tonight a landmark television event
that was 50 years in the making
abc's 50th anniversary celebration
starring tim allen jim belushi ryan
o'neill and farrah fawcett
j fox jennifer garner bonnie hunt
jimmy kimmel george lopez susan lucci
john ritter roseanne john travolta don't
you think it's about time you did the
right thing and
came back and got that high school
diploma where
damon wayans oprah winfrey and more
plus cast reunions from welcome back
hutter the love boat happy days laverne
and shirley the mod squad nypd blue
family matters and the brady bunch and
also featuring rare film clips from the
last half century
am i gonna love this now
[Applause]
abc's 50th anniversary celebration
man
[Music]
there is nothing wrong with your
television set do not attempt to adjust
the picture
we are controlling transmission
am i gonna love this
let's go don't wait
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
theater in the heart of hollywood a look
back at
five fabulous decades of great
television
the stars have gathered to celebrate
half a century of exciting shows
unforgettable moments and landmark
events on
abc's 50th anniversary celebration
[Applause]
[Music]
ladies and gentlemen the star of alias
golden globe winner
jennifer garner
[Applause]
[Music]
thank you as one of the newest members
of the network
family welcome to abc's 50th anniversary
it all started in february 1953.
ike and mamie occupied the white house
you could buy a loaf of bread for 35
cents
and abc won its very first emmy for a
comedy called
make room for daddy starring danny
thomas
and that was just the beginning we have
so many great moments and memories to
share with you tonight
to start the party here's a guy we knew
as vinnie barbarino please welcome john
[Music]
[Applause]
travolta
from the very first week that abc went
on the air there were sitcoms
ozzie and harriet donna reed the real
mccoys
from the very beginning half hour
comedies have been part of the network's
rich tradition
so here are some of the best
these are my people what's happening
hi tim the tool man taylor
how do you do what doesn't y'all like me
slow down okay
[Music]
how are you gonna top that one pig
what are you smiling about just pick
your new topless
[Music]
i forgot to say such a drug store
yesterday i'd pay you back tomorrow i
don't know if i have enough money what
is it anyway
vanishing clean my treat oh my
oh who's your deputy man i want some
booty i want you to spank me
baby dolls
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
he's not going out dressed like that is
he no no it's too chilly
i'll take a wrap
bye barrett this is my sister
hildegard we're hello then this is my
sister
buffy good for you you're gay
so what are you gonna do now i'm going
to disneyland
how am i supposed to talk to a woman
about what's going on in man land
[Music]
man land now you got a theme park
between your legs
[Music]
family time it's fantastic
you the most wonderful beautiful
sexy you know thing
i really love you
[Music]
what
ladies and gentlemen the star and
creator of welcome back potter
gabe kaplan
you know john it's been 24 years since
you left
buchanan hyde that's hard to believe in
this
yeah don't you think it's about time you
did the right thing and
came back and got that high school
diploma
just mr cotter you you're always picking
on me
nobody ever graduated from that school
you know something you're right you're
not alone what
[Laughter]
there are other guys that didn't
graduate either where
right here here are lawrence hilton
jacobs robert hedges
ron palillo and the lane you adolescent
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
good evening dad
good evening mrs anderson
cannot interest you in one of brother
john's bibles
daddy says they're infinitely more
practical than the plastic statues the
bumper stickers we were selling this
time last year
ladies and gentlemen charlie's angels
farrah fawcett
and from peyton place ryan o'neal hi
uh adultery and deception i guess tv
tv hasn't changed much in 40 years we
were we were trendsetters baby
we were yes we were and it's amazing how
many of today's stars got their start on
abc
you know everybody in these clips but i
bet you won't recognize all of them
so see how you do
[Music]
now see here rick i stopped being
pleasant when you insult gopher
you got that off your chest now may i
tell me
please do come in
i was just leaving anyhow
anyway i really like modeling but my
real goal is to become
a doctor hey we got a lot in common i
need to see a doctor
well you have to understand my position
booker i got to go to school and talk to
my kid's teacher
here at wellman plastics we are a team
and i'd like to make us a winning team
it's hard to understand how a fellow
attractive as you are attractive take
your eyes
you have very expressive eyes so do
cocker spaniels
[Music]
oh that's another thing you have such a
wonderful sense of humor
joey uh why don't you let us give you a
ride home hey better yet
how would you like to come over to our
house for little milk and cookies go
back to your house
with it okay i got my thing
abc's 50th anniversary celebration will
continue with
michael j fox the fox and casp reunions
of happy days
and the brady bunch
[Music]
[Applause]
abc wide world of sports 1975
evil knievel jumps 13 buses
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
who will ever see me jump because i will
never ever
ever jump again i'm through
[Applause]
tonight's presentation on abc
[Music]
does everybody know what time it is
i always think safety when working with
them to spin and lathe you notice i
didn't wear a necktie i got a lot of
letters about this you want nothing
hanging out and no
loose clothing possibility
let me finish sometimes
al i was going to get to that you saying
this thing needs more power
