Slowly but surely, the 1970s are disappearing. The 1980s will be upon us. And what a decade it is coming up. Happy new year as we began the 80s in the television world, the landscape was on any given evening, 9 out of 10 people watching only one of three networks. More than 30 Million People are addicted to it. Social critics are mystified by its success. What is it . Its televisions primetime prairie pot boilers dallas. A move like that will destroy all of ewing oil and ruin our family name. A thought like that never crossed my mind. Brother or no brother, whatever it takes, ill stop you from destroying ewing oil. Dallas established new ground in a weekly hourlong show that literally captivated america for 13 years. Dallas is a Television Show which is rooted in the 1970s and one of the crazy things that emerges is this character j. R. Ewing as a pop phenomenon. Tell me, j. R. , which slut are you going to stay with tonight. What difference does it make . Its got to be more interesting than the slut im looking at right now. Such a delicious villain. Everyone was completely enamored by this character. At this point, so many people were watching television that you could do something so unexpected that it would become news overnight. Whos there . [ gunshots ] the National Obsession in 1980 around who shot j. R. Its hard to imagine how obsessed we all were with that question. But we were. Who shot j. R. Is about as ideal a cliffhanger as you possibly could get. Who did shoot j. R. . We may never get the answer to that question. The people who produce thats program are going to keep us in suspense as long as they possibly can. Who shot j. R. And then we broke for the summer. Then the actors went on strike. It delayed the resolution, and it just started to percolate through the world. I remember going on vacation to england that summer and thats all that people were talking about there. We know you dont die. You couldnt die. We dont know thats. How could you die . You couldnt come back next season. I couldnt come back but the show could still go on. But you wouldnt. What is that show without j. R. . Thats what i figure. I guess if you dont know by now who shot j. R. , you probably do not care. Last night some 82 million americans did. And they watched the much touted dallas episode. It could become the most watched Television Show ever. Who shot j. R. Is a reflection of oldfashioned television. It gathers everybody around the electric fireplace which is now the television set. One special American Television program. Critics said it transcends in popularity ever other american statement about war. And Something Special happened today to hospital 4077 that will touch millions of americans. It was the kind of event that would grab the worlds breath. The end of the korean war. The Television Version m. A. S. H. Its been an honor and privilege to have worked with you. Im very, very proud to have known you. There were those landmark times when shows that had been watched through the 70s and into the 80s, like m. A. S. H. Had its final episode. And we were all sad to see them go. Ill miss you. Ill miss you. A lot. All over the country, armies of fans crowded around Television Sets to watch the final episode and to bid m. A. S. H. Farewell. The finale of at m. A. S. H. Was unprecedented. 123 Million People watched one Television Program at the same time. I really should be allowed to go home. Theres nothing wrong with me. When we ended the show, we got telegrams of congratulations from Henry Kissinger and ronald reagan. The size of the response and the emotional nature of the response that we were getting was difficult for us to understand. Who shot j. R. And the last episode of m. A. S. H. Are the last call for the precable world of television. Its like they are the last time that that huge audience will all turn up for one event. All right. Thats it. Lets roll. Hey. Lets be careful out there. Dispatch, we have a 911. Armed robbery in progress. When quality does emerge on television, the phrase too good for tv is often heard. One recent Network Offering thats seems to deserve that phrase is hill street blues. Hill street is one of the changing points of the entire industry in the history of tv. We had all watched a documentary about cops and had this real handheld in the moment quality that we were very enamored of. The minute you looked at it, it looked different. It had a mood to it. You could almost smell the stale coffee. We didnt want to do a standard cop show where, you know, you have a crime and you have your two cops and you go out and catch the bad guy and you sweat him and he confesses, and thats it. Cops have personal lives that impact their behavior in profound ways. Is he here or elsewhere . Dont get excited. Were working on it. How is this for logic. If hes not here, and if hes not elsewhere, hes lost. We didnt say that. You lost never in my entire life have i listened to so much incompetence covered up by so much unmitigated crap. Find my client, or, i swear, ill have you up on charges. There would be these ongoing arcs for these characters thats would play out over five, six episodes, sometimes an entire season. And in a way for certain stories, over the entire series. And no one had really done that in an hourlong dramatic show. These past four months, ive missed you. I had to find that out. Come on. In the past, people had watched television passively. And the one thing i think we did set out to be were provocateurs. You fill it out. What the hell is the matter with you, man . They dont pay me enough to deal with animals like this. All they see is a white face and all they listen to me. It was a white man that pulled the trigger, not a black one. It set a trend. The audience can accept characters being deeply flawed even though they are caring this uniform. I thought that was important to finally get across. We wanted to make a show that made you participate. Made you pay attention. And i think that worked pretty well. And the winner is hill street blues. 