tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22637089.post5184349911473469157..comments2024-01-31T21:11:53.545-05:00Comments on Michael J. Hayde's BETTER LIVING THROUGH TELEVISION: "The Best on Record" (1963): Is It Gone?Michael J. Haydehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08072544837488259305noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22637089.post-80671715998290170512013-11-21T09:44:33.754-05:002013-11-21T09:44:33.754-05:00Author James L. Neibaur posted his memories of the...Author James L. Neibaur posted his memories of the assassination weekend, which include being taken to a movie theater that was running Jerry Lewis' latest picture and finding it jam-packed:<br /><br />http://www.examiner.com/article/remembering-the-jfk-assasination<br /><br />There are different ways to grieve. While it's good that television was there to examine the tragedy, keep us appraised of the aftermath and truly help expedite the healing, it clearly wasn't a one-size-fits-all option. <br /><br />Sometimes laughter IS "the best medicine." Why else did THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, already TV's #1-rated show, find its ratings climb even higher in the weeks after November 22?Michael J. Haydehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08072544837488259305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22637089.post-41903083116916325902012-11-26T19:45:35.816-05:002012-11-26T19:45:35.816-05:00True...but Mitchell, don't forget that Pete Ro...True...but Mitchell, don't forget that Pete Rozelle said that his greatest regret in all the years he was commissioner of the NFL was making the teams play that Sunday (while the AFL canceled its schedule).<br /><br /><br />Meanwhile, NBC MONDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES (which aired at 7:30 PM for the single 1963-64 season, before returning in 1968, was scheduled to premiere SINGIN' IN THE RAIN).Paul Ducanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22637089.post-30023748749196744922010-04-05T22:03:24.684-04:002010-04-05T22:03:24.684-04:00Michael, just ran across your site and this articl...Michael, just ran across your site and this article. Very well done. I've often wondered myself what happened to some of those shows; it is quite telling to see the phrase "Postponed from an earlier date" popping up in the weeks following the assassination.<br /><br />Speaking to the saturation coverage and whether or not people would have been receptive to non-assassination programming: good question. I know that Eisenhower, among others, felt that the TV coverage was overdone and that it would have sufficed to broadcast regular programming sans commercials, using the leftover time each half-hour to give news updates.<br /><br />Not to disagree with any of the other commentators, since I myself was only three at the time, but recalling the assassination of RFK five years later, I can attest that many people were quite tired of the coverage by the time of the funeral that Saturday. Perhaps people would not have accepted entertainment programming during the four days, but then the NFL did play that Sunday (not on TV, of course), and a lot of people went to those games because they needed some kind of relief.<br /><br />Again, great article!Mitchell Hadleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06734528406767193852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22637089.post-21974768460895616702010-02-21T09:33:49.876-05:002010-02-21T09:33:49.876-05:00Once again, a very effective essay. However, I hav...Once again, a very effective essay. However, I have to disagree about running anything like the things you mention that very evening. The nation was mainly traumatized and anything like that would have been seen as cold. We needed to mourn. For myself, at six years of age, I will never forget being sent home from school to see my mom sitting in front of the television set weeping. I'd never seen my mother cry and could not quite figure out what was going on.<br /><br />The addition of Ed Sullivan at that time would not have served any useful purpose.James Robert Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17281049641681225389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22637089.post-49896307440296652112010-02-19T20:06:50.649-05:002010-02-19T20:06:50.649-05:00Alfred, I don't doubt you're correct about...Alfred, I don't doubt you're correct about Ed Sullivan, and it's more than likely that the performers themselves would have found comedy too much of a challenge. But I can't help but wonder, after more than 48 hours' straight coverage by that point (and Oswald's killing early that afternoon), how many viewers simply said "enough" and went looking for something - <i>any</i>thing - just for relief.Michael J. Haydehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08072544837488259305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22637089.post-86632246562377332852010-02-19T16:48:45.075-05:002010-02-19T16:48:45.075-05:00"a little lightheartedness from Bert Lahr, St..."a little lightheartedness from Bert Lahr, Stiller & Meara and Topo Gigio might have given an emotionally drained viewing public some much needed relief."<br /><br />Michael, going on my memories of that weekend as an 11-year-old, I don't think comedy on the Ed Sullivan Show would have flown. Things were just too somber. It was no more sorrowful a time than 911, if slightly less scary. And I'm guessing if left with the decision, Ed himself would have given the cut sign.<br /><br />Other than the Kennedy haters, some of whom were laughing already, I don't think the general public was ready to laugh that Sunday evening.<br /><br />Thanks for the creative and interesting research!<br /><br />Alfred WalkerAlfred Walkernoreply@blogger.com