A Dream Called Public Television

[Tones] [Synth Music Plays] [Orson Welles] A dream begins. Stirred by the idea idea of excellence. It is a vision of a new way to travel to places marvelously strange and distant. A way to understand ourselves and all that is around us. This is Orson Welles, and this is the story of A Dream Called Public Television. [Ominous Music] [Orson Welles] It all begins in 1953 when KUHT Houston becomes the first

noncommercial station to go on the air. Its fortune is it's assigned to channel 8. The noncommercial stations to follow will often find themselves on the new ultra high frequency channels most home sets aren't equipped to receive the UHF signals, and for the very few who do, reception is difficult. It's a harsh beginning for such an ambitious dream but slowly stations begin going on the air. Not surprisingly, the stations are soon known as "educational" and the programming reflects it. [Speaker on TV] Hello there and welcome to Eins Zwei Drei the program where you can learn some German. [Speaker on TV] Welcome to the Japanese brush painting program. I will try to teach you the Japanese brush painting through television in 13 weeks. [Speaker on TV] How do you do ladies and gentlemen? I would like to talk to you about opera. Now please don't do what you just wanted to do. Turn the knob and

switch to another station. [Speaker on TV] This is a painting called Madame Northern Lights by the American artist Cleve Gray. It seems to be very abstract and very modern perhaps. On the other hand- [Orson Welles] Like a child taking its first unsure and awkward steps, educational television has a few lessons of its own to learn. [Speaker on TV] And get all the drops, and there's another place where we might make a mistake. Now let's start putting our little weights on and see what we have. Here's the hundred gram weight. Now here's another one; that's 200 grams. Oh now look at what's happened, the carbon tetrachloride has soaked through the cup and we can't do that one. [Speaker on TV] I'd like everybody to meet- [Orson Welles] This is educational television's first production for children. Before you is the entire production staff. The program's weekly budget is a hundred and fifty dollars; including salaries and props. Daniel the Tiger here is the show's producer Fred Rogers. [Daniel the Tiger] How do you do?

How do you do? [Orson Welles] As the years pass the programs get better. The audience grows, and so does the number of stations. [Speaker on TV] This is educational television. It is nine years old. Quite young in the annals of education. But then television itself is but new come to being. This afternoon there were 67 stations in the country. Tonight, this becomes the sixty eighth. In time there will be over 200 such stations. It will in short be the development of a new fourth television network serving all the peoples of the 50 states that are this land. [Orson Welles] As the stations grow more and more types of programs are tried and educational television is soon to have its first star. [Speaker on TV] And earlier today I had a chance to talk with an expert whose job it is to work with this remarkable media. And I asked, exactly what is videotape. [Julia Child] Well now videotape is-

it's brown, like this. It looks like- it looks like chocolate and it's awfully slippery. [Speaker on TV] It is. Well, exactly what is the thing that you're doing now? What- what are you doing here? [Julia Child] Well now I'm editing the tapes for the Boston Symphony Orchestra [Speaker on TV] That is you're putting the tapes together, is that right? How is that done? [Julia Child] Well, now we have an example here, here's a lovely passage and it has some flutes in it, and then it has some cellos, and we've got to attach the flute section to the cello section and then there's supposed to be an oboe section here but I don't find it so I'll just attach these- see I told you how slippery- you hold it will you Mr. ?Glitch?. There. [Speaker on TV] Now, is there anything unusual about that tape or could you use- [Julia Childs] Well, it's just a nice sticky tape and then you want to cut the ends off a little bit and try to make it as even as possible you know. I mean you can- as long as it'll stick together that's the main thing, now

you see now- those are true, there they are. [Orson Welles] Flamboyant and unorthodox Julia quickly becomes a household word, and a TV staple for years to come; and little wonder. Not even the artistry of French cuisine can stifle her kitchen antics. In 1963 the national distributor of programs adopts the name National Educational Television and begins producing five hours of programming a week. Its first major dramatic presentation comes a year later when a young Jon Voight stars in Christopher Fries Sleep of Prisoners. [Speaker on TV] Meanwhile, here we are. We lean on our lives expecting purpose to keep her date. Get cold waiting. Watch the overworlds come and go. Question the need to stay; but do. [Orson Welles] NET Playhouse is launched two years later with Martin Sheen in Tennessee Williams; 10 blocks on the Camino Royale. [Martin Sheen] Hey hey! Buenas diaz senor! Hablo inglesia? [Guard] What is it

