the networks. I worry about people who are interested only in money and power getting ahold of television. It has higher purposes than that. We have seen the news and it is us. And hes. Running a pretend restaurant. And phil . Phil has questions, but none of them are about his portfolio. Digital tools so impressive, your money never stops working for you with merrill, a Bank Of America company. Im lindsey vonn, and ever since i retired from skiing, ive had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. You know, insomnia. Before i found quviviq, an fdaapproved Insomnia Medication for adults. You would not believe the things i used to think about when i couldnt sleep. Hey, linds. I need you to sign this business contract. All 114 pages. Lindsey, lindsey hey, lindsey its workout time. Hey, big man, were in the middle of something here. Yeah, its called physical fitness. Just a couple dozen more questions, lindsey. Dont forget to pack your Phone Charger for tomorrow mornings flight. Its plugged in right over there. Insomnia can impact both my days and my nights. Thats why i take quviviq nightly. Quviviq can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer, and more sleep at night may mean feeling less tired during the day. Quviviq works differently than medication you may have taken in the past. Quviviq is thought to target one of the biological causes of insomnia. Overactive wake signals. Do not take quviviq if you have narcolepsy. Dont drink alcohol while taking quviviq or drive or operate heavy machinery until you feel fully alert. Quviviq may cause temporary inability to move or talk or hallucinations while falling asleep or waking up. Quviviq may cause sleepiness during the day. Quviviq may lead to doing activities while not fully awake that you dont remember the next day, like walking, driving and making or eating food. Worsening depression including suicidal thoughts may occur. The most common side effects are headaches and sleepiness. Its quviviq. Ask your doctor if its right for you. man 1 oh, it looks like were in a screen saver. man 2 but we need to go higher. man 1 higher. man 1 were like yodeling high. [yodeling] yodelehe. man 2 hey, no. man 1 we should go even higher both woah man 2 im good. vo adventure, elevated. man 1 lets go lower. vo discover more in the Subaru Outback wilderness. Love. Its what makes subaru, subaru. Subaru is the National Park foundations largest corporate donor. Sometimes ambition in a woman is considered to be a dirty word, unfortunately. I dont hear a lot of female voices reverberating in the halls of power in this business. Well, im surprised there arent more shows about women that are talking about who they are. Directing seems to be an area that is almost impossible to break through. I think the 80s were the era when women were being looked at with a little skepticism, but definitely with more acceptability. You could see the door opening, but it wasnt wide open. Cagney lacey was huge. That there would be two women and they had a serious job and they solved crimes and they were out on the streets. They were tough. That was emblematic or maybe out in front a little of what was actually happening in the country. So, were a terrific team. This is true. What do you say we go out and celebrate how terrific we are . There had been, by that point, hundreds of buddy cop shows, but these buddies were women. That had never been done before. I didnt go after this job because i couldnt find Anything Else. Alright . I did not come here because i needed some kind of work to help pay the orthodontist. This means something to me. What the hell are we talking about here . We didnt even realize that this was gonna be such a big deal, and strangely, all these guys would say to us, well, yeah, i mean, its a good script, but whos gonna save them in the end . Alright, come on. Were taking you out of here. Come on. Youre taking my wife . You dont take one more step. You understand me . Sergeant nelson, you have until 8 00 tomorrow morning to turn yourself into iad. Phyllis if you dont, i will. It was a time where you really saw an emergence of women on television who were not necessarily just 20 and blonde and had a small role, but women who had substantial roles. Thank you for being a friend. Traveled down the road and back again. It was unpredictable that an audience, a young audience, a notsoyoung audience, and lots in between could relate to those older ladies. Ma, if you couldnt see, why didnt you call me to come get you . I tried to, but every time i put in a dime and dialed, a condom popped out. I got five in my pocket. Here dorothy. A lifetime supply. She was recently named, along with norman lear and jim brooks, as one of televisions most gifted creator writers. And when you look back at the past women role models on television, well, its easy to see susan harris impact. Susan harris was the greatest writer, in my opinion, of her generation, of that time. Singularly, so, you know, all credit to her for coming up with so many iterations of something so amazing. Do you think there is a womans voice as a writer . Womans voice well, generally, they speak higher, softer. I should have known not to ask that of a writer. Yes, of course, theres a womans voice. Women have a different perspective. Women laugh at different things. So, yes, theyre very definitely is a womans voice. Oh, do you know how many problems we have solved over a cheesecake at this Kitchen Table . No, dorothy, exactly how many . 147, rose oh. Hi, bryant. Its cutthroat primetime time this fall, as some 23 new shows compete in one of the hottest ratings races in years. Heres one just about everybody predicts will be a big hit. Designing women on cbs. Four femmes forming an interior suzanne, if sex were fast food, thered be an arch over your bed. Linda bloodworththomason created one of the funniest, most unusual shows in designing women. They were a Different Group of women than you really saw on television. They were feisty, they were sexy, and lindas voice came through shining. A man can get away with anything. I mean, look at reagans neck. It sags down to here. Everybody raves about how great he looks. Can you imagine if nancy had that neck . Theyd be putting her in a nursing home for turkeys. Theyd given me this 23 minutes to address whatever topic i want. And its such a privilege. Its more than the president of the United States gets, and its kind of thrilling to have that every week. I would lying if i said i didnt put my opinions in the show. Excuse me, but you lovely ladies look like youre in need of a little male companionship here. Trust me when i tell you that you have completely misassessed the situation at this table. All right, moving onto scene d. I am a woman and i am a writer, but i dont really enjoy being called a womans writer. I think labels are harmful to us. With murphy brown, just about everything about that program felt new. The Civil Rights Movement and the Womens Movement had