let me open it up i can't make this
thing go faster
well why don't we just save you the
trouble and throw it up against the wall
[Music]
please welcome the star of home
improvement tim
[Applause]
allen
thank you thank you
my mom always said you should bring a
gift to a party like this so um
i brought some catchy slogans for the
new abc
all right and there's some to pick from
here you go
abc our millionaires are real not skanky
construction workers
or
[Applause]
abc 50 years old 32 years of quality
television
yep there you go for eight seasons
abc was a hundred percent supportive and
when i mean supportive i mean they
just stayed out of our way creatively
you know we were number ones
abc's number one show for the younger
abc execs out there a number one show
would be at the top
of the list just
[Applause]
i already got the gig folks already got
the game
i am thankful to be part of this
wonderful family for the 13 of the 50
years congratulations to abc
i wish you a long life success big
ratings and
one last slogan
abc where survivor is not a show
it's what we do best happy 50th abc
from according to jim jim belushi and
courtney thorne smith
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
over the last 50 years abc has showcased
some of the best sitcom dads in history
from robert young and father knows best
to tim allen and home improvement
we found an old episode of leave it to
beaver where beaver's best friend
whiting dares him to climb onto a
billboard and we wondered
how would one of today's sitcom dads
handle one of yesterday's sitcom
problems
[Music]
leave it to beaver
[Music]
i say it's real soon of course it isn't
then prove it how can i prove it
well you can climb up there and see okay
boy whitey i'll prove there's no soup up
there
what a dumb kid you are yeah
i'm a dumb kid all right
[Music]
fireman saved my child
did your father get back with beaver yet
yeah he just brought him back from
whities
he's upstairs talking to him now so i
thought i should get lost
well what he said there was soup in the
bowl
and i said there wasn't and he said
there was and i stopped right there
how many times have i told you about
whiting listening to whitey
is always going to get you in a hot suit
it was embarrassing it wasn't it was
like i was up there with no quotes on
that's just where whitey wanted you
promise me this
you can play with whitey and when you
grow up you can work with whitey
but never ever trust whitey again
sure will dab and that lesson is as easy
as
[Applause]
abc
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
the brady bunch was one of the most
famous sitcoms in television history and
for many reasons
i think because a lot of people like to
watch a happily married couple
um for me uh i grew up in a family of
seven children i had six brothers and
sisters so we would all watch the show
together
of course our house was never as neat my
mother never came to breakfast and pull
makeup
my father never ate dinner in a suit and
we never formed our own band but other
than that
it was very relatable
let's take a look
[Music]
a lovely lady who was bringing up three
very lovely girls
well all i hear all day long at school
is how great marsha isn't this or how
wonderful marsha did that
marsha marshall marsha is the story
of a man
[Music]
punch please welcome the cast of the
brady buns
florence henderson andy davis maureen
mccormack
barry williams susan olsen and
christopher knight
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
who's the leader of the club
[Music]
why because we like you
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
abc's 50th anniversary celebration a
look back at five decades of great
television will continue with oprah
winfrey
great moments from the oscars and an
anniversary surprise from the cast of
alias
[Music]
who has hosted more oscars than anyone
else
was it bob hope johnny carson
or billy crystal the answer when we
return
[Music]
did more oscars than anyone else was it
bob hope johnny carson or billy crystal
bob hope had the honor of hosting the
oscars 18
times this is the night devoted to one
man
oscar or as he's known around my house
the fugitive
ladies and gentlemen
as our world struggles for harmony
there's a diplomat named oscar
who's done an outstanding job of
bringing millions of us together every
year
for one magical night it all happens at
the academy awards
as more than 90 countries tune in to
celebrate the universal language of film
abc began hosting the academy awards
back in 1960
and we'd like to share just a few of the
memorable highlights
that we've enjoyed throughout the years
good evening hollywood phonies welcome
to the oscars
or as it's known at my house passover
two hours of sparkling entertainment
spread out over a four-hour show
so how are we doing on time oh we got
five hours before i got on the trapeze i
asked them if they had taken safety
precautions they said yes
billy crystal it's a
wonderful night for us oscar oscar
who will win the only one guaranteed of
waking up with a statue is
tipper gore there are no losers here
tonight
but we're about to change all that so
let's see which one you like you really
really like
and the oscar goes too and the oscar
goes to and the oscar goes to
hello gorgeous i
can't tell you how encouraging a thing
like this is
i want to thank my mother father for
having me and my grandmother and
grandfather for having them
and everybody i ever met in my entire
life this might be the one time i'm
speechless
i'll just say what's in my heart the
bump the bomb
you broke my streak please welcome tim
robbins and susan sarandon pay attention
i'm sure they're pissed off about
something and you know how the studios
like to spread those stories about stars
being romantically involved
it sells tickets kid if we were
romantically involved i'd sell