you want? [Martin Sheen] Where's Western Union or Wells Fargo? I gotta send a wire to some friends in the state. [Guard] No have Western Union, no have Wells Fargo. [Martin Sheen] Oh, that's very peculiar. I never struck a town yet that didn't have one of the other. [Dustin Hoffman] And where is the punctuation? Do you see the punctuation? What has he done with that? Perhaps it's a very long sentence and all the punctuations' on the next page. [Orson Welles] Dustin Hoffman, in "Journey of the Fifth Horse." [Dustin Hoffman] I found a comma Mr. Reuben. [laughter] But where are the- where are the periods? Where are the periods, the colons, the semicolons, the question marks, where? [Lady] Please, it's just writing mister. [Hoffman] Perhaps he's put all the punctuation on the last page? [Welles] It's also in 1966 that coverage of current events becomes an earnest. In three and a half years NET journal will present over 100 documentaries including "Mills of the Gods." This early documentary on Vietnam spells out many of the

dilemmas and frustrations the war would pose for years to come. [Army Man] I believe we was supposed to here. [Reporter] Why? [Army Man] Well, I figure we outta stop the communism while it's away from home. [Narrator] We can't speak of ideology at the [inaudible] level. The peasant doesn't go for ideology, the peasant goes for social justice. He wants to be basically left alone. [Narrator] We have no choice, we're here, we're committed, and we're going to stay. We're not going to be defeated, and we're not going to be driven out. [Welles] In 1967 noncommercial television will change forever. It is the year the Carnegie Commission publishes its study on the potential of educational broadcasting. A new name is encouraged, and so is the new mission, the new Public Television will hint of a new and broader scope. Television that entertains, as well as informs. President Johnson signs into law the Public Broadcasting Act committing

government support. [President Johnson] We want most of all to enrich man's spirit, and that is the purpose of this act. [Welles] [Welles] New national organizations are formed, one era ends, another begins, but the dream goes on. It's a time of technological advances also, color is introduced, and with Lyndon Johnson's State of the Union address, Public Television begins abandoning its post office delivery system of shipping programs from city to city. For the first time, stations across the country joined together to carry the same broadcast into their communities. [choir singing in background] Six months later Public Television participates in another historic telecast. This one with global significance. "Our World" is two years in the making. Produced by a multitude of nations and seen on five continents. By satellite, viewers witness live events taking place all across the planet. Franco Zeffirelli

directing Romeo and Juliet in Italy. [piano playing] Bernstein and Van Cliburn in rehearsal at Lincoln Center. ["All You Need is Love" by the Beatles playing live] The Beatles in London recording another of their seemingly endless hits. [John Lennon] There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing that you can sing that can't be sung. Nothing you can say but you can never play the game. It's easy. Nothing you can make that can't be made. No one you can save that can't be saved. Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time. It's easy. [Beatles] All you need is love! [Welles] The Beatles sing of love, but for America it is a restless and

agonizing time. Much of the unrest is chronicled on the Pioneer television magazine program the Public Broadcasting Laboratory. Experimental in nature, PBL is an eclectic assortment of current issues and performing arts. First program includes a performance of "Day of Absence," a satirical play. A black minstrel in reverse, where a sleepy southern Hamlet awakens one morning to find all of its blacks mysteriously missing. [Actor] Mr. Man! Your sister just called hysterical she said the Vice Mayor Woodfield went to bed with her last night, but when she woke up this morning he was gone. Been missing all day. [Guy on Left] Been missing all- could negroes be holin' in brother-in-law Woodfield's house? house [Guy on Right] No, sir. Besides him, investigations reveal that a dozen or more prominent citizens are all missing without cause. Two city council members, the chairman of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, our city college ol' southern half back, to chair lady of the Daughters of the Confederate Rebellion, Miss Cotton Sack Festival of the Year,