just begun to sort of be reflected in the programming that you saw on television in the 80s. Murphy, you know the Dunfries Club is for men only . And they have great dinners with great guests and i dont get to go for one reason and one reason only. And it has to do with something youve got and i dont. A tiny, pathetic, little y chromosome. Murphy brown was sea change, because she was so popular and such a strong, independent, tough woman. No matter what you think of a guest or their views, you are obligated to ask the questions in a dignified manner. Jim, she was unprofessional, am i right . Well, i do you believe this, jim . He thinks its neat that his Office Chair Swivels and hes calling me unprofessional. So, youre 45. Thats the perfect age to see some old friends, explore new worlds, and to start screening for colon cancer. Yep. With colon cancer rising in adults under 50, the American Cancer Society recommends starting to screen earlier, at age 45. Im cologuard, a noninvasive way to screen at home, on your schedule. And i find 92 of colon cancers. Im for people 45 at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. False positive and negative results may occur. Ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. Come on guys, eat your food, lets go i wanna taste your banana pudding, you taste my banana pudding. Its on. Its on. Its on. [laughter] i was gonna say, will you marry me . [screaming and cheering] [screaming and cheering] is my makeup messy . Yes, its messy [laughter] new superstay vinyl ink. From maybelline new york. Shake up your longwear with no budge vinyl color. Color lock formula up to 16hr wear. New superstay vinyl ink. Maybelline new york. You are in a good mood tonight, and i tell you, we have put a great show together. Itll be on a week from thursday. Johnny carson in the 80s is making the transition from being the king of late night to being a national treasure. He was a throwback to that old show biz stuff. I havent been on with you for some time. Its been a long time. Yeah, well, youve been busy with other things. Thats the tide is starting to turn in terms of where latenight television is going to go. But johnny is kind of holding out. He was not necessarily of his time in the 80s, but he did sustain a certain timelessness. Hes the king. On your chair. Hes all right. Hes just playing. Playing my [bleep] my next guest not only has a college degree, but he also has a high school degree. Thats right, i do. Yes. As well, uhhuh. Hes hosted The Tonight Show practically as often as Johnny Carson, and now he has his very own show, Weekday Mornings at 10 00 on nbc. Ladies and gentlemen, what youre witnessing here is a good idea gone awry. Yes, and a funfilled Surprise Turning into an incredible screwup right here. David letterman originally had a onehour daytime show. And nbc, after like 13 weeks, decided to cancel it. Today is our last show on the air. Monday, las vegas. Have these people been frisked before they it was a dismal failure in terms of the ratings. But not in terms of introducing us to letterman. David, thank you for being with us tonight. Thank you very much for having me, i appreciate it. And in spite of all this nonsense that goes around in the background, stay with it. Dont give up. And stay with us here in new york. We like having you. I like being here. Thank you very much. Dave is back in new york. Youre going to host a latenight Television Program that premieres monday night. What are what are critics likely to say Tuesday Morning . I dont much care because i found a way to deal with that pills and whiskey. Youre on. Oh, im on. Im sorry, i was enjoying listening to you snort. They gave him the late night show after The Tonight Show, and at the time, people thought, whos going to watch television at 12 30 at night . Whos up . Ill tell you whos up. Young people. College people. Is it going well . I know this is the first show and i think this guy needs a little support. Dave letterman. He was antiestablishment at his core. He was thumbing his nose to any existing social structures. Who are those women out there, by the way . Neighbors. Ill get rid of them. Hey, excuse me. Just keep it moving, come on. He kind of spoofed the whole notion of talk shows. Its the late night guest cam. Please say hello to tom hanks. Here he is. No one can go on the David Letterman show and try to steer it towards a Point Of View or push something in particular. He just wouldnt stand for it. Youre on to do one thing and one thing only be as funny as the rest of the show. You know, we could get in a two shot here, dave. We could actually send the crew home, couldnt we . You know, as a comedian, you want the biggest audience that you could get. For dave, he knew a lot of things that he would do were going to alienate people, and he didnt care. He wanted his thumbprint out there, and thats the most important thing. Its time for Small Town News. Paul . Excuse me, paul, do you have any have any accompanying music here for Small Town News . Paul shaffer, ladies and gentlemen. The show making fun of itself and turning itself inside out that way was something kind of new. I mean, dont we look like guys that youd see hanging around together . Absolutely. Would you like to hang around with me . Nope. How you doing . Ive said it before and ill say it again. This is the stupidest show ive i thought that i would never want to do this show with you. Now why . Because you thoughts i was a a [ bleep ]. Theres one rule i keep trying to abide by, and unfortunately i only get to it about 12 of the time. And that is its only television. Were not doing cancer research. If the 40yearodd history of Commercial Broadcasting has taught us one thing, theres nothing sacred about television. All right, steven is upstairs. Hey, dave, i was just curious, is there any way i can get mtv on this actually, steve, thats thats just a monitor and all you can get on that is our show. Oh. Thats okay. There was a degree of cynicism that was needed in the art form at that time. And its a cynicism that just became common sense after a while, because it never got old. Ive watched Johnny Carson, and you are no Johnny Carson. Good day, welcome to the Great White North canadian corner. Im bob mckenzie, this is my brother doug. And today we got a real big show because we got a there was a Second City Chicago company, there was a Second City Toronto company. The toronto one is the one that fueled the sctv series, which originally was syndicated and got to the states that way. Hail caesar hail, hail. Thank you very much for that marvelous reception. I particularly want to thank my supporters over there in the caesarian section. Its healthy to be an outsider, you know, as a comedian, and canadians are always outsiders, but theyre looking at the other culture, which is right next door to them. I love you, Sammy Maudlin i want to bear your children it was the type of comedy that had only been accessible if you could have gotten