tickets can you stand there and you'll
rent a tuxedo
and and honestly say that i
am not oscar material oscar meyer maybe
no greater love can come to any man than
the respect of his colleagues you
are seeing my dream come true
it is a long journey to this moment
if dirty harry said do you feel lucky
i'd say you're damn right i don't
oh thanks
thank you very much that makes up for
the strip search
you've given me a wonderful life god
bless you
[Applause]
welcome to abc's monday night primetime
national football league
television series 47 seconds to play the
grounds lead 24-21
before more than 85 000 people schneider
almost gets
famous the pass is intercepted it is
intercepted by number 52
philly andrew there's
[Applause]
ladies and gentlemen football hall of
famer and the most
valuable player of super bowl free
broadway
joe naman
[Music]
thank you thank you you know folks what
i think about that first monday night
football game
you know i mean well here's what i think
we lost being the first game for us
and being the only game on television it
was kind of weird we kind of felt like
we were on stage
you know i mean this was the big event
and you know what when howard cosell
said something
when he said anything it just sounded so
important
well after 509 games monday night
football
is still the big event and abc
has two of the best behind the mics
the man the man who has logged more time
in prime
time than anyone else l michaels
and record 13 time
emmy award winner mr john madden ladies
and gentlemen
[Music]
joe i think back to 1970 rooney arledge
and then nfl commissioner pete rozelle
had this crazy idea they said what about
football in prime times what about
football
on monday night and roon actually
thought the nfl could find a home in
prime time
with people like lucille ball flip
wilson marcus welby
on the schedule at that time outrageous
and everybody in this industry thought
roon was
a nut job but america was ready
ready for dancing halfbacks and growling
linebackers and
big old beefy linemen ready for some
football
monday night baby you got to feel good
tonight monday night
my writing friends are here monday night
all right we're ready for some football
[Applause]
it's the highlight reel ready and nobody
catches
that unbelievable he's gonna score i
don't think i've ever seen anything like
it touchdown sanders
[Music]
viewers had never seen football the way
abc approached it on monday nights
hello again everyone i'm howard cosell
welcome to still another monday night
of nfl football you see it wasn't just
another game to us it was an
entertainment extravaganza which quickly
became television's main event
yes it's monday night let's go he still
wears a cup
i'll tell you so
[Music]
abc's monday night football has not only
changed when we watch
but what we watch as well i can't
remember not
watching money on football monday on
football has probably done more for the
nfl than
uh than any other broadcast and a lot of
it is is the announcing
jones made the catch had the first down
and then
a lot of it is just the crew itself the
production of it is so very very good
when you walk to the stadium you see the
big abc signs and things like that you
know something important is going on
[Music]
abc revolutionized the way football and
for that matter sports were televised
the first three-man booth isolation
shots reverse angle replays
super slow-mo's they were all abc's
innovations that are now taken for
granted
but it's not just about technology it's
about the game
he's gone
what you've seen tonight is a truly
great football player
look out he's got great speed 99 yards
and a half
[Applause]
and with a huge cast and a new dramatic
plot
every week abc's monday night football
is now bigger than ever
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
at the mic all my ready friends are here
for monday night
she's an actor producer and host of her
own show
ladies and gentlemen 16 time emmy award
[Applause]
[Music]
winner
well abc introduced america to a whole
new era of entertainment in the 70s
movies for television from the beginning
they've informed they have enlightened
us about
complex subjects and controversial
people
but you know something they've also
encouraged us
to reach a little higher or think
a little deeper
i know the last thing you want to do is
hurt your children but you almost killed
your baby girl last night
you don't know what it's like i know
exactly what it's like
downstairs hey brian piccolo you just
got word
that brian piccolo is very sick he might
never play football again
grow old along with me
the best is yet to be
[Music]
[Applause]
mr president we have no option but to
launch a military response to a military
attack on very hazardous ground yeah
am i going to launch an all-out nuclear
[Music]
war
[Music]
and i'm his mom i'm just doing what i
think is right bye robbie
all my life i've been doing what i was
told
first maw and then you well these dolls
this is all that's feeding our youngins
now
and they're mine
[Music]
i can't go back to school they're afraid
afraid of what aids
but nobody can get it not by me just
going to school
i know that
over 300 missiles inbound now
is anybody there
my father's been messing around with me
i know
amelia's telling the truth steven
gina i'm so sick of it i'm just like
feeling like a hospital case
like some weirdo kid who can't even
breathe normal air because he might get
sick and die
[Music]
i'm a lucky man you're lucky
yeah i still got time to teach my final
course
about dying not about dying about living
[Music]
and you know how to die
you know how to live
[Music]
abc's 50th anniversary celebration will
continue with
dennis franz peter falk richard
chamberlain
and a la vernon shirley reunion
[Applause]
sydney before we go to casual look at
this