and numerous other miscellaneous nobody. Dangerous evidence points to the conclusion that they have been infiltratin'. [Guy on Left] Infiltratin'? [Guy on Right] Passin' all along. [Guy on Left] Passin' all along? [Guy on Right] Secret negroes all the while! [Guy on Left] Nooooo! Passin'?? Secret negroes? [thump] [Welles] PBL is the first regular series to be simultaneously carried by public stations across the country. At times uneven, and often controversial, PBL will run two years. In 1968, public television paints the screen black when "Black Journal" begins as a positive response to the racial riots of the previous summer. The new children's program, "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood," will find itself trying to comfort a nation reeling from Robert Kennedy's assassination.

[Puppet] Now, where's all the air that was inside? [Lady] It's- it's out in this air now. [Puppet] What does assassination mean? [Mr. Rogers] I've been terribly concerned about the graphic display of violence, which in the mass media has been showing recently. And I plead for your protection, and support, of your young children. There is just so much that a very young child can take. [Welles] Turmoil in 'Nam heightens. [Man on Aircraft Radio] Right down there. Okay, this one now. There we go. Look at the first, look at the first.

[Welles] Documentary "North Vietnam" brings a storm of protest. The News that British filmmakers' report represents the war as seen from the enemy's point of view. Members of Congress, who have not seen the program, will denounce it as "Communist propaganda." Other programs will cause a flurry of protests and pressures. "Who invited us?" raises uncomfortable questions about US involvement in third world countries. [Ralph A. Dungan] The Bay of Pigs obviously was a CIA operation, so there's no doubt that there's been direct involvement by intelligence and military organizations in internal political affairs of such certain countries in Latin America and elsewhere. This is, to me, a disastrous course as we move into the 70s.[Welles] And at home, The Banks and The Poor accuses the banking industry of perpetuating the slum conditions of the poor. [Man on Television] Human destruction case histories are abundant as typified by a woman who

cosigned an automobile alone for a brother, who then fell behind in his payments. The woman, Mrs. Elizabeth Riley, whose home was the collateral, reduced the debt of fifteen hundred dollars to one hundred fifty seven dollars and sixty nine cents. But her house was still put up for auction. [Riley] But they still put my house up for sa- sold my house. On account of this bill. So, I wish that they would do something about it so that it won't happen to anyone else. [sighs] 'Cus it's Awful thing. To do just for a- a small amount of money. like this.That's all, that is all that I wanted to say. [Welles] It is a time of unrest. It's also one of creativity and ideas. For children, a different kind of revolution is about to take place at a place called Sesame Street. [Sesame Street theme song plays]

It seemed like an idea whose time had come. Everyone knew that television commercials kept children glued to their set. The idea of Sesame Street was to teach numbers, letters, and concepts with that same pizzazz. Five test programs were produced in 1969.The Reaction is good, except for the street itself. Somewhat like the wonder of fantasy and delight so [pause] apparent elsewhere. The answer is an awkward but willing 8-foot canary known as "Big Bird." Quickly, he becomes a part of every child's vocabulary. And most adults'. Sesame Street is a huge success by anyone's standards. [The Electric Company Announcer] HEY YOU GUYS! Sesame Street is followed by The Electric Company. [The Electric Company theme song plays] Again, the premise is simple and successful. Children love comic books. What better way to teach reading skills than with an electronic version of the revered comics? The Electric Company, Sesame Street, and Mister