into the improv clubs in chicago or toronto. I had never seen anything like second city tv. James bridgeman, parkdale. Im sorry. No, never mind. Im sorry. It was far more conceptual in its humor, because it didnt have to be performed in front of an audience. And there was also just the idea that it was this sort of lowrent thing. It was this sort of by the seat of their pants kind of operation that gave it an authenticity. Now that our programming day has been extended, im going to be spending a lot where do you want me to put the kielbasa, mrs. Prickley . Put it in the fridge, butch. You were rooting for the show and the characters that they had created. There was just something that you got behind. Whereas, you know, snl right from the from the gate and through the 80s was this big enterprise. After five golden years, lorne decided to leave and so did those close to him, including me, al franken. So nbc had to pick a new producer. Now, most knowledgeable people, as you might imagine, hoped it would be me, al franken. Well, there was a real question of whether saturday night live would continue at all or whether it would just die. The press hasnt been overly kind. Yeah, i read that stuff. Saturday night live is saturday night dead. Oh, man, come on. Geez. From yucks to yech. My favorite, though, is vile from new york. Please, bill, come on. Its funny, its funny. They were having a hard time, and then came the man that saved the show, eddie murphy. There was a buzz about him, so you tuned in, and there was this kind of explosion of talent in front of your eyes. Hey too hot in the hot tub burn myself it really kind of rejuvenated the show. I am gumby, damn it you dont talk to me that way. After a while, the show regained its status and its clout and became even more of an institution than it had been. Hey, bob. Hey, penis looks great today. Listen, harry, if youre unhappy with my work, tell me now youre through, do you hear me . Through youll never work in this town again. Dont leave me hanging by a thread let me know where i stand we were a little worried at first because we had a new cast, but everyone loves us. You guys have been so nice to us during our stay. Isnt that special . I am hans. And i am franz. And we just want to pump you up a lot of things that they could do on saturday night live they couldnt do on a sitcom. The humor was more daring and more satirical. And it was political. You still have, uh, 50 seconds left, mr. Vice president. Well, let me just sum up, on track, stay the course, a thousand points of light. Stay the course. Governor dukakis, rebuttal . I cant believe im losing to this guy. Ill get it. Its Garry Shandlings show. People were taking all the old principles of comedy and trying to turn them into something new. We spent years and years watching sitcoms and dramas and talk shows by then. We knew them by heart, that if somebody played on that and parodied it, we got it instantly. Yeah, i appreciate you coming in under these conditions, lewis, i really do. You want to hold the credits . Okay. Now, see, we were going to show the credits, and you screwed that up, okay, because youre late. The Garry Shandling show was aware of the fact that it was a situation comedy. It highlighted the cliches in funny ways. Are you looking into the camera . No. No, i didnt. Dont look into the camera. I didnt. Dont. You dont come in here and look in the camera. I didnt. Ill bop you. I will. If i see a tape of this show and youre looking into the well, its about that time. Peewees playhouse on cbs, a socalled Saturday Morning Kids show that adults could watch and wink at each other as they were watching it. It was very clever. Morning, conky. Whats todays secret word . Todays secret word is good it was a show certainly for kids, and it was for stoned baby boomers who were totally wasted on saturday morning and watched peewees playhouse and saw god. I sure had a lot of fun. See you all real soon. Until then, everybody be good [upbeat music] [sound of tape application] i just need you to sign option three. [cheering] [upbeat music] for everything we need. For everything we want. For everything we do. [cheering] were all better off with an ally. Homegrown tomatoes. Nice. I want to feel in control of my health, so i do what i can. What about screening for colon cancer . When caught in early stages its more treatable. Im cologuard. Im noninvasive and i detect altered dna in your stool to find 92 of colon cancers, even in early stages. Early stages . Yep, its for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. False positive and negative results may occur. Ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. Consider it done. In a backwards world. What if you could move forward . My ice like the stars, i tell that rewrite the code. Armani code the new refillable parfum. Giorgio armani ever wonder what everyones doing on their phones . Theyre investing with merrill. Think miss allen is texting for backup . No shes totally in charge. Of her portfolio and daniel g. Shes building a greener future and hes. Running a pretend restaurant. And phil . Phil has questions, but none of them are about his portfolio. Digital tools so impressive, your money never stops working for you with merrill, a Bank Of America company. Dehydrated hair . Hyaluronic acid, for your hair. New Elvive Hyaluron plump by loreal paris. With hyaluronic acid to lock in moisture and hydrate for up to 72 hours. Elvive hyaluron plump from loreal paris. Were worth it. 196 8, the summer before Junior High School. And i dont mind saying i was a pretty fair little athlete. The wonder years was a Guy In Modern Times looking back on his childhood. That in itself is not new, but The Wonder Years did it with a wit and with the music. It was a brilliantly written show and a great performance by that entire young cast. Hey, steve. It looks like my baby brother and his girlfriend have found each other. Shes not my girlfriend. Kevin arnold has to cope with all the timeless problems of growing up during one of the most Turbulent Times that we have known. Kevin arnold is just like a regular kid except in the 1960s. And hes not really aware of many of the events. Like in one of the episodes, the whole familys watching the apollo 8 take off. But im just sitting there trying to call a girl. The First Episode of The Wonder Years, anybody who saw it remembers the ending where, you know the first kiss with winnie and kevin arnold. The song that they play is when a man loves a woman. That moment seemed so pure and so real. When a man loves a woman the tone of the baby boomers of the 1960s is about rebellion, about being students. By the 1980s, its time to grow up. And so they shave their beards, give up their dashikis, and they put on power suits a whole new notion. Ah, the yuppies. Last year, the politicians were all talking about winning their votes. Now those young, urban professionals and the rest of their Baby Boom Generation are being wooed by