what does this mean we have a new
partner i'm not sure i just came in from
langley
this makes no sense he's not even cia
well apparently he's that good
excuse me uh excuse me
what the hell is this place cia
operations center i'm sydney bristow oh
yes
i'm a lieutenant colombo we met before
bunny i remember you was older
uh taller with gray hair with male
genitalia
that's my father i'm pretty sure it was
you
welcome to the cia hey it's great to be
here thank you
luke perry michael vaughn right
so the boys downtown they tell me that
we're new partners
this is talisa monbago he's a former k
director at assassin who's been on the
svr payroll for six months this morning
we intercepted a
communique that was taken from a kh-12
satellite verbal ciphertext
analysis decrypted half the message it
references a code that matches a number
from page 47 of the wimbaldi manuscript
what the hell are you talking about
honestly does anyone understand this
stuff
you guys gotta check this out i just
made it this morning now this looks just
like a normal pen that you would
kind of take your order and something
like that but actually it is a
compressed
air dart gun it's got a laser sight and
it's accurate up to 50 feet
no kidding that's a god gun i see that
is it monbago's having a party tomorrow
night
you'll enter the estate from the north
wall will jack into the security system
and shut it down the plan
is to enter the house through the
outdoor indoor swimming pool
you'll be wearing this okay this is for
sydney
lieutenant exactly why did langley send
you here
langley didn't send me here then who did
michael nice he asked me to come in
do what i can to make your show easier
to follow
he's watched it a few times he still
don't know what the hell it's about
eisner also wanted me to make your show
funnier
this isn't funny no one watching
thinks this is funny well my job's done
sorry to bother
dear god that was strange
[Applause]
from alias jennifer garner and michael
bartram
we want to thank peter fox for being
part of that wonderful evening
it's just so nice to be with a guy in a
raincoat in l.a who's not flashing
uh columbo may have been the most famous
but the truth is he was just one of the
many cops and detectives who were the
backbone of the greatest law enforcement
team in america the crime fighters of
[Music]
[Applause]
abc
that's terrific
and you can take the pebble from my hand
it will be time for you to leave
i think i need some kind of outfit
[Music]
shall we activate the back computer that
sounds like a good idea
hello i know who killed laura palmer
well thank you sir i surely appreciate
that please call us back
this is serious who are you mundy
alexander mundy frank out name
richard kimball you're an angel that's
what they tell me
your pig's looking first
[Music]
time for you to leave
sneakers huh what happened the other
ones got covered with blood
how'd i do that was excessively violent
and completely unnecessary
and i loved it
from nypd blue the actor who has earned
four enemies playing detective andy
sipowitz
dennis braun
thank you the new york city police force
covers 76
precincts and employs more than 39 000
cops for the past 10 years i've had the
privilege of portraying one of them
our creative team digs deep sometimes
brutally so
for characters we hope are honest
insightful
compassionate and often irreverent
hey eddie tell the sergeant i gotta take
care of something
there's a john clark works homicide up
in the bronx yeah that's my dad john
clark senior
let's go with junior connie mcdowell
who is he sipping
i think we should call it quits meaning
what meaning us being partners
that's no problem there's no problem at
all
get your hands off me just get away from
me kelly or so help me i'll clean your
clock
where'd you bury the rug are you with
the da's office i mean who are you you
get someone in here who can work me out
of there
you're doing good danny you get tired
you lean on me thanks very much
[Music]
can you stay awhile
i'll stay as long as you need
[Music]
to celebrate tonight we put together a
little reunion some of our family who
have
represented new york's finest past cast
members
kim delaney gail o'brady
sharon lawrence nicholas patero
andrea thompson and current cast members
gordon clapp bill brocktruck henry
simmons
garcelle bouvier nylon jacqueline
obradors
issai morales charlotte ross and
mark paul gossler
[Music]
when we return a tribute to the
groundbreaking mini series race
and the love boat cast reunion
1954 the first ever broadcast of the
miss america pageant
[Applause]
27 million people tune in to see lee
merriweather
crowned miss america
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
abc's 50th anniversary celebration will
continue
ladies and gentlemen from the love boat
captain scooby gavin mccloud
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
the love boat which will always be my
favorite cruise line
set sail on abc in 1977
was a lot of fun navigating through the
smooth seasons
of laughter and romance
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
you're the head of the family
this cruiser's certainly been a
humdinger they sure had
[Music]
please help me in welcoming my fabulous
shipmates
bernie cappell fred grandy headlines
little jill wheeler yeah
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
from abc news
thank you and good evening 50 years of
abc huh i've been here for more than 27
of those years
the only people here at abc news who
have been here longer
are ted koppel and peter jennings and
sam donaldson
we are either very loyal or very lazy
i spent 15 years at nbc's today show
when abc made me an offer i couldn't
refuse
to be the first female co-anchor of a
network news program
the problem was that my partner harry
reisner
didn't want a partner we began
on october 4th 1976.