Rogers' Neighborhood are only the beginning. In the years to come they're followed by series after series. Each meeting the special needs, each demonstrating public television's commitment to the children of America. [Electric Company theme song concludes] Meanwhile, the adults are busy being delighted by the British. The Forsyte Saga begins America's love affair with England. [Man on Screen] I say to young Partridge, "Everywhere you look, nothing but Forsytes. Droves and herds of Forsytes." Masterpiece Theater will make good use of Forsytes' popularity when it premieres in 1971, introducing America to kings and queens, maids and butlers, beauties and well-bred detectives. Masterpiece Theater serves as the port of entry for the finest of British drama and introduces the "mini-series" for the first time. Here the King

comes to visit on Upstairs Downstairs. [Woman on Screen] The King?! [Man on Screen] Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India and the Dominions beyond the seas. [Woman on Screen] The King! [King] In person and that's for your ears only at present, Miss Irene. [Woman] Oh! Good gracious! I could use a soap. [exclaims] Oh-ho! God bless my spouse! The King of England? Coming to dinner here? Ohhh. [laughs] Ha ha ha ha! [inaudible] [Welles] The British become so popular that, soon, questions are raised as to the whereabouts of American grammar. The answer is not long in coming. The Andersonville Trial with William Shatner, Richard Basshart. [Man on Screen] We are adults of reason, Mr. Wirtz, and therefore personally responsible for our acts. A man may give to officials over it many things, but not his soul! Not what we call his immortal soul, and, therefore the question still is: "Why did you obey?" [Other Man] Why? As I have said, as I say for the last time, it was to

me a military situation- [Standing Man] But this was not! A military situation--those helpless unarmed men were not the enemy. No matter what was said, this was no longer a question of moral and soul. No question of war. A question of human beings. Chandler saw that. The world tried to bring that fool to the starving and they saw that. What was your conscience then? [Woman on Screen] Outstanding Single Program Drama or Comedy. The winner - The Andersonville Trial Television Theatre [inaudible] and produced. [ Welles] Hollywood Television Theatre is public television's first major dramatic series in the 70s. Before the night is through, The Andersonville Trial will win three Emmy's. [Man on Screen] Thank you very much, tonight is [Man on Screen] The night is a dream. The Andersonville Trial was a dream. [Welles] Later on, public television viewers are treated to the bizarre and risqué SteamBath. [Man on Screen] I knew it [Welles] As Bill Bixby and Valerie Perrine suddenly find

themselves two lost souls in an unexpected after world. [Man on Screen] Christ, Bam. [Woman on Screen] I had it pictured in an entirely different way. [Man on Screen] What's that? [Woman] Being dead. I thought dying meant that you'd have to spend every day of your life in a different Holiday Inn. [Man on Screen] Now look, I don't know about you but I'm not accepting this. [Woman on Screen] What [Woman] What do you mean? [Man] Well just don't like the whole way it was done. Bam, dead, just like that. Like you're a schmuck or something. [Woman on Screen] Well what can you do. [Man on Screen] Oh, I'll do something, don't worry, I'm a doer. Boy, if you knew the agony that I went through to change my whole life around, then you'd know why I was so roped off to be picked off when I haven't even started to enjoy the good stuff yet. [Woman on Screen] Well how do you think I think I feel, I just had my first orgasm. [Man on Screen] Just now? [Woman on Screen] No, while I was watching the Dick Cavett Show. [Welles] For some, SteamBath is ahead of its time, but sex becomes a subject to be treated honestly and openly. Dick Cavett, host of V.D. Blues. [Dick Cavett] How do you get syph and clap?

You get it from someone who's got it. You get it by playing around, messing around, making out, or as they say in television: [censored] You cannot get VD from a toilet seat unless, of course, that's where you've been playing around. By the way, we're going to be speaking pretty openly here so if there are any children watching ask any of your parents who might be easily offended to leave the room. Bye. [Welles] In 1971, The Great American Dream Machine roars out of its hangar and blasts the air waves with an outrageous delightful look at America. It's called "a Sesame Street for adults." Not intellectual [inaudible] really, it's a social commentary disguised as entertainment. [Woman on Screen] What's your question? [Man on Screen] What's the- Do you know what the American Dream is? [Woman on Screen] No. [drums play] [Man on Screen] Is there sex after death. No. I have this. Ok I am- and I've been taking pictures of every little spot of- of our