advertisers and their agencies. By the 80s, it was pretty clear that the generation after the generation of the 60s may be embodied by alex keaton on family ties. Soon to be a lot more interested in the Corner Office than the new jerusalem. Youre a young man. You shouldnt be worried about success. You should be thinking about hopping on a Tramp Steamer and going around the world. The 60s are over, dad. Thanks for the tip. You werent laughing at michael j. Foxs character for being too conservative. You were actually laughing at the parents for being too hopelessly liberal. What is this . I found it in the shower. Thats generic brand shampoo. Ah this is him. This is the guy ive been telling you about. This is everything youd want in a president. The genius of family ties is it allows a kind of youthful reaganite to emerge thats focused more on the future, thats focused more on the a critique of the 60s. Michael j. Fox as alex keaton really became the center of the show. And writers were smart enough to see that they had Something Special, and they wrote to that. Its not fair, alex. Yeah. Theres nothing you can do about it, jen. My advice to you is that you just enjoy being a child for as long as you can. I know i did. Its the best two weeks of my life. Alex is a little bill buckley. He the Wall Street Journal is his bible. He has a tie to go with his pajamas. Hes very conservative and a very intense 17yearold. Now the first thing your teachers going to ask is what you did over the summer. Now, a lot of kids are going to say, i went to the zoo or i went to the beach, or, i went to a baseball game. What are you going to say . I watched the iran contra hearings. If mom and dad thought this generation was going to the dogs, think again. This is the generation that has discovered hard work and success. American culture is changing in the 80s. And in terms of television, theres a whole notion of demographic segmentation. Networks were beginning to not be afraid to appeal to a very specific demographic. Hi, handsome. Look at that shirt. Is that a power shirt or what . Nice suit ellen, good shoulder pads. You looking to get drafted by the eagles . Thirtysomething said, were not going to have cops, lawyers, or doctors. Were just going to be about people. What are we doing here . Why did we start this business . To do our thing. But right now, we got two wives, three kids, four cars, two mortgages, a payroll. And thats life, pal. You be the breadwinner now. Is that what i am . Thirtysomething is a very important show as youre going into this era of television being more introspective and more emotional. And some people werent buying it. But for other people, when they were talking about things like having kids and who was going to go back to work and some of these issues that hadnt been talked about a whole lot, it was important to people. I was so looking forward i was so looking forward to doing this, to be a grownup for just an hour. In the beginning, there was talk of this being the yuppie show, and you mentioned it tonight. You said that if there were a category for the most annoying show, this might win as well. No, what some people perceive as annoying has nothing to do with yuppie. I think yuppie is a word made up by demographers and advertisers to sell soap. I dont think it has anything to do with what the show is. Thirtysomething was not a giant hit. But it was a niche hit. It attracted an enormously Upscale Group of advertisers. The network cared who was watching, not how many were watching. And that was more and more catching on in the 80s. The prosecution will ask you that you look to the law and this you must do. But i ask of you that you look to your hearts, as well. Thank you. L. A. Law was partly a classic lawyer show. But it was intertwined with their personal lives and different lawyers who were sleeping together and trying to get ahead. The Reality Level on that show was like a foot or two off the ground. And you were willing to go with that because it was a whole new spin on a law show. Tell the truth. If you had to do it all over again and she walked into your office and she said, take my case, would you . Well of course you would, because it is juicy, newsy, exciting stuff. It was really fun to take the Hill Street Blues format and use it to frame an entirely different social and cultural strata with vastly different results. I wonder if i might engage with my client privately. Certainly. What are you doing for dinner tonight . I was planning on having you. In that case, skip lunch. The formula had gotten established of how you can do a dramatic show and yet still have an awful lot of fun. We didnt used to be able to accept that very easily in a tv hour. And even before the 80s are out, its like, oh, okay, i get it. You know, so its like, all right, what are the rules now . What are you doing . Im doing what i shouldve done all along. What i wanted to do originally. What i shouldve done last night. Both stop that, david im calling the police, david hello, police . The networks realized there was an audience looking for something less predictable than traditional primetime fare. Moonlighting was another of those shows that said, okay, i see the formulas that weve had up to here. Lets do different things. Hello. Hello. Were looking a little pale today, arent we . And who have we here . I dont know. Moonlighting was a really experimental show. They had a shakespeare episode. They had a blackandwhite episode. They did a musical episode. They tried a lot of different stuff. I dont give a flying fig about the lines in my face, the crows feet by my eyes, or the altitude of my caboose. Well, im at a loss. I dont know what a flying fig is. Thats okay, they do. Theres no trouble on the set. There is no trouble on the set. Well, we have a very volatile relationship. There is a hate love element to it. Easy come, easy go ha the flirtations were great, and bruce and cybill were great. Glenn caron kept them apart for a long time. And bravo to him. What they did was they took the Sam And Diane dynamic from cheers and escalated it. Cheers was, will they or wont they . Moonlighting was, do they even want to . Stay away from me. Here i come. But i dont want you. I never wanted you. Yeah, right. Does entertaining mean at some point stopping the tease of dave and maddie . I mean, do they get together at some point . I hope so. Well, thats going to be resolved this year. We like to think of it as two and a half years of foreplay. People who had been watching moonlighting for years were waiting for this moment. And your emotions are already there, built onto the emotions that youre seeing on the screen. So when be my baby by the ronettes starts playing, its like a perfect storm of romance. The night we met the night we met i knew i needed you so after all. We wouldnt be where we are today without them. So we made sure that like these buildings. Their futures may also stand the test of time. New astepro allergy. Now available without a prescription. Astepro is the first and only 24hour steroid free spray. While other Allergy Sprays take hours astepro starts working in 30 minutes. So you can. Astepro and go. Carvanas had a lot of firsts. 