Category: Collective Memory

Episode 111: Steve Besserman: Packaging Feature Films for National Broadcast

This week join us for a truly Steve-centric episode as Steve Voorhees welcomes longtime CBS Manager of Prime Time Feature Films, Steve Besserman to the program. If you love the nuts-and-bolts of late-20th Century network television practices as Steve Voorhees does, you’ll dig this episode. Learn about how the network chose, edited, scheduled, and promoted certain feature films to achieve the highest rating possible. Hear how certain directors would actually get involved with the edits needed for either timing or censorship reasons. Also, hear about the role “made-for-TV-movies” had on the presentation of feature films on TV.

Episode 100: Holocaust (1978), Part 02 with Dr. Craig Coenen

Join us as Steve and Jonathan continue their conversation with Dr. Craig Coenen about the 1978 NBC mini-series Holocaust: The Story of the Family Weiss. Where does the mini-series fall within the context of Americans’ understanding of the Jewish Holocaust? How was the mini-series received? How does the late-1970s network context of big, prestige mini-series play into its creation? All this and a lot more in Part 01 of this two-part podcast story.

Episode 99: Holocaust (1978), Part 01 with Dr. Craig Coenen

Join Steve and Jonathan in conversation with Dr. Craig Coenen about the 1978 NBC mini-series Holocaust: The Story of the Family Weiss. Where does the mini-series fall within the context of Americans’ understanding of the Jewish Holocaust? How was the mini-series received? How does the late-1970s network context of big, prestige mini-series play into its creation? All this and a lot more in Part 01 of this two-part podcast story.

Mining the Archive Mondays: Ep. 29: Mr. Rogers

This week join Steve, Andrew, and Jonathan as they discuss children’s television show host and PBS all-star, Fred Rogers as a counter-cultural figure. Can we view his choices regarding race and sexual preference as revolutionary? Pragmatic? or did he simply NOT do enough? Join us as we attempt to unwrap the relationship between Mr. Rogers, social issues, and his own personal spirituality.