room. Every corner you could possibly see or possibly feel is looking at you in a sense. So, when I get out of the service, I want to come home and I want to decorate my room the way I've seen this paradise. People always ask me, "Big Daddy, where do you get all those strange ideas?" And I tell him, well, I watch television a lot. One night, I was watching Dr. Frankenstein [laughs] and I get this wild idea for a car called the Druid Princess. See that thousand-pound car there? That's wild, ain't it? [laughter] Here it is. This is it. The Whirlpool Trash Masher: the machine that turns 20 pounds of trash into 20 pounds of trash. I don't believe America is violent. Like I know they aren't. [cars crash and tires squeal] That's beautiful, isn't it? What a lovely sound. Once you know Ann, she's, she's going to be one of the greatest persons you'll ever wanted to meet.

[singing] I said hey, banana nose, your polka dot [?], that's the only thing about ya that's the least bit big. Hey Banana Nose, you're out of sightc And if I could get a ticket, if I could get a ticket, a ticket or two, while honey I'd see come see you. I'd go and see banana tonight! And that's the truth, Ralph Nader. [blows raspberry] There's a dark side to America's dreams. Great controversy will occur over a 10 minute expose of the FBI. [Man on Screen] I was instructed to infiltrate bombing groups to gain credibility as a bomber by actually doing bombing. The FBI involved in bombing and arson? It sounds incredible, doesn't it? Produced by radical journalist Paul Jacobs, the segments, accusations, and conclusions will be attacked as unsubstantiated. It's removed from The Dream Machine and run as a special followed by panel discussion. As an institution,

Public Television is still young and fragile. It has weathered storms of controversy, but the tempest is yet to come. In August of 1971, the National Public Affairs Center for Public Television is established in Washington. Its purpose is to provide comprehensive coverage of major Washington events. Sander Vanocur and Robert MacNeil are named co-anchors. The President of the United States is not pleased. It is, for him, the last straw. And he directs his aides to cut off all funds for public broadcasting. His chief television advisor Clay Whitehead informs him that such direct action is not possible but other options do exist. In December, the administration leaks to the press the salaries of MacNeil and Vanocur.

The uproar begins. It's followed by an attack on all public affairs programming. I have a transcript of the Cavett Show. When Mr. Buchanan, who is in the White House and writes speeches for the President and The Peer. Now this is what he said. If you look at public television, you find, you've got Sander Vanocur and Robin MacNeil, the first of whom, Sander Vanocur, is, uh a notorious Kennedy sycophant in my judgment and Robin MacNeil, who's anti-administration. You have Elizabeth Drew Show on, which is anti-chief. She personally is, is definitely not pro-administration, I would say anti-administration. Washington Week in Review is unbalanced against us. You have Black Journal, which is unbalanced against us. You have Bill Moyers, which is unbalanced against the administration and then for a fig leaf they throw in William F. Buckley's program. The remarkable thing about it is that every program that Buchanan mentions has been knocked off. The goal should be to create an environment in which the corporation works directly with all the stations and seeks at all time to preserve their independence and their

autonomy. Now Mr. Whitehead I have... I have a very, very firm conviction that even though you dress up your statement with sweet words, you have an animosity towards this corporation and towards public broadcasting. You praise it by one breath and then by the next breath you suffocate it. [gavel pounding] The Nixon administration had tried to dismantle public television with no small irony. Public television would now toss aside its regular programming and play an important role in revealing the incredible story of Watergate. [Dean] And particularly, the reference to the President of the United States. I'd like to say this. It is my honest belief [pause] that while the President was involved, that he did not realize or appreciate at any time the implications of his involvement. And I think that when the facts come out,