100 percent online car buying, car vendinding machines, and now putting you in control of your financing. At carvana, get personalized terms, browse for cars that fit your budget, then customize your downpayment and monthly payment. And these arent made up numbers, its what youll really pay, right down to the penny. Wheather youre shopping or just looking, it only takes a few seconds and it wont affect your credit score. Finally, a totally different way to finance your ride only from carvana. I think i changed my mind about these glasses. Yeah, it happens. Thats why visionworks gives you 100 days to change your mind. Its simple. Anything else i can help you with . Like what . Visionworks. See the difference. Among my patients, i often see them have Teeth Sensitivity as well as gum issues. Does it worry me . Absolutely. Sensodyne sensitivity gum gives us the dual Action Effect that really takes care of both our Teeth Sensitivity as well as our gum issues. Theres no question its something that i would recommend. In recent years, it seems that television has become a kind of an electronic confessional, where guests are willing to expose painful and sometimes embarrassing aspects of their lives quite readily to millions of viewers. At the beginning of the decade, we get the dominance of phil donahue. And thats sort of a maturation of womens issues. And he seemed to talk to them in the audience. He seemed to talk to them through the tv screen. Im glad you called. Kiss the kids. Well be back in just a moment. If you look at the body of work weve had, you know, youre going to see the 80s there. Im not here to say youre wrong, but lets understand this. When you bring a moral judgment without knowing them against them for the way that they look, they feel that confirms the reason for their rebellion, if thats what you want to call it. He really believed that Daytime Television needed to talk about the ideas we were thinking about, the issues we were concerned about. I dont want to characterize his question, but why dont you get this fixed instead of doing this screwy stuff . Theres not a single recorded case in history of any transsexual that ever, through psychological treatment, changed. It has never happened yet. We were putting very important people on the program. All kinds of people. Gay people. People going to jail. People running for office, you know . Sometimes the same people. It was a magic carpet ride. You really do paint a very, very grim picture of the sitting president of the United States. Let me just say this i think hes probably the laziest president that ive ever seen. The audience for phil donahue built and built and built and built and led the way to oprah. Woo hello, everybody. Hello oprah has a particularly magical combination of her own background, her own experience, her own incisive mind, and empathetic spirit. Thank you. Im Oprah Winfrey. And welcome to the very First National Oprah Winfrey show i was surprised at the rocket pace that oprah took off because it took us a lot longer. The donahue show rearranged the furniture, but oprah remodeled the whole house. There are a lot of other people out there who are watching who really dont understand what you mean when you say, well, youre in love. Because i remember questioning my gay friends, saying, you mean, like, you feel about him the way i feel about its kind of a strange concept, you know, for a lot of people to accept. Oprah was connecting with people in a way that no one had on tv before. And it was really special to see. Well, did you know that for the longest time, i wanted to be a fourth grade teacher because of you . I i was not aware of inspiring anyone. I think you did exactly what teachers are supposed to do. They create a spark for learning. Thats the reason i have a talk show today. Oprah winfrey now dominates the Talk Show Circuit Both in the ratings and popularity. I want to use my life as a source of lifting people up. Thats what i want to do. Thats what i do every day on my show. You know, we get accused of being Tabloid Television and sensational and so forth, but what i really think we do more than Anything Else is we serve as a voice to a lot of people who felt up until perhaps my show or some of the others, that they were alone. This is what 67 pounds of fat looks like. I cant i cant lift it. It is amazing to me that i cant lift it, but i used to carry it around every day. Theres nothing more endearing to an audience than to have that kind of honesty and humility and courage on the part of a host. And that, i think, has a lot to do with her power. It feels like i can do some good here. And i really do think that the show does a lot of good. American television is drowning in talk shows, but its never seen anything like morton downy, jr. I want to tell you this story sit down and shut up other competitors come and take the Television Talk show into two different directions. So you start seeing the phenomenon of daytime Television Shows becoming less tame and more wild. The 80s brought a lot of belligerence to television. Whether it was Morton Downey jr. Being the offensive, caricatureish person that he was, or geraldo. He did his own outlandish things. Stay with us, ladies and gentlemen. Were going to get into the mind of another allamerican boy who came under the influence of satanism and took part in a crime without passion or motive. Geraldo rivera takes the power of the talk show to a whole other level, trying to put people on stage who hate each other, who are going to fight. In the case of the Temple Of Set and the church of satan, we have not had any problems with criminal behavior. Yet, when you hear story after story after story of people committing these wretched crimes, these Violent Crimes in the devils name . The more tension there is, the more conflict there is, the more violence there is, the more the ratings go up. And the American People love to complain about it, but they also love to watch. Geraldo rivera is back in a controversy tonight. Rivera drew sharp criticism with his recent Television Special on devil worship. But today he found himself in a real free for all. I get sick and tired of seeing uncle tom here, sucking up, trying to be a white man. Go ahead, troy, go ahead. Now, let me tell you sit down, man. Come on. You got to be kidding. You got to be kidding. Dude. You got to be kidding. Nah. Hey, hold it hold it sit down rivera suffered a broken nose but he says the show will be broadcast later this month in its entirety. Well, thats not something, you know, i would have done. But there was a lot of hypocrisy. One of the major magazines put the picture of geraldo getting hit with a chair on the cover. And the article said, isnt this awful . Look whats happened to