12 TV Moments That Changed History Forever
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00:00-"The eagle has landed." -"We're home. Man on the moon."
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for those television firsts that
00:12had a long-lasting effect on the world. -"I know that we will succeed, and I pledge to you that
00:18we will not let the American public down."
00:25-"Honey, no." -"Yes." -"Really?" -"Yes." -"Why didn't you tell me?" -"Well, you didn't give me
00:29a chance." -"And you can now." -"It's me! I'm gonna be a father!"
00:35Although a rather obscure show titled Mary Kay and Johnny trailblazed the idea of married
00:40couples sharing beds and expecting kids on TV, it was I Love Lucy that really captured the
00:44public's attention. This was due largely to the expert comic timing of not only Lucille Ball,
00:49but of the entire cast. -"Ricky, this is it." -"This is it!" -"This is it! This is it! Let's go!"
00:55The second season episode Lucy Goes to the Hospital makes the entire affair a comedy of
01:01errors, but it's also important to note that the network worried about how the pregnancy
01:05would go down with an audience. -"She's gonna have a baby." -"Yes, I sensed that.
01:13Will you please take Mrs. Ricardo to room 354? Oh, you will have to say goodbye to your wife
01:18down here. You're not allowed upstairs." It was a different time after all, but it's still
01:23remarkable to analyze how television firsts fall in line with expanding social mores.
01:28Number 11. Reality TV revolution. It wasn't specifically referred to as reality television
01:35back then, but shows like Candid Camera and the first televised Miss America pageant helped blur
01:39the lines between televised fantasy and everyday life. -"This is our special for today. You know
01:44what it's called? It's called a Candid Camera special. The Candid Camera special. We only
01:52give it to people who are on television." These programs helped lay the groundwork for television
02:02audiences to eventually accept the reality TV blueprint we all know so well today. -"I left
02:07Michigan in search of a painting career here in New York and I started working with a partner.
02:12Now we have a company called Gouda named after our dog." -"I'm with a major rap group now. I went on
02:17tour. I went to Arsenio. I just did everything right in the beginning. But now starting back
02:21from my own, I have to start all over again. So that's about it." These schematics were largely
02:27drawn up by the MTV generation thanks to hits like The Real World and Road Rules, while CBS
02:33absolutely changed the game with Survivor back in 2000. And the rest, as they say, is history.
02:39-"Life is hell, but I'm swell. Bye bye, bye blues." -"Yeah, that's awesome."
02:47Number 10. Television gets some color. The first color television sets and broadcasts
02:53occurred during the early 1950s, but were actually unsuccessful, at first anyway,
02:58at winning over audiences. -"The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC."
03:04The variety show Premier aired in certain CBS markets in 1951, while commercially produced
03:10sets for home use were manufactured three years later. -"CBS presents this program in color."
03:18Meanwhile, it would be Disney's anthology program Wonderful World of Color that helped ease the
03:22public's acceptance of this newfangled technology. We as humans are sometimes fearful of change,
03:28just as the radio industry was wary of television's growing influence.
03:32The advent of color proved beyond any doubt that TV was here to stay. -"No, no, doctor,
03:39there's nothing wrong with me." -"That's what they all say."
03:42Number 9. Star Trek's interracial kiss. The 1960s were a period of great social upheaval,
03:48and this sentiment of change was reflected on the small screen. Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood helped
03:53break down barriers of discrimination with an episode that showcased its host sharing a small
03:57wade pool with an African-American police officer. -"So to have me playing a police officer,
04:02I was tremendously hesitant. But there was something reluctant about Fred to let go,
04:08and I said, Mr. Rogers, I would be very happy to be on your program." Meanwhile, Star Trek helped
04:15push things further from a romantic perspective with regards to the iconic lip lock between stars
04:19Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner. -"I'm so frightened, Captain. I'm so very frightened."
04:26-"That's the way they want you to feel. Makes them think that they're alive." -"I know it,
04:34but I wish I could stop trembling." -"Try not to think of them." Nichols claimed in her 1994
04:44autobiography that she and co-star William Shatner intentionally flubbed lines during shooting.
04:49This was so that the more explicit take, not one edited and obscured in camera,
04:53would be used for the final product. -"But I'm not afraid. I am not afraid."
05:028. The Beatles and Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show
05:18The list of iconic performances from The Ed Sullivan Show is long,
05:22particularly when it comes to the early days of rock music.