I hope the President is forgiven. When you found out all these crimes and conspiracies and coverups were bein' committed Why on Earth didn't you walk into the President's office and tell him the truth? It wasn't a question of telling the truth, it was a question of not involving him at all. Let's be clear. I did not cover up anything to do with Watergate. I had no personal motivation to cover up anything because I had no personal involvement. And I knew the President had no involvement. Mr. Butterfield are you aware of the installation of any listening devices in the Oval Office of the President? I was aware of listening devices. [pause] Yes sir. From the beginning, the White House represented something permanent. Something larger than the interest of the man who worked there for a season. The authors of this government perceive this distinction and acted to preserve it. They knew a man to be by nature fallible,

themselves included, and prone to abuse great office. They valued personal liberty about power and that the safeguards against men whose appetite for power might exceed their moral wisdom. They also left this examples of character. You think about these things in this city in the aftermath of the White House scandals known as Watergate and wonder why it took so great an affront to decency to make us realize how hard-won rights can be lost simply by taking them for granted. So you come back, leaving behind the folk stories and myths and wide-eyed innocence believing that what is best about this country doesn't need exaggeration. It needs vigilance. Though America is wrestling with its recent past, public television is keeping many, you know, all of the achievements of other ages. Civilization with Lord Kenneth Clark charts a course through centuries of artistic achievement, while Jacob Bronowski traces our

cultural evolution on The Ascent of Man. We're all afraid, for our confidence, for the future, for the world. That's the nature of the human imagination. Yet, every man, every civilization, has gone forward, because of its engagement we've wanted a second self to do. The personal commitment of a man to his skill. The intellectual commitment, and emotional commitment, to working together as one [pause] has made The Ascent of Man. In the performing arts, See A Day in America raises its curtain. And for the first time, the nation enjoys the vitality and brilliance of its regional theaters. Here Richard Neeland is Oscar Wilde in Feasting with Panthers. [shouting] Get away from me! Get away from here! Hey! [police whistles]

Are you sure you're all right? Yes thank you. [breathing heavily] Sure you're all right Mr. Weil? Yes, thank you. But if this is the way Queen Victoria treats her convicts, she doesn't deserve to have any. Theater in America is a part of Great Performances. So is Dance in America, which premieres in 1975. It is quickly acknowledged for its artistic achievements. Not surprisingly, dance activity and interest soon increases across the country. [string music plays] Great Performances also is music

and a part of public televisions' array of symphonic performances. By the seventies, public television has become America's concert hall, the one place where is gathered all the world's great performers, conductors, music, and orchestras. There's a privilege afforded no previous generation. When Nova premieres in 1974, it is America's only weekly series devoted to science. Light of the 21st century. These startling visual effects are produced with a laser, a beam of pure light which began a new era. The planet's red spot is as large as two Earths. What is it? And Jupiter's moons: cratered Calisto. Icy Ganymede. Utterly frozen Europa. And

erupting volcanic Io. They've given us a new understanding of the solar system. And now, Saturn. Mt. St. Helens shocked the world by turning the Pacific Northwest inside-out. Nova was granted explicit permission to film inside the disaster area. I just can't describe it- it's pitch black, just pitch black. [heavy breathing] This is hell on Earth I'm walking through. [coughs] This is the actual recording of a camera man facing death. Through modern technology, we can now expand, or shrink, time. Helping science to extend the limits of human vision. But it is The Incredible Machine which creates a science landmark for all of television. This National Geographic special draws the largest audience ever for public television. Millions of viewers are captivated by this odyssey through the human body,

a fantastic and truly incredible illustration of the miracle that we are. Look closely at lips and tongue and marvel at their versatility. Look closer still at the tip of the tongue magnified 60 times and marvel, merely, at the sight. These bizarre scenes show variations in temperature from one part of the body to another. They're made not by visible light, but by heat on a machine so sensitive it can record heat left behind by a handprint. Or a moving finger on a wall. [rhythmic drum beats] Built of thick and tough muscle, the heart is a marvel of mechanical performance.