television. And yet they couldnt wait to use it to sell their own magazine. Lets go to the audience, all right. I want to speak to you guys. You guys are over the years, broadcasting has deteriorated. And now in this era of deregulation, its deteriorating further. Give people light, and they will find their own way. Relax. America will survive the talk shows. Housewives, football, housewives. Whoops. Oh no. The housewives are on the field. I repeat, the housewives are on the field. I just want to talk yeah who flips a table . Get your tv together. Call 1800directv to save up to 120. vo a thin painted line. The only thing between you and a lifechanging accident. But are these lines enough . A subaru with eyesight. kid vo hey dad vo . Watches the lines for any danger. And can automatically stop itself. mom is everyone ok . kid im ok. vo your family is safer in a threerow subaru ascent. Love. Its what makes subaru, subaru. Striving to reach the ultimate goal of zero poverty takes more than everyones hopes and dreams. At citi, it takes a financial commitment to companies who empower people to lift themselves up. It takes funding and building on our knowhow to help communities grow. Thats how citi is helping create a Better Future by committing one trillion dollars in Sustainable Finance by 2030. Because it takes everything to reach zero poverty. New superstay vinyl ink. From maybelline new york. Shake up your longwear with no budge vinyl color. Color lock formula up to 16hr wear. New superstay vinyl ink. Maybelline new york. The big thing that changes in the 80s is the number of hours spent watching Television Goes up. The number of hours spent talking about Television Goes up. One of the symbols of this phenomenon is entertainment tonight. Hi, im tom hallick, and welcome to our Opening Night the premiere edition of entertainment tonight. All of the critics were kind of unanimous in that they said, itll never last because there simply isnt enough Entertainment News to fill a halfhour every night. Entertainment tonight has surveyed tv critics in the United States and canada to find out which Television Shows had the most impact on viewers over the years. Now, up until this time, nobody had done Television Like this. Nobody. Burt reynolds, the hottest actor in hollywood. Im surprised to see you here. Well, im glad to see you. Well, thank you. We can meet here every night if youd like. Thank you, id love it. A lot of what makes successful Television Programming is being in the right place at the right time. And it was the right time. Entertainment journalism evolved as the audience got more curious and had more access. Until that point, the Entertainment Business had been something that we didnt know all that much about. We could go behind the scenes in our effort to really give an insiders look. The Crafty Old Jr Of Dallas Fame was with his mother, actress mary martin, as he was presented with a star on the hollywood walk of fame. It was very honorific of the industry. They would do serious coverage of it. It wasnt salacious and you would see actors speaking as actors instead of on a Johnny Carson show. What are you like off camera . Im like this. Oh, this is on camera. This is on camera. It was the beginning of a lot of money being made talking about entertainment and celebrities. Robert redford plays the good guy in the movies, but dont tell that to his neighbors in utah. They are still bitter and redford is the target of their ire. The audience grew and grew. And that was showing us that the appetite for Celebrity News was big. It was big. Get ready for lifestyles of the rich and famous, televisions most dazzling hour of excitement hi, im robin leach in monaco, the glittering gem of the riviera. And youve got a vip ticket to prince rainiers private party. Your Sunday Newspaper is still delivered with the comics around the news. And that was what i always thought lifestyles was. We were the comic around the news. Except we did it as seriously as they did news. Finally in the driving seat of his own career, he burned rubber in a new direction. David hasselhoff rock idol. It was a time where pushing the limits with wealth and ostentatiousness in a lot of cases was very comfortable. One of the earliest stories that we presented to you on lifestyles was about the amazing real estate wizard donald trump. If he didnt shock and surprise you back then, hes had plenty of time since. With all of this costing billions, not millions, do the figures ever frighten you . The answer is no. Its my business. Its my life. Its my lifestyle. I love it. The good, the bad. Does this bring with it political aspirations . No political aspiration. Your show has gotten a lot of ridicule. There are people who say its nothing more than trash. That doesnt upset me, because i think its the best trash there is on television. I am not in the business of brain surgery. I am in the business of fluff. Its the Fantasy Element at a time when the access is possible. Its escapism and its aspirational. You want to stand in a hot tub with a glass of champagne . Rock on wed never seen that kind of wealth ever before. We didnt mock it, we didnt say it was right, and we didnt say it was wrong. We were just through the keyhole. Sometimes, you know, it absolutely amazes me. I walk away from a shoot and i think, well, we did it again. There was more of everything in tv by the 80s. Your opportunities for watching stuff is increasingly vast. Nbc presents real people. My names michael b. Wilson. The thought dawned on me that the application of a small motor on a pair of Roller Skates might really be a great thing. Somebody once said that each one of us will be a star for 15 minutes. And i think that thats probably going to happen. American culture used to be a culture that celebrated privacy, and in the 1980s, as were watching celebrities sort of play out onstage, hey, i want to join, too. All the world becomes a stage and you start seeing shows like real people or the Peoples Court. The Peoples Court where Reality Television is taken one step further. To see more tv, producers had to come up with new and different ways to give them television. Dont be stupid. Carl, get over here i told you not to be stupid what cops did was it took away the script and just brought the camera people and the crews on location to try and catch actual things happening. Cocaine. Possession of a stolen firearm, no less. What else are you going to do . A. No. No. When you decide to go to hawaii. Aloha. Turns out your beach people. I think were beach people. Whoa whoa, slow down boys. We know you love it. And did you know they like ceviche . . And best of all, the hotel has babysitters. So you have a date night. Remember those . With amex, its never a question of if vacation will actually feel like vacation. Its when. Come on guys, eat your food, lets go i wanna taste your banana pudding, you taste my banana pudding. Its on. Its on. Its on. [laughter] i was gonna say, will you