[Applause]
harry reisner
barbara walters good evening and happy
new year
harry has the day off and it was all
downhill
from there finally harry went back to
cbs
and i began to work my way back ten
seconds to barbara
good evening this is barbara waters in
cairo
in retrospect it was the best thing that
ever happened to me
so you don't feel that women are are in
that sense equal if they have the same
intelligence or ability not so far maybe
you will become
in the future you can always have some
exceptions
here and there then in 1984
i found a permanent home at 2020
alongside my old pal from the today show
hugh dowsy 2020 has given me the
opportunity to interview
every american first lady and president
since
richard nixon are you sorry you didn't
go in the case
yes i think so which brings to mind all
those questions i took a deep breath
before asking do you drink too much we
read that you are
unstable that you are mad did you ever
order anyone killed
why did you kill john women did you kill
your wife of course not
and then there was monika ah yes monica
the biggest get of the decade where
almost every question
made me squirm
but it hasn't all been murder and mayhem
for the past 27 years
my celebrity specials have allowed me to
talk with some of the greatest stars in
show business
people can be very cruel people coming
in back with me saying
hey her nose is not that big are you
barbara streisand but there's two
barbers
just barbara i'm popping with you
and i want to hang around as long as i'm
healthy and not in anybody's way
what's been the best time of your life
right here right now with you you guys
remember when you first learned about
sex well i didn't learn about sex until
i started to do this show and now i know
more about sex
six years ago we started the view
whoever thought it would catch on
how lucky i've been to have my heart
moved
and my mind expanded and every now and
then there's a moment
of magic to really get the feeling of
romance
and with some good luck and a good
lighting director
i can just keep on dancing do the dance
of
love
you know with another dawn already
beckoning on the east coast and another
good morning america just hours away
we're going to go now to new york to
join my colleague
diane sawyer and thank you barbara you
know it's such fun to look back at the
priceless mornings of good morning
america over would you believe it the
last 27
27 years i'm just gonna put it right
there
sure some things and some faces have
changed
you think you put in enough bourbon
from hairstyles to heart throbs some
we've watched grow up here yeah baby
right before our eyes through it all
this has been a place where
good mornings begin and when it comes to
the important first news of the day
we've always been the place americans
can turn to
there is a new sadness around the world
this morning
john lennon was murdered late last night
from tragedy
to triumph to history as it's made it
all
comes down to the state of florida
through all the presidents
jimmy carter ronald reagan so help me
god william jefferson clinton
how good it is to have you with us this
morning to some stories that have
forever
changed us we just got a report in that
there's been some sort of explosion
at the world trade center we've never
been confined to the studio
joan and i here getting ready for the
big celebration of lady liberty looking
to the road crisscrossing not just
america in all 50 states but
taking you with us to the far ends of
the world
over the years waking up to good morning
america good morning america good
morning america good morning america
has meant waking up with movie stars
superstars
comedians and music
music music there's just something about
good morning america
that turns people loose
they will poke your eyeballs out and i'm
not kidding about that
we've cooked up a storm you're not gonna
pick it up a notch you're gonna kick it
up about 40 notches
and we've walked down the aisle we've
even made morning television history
fasten your seat belts we are live at
three maternity wards
we've been lucky to share life's big and
little moments with all of you
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we've
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all the extraordinary people we've met
the places we've been
and to think of all the stories yet to
be told
we're so glad you've come along with us
and we'll see you all
in the morning thank you
over the years i have been with so many
different men
but our next guest might be my all-time
favorite ladies and gentlemen hugh downs
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well that program that we shared so many
happy years on it's called 2020 and 2020
means clear vision sometimes we may have
been a little bit myopic but very seldom
we would strive for 2020. we did
and tonight in these troubled times as
we look backward
we also strive to be farsighted and we
hope that the years ahead
bring vision and accomplishment
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1977 mr rorken tattoo
welcomed everyone to fantasy island and
continued to do so for seven years
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welcome to fantasy island
from jimmy kimmel jimmy kimmel
in 1968 everyone's idea of a tv cop was
a straight-laced white guy with good
posture and a crew cut
and then came the mod squad
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i can dig
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you don't know what i think there's no
way to divide
three and come up even now we are
in it please welcome the stars of the
mod squad michael cole
peggy lipton and clarence williams iii
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we will return with roseanne charlie
gibson
and a tribute to howard cosell and
muhammad ali
[Music]
1950 ethel waters star of beulah becomes
the first african-american actress to
star in her own television series
when you talk like that i can almost
smell
orange blossoms myself
what a man
thank you very much welcome once again
to american band stan
this one's called rock around the clock
bill haley what is the latest album
coffee oh fun fun fun
all right with with the beach boys miss
janet jackson
this is madonna what are your dreams
what's left
um to rule the world i think that's
gonna have to do it thanks so much for
watching
so long
[Music]
please
[Applause]
[Music]
you know the first national broadcast of
american bandstand happened on
a summer afternoon in 1957
and at that time the other networks felt
kind of comfortable with popular music
but
abc took a risk the network opened its
doors and gave rock and roll a home
and after five fabulous decades the beat
goes on
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oh
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is
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oh