21 nominations. And we went on to win eight emmys. It put us on the map, literally. Thats when people finally checked us out. Programming chief of one of the networks used to say to me about shows like hill street and st. Elsewhere whats the American People want is a cheeseburger. What you are trying to give them is a french delicacy. And he said your job is to keep shoving it down their throat until after a while, theyll say, thats doesnt taste bad. And maybe theyll even toward themselves when they go to the restaurant. Nice for you to join us. The success of hill street blue as a criminal phenomenon influenced everything that came after. And then st. Elsewhere. You know what people call this . St. Elsewhere. A place you wouldnt want to send your motherinlaw. When it first came on, it was promoted as hill street hospital. You gave your patients the wrong antibiotics. You dont know what medications theyre on. You write the worst progress notes. Youre pathetic. Bill . What . Dr. Morning needs you right away. Im sorry. St. Elsewhere broke every rule there was and then built some new rules. That guy called a little while ago. They ran a routine panel. Tcell count was off. They would have tragic things happen to these characters. There was real heartache in these peoples lives and you really felt for them. Ive got aids . Television at its best is a mirror of society in the moment. St. Elsewhere challenged people and challenged you as an actor, much less the audience to the stuff they gave you was extreme in what they did, whether they were dealing with aids or having one of their main doctor characters raped in a prison. They tackled lots of difficult subjects. St. Elsewhere was run by people trying to stretch the medium and in the 80s, Television Producers were encouraged to stretch the medium. Clear. It can inspire you to stir up other things, too. Like a new friendship. Stir up commitment. With coffeemate ice cream flavors. vo treating others like wed like to be treated has always been our guiding principle. With moderate to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis . How do you chase what you love do what i did. Ask your doctor about humira. Its proven to help relieve pain and protect joints from further irreversible damage in many adults. Humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. Humira has been clinically studied for over 20 years. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Ready for a new chapter . Talk to your rheumatologist about humira. This is humira at work. Blue moon is a wellcrafted belgian style wheat beer brewed with valencia orange peel for a refreshing taste that shines brighter. Blue moon. Fixodent plus adhesives. Theres a denture adhesive that holds strong until evening. Just one application gives you superior hold even at the end of the day fixodent. Strong more like natural teeth. A lot of people used to say, i was there. Now people say, they watch it on television. A lot of excitement connected to sports in the 80s. You used to have to depend on the five minutes at the end of your local newscast. There just hadnt been enough. Give us a whole network of sports. Theres just one place you need to go for all the names and games making sports news. Espn sportscenter. What happened in the 1980s is sports becomes a tv show. And what are tv shows built around . Characters. You cant be serious, man. You cannot be serious you got the absolute mcenroe, the perfect villain. The new yorker that people loved to hate. The cool swede never giving any emotion away. What tennis really wants is to get its two best players playing over and over again in the final. Whether they are john mcenroe and bjorn borg or chrissy and navratilova. Thats what we want to turn in over and over. Three match points to martina navratilova. This man has a smile that lights up a Television Screen from here to bangor, maine. And that there is magic johnson, this urban kid from michigan and larry bird, this guy who worked carrying trash. One plays for the lakers. The other plays for the boston celtics. Its a great story. Lakers had several chances. Heres larry bird. Magic johnson leads the attack. Look at that pass. Oh, whats a show oh, what a show when the championship games are in primetime and people are paying attention to that, television feeds into those rivalries and makes them bigger than theyve ever been before. Primitive skill. Theyre just as good as dead. Every mike tyson fight was an event. Every fight was like an ax murder. When he fought michael spinks. The energy, you could just feel it on tv. Tyson was made for tv because there was drama. Not a lot of Junior High School kids can dunk. Especially at everybody tries. I think that he is starting to transcend his sport that hes becoming a public figure. Michael jordan becomes the model every other athlete wants to shoot for. They want to be a brand. And thats what television does for these athletes. Turns them into worldwide iconic brands. The inbounds pass comes in to jordan. Michael at the foul line. Good the bulls win. Athletes in the 80s became part of an Ongoing Group of people we cared about. We had an enormous pentup demand for sports and the 80s began to provide. Cable television is continuing to grow. Its estimate tuesday will grow into 1 million more u. S. Households this year. With Cable Television offering an array of different channel choices, the audience bifurcated. Thats an earthquake. I want my mtv i want my mtv i want my mtv a new concept is born. The best of tv combined with the best of radio. This is it. Welcome to mtv music television. The worlds first 24hour stereo video music channel. Music television, what a concept. Mtv was, pow, in your face. You were not going to turn us off. Mtv did nothing but play current music videos all day long. So let me get this straight. You turn on the tv, and its like the radio . Music will continue nonstop on mtv music televisions newest component of your stereo system. When mtv launched a generation was launched. 