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Lucy Goes to the Candy Factory
I Love Lucy was, in many ways, one of television’s most innovative shows: fronted by an interracial couple,
shot on film rather than kinescope (which is why it’s so well preserved), done in a “three-camera” setup
that became the sitcom norm. But it was easy to hide all that innovation behind the show’s naked
entertainment value. This one leans towards the
second-season premiere, “Job Switching."
Photo Credit: flashbacksummer.com -
The Kennedy/Nixon Debate
This was the first televised presidential debate. Those who listened on the radio thought Nixon had won. But on television,
the poised, handsome, and well-rested Kennedy was the clear winner.
Photo Credit: history.com -
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan
This was the group’s first live performance on American television, and viewership shattered even the record Presley
numbers: 73 million viewers, over 45% of American households with televisions (not just those that were
watching television, but that owned one). Overnight, the Beatles had gone from a European sensation to an
American one.
Photo Credit: beatlesbible.com -
The Wedding of Charles and Diana
Granted, we may laugh at their silly monarchy, but we sure do love a good royal wedding. The modern
phenomenon of these affairs as Must-See TV began on July 29, 1981, when Lady Diana Spencer married
Prince Charles at St. Paul’s Cathedral in an opulent spectacle of a ceremony, viewed by nearly
three-quarters of a billion people. It was a lavish introduction for “the People’s Princess."
Photo Credit: REX FEATURES -
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
After months of protests, the East German government unexpectedly opened up the
lines of free travel between East and West Germany. Citizens flooded, creating such a rampage that police
stopped bothering to check documents. On the night of November 10, the first concrete slab was removed;
while this official removal took place, people all along the wall chipped away at this concrete symbol of
separation and tyranny. And television cameras captured it all Photo Credit: theartofgoodgovernment.org -
Johnny Carson’s Final Tonight Show (1992)
The
Tonight Show was quite literally the only game in town, and though others would attempt to challenge him,
Johnny Carson remained the undisputed king of late night. But in 1992, after 30 years on the job, Johnny
decided it was time to step down
Photo Credit: pbs.org -
The OJ Simpson Case
O.J. Simpson TrialThe O.J. Simpson murder case began in Los Angeles in 1995. He was tried for two counts of murder after his ex-wife and her friend were found dead. This is one of the most publicized criminal trials in America.
Photo Credit: urbancusp.com -
Election Night
For all the months of anticipation, opinonating, and polling, election nights had tended to be pretty
mundane affairs, with calls often made early in the night, leaving pundits and anchors to fill time and
announce forgone conclusions. But that wasn’t the case on November 7, 2000, when the bitter campaigns
of George W. Bush and Al Gore came to a close.
Photo Credit: newsbusters.org -
The September 11th Attacks
The morning news shows were winding down on that Tuesday morning in September when reports came
in to their control rooms: a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Initial word was that it was a small
passenger plane, but it was soon revealed as a commercial airliner, and when another smashed into the
second tower, it was clear that a coordinated attack was underway. Those revelations, those of an attack
on the Pentagon, and the crumbling of each tower all happened on live Photo Credit: cnn.com -
Hurricane Katrina
Katrina became more than just a
weather story, as New Orleans’ levees broke, thousands of residents pleaded for help from news cameras,
and reporters on the ground relayed stories of heartbreak and fear from the streets, the roofs, and the New
Orleans Superdome. Photo Credit: history.com