05:31This was despite the host's initial reticence to book such shaggy long hairs on his program.
05:45Still, entire generations of fans were able to remember where they were back when The Beatles
05:50and Elvis Presley performed for Ed Sullivan. -"I'd like to thank all the millions of wonderful
05:54people that are watching tonight, friends. And, uh, and, uh, I'd like to say this,
06:01until we meet you again, may God bless you as he's blessed me." -"Thank you very much."
06:08The variety show featured exciting live music on a weekly basis, broadcasting electricity through
06:13the airwaves. Meanwhile, the boundary-pushing sexuality of this new thing called rock and roll
06:18was deemed dangerous by some critics, a force for moral decay and degradation. But fans loved it,
06:24and returned to The Ed Sullivan Show for many years to come.
06:347. The first scripted finale
06:37The Fugitive television series only ran for a few years back in the early 60s,
06:41a time when small screen stories were primarily episodic. However, the compelling mystery at
06:47the heart of The Fugitive meant that fans at home greatly desired closure to their story.
06:51-"Of course, it's possible she could have called somebody." -"She could have.
06:59Helen had the phone company keep track of all our toll calls for tax reasons.
07:04If she called anyone, there might just be a record."
07:07Nearly 80 million people watched the finale, hoping to see Dr. Kimball clear his name,
07:12find the mysterious one-armed man, and uncover the truth behind his wife's murder.
07:16-"This is Dr. Richard Kimball.
07:21See, Miss Carlyle told me once that she wouldn't know Dr. Kimball if she saw him.
07:26Lucky you arrived when you did. Dr. Kimball and I have to be leaving shortly."
07:30This was a huge deal that almost didn't even happen. Showrunner Leonard Goldberg apparently
07:35heard that network executives felt, quote, surprised at the time that viewers at home
07:40actually cared about these characters enough to warrant a finale.
07:43-"Dr. Kimball, how do you feel now that you're a free man?" -"How do you think he feels?"
07:46-"What are your immediate plans, doctor?" -"Well, I see some of my family and go back to work again."
07:52-"What's the first thing you plan to do?" -"Get out of here."
07:55Number six, MTV begins. The MTV network is still around today,
08:00and much of its programming retains that youth focus which defined its earliest years.
08:04It's difficult for those who weren't there to describe how sharply MTV eventually focused
08:09upon its impressionable audience.
08:10-"In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far."
08:18The era of the music video was officially upon us,
08:21and it was now up to the music industry to keep up with demand.
08:24Soon, style mattered just as much, if not more, than substance,
08:28and a new crop of MTV-friendly groups like Duran Duran and Madonna made the most out of the medium.
08:34MTV also led the pack with its original programming,
08:45from Headbangers Ball and 120 Minutes to its original news and entertainment.
08:50Said simply, we wanted our MTV.
08:59Number five, Vietnam War coverage.
09:01It was the conflict that aired nightly into American homes,
09:05bringing all of the controversy and violence to the dinner table.
09:08-"What the hell does that do to a 19-year-old kid?"
09:11-"A 19-year-old kid shouldn't have been here."
09:13The Vietnam War saw a then unmatched number of accredited journalists
09:17and combat photographers alike on the ground,
09:19capturing daily details about what was going on abroad.
09:22This television coverage added more fuel to the fire of protest and discourse in the United States,
09:27echoing the civil unrest and arguments surrounding the validity of Vietnam.
09:31-"That the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors,
09:37but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy
09:42and did the best they could."
09:44Additionally, the war coverage showcased a shocking amount of footage
09:48that would have probably been deemed too gruesome to be included in a fictional TV program.
09:52Yet there it was for all to see, hear, and digest, for better or worse.
09:57-"I don't think our broadcast had a principal effect on that,
10:02but I think it was a straw on the back of a lot of indications that he was
10:07unhappy with the progress of the war and thought he himself ought to get out."
10:13Number four, Apollo 11, the moon landing.
10:16-"It does seem appropriate that, as man is about to set foot on the moon for the first time
10:22in the history of mankind, that we should honor this event and celebrate it with music."
10:26The cynicism of the 1970s hadn't yet set in back in July of 1969.
10:32This was when the Apollo 11 space shuttle mission took off into the stars,
10:36landing on the surface of the moon on the 20th of that month.
10:39The major television networks, for their part, leaned heavily into the event,
10:43with each planning special programming to coincide with the landing.