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to myself
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uh
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oh crazy
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it's
so
1999 who wants to be a millionaire
sweeps abc to number one
the u.s president appeared on laughing
as richard nixon that's my final answer
this is the final answer heard all
around the world he's won a million
dollars
from the george lopez show please
welcome george lopez
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i grew up watching television with my
family and since i'm an only child that
means
i was the remote
my grandmother would tap me on the back
of my head channel five
and stand right here in case i don't
like it
it was my job to turn up the volume or
change the channel and it was the most
important job because at all times
i had to know the whereabouts of the
pliers
remember this was before cable and we
had what they used to call the rabbit
ears the antenna was
actually on the tv and you would always
get better reception if there was like
tin foil at the tips and you were
holding it you know you go
perfect
watching tv with my own family i've
noticed that tv families have changed a
lot over the years
from the people who make up the family
unit to the things they talk about even
the language they talk about them in
what hasn't changed are some of the
tough issues that
tv has the courage to take on here are
some tv families
talking about it's not believable like
that is it
here's a lot of people talking about
that's what got me the show talking
about one of the most challenging
problems our kid faced today
right there i just think you'd rather be
out playing football and attending some
dance with a bunch of girls
oh fiddlesticks i think it's a very nice
idea well maybe you're right after all
he's not going to be playing football
all his life but he will be meeting and
associating with people
and girls are people i'll drink to that
girls make me sick when they stop making
a guy sick
i guess girls stop making you sick just
about the same time bats stop making you
sick
how do i know what happens to me well
one of these days when you're checking
your own ears for dirt
girls are gonna start looking good to
you
you never guess what happened to me well
i'll take a stab in the dark
what happened harvey klinger walked me
home no
oh marsha that's wonderful the bugs
worked
and that's not all he asked me to go
steady with him
i said yes if you say yes when a
young man sees a beautiful girl
his heart beats faster and well the
all the the blood rushes to his heart
that means that uh the blood leaves his
ears and they don't work
very well mom did you just tell me the
fact's alive
you did you're flush all right that's
enough
daddy i want to go on the pill
you want me to tell you that it's okay
for you to
go on the pill
it's not okay i was thinking that it's
time
for me to um get some
birth control
in it great roseanne
that becky has such a wonderful
progressive open-minded mom that she can
talk to
about that oh sure
sex is um it's like a car
the best idea is to keep the car in the
garage for a long long time
and then somewhere in the future the
distant future when that garage door
opens
you got to think car cover
listen junior when you have sex for the
first time you're gonna remember it
forever
it's gonna be the most memorable 30
seconds of your life
having sex is a lot different than
you've been imagining
how for one thing there's another person
in the room
i just want to add one little thing to
what your mom said men are pigs
they just want to go to bed with you and
if they say they love you they're lying
because they just want to go to bed with
you and if you're stupid enough to
actually let them go to bed with you
while they're in bed with you they're
thinking about going to bed with
somebody else trust me i know what i'm
saying i used to be a man before i got
married
i'm doing this research on a column
uh-oh he wants to ask us about sex
actually i don't want to talk about you
i i'd like to
talk about other kids theoretically do
you think that
um a lot of them are you know
sexually active a lot of kids realize
that you only have one chance for a
first time so
it's kind of worth waiting for until
you're absolutely sure you're ready
wow beach that's exactly what i wanted
to hear
i know
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[Applause]
you think you hate me but you don't
because hate and love are intertwined
whatever we had
died years ago you're gonna regret this
i'll make you pay for this blake you're
gonna regret this damn you
ladies and gentlemen
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[Music]
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thank you it's wonderful to be here
tonight and you can't
imagine what a joy it was playing the
vicious
alexis carrington on dynasty the clothes
the jewels the fights
and the fan mail tonight we are going to
talk
with abc viewers about their memories
some of which
may remind you of your own so to start
with
let's listen to what viewers had to say
about one of abc's most
unforgettable characters
howard cosell
in terms of sports casting uh pantheon
howard was the man
oh howard cosell shot with a nine
millimeter he gave you
everything he wasn't looked at as just
like another annoying reporter he was
looked at as like oh it's howard cosell
we can tell him what's going on his
biggest asset is when he hooked up with
muhammad ali and it was fun to watch
and i think that kosel's relationship
with ali
it wasn't just comedy they had a lot of
respect for each other he
and ali were a great team they were
great for america
olympic boxing gold medalist and world
champion in five
different weight classes
[Music]
they were television's real life odd
couple the louisville lip
the brooklyn lawyer turned broadcaster
an odd couple
who share something very very special a
respect for one another
and the courage to stand alone this of
course is the heavyweight champion of
the world muhammad ali or cassius play
as you will this fella making all this
noise howard for cosell
you know i'm the king of the ring i do
what i want what we have just seen
perhaps is the heavyweight champion of
the world and what should be his true
profession
that of a professional dancer the ali
shuffle is a dance that will make you
scuffle
like that see it is true that i do a lot
of talk and everything i say i mean to
back it up
fact of the matter is what you stand for
you stand for is that right oh that's
right everyone knows that
and i will say here boldly now on
television
no mr mohammed ali has just refused to
be inducted
into the united states armed forces you
should have enough of me by now
i haven't had enough of you by now
apparently i'm going to have a lot more
of you
statements you're being extremely
