My Dad and Television’s “Vast Wasteland”

Posted on May 9, 2013 at 9:00 am

52 years ago today my dad, the new 35-year-old Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission appointed by President John F. Kennedy, made a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters that was on every list of the most influential speeches of the 2oth century. We are very proud of him.

At that time, network news on television was pretty much limited to 15 minutes once a day. Children’s programming was local and had very little educational component.

Here’s a look at some of what was on the air back then:

And here’s what dad had to say as an update.

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Television

Never Forget to Lie — Tonight on PBS

Posted on April 30, 2013 at 8:00 am

Tonight on “Frontline” is “Never Forget to Lie,” filmmaker Marian Marzynski explores, for the first time, his own wartime childhood and the experiences of other child survivors, teasing out their feelings about Poland, the Catholic Church, and the ramifications of identities forged under circumstances where survival began with the directive “never forget to lie.”

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Documentary Television

Happy 80th Birthday, Carol Burnett!

Posted on April 26, 2013 at 8:00 am

A very happy birthday today to the magnificent Carol Burnett!

Here’s a glimpse of her star-making performance as Princess Winifred in the delightful princess-and-the-pea musical “Once Upon a Mattress.”

This is the song that brought her to national attention on the Garry Moore Show:

Watch her timing as the world’s worst secretary, Mrs. Wiggins:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P2dbwrT_fQ

And here is one of the most famous costumes, punchlines and moments in television comedy history:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1JPQh5rBCw

Carol Burnett did fine dramatic work in “Friendly Fire” and “The Four Seasons.” What made her popular “Mama’s Family” sketches on her variety show so memorable was that she was not afraid to make her character tragic. Happy birthday to a woman of incomparable wit, talent, and class.

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Actors

New On Discovery: All the President’s Men Revisited

Posted on April 19, 2013 at 8:00 am

Whether you’re a Watergate junkie like me or don’t know how a “third-rate burglary” toppled a President and changed the world of American politics — for good, for bad, and forever, be sure to watch the Discovery Channel’s “All the President’s Men Revisited” on April 21 at 8:00 (7 central). The original “All the President’s Men” was a book and then an Oscar-winning movie from the perspective of Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the young Washington Post reporters who covered — and uncovered — the story. Since the movie was made, there have been many new revelations, including the answer to the biggest secret of all: the identity of Deep Throat, Woodward and Bernstein’s secret inside source.

This update includes riveting archival footage, shocking Oval Office recordings, and compelling new interviews with those who perpetuated the crimes, those who pursued them, and those who portrayed them. The film features comments from Robert Redford and the man he portrayed, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein and the man who portrayed him, Dustin Hoffman, along with Jon Stewart, Rachel Maddow, and more.

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Documentary Politics Television

The Authenticity-Obsessive Folks at “Mad Men” Meet the Even More Authenticity-Obsessed Folks Online

Posted on April 13, 2013 at 8:00 am

“Mad Men” producer Matthew Weiner is famously obsessive about the authenticity of the period detail on the show, even making sure that a child did not play with an Etch-a-Sketch in an episode set in 1960 because it was not introduced until later that year. But that is just an engraved invitation for online commenters who have come up with a list of “Mad Men” anachronisms collected by New York Magazine’s Vulture blog, from a crash cymbal to a nighttime football game with slo-mo.

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Television