Beating 70 times a minute, it pumps 2,000 gallons a day. One way valves prevent blood flow from backing up. Merely the size of a fist and weighing less than a pound, the body's dynamo pumps 55 million gallons in a lifetime. No longer regarded as the temple of the soul or the seat of intelligence, the heart and its corridors nonetheless inspire awe and reverence for the beauty and efficiency of nature's design. America is 200 years old, and all of public television readies for the celebration. For its most prized gift to the nation, public television presents The Adams Chronicles, America's history through the public and private lives of

one of our most remarkable first families. They told me you would not be influenced by a man's connections but by his qualities. How long did you say you studied the law? I did most of my... [dialoge fades] Here, a young John Adams decides upon a career and in doing so will change the course of our country. Where did you find that book? There's no copy in these colonies but my own. I borrowed a copy from the Harvard College library. I was a student there. Studying what? Theology. And why did you abandon that worthy pursuit? I had developed certain doubts- About God? No, sir. About my fitness for the pulpit. Then you settled on the law. No sir, I taught school for a while. Yes? I found I lacked the patience to instruct the young. And what makes you think you are now fit for the law? I've practiced law in these colonies. A man needs the oratory of a preacher and the patience of a country schoolmaster. Law here is not like law in England. The Adams

Chronicles is acclaimed as a bicentennial jewel, the most important of all television contributions to America's birthday party. The series is also public television's most ambitious dramatic presentation but not the only one. Visions begins its first season as the only television series showcasing original plays since the 50s' Golden Age. Meanwhile, Ed Flanders is reaching back as Harry S. Truman, and giving America some plain speaking for its birthday. Now when Castro came to power, if I had been in this office, I'd have called them direct on that phone to Havana. I wouldn't have bothered with any protocol, I'd've called them direct. And I'd have said, "Fidel, this is Harry Truman up in Washington, and I'd like you to come up here and have a little talk." Well, he'd have come, of course. And, and I'd have said, "Now, Fidel, seems to me like you've got a pretty good revolution going on down there. Now you're going to need some help. And there's only two places in this world you're going to get it. One of them's right here and the other one...

Well, we both know where that is. Now, you tell me what you want and I'll see to it that you get it." Well he'd have thanked me and we did talk for a little while and then when he got up to leave I said, "But now Fidel, I've told you what we'll do for you. There's something you can do for me. Would you get a shave and a haircut and take a bath?" 1976 is also an election year, and public television pioneers a new way to report the news. The MacNeil-Lehrer Report starts as an experiment, an opportunity to give the news the time it needs instead of hopping from headline to headline. Each night Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer cover one story and one story only. It works. As the dials begin turning to know the meaning behind the headlines they've heard, the MacNeil-Lehrer Report soon becomes the anchor for a whole array of public affairs programs. The economy, Capitol Hill, special events, congressional hearings, and documentaries

all receive regular attention on public television. It is a commitment unmatched in American broadcasting. By the end of the birthday celebration, two hundred and sixty five stations are on the air and no longer playing catch-up with technological change, public television is now making those changes. Work begins on America's first satellite system for over-the-air broadcast. For the hearing impaired, a closed captioning process is developed. As a result, a whole world of communications is suddenly available to people previously excluded. But addressing special needs has by now become expected of public television. Many lack mass audience appeal, yet the need is no less rigorous. Minorities, women, the handicapped, and the aging find a source for information and expression. Where others are turned away, public television embraces the opportunity to serve. In 1977, America enjoys I Claudius. As for

being half-witted, well, what can I say? Except that I have survived to be middle aged with half my wits while thousands have died with all of theirs intact! Evidently, quality of wits is more important than quantity. While in England, the British are getting their first look at American public television, with The American Short Story, the first public television production shown by the BBC. In New York, the curtain opens on the first, full-length broadcast performance from the famed Metropolitan Opera House. Renetto Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti in La Boheme. [music swells] From opera, public television goes to the Opry for the first-ever

live national telecast of the Grand Ole Opry. Scores of new viewers enjoy the foot stomp and sound of country music. Judged such a success by performers and viewers, Live From the Grand Ole Opry becomes an annual event. [applause] Public television continues making musical history when Vladimir Horowitz makes a rare appearance in recital from the White House, playing not only for the president but the entire nation. (piano music) (piano music) (piano music)

The Washington Post writes: A 20th century invention called television again proved that it can be put to grand purposes. The genius sat down to play the piano for a nation. The triumph was everybody's - TV included. In 1979, a television project of unprecedented scope and ambition begins with a new production of Julius Caesar. For six years, audiences will see the complete dramatic works of William Shakespeare. The Shakespeare plays used in England marks the first time that performed versions of all the plays are to be preserved. At home, Public television takes a leap forward with the production of The Scarlet Letter. So writes one reviewer. Speak woman, speak and give your child father.