truculent
whatever struck you i mean if that's
good i'm there
it came from nowhere ali came through
with a left
walk there
the malaysian wall the double shovel the
russian thing
the road the mirage she is a giant
a positive legend and he has made it to
the ring
and the uproar is definite without me
you'd never be where you are
the wise fighter i haven't made you
famous enough
everywhere i go you follow me to get
your name in the papers and on
television
good luck you are the greatest thank you
now let's go back to jim mckay one
wholesale
for the rest of today crown the greatest
fighter
ladies and gentlemen the three-time
heavyweight champion of the world
mohammed ali
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we will return with drew carey a happy
days cast reunion
and a celebration of the abc miniseries
roots
[Music]
[Applause]
ladies and gentlemen lavar burton
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
the year was 1977 and abc had decided to
tell the remarkable tale
of alex haley in his phenomenal quest to
trace his family's roots back seven
generations
to kunta kinte a warrior mandinka
sold into slavery from his west african
homeland
and even though they believe the
multi-hour series to be exceptional
drama
the network executives were uncertain
that america would embrace a show in
which
the black characters were heroes and
whites for the most part
were the villains and by all accounts
the gutsy decisions
paid off and television history was made
that winter americans turned to their
tvs in
unprecedented numbers and in the process
shared a timeless lesson in the
indomitable power
of the human spirit i was glued to my
set just like everyone else i think i
saw every single episode we all watched
it i mean
everybody watched it you couldn't get a
hold of anybody you couldn't call
anybody during that time
uh you'd go to the store and there'd be
nobody in the stores it was definitely
something that we watched together as a
family
[Music]
that's right that was his name i mean
just the title alone
roots groups means family
the beginning where it started
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[Music]
good or not good that is for allah to
say
[Music]
it was a new way of looking at
television
the notion that something couldn't all
be done in one chapter
everybody in america knew that there had
been slavery
but roots personalized it
in a way that it had never been
personalized before
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[Music]
ah
it really hit me human being's soul
sure we read it in a book or a teacher
would tell you so
but to see it like that kunta continues
no matter what they did
to him trying to escape to show his
freedom
they kept trying to tell him his name
was toby and he kept telling his name
was kunta kente that wasn't who he was
i understood that what's your name
when the master gives you something you
take it he gave you a name
it's toby what's your name
what's your name
toby
cut him down
i will never forget it because i
actually saw the perspective of stories
that my grandmother
my grandfather growing up in the south
said about slavery
would you care what that white man call
you
it could be another day
i think everybody who watched it talked
about it
i don't think it was planned in school
we ended up having spontaneous
discussions in classes
i actually embraced the characters as my
own they had become
a family for me it gave us the platform
to see
you know before that we heard but we
never saw these were people
that met each other fell in love had
families and
suffered the pain and every day
blacks and whites and americans and
others will look at each other
in a different way because it really
managed to
crawl right into the hearts of many
americans
that's a real accomplishment
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contact
ladies and gentlemen john ritter
[Music]
happy anniversary everyone
long before i joined abc i remember
sitting in front of our tv at home
spellbound by tales of the american west
my dad text rider was a singing cowboy
and he'd be there
watching me watch television throughout
the 50s westerns there
were the bedrock of abc's programming as
touchstones to america's past they
seemed to assure us
that no matter how tough the predicament
the good guys
always
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but i'll shoot the won that's trouble
with innocent myth
there's just no fun in the hanging that
is the ordinary
talking attitude that i ever heard of
i was a divided man is useless to
himself to everyone else
[Music]
i'd hate to have you be the first
well now you heard what the man said
sounds like my kind of job
ladies and gentlemen star of the big
valley
three majors star of cheyenne will
walker
and star of quiet earth duo alright
[Music]
[Applause]
1990 sammy davis jr celebrates his 60th
year in show business with gregory hines
[Applause]
[Music]
the chairman and ceo of the walt disney
company
michael eisner
[Applause]
tonight the walt disney company takes
special delight
in celebrating this golden anniversary
with all our colleagues at abc
the wonderful world of disney which is
the longest running prime
time series in television history the
show has enchanted
two generations of americans with
classic disney storytelling
is a series that dates back to 1954
when it was hosted by walt disney
himself
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
and now your host walt disney
mickey and i started out the first time
many many years ago
we've had a lot of our dreams come true
take it from me
[Music]
10 minutes ago i met you
and we murmured her how do you do
i wanted to ring out the bells
and fling out my arms and to sing out
the news
[Music]
you got a friend in me
[Music]
you got a friend in me
[Music]
when the road looks rough ahead
and your mouth
[Music]
yeah you got a friend in me
love you very much and i love you daddy
[Music]
warbucks
abc's 50th anniversary celebration
special
a look back at five decades of great
television we'll continue with
george lopez michael j fox and abc's
best miniseries
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
i'm afraid even we priests are weak
and all too human you can marry me
you love me but i love god more
i can't i can't
[Music]
find
please welcome richard chamberlain
for all of us who worked on this
fabulous project the thornbirds was an
unforgettable experience throughout the
years the miniseries has acquainted
millions of viewers with great
writers like herman woke leon eures and
erwin shaw
through dramatic adaptations of their
work that have kept us all
riveted to the screen
[Music]
i don't know how two boys can be so
different we set the fire what'd you do
that for
you really want to know yes why
beats the hell out of me
[Music]
you fools don't know what you've done to
yourselves
