Page 3 - Llevine News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Um, just let me drop off my friend, and then we'll talk. levine: when we entered the '80s, a lot of one-hour dramas that were light hearted, like "magnum, p.i.," were very popular. [ gunfire ] [ tires squeal ] bianculli: after "m.a.s.h." went off the air, the next season there wasn't a single sitcom in the top 10. first time that had ever happened in tv history. the prevailing feeling was that the sitcom was dead. greenfield: brandon tartikoff, nbc programming chief, says reports of the sitcom's death were greatly exaggerated. time and time again, if you study television history, just when som...

And going around the world. the '60s are over, dad. thanks for the tip. bianculli: you weren't laughing at michael j. fox's character for being too conservative. you were actually laughing at the parents for being too hopelessly liberal. what is this? i found it in the shower. that's generic brand shampoo. ah! this is him. this is the guy i've been telling you about. this is everything you'd want in a president. troy: the genius of "family ties" is it allows a kind of youthful reaganite to emerge that's focused more on the future, that's focused more on the a critique of the '60s. levine: mich...

To watch the final episode and to bid "m.a.s.h." farewell. levine: the finale of "m.a.s.h." was unprecedented. 123 million people watched one television program at the same time. you know, i really should be allowed to go home. there's 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. connelly: who shot j.r. and the last episode of "m.a.s.h." are the last call for the pre-cable world of television. it...

"dallas" is a television show which in some ways is rooted in the 1970's 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 gonna stay with tonight? what difference does it make? whoever it is it's got to be more interesting than the slut i'm looking at right now. levine: he was such a delicious villain. everyone was completely enamored by this character. bianculli: at this point so many people were watching television that you could do something so unexpected that it would become news overnight. who's there? [ gunshot ...

Burrows: we had the luck to be able to rotate cast and every time we put somebody in, there were explosions. bwah! levine: there was something very special about that setting, those characters, that i never got tired of writing that show. sophisticated surveys, telephonic samplings, test audiences, all of those things help to separate winners from losers and make mid-course corrections. but you can't cut all comedies from the same cookie cutters. all you can hope is that every night turns out like thursday. yo, angela! larry, larry. next... how rude. [ cat yowling ] he's quick, i'll give him t...