By Sylvia Gurinsky
YesterTube continues its look at the most memorable television moments, divided by decade. Today, the 1970s:
Sports: Terrorism During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, September 5-6, 1972
Sports stopped being the world's "toy department" when 11 Israeli athletes were kidnapped and murdered by Arab terrorists. Jim McKay, who was leading ABC's Olympic coverage, transformed from his accustomed position into the newsman who told Americans what was going on, until the tragic end:
"They're All Gone"
Culture (1 of 2): Premiere of "All In the Family," January 12, 1971
Since 1968, Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton had been cast to play Archie and Edith Bunker. Two failed pilots passed through ABC before creator Norman Lear took the show to CBS and cast Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers as Michael and Gloria Stivic (and Mike Evans as Lionel Jefferson). The opening episode gave viewers dialogue they had never heard before:
All in the Family
It would take the show a bit of time to find its ratings legs, and some changes would be made (The character of Edith would be significantly softened, for instance.), but its cultural impact was already unmistakeable.
Culture (2 of 2): "Roots," January 23-30, 1977
In the course of a week, a television miniseries based on Alex Haley's story transformed perceptions about blacks, about American history and about storytelling - as well as making stars out of LeVar Burton, Ben Vereen and others:
Roots
"Roots" ran on ABC, which had already had success with "Rich Man, Poor Man" the season before and would be the best at creating miniseries in their heyday.
News: President Richard Nixon announces his resignation, August 8, 1974
Watergate was the top news story of the 1970s, as the noose tightened around President Richard Nixon. The Congressional hearings that were televised in 1973 made clear Nixon's involvement in covering up his administration's role in the June, 1972 break-in at Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington. He made his announcement from the Oval Office:
Nixon Resigns
Tomorrow: The 1980s.
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Of all the television shows that William Asher directed in his career, his name is tied to two above all: "I Love Lucy" and "Bewitched."
Asher directed more than 100 episodes of "I Love Lucy." As for "Bewitched," that was a pet project for him and his then-wife, Elizabeth Montgomery, who played Samantha Stephens. It's tough to underestimate the difficulty of directing cast members the quality of Montgomery, Dick York (the first Darrin Stephens), Agnes Moorehead (Endora), Marion Lorne (Aunt Clara), Paul Lynde (Uncle Arthur), Maurice Evans (Maurice) and company and having the special effects added in later. Asher's touch was almost as skillfull as Samantha's twitch. Here's one of the best, "The Trial and Error of Aunt Clara":
The Trial and Error of Aunt Clara
Asher's first directed episode of "I Love Lucy" was also one of the best: "Job Switching," in which Lucy and Ethel go to battle with a conveyor belt of chocolates:
Chocolates
He was behind the camera and on the end credits, but William Asher made sure those in front sparkled.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
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