marry me . [screaming and cheering] [screaming and cheering] is my makeup messy . Yes, its messy [laughter] ever wonder what everyones doing on their phones . Theyre investing with merrill. Think miss allen is texting for backup . No shes totally in charge. Of her portfolio and daniel g. Shes building a greener future and hes. Running a pretend restaurant. And phil . Phil has questions, but none of them are about his portfolio. Digital tools so impressive, your money never stops working for you with merrill, a Bank Of America company. vo the fully electric audi etron family is here. With models that fit any lifestyle. And innovative ways to make your etron your own. Through elegant design and progressive technology. All the exhilaration, none of the compromise. The audi etron family. Progress that moves you. President biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law this afternoon. Ok, so what exactly does it mean for you . Out of pocket costs for drugs will be capped. For seniors, insulin will be just 35. Families will save 2,400 on health care premiums. Energy costs, down an average of 1,800 a year for families. And its paid for by making the biggest corporations pay what they owe. President bidens bill doesnt fix everything, but it will save your family money. Dehydrated hair . Hyaluronic acid, for your hair. New Elvive Hyaluron plump by loreal paris. With hyaluronic acid to lock in moisture and hydrate for up to 72 hours. Elvive hyaluron plump from loreal paris. Were worth it. Zyrteeeec works hard at hour one and twice as hard when you take it again the next day. So betty can be the barcode beat conductor. Go betty lets be more than our allergies zeize the day. Zyrtec. With this ring. With this ring. I thee wed. I thee wed. With my body. With my body. I thee honor. I thee honor. The Biggest Television Event of the 1980s is the marriage of charles and diana. Its like the world stops when that happened. I mean, that was, like, just massive. This was the final act of a spectacle that may never again be seen in this century, if ever. The archbishop of canterbury called the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer today the stuff of fairy tales. Good evening. The royal couple at this hour is off on the honeymoon, while a lot of people here in london tonight are still talking about the events of the day. When you have great moments like the royal wedding, theyre a part of history and its done beautifully and everybody has a chance to watch it all on television. Everybody just wants to drink a toast to chuck and di. A princess who must now be aware as it was on this day that every single move she makes in public will be recorded and observed. A very difficult life indeed. Well be back in just a moment with some closing observations and one final look at what has justifiably been called the wedding of the century. By the authority of the state of new york, i pronounce that they are husband and wife. You may kiss the bride. Your wedding was seen by an astonishing number of people 16 million to 19 million viewers. How do you account for that kind of popularity . Oh, i cant. I cant. The way its grown, its just its amazing to me. It did appear in the 80s that it was a good time for daytime soap operas, especially for a show like general hospital, which had that huge success with luke and lauras wedding. I remember when luke and laura got married because it was nighttime newsworthy. The soap opera discovers the blockbuster mentality, the sweeps month mentality. Like, what can we do to get even more people watching . You have a wedding. You have a kidnapping. You have an evil twin. And primetime stole from daytime. After dallas proved that ewing oil was better than real oil for cbs, the networks rushed to give the public more. The great primetime soap operas of the 1980s. Dallas, dynasty theyre all about excess. This is about being over the top, stabbing each other in the back, going for the gusto, and having fun. I know whats wrong with you. The empty armed madonna. Mourning the baby that she couldnt have and the baby that she almost got to adopt. That is it, isnt it . Oh, you miserable bitch there was a bigness to the stories. And that they could afford to do on a network if youre doing one episode a week. Now, you cant do that if youre doing five episodes a week for a daytime show. So just the Production Value gave it that pizzazz. If you cant have it, watch other people with it. Or so say the three networks who are programming nearly 40 of their primetime fare with series about the very rich. And the public is devouring it at such a rate that make believe money has become ratings gold. The characters were larger than life. They were more evil and more cunning and manipulative. And more gorgeous. I mean, really. Look at the way they were dressed. Look at the way they lived. Everything, it was fascinating. Alexis . Yes. I didnt thank you for your present. Its he you should slap, dear, not i. We all wanted to live like, you know, we were on dynasty, like the carringtons. And it all just ended up being a wonderful picture of fun and debauchery. Greed was encouraged in the 80s. There was a sense of conspicuous consumption as being okay. And those shows kind of exploited that. Primetime families like the carringtons who live here in luxury on the dynasty sound stage are not the only rich folk on tv. In the last five years, more than half of all new shows have featured the wealthy. Ten years ago, that figure was zero. There was an accident. Your fathers dead. Falcon crest was a wine family. Theres Lorenzo Lamas and theres Ronald Reagans first wife, jane wyman is on that show. Emma is pregnant. I know a doctor who can take care of it right away. That will never happen. All of those shows were, oh, my god, whats next . Whats going to happen with that . He cant get away with that. And then you tune in. It was appointment television. What will become of the missing twins on knots landing . What . They all had spinoffs. Dallas had the spinoff knots landing. The colbys was the spinoff for dynasty. They were seeing how much they could max this stuff out, because it was really successful. Wheres your son miles . Isnt he going to be a part of this venture, or is he just playing polo as usual . The colbys can always find room for another trophy. You had these people fighting over oil and mansions, and it was fantasy, but in a kind of so over the top way that it was fun. Theres nothing devious about using your femininity. These shows took themselves so unseriously that they were camp. But that was okay with the central audience that was loving them. It was entertainment. We werent trying to do high drama. We were there to entertain. We were glossy. There was no getting around it. We knew what we were there for and we did it as best we could. New science shows it gets in between teeth to destroy 5x more plaque above the gumline than floss. For a cleaner, healthier mouth. Listerine. Feel the whoa test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test test ur. I thought i couldnt get treatment yet . Well, people may think that their contracture has to be severe to be treated, but it doesnt. If you cant lay your hand flat on the table, talk to a hand specialist. But what if i dont want surgery . Well, then you should find a hand specialist certified to offer nonsurgical treatments. Whats the next step . Visit findahandspecialist. Com today to get started. My skin but better. Everyone wants it. This does it true match nude tinted serum. 