10:46-"Armstrong is on the moon, Neil Armstrong, 38-year-old American,
10:53standing on the surface of the moon."
10:55The eyes of just about every American were glued to their television sets at this time.
11:00They were greeted by everything from Duke Ellington's big band jazz
11:04to science fiction legends Rod Serling and Isaac Asimov.
11:06-"I'm very much honored, indeed, to be inviting you today
11:11to help celebrate this great occasion.
11:14As a matter of fact, I'm so inspired that I think I shall
11:17attempt to make my debut as a vocalist with Moon Maiden. How about that?"
11:24It was a giant leap for television kind
11:26that felt almost as big as Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong.
11:30-"I wonder just what there is to add to that."
11:47Information is a click away for all of us today,
11:50and this availability didn't occur in a vacuum.
11:52Ted Turner's cable news network changed the game back in 1980
11:56when it kick-started the era of a 24-hour news cycle.
11:59No longer did people need to wait for their morning paper to read the headlines.
12:03Instead, these headlines were broadcast almost as quickly as they occurred,
12:07thanks to the efforts of on-call news professionals getting the scoop.
12:10-"And to feed from various points where stories are breaking in the world
12:14and bring the material right here into Atlanta,
12:16where we'll put it on the air as fast as we can.
12:19I think we're going to get a lot more international news on the air.
12:22I think we're going to get it on a lot faster.
12:24You're going to get the opportunity to see a lot more
12:26of the way things take place in the world on CNN."
12:29It wasn't an easy road at first.
12:31Slow news days do exist, after all,
12:33and one could argue that 24-hour news also paved the way for TV tabloids and shock programs.
12:39However, for news addicts with FOMO for the info, CNN was a godsend.
12:44-"The net is made up of some 12,000 individual computer networks.
12:48Internet began back in 1969.
12:51It was a tool of the Pentagon,
12:53but nowadays just about anyone with a computer and a modem can join in,
12:57usually for a nominal fee."
12:59Number 2.
13:00We now break for a commercial.
13:01-"Hello, Mary.
13:03Why, what's the matter?"
13:04-"Nothing, I'm just sitting here waiting for my mother."
13:08-"How about a bottle of Coca-Cola?"
13:12-"Oh, thank you, Mr. Pumpkin."
13:14Hey, remember when you didn't have to sit through commercials at the movies,
13:17or during your streaming services,
13:19or at the gas station?
13:21Yeah, we do too,
13:22which is why we sort of envy those who lived in an era prior to these intrusive attempts on our wallets.
13:28The very first paid television commercial was ordered by the Bulova Watch Company,
13:32which booked airtime during a July 1st, 1941 baseball game.
13:36-"America runs on Bulova time."
13:38The ad only aired in the New York market,
13:40as the Brooklyn Dodgers took on the Philadelphia Phillies.
13:43However, the genie was out of the bottle,
13:46and soon, companies everywhere expanded their advertising budgets
13:49to include television alongside radio and printed media.
13:53-"Yes, stay on the beam with energy-packed Sunbeam Red."
13:56Before we continue,
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14:12Number 1.
14:13The World's Fair.
14:15-"I walked my feet off taking pictures.
14:22I remember going through the Court of Nations,
14:25where they had huge statues in front of each nation's building."
14:30Supposedly, those who were at the dawn of cinema were legitimately frightened
14:34by a famous shot from 1903's The Great Train Robbery.
14:37The scene showcased actor Justice D. Barnes firing his gun down the camera lens in full close-up.
14:43We suspect that similar trepidation was also paid to the dawn of television
14:47way back at the 1939 World's Fair.
14:49It was here that RCA debuted their televisions to the public
14:53after initially giving out advertising brochures to sales professionals.
14:56-"There's no question that the fair got people to think positively,
15:02and the future would be better.
15:05And that was the whole purpose."
15:07This World's Fair was also televised
15:09and gave rise to NBC ordering regularly scheduled programming.
15:14Visitors could see firsthand how this new medium worked,
15:17ground-floor participants to the television revolution.
15:20-"My first look at television was in the 39th Fair.
15:25They had an exhibit set up where they would photograph the people outside
15:29and then electronically show the picture inside."
15:33What's your most nostalgic television memory?
15:35Let us know in the comments.
15:36-"What was the big deal about television?
15:42I think on that note I was wrong."
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