"Who is that man?" [Music][inaudible voice.] "Come." "I thought.." "thought [inaudible] was dead in me, I got stuck, listen [inaudible] "This is already the better life." "The people of New England...The that hold me here. The one The one center of the world. "The Scarlet Letter Letter is public television's first dramatic production of an American literary classic. It soon followed by more American dramatizations, three John Cheever stories from Great Performances. James Earl Jones fares as Paul Robeson. Mark Twain's 'Life on the Mississippi'. Herman Melville's 'Bartleby the Scrivener' and the science fiction 'Lathe of Heaven.' 'Tis a prodigious time. But while many applaud others are

raising eyebrows as he hears past Public Television is shedding light into dark places. California Reich, a terrifying look at the American Nazi party. "What do we say, Vincent? "Heil." [laughter] "Heil what, baby? Huh? Vernon, tell him." "Heil Hitler." "Heil Hitler.". "I pledge allegiance to Adolf Hitler, [repeated] 'I pledge allegiance to Adolf Hitler' ". "The immortal leader of our race, [repeated] 'The immortal leader of our race.'" "White Power! [repeated] 'White Power!''."" The New Klan, a documentary of David Duke, prime mover of the modern day crew Klu Klux Klan. "You may remember this." "That's it." "Yeah, that's me. Okay." "That's amazing, David. Gas the Chicago 7?" "That's not amazing... ...alright I was young..." [sound of bombing] Paul Jacobs of the Nuclear Gang, an examination of the long range and deadly effects of low-level radiation and the government's 25 years attempt

to keep the public unaware of its danger. For Paul Jacobs, this will be his last report. He's dying of cancer. Leave contracted during during the course of his investigation. "In order to have energy eternally, we have to make a bargain with the devil. We can't have any energy without that bargain and the bargain for them is a simple one. Price is a very high price. The danger and the threat of nuclear catastrophe is always there and they think it's worth it." But of all documentaries, none will evoke more attention than the worst Special, "Death of a Princess". "...and it has stirred up an international hornet's nest." The government of Saudi Arabia is furious and some of that country's friends in the Carter administration

in Congress, in the oil industry, and in other influential places are putting a lot of pressure on PBS to drop the program. What's it all about? [sound of typing] "It's the story of 200 million people, the whole adult predicament. How much of our past must we [inaudible]? How much of your present is worth imitating? To survive as an Arab, One has to become a schizophrenic. One has to learn to live in two worlds at once. Like your princess. She could be any Arab girl, in any Arab country. You know, if you can tell that story it will convey more about the Arab world... Where are you going to start? Where did she meet the boy? So, you think her execution was a deliberate political act. You see, I feel I haven't met anyone who actually knew her. "I knew her..

[inaudible] the true story. "I've heard a dozen true stories." "But she acted. Don't take that away from her. Christopher, can't you see. You've just been taken on a journey through the private.[inaudible] Is that [inaudible, high-pitched tone] What you... she gave your journey mean? [inaudible] A 19 year old girl was stuck in front of a pile of sand and shot. The world and its events, Whirl around it. Often more confused than not we long to understand. To know way speck in the immensity of space.

We also occupy only an instant in the expanse of Ages. Our universe is some 15 billion (blank, humming) (muffled) the local history of the universe into a single year. If the U. Other planetary systems may have appeared (garbled) Everything humans have ever done occurred in that bright speck at the lower right right. The. 15 billion years later is our present time.

The last second of this [inaudible]... We've emerged so recently that the familiar events of our recorded history occupy only the last second minute of December 31st. In the vast ocean. To this small.... We on Earth have just awaken to the great oceans of space and time time, from which we have emerged. We.