1 hyaluronic acid in a foundation. Feels like second skin, naturally radiant true match tinted serum from loreal paris. Were worth it vo with their verizon private 5g network, associated British Ports can now precisely orchestrate nearly 600,000 vehicles passing through their uk port every year. Dont just connect your business. dock worker right on time. vo make it even smarter. We call this enterprise intelligence. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com alstrin the purpose most export important export. Australias most important export. Mr. Murdoch is in the midst of building what is the most extensive media empire in history. Ojitos a Huge Development in television. Rupert murdoch having disrupted the newspaper business in australia. The Television Business in britain. He says, three broadcast networks. This was a big bold bet. Will have to become an american citizen if he is to owned tv stations here. Something murdoch says he is willing to do. There are some people who are saying it will take you 20 years to get your fox network on part with the big three. Are you prepared to wait that long . Sure. I intend to live that long. I believe in 20 years. A reaction to murdochs idea for a Fourth Network was similar to the reaction of ted turner starting cnn. What does he know about television . We dont think of ourselves as abc, cbs, or nbc. Theres no question we have an inferior lineup of stations. We have to get our message across. They had an idea that in order to succeed, we have to differentiate ourselves. We have to do things they would not do. Fox started throwing anything against that wall could not knowing what was going to win. Things like 11 jump street. What exactly are we looking for here . Joan rivers in terms of late night. We have been abandoned. And the Tracey Ullman show. It was a sketch show. And they needed something to go between the sketches. But they were looking for something different. I got to have those candy bars. Better not be thinking of stealing those candy bars. That is in. The simpsons would never have come along had it not been for the Tracey Ullman show. Ultimately, crime hurts the criminal. That is not true, mom. I got a free ride home, didnt i . Bart fox was thrilled that it was different. They said sure could be extreme mental. Do whatever you want. We are happy to have a show on the air. [ laughter ] im home mary birch children with their first big, big hit in that way that said, if all the rest of Children Television is going this way, we are going that way. Come and help me in the kitchen . [ laughter ] that should buy us about 10 minutes. Seven more than we will need. [ laughter ] the title of married with children was not the because we show. How great. You have to love that. They were taking the piss out of American Families. Hurry up. Everyone has kids. How the hell did this happen . The bundys were the perfect reaction. And it was funny because he had this wonderful perfect black family and these horrible miserable white people. But each show works on its own terms because you can find things related to both. Howdy, neighbor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Why dont you sit down . But it was a lot of fun to be have and after fox introduces married with children, it does very, very well. That on abc. They came up with another major hit, roseann. You think this is a Magic Kingdom where you sit on here with your thrown at you think everything gets done by some wonderful wizard. It is on the table. I will fix dinner. I am fixing dinner. You fixed dinner three years ago. Typical American Families were not on television. For the longest time. The donna reed days, the early days, the father knows best. Hardly anyone really live like that. That w was the way advertisers wanted you to live. I made us a different list than what youre doing. The ideal situation is if you can subvert whatever common stuff is set about families and about parenting what is in this, lead . I got you leg irons. Her loudness her unfil unfilteredness were key. She was saying about dosing stuff about men and women. So it was about marriage. Not about raising kids and about how hard it is. Im going to look like a freak. What else is new . Shut up. This is why some animals eat their young. It was a big decade for the evolution of comedy, drama. It pushed everything forward. Perhaps this generation, paying more attention to the dialogue, to the relationships that they see on television. Then in years previously. People that are watching our shows. And 30 some fans of cheers and elsewhere. In these are shows that are smartly written. It is their words. They define. And i think that is what people like. When we are supposed to be here is the one thing people can trust. But if you go out there like a bunch of night riders, what do hell are you but just another vicious street gang, expected decades bond an extraordinary number of shows that carved out a unique niche for themselves. We began to turn television into an art form. And for the first time, people were saying, television. Until that point, television was second class. In the 80s, it was Something Else entirely. And it was new and it was kind of interesting. It is like everyone in the 80s starts to want to tell their stories. That is what really changes things. The unexpected was more welcome in the 80s. Predictability lost its cachet. Television has impact on every era, every decade. Television still shapes the thinking of the american like no other element in our country, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. It gave rise to the people pursuing artistic content in a way that i think has raised the bar in Television Production exponentially. I love you guys theres a shift in the 80s from just wanting to play placate the audience to wanting to please and challenge the audience. And that is the decade when it happen. One hell of a run. Yes, we sure did, sunday. Im going to miss you, man. Im going to miss you, too, sunday. Give me a ride to the air airport . Airport . Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com we will be doing for tb what fm did for radio. There are some that have accused you of videos being soft porn. Saying how they feel. You, too. What are your dreams . Michael jackson is the man of the 80s. The beat and talk but it is rap music. Might as well speak my mind. Heavy metal, it glorifies sex and violence and adolescent boys love