In 1964, ABC launched the first successful prime time soap opera with Peyton Place. Airing twice a week, the TV show was part of that year’s famous lineup, along side Bewitched and The Fugitive, that financially saved the long-embattled network. The show implemented many proven soap opera staples, including extra-marital affairs, murder trials, and illnesses, […]
Read the rest of this entry »Twin Peaks 2-Hour Debut, April 8, 1990
David Lynch’s films, Eraserhead, Elephant Man, and Blue Velvet, had sparked a cult following for his edgy, intimate, and dark technique. When it was announced that Lynch had landed on the 1989 fall TV schedule with his new mini-series, there was immediate buzz, plus wide publicity and interest. Time Magazine called him the “czar of bizarre.” Entertainment Weekly boasted the […]
Read the rest of this entry »Network Massacre, Summer 1971
In the early days of television, the experimental nature of programming offered almost free reign for the networks. As broadcasts expanded into daytime, late night, and weekends, local television stations were eager for network fare. By the late 1960s, however, the FCC began tightening the ropes for programming, implementing regulations regarding children’s programming, public service […]
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