18 to 24yearolds were saying, i want my mtv. I want my mtv videos. I want my mtv fashion. Yo. Mtv was the First Network really focused on the youth market. And becomes hugely influential because they understand each other. The audience and the network. Mtv had a giant impact. Visually and musically on every part of the tv culture that came next. Freeze, miami vice. Friday nights on nbc are different this season thanks to miami vice. Its a show with an old theme but a lot of new twists. Described by one critic as containing flashes of brilliance, shot entirely on location in south miami, the story centers around two undercover vice cops. I dont know how this is going to work, tubbs. I mean, not exactly up my alley style and personawise. Heaven knows im no box of candy. Television very much was the small screen. It was interesting about tonys pilot screen play for miami vice. It was not that. Very much the approach was, okay, they call this a Television Series. But were going to make onehour movies every single week. Here we go. Stand by. Action. Police. Just describing the show as a new wave cop show. Its a cop show for the 80s. We use a lot of mtv images and rock music to help describe the mood and feeling of our show. In a lot of ways you dont get miami vice without mtv because in a lot of ways miami vice was a long video. The music was such a big part of that show. There was an allure to using great music that everybody was listening to as opposed to the routine kind of tv scoring of that period. I can feeling coming in the air it was only not afraid to let long scenes play out. It would drag a car going from point a to point b could be a fourminute phil collins song. And it was. Being able to take a Television Series like miami vice and lets rock n roll with this until somebody says stop or are you guys crazy, you cant do that . And nobody ever did. Freeze police. burke at farmers, weve seen almost everything so we know how to cover almost anything. Even a swing set standoff. And we covered it, july first, twentyfifteen. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum when heartburn hits fight back fast with tums chewy bites. Fast relief in every bite. Crunchy outside. Chewy inside. Tum tum tum tum tums chewy bites. Magnum . Hammond . Private investigator . Oh, you are probably wondering about the goat. Just let me drop off my friend, and then well talk. When we entered the 80s, a lot of dramas that were lighthearted like magnum p. I. Were very popular. After m. A. S. H. Went off the air, the next season there wasnt a single sitcom in the top ten. First time that had ever happened in tv history. The prevailing feeling was that the sitcom was dead. Brandon tartikoff, nbc programming chief, says reports of the sitcoms death were greatly exaggerated. Time and time again, if you Study Television history, just when someone is counting a forum out, thats exactly the form of programming thats leads to the next big hit. 1984 the cosby show comes on. Bill cosby is not new to tv but the cosby show is different. Stands apart from Everything Else hes done. I wanted my scrambled. Coming up. They talked about parenting. Previous to that on television, the kids were cool and the parents were idiots. Cosby says the parents are in charge and that was something new. Instead of acting disappointed because im not like you, maybe you can just accept who i am and love me anyway because im your son. Thats the dumbest thing ive ever heard in my life it helps the casting a lot in television. The kids were just great. If you were the last person on this earth, i still wouldnt tell you. You have to tell me what you did. Just tell me whats theyre going to do to you. Unlike every other show on tv, its showing an upper middle class black family. This wasnt all in the family. They werent tackling deep issues but that was okay. The mere fact they existed was a deep issue. The decade was waiting for something real. In other words, unless its real, it doesnt seem like it moves anybody. If someone is feeling something, you get to the heart and the mind. If you can hit the hearts and minds, youve got yourself a hit. How was school . School . Dear, i brought home two children that may or may not be ours. The cosby show brought this tremendous audience to nbc. And that was a bridge to us. Our ratings went way up. Sometimes you want to go where Everybody Knows your name even the theme song to cheers puts you in a good mood. Hello, everybody. Whats shaking, norm . By the end of the cheers pilot, not only did you know who everybody was, but you wanted to come back and see what was going to happen. Its like all you have to do is watch it once. Youre going to love these people. These are universal characters, and the humor worked on so many levels. I was up until 2 00 in the morning finishing off kierkegaard. I hope he thanked you for it. You have to create a community that people are identifying with. And cheers gives you that community. Ive always wanted to skydive. Ive just never had the guts. Whats did it feel like . I imagine a lot like sex. I have to imagine what sex is like. But i have plenty of sex. And plenty of this, too. Why dont you just get off my back, too. In the first episode, there was a rather passionate annoyance. Something is going on here. A really intelligent woman would see your line of bs a mile away. I never met an intelligent woman that i would want to date. On behalf of the intelligent women around the world, may i just say, phew. You saw what ted and shelly had together. We said, oh, no. Weve got to do this relationship. Ted and i understood what they were writing right away. If youll admit that you are carrying a little torch for me, ill admit that im carrying a little one for you. Oh, i am carrying a little torch for you. Well, im