your children to all of us hasn't this
war caused enough pain
[Music]
we've had a major containment breach
[Music]
why can your children find nothing
better to do than the big irons on the
ground
and working up to fast grotesque engines
for blowing each other up
[Music]
you just shot my kid you're a cold
blooded vicious murderer
she loves me she was holding on to me
and begging me not to come back here
the lying because general anesthetic was
given to all the non-jewish patients
and not to the jewish patients
is that correct answer the question
[Music]
[Applause]
yes
[Music]
give me what i want and i'll go away
we will strike down segregation
and we will go where
we said we will go
you have a choice for love you stay away
from her and if i don't
i'm just not sure that i'm really ready
to marry anybody right now
i want to be a champion skater and a
writer i want to travel
i want to study languages i want to do
everything
you always tell me how to think for
[Music]
myself
[Music]
yes i've heard how difficult it is do
you know how difficult it is to be
judy garland i've been trying to be judy
gone all my
you were life
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
hey how about an action-packed game of
fridge i'll spot you a hundred points
nope canasta nope pinocchio no
hearts no old made crazy goldfish go
home
gin rummy
okay one hand but when i win you go home
deal get a deal
he's grown up topping out at six feet
please welcome
one
[Music]
[Applause]
wow did i do that
family matters was my home sweet home
for eight seasons it aired on fridays
and during the 90s abc's tgif lineup was
hot hot hot check it out we're going to
have some fun show you how it's done
do you know what that feat is coming on
a dance of joy have
mercy
[Music]
the boys are napping you know what that
[Music]
means
[Music]
in america you can do anything you want
to do you just have to
set your sights high could i be
chief justice at the supreme court lower
value
would i be cheated
[Music]
frank and i will rent an apartment that
you can all
share you can bring your girlfriends and
boyfriends and do whatever you want and
frank and i just won't have to know
about it
really no
hello y'all i'm steve's cousin murder
lyrical
[Applause]
[Music]
i'd like to bring out reginald johnson
kelly williams and telma hopkins i love
these people
[Music]
[Applause]
when we return two of america's most
loved olympic gold medalists
abc's hit drama series and from vernon
shirley
[Music]
ladies and gentlemen in new york charlie
gibson
abc news has been on the air for a very
long time now
and in the course of putting together
thousands of broadcasts
we have experienced just about every
on-air situation
imaginable so in order to protect
ourselves for the next 50 years we have
come up
with the top 10 rules for covering the
news
television news used to be so simple
all you had to do was remember who you
worked for i'm quincy howe
of cb of abc news 50 years later
it's a lot more complicated so here now
are the top 10 rules for covering the
news
number 10 dress conservatively
this means a proper jacket
freshly pressed trousers i just realized
i have my pants on backwards
and matching shoes you get dressed in
the dark you try not to wake up the
family
and sometimes you slip up what do you
think will have happened
by then number nine make sure your
interview subjects speak
at least a little english
is 25 yeah
uh i
uh do if they don't
keep your composure
[Music]
number eight avoid working with animals
they're very intelligent
they're very social uh they can actually
recognize themselves
[Music]
number seven keep it clean the banana
white
doll there we go see
whoops
[Laughter]
number six always expect the unexpected
this is what
number five think safety first i got a
train coming
there's a train coming there's a train
coming number four
remember that reporting from the field
is harder than it looks
i'll be back with a record
number three know the names in the news
and general john charles cavillian
[Music]
and the number one rule of television
news wherever you are
whatever you're doing remember
the camera is on
[Music]
this is peter jennings abc news cairo
[Music]
and now please welcome two good morning
america alumni
who taught me those ten rules joan
london
and david
[Applause]
thank you
we will all remember that bonding that
occurs between all of us
who were sleep deprived on television in
the morning
all of us at good morning america have
appreciated so much
having the privilege of trying to bring
you
year after year the news in a calm
quiet way and information and human
stories that you could
take into your hearts into your heads in
some way
and personally help make your lives
better
thank you
1967 72 of americans watched the final
episode of the fugitive to see wrongly
accused murderer dr richard kimball
catch the real killer of his wife yeah i
killed her
now i'm gonna kill you won't have to
worry about you again no more
[Applause]
[Music]
from victorious emmy winners
[Music]
in television's first attempts at weekly
dramas
lives were lived on the surface of
things today
one-hour dramas try to mirror the
complicated realities of life
here's a look at just the few of the abc
dramas that we remember
with pride
[Applause]
you think it's tough defending the
guilty lindsay try
the innocent it's terrifying two little
boys are dead
cause i played my part i played my part
i played my part well i can't play my
damn part anymore
we win and we've got no problem getting
ugly
it may be the best lawyering i've ever
heard of
since when does an unhappy love life
become more important than the practice
of good medicine
what could you possibly know about the
world of cripples
you with your fine strong healthy body
many people need something to lean on
whether you can see it or not it's a
world full of crutches
people always say how you should be
yourself like
yourself is this definite thing
like a toaster or something but every so
often
i'll have like a moment
when just being myself in my life
is like enough
diane 11 30 a.m february 24th
entering the town of twin peaks she's
dead
wrapped in plastic who killed laura
palmer
why does everything have to be so
complicated because it's about change
about moving forward about knowing that
when you move forward
you have to leave part of yourself
behind i'm just mixed up about the whole
thing
i don't know what to do how about not
doing anything
i'm sorry i admit it
i really liked our life i liked the fact
that you were beautiful
and i liked the fact that you were
i exciting the fact that you had a dirty
mind
[Music]
you're afraid we are all afraid but
that's not the end of the story
did you ever stop to think that fear
could be your friend
yeah it makes me throw up no
no it tells you you're alive
[Music]
i made a mess already i don't know what
to do
do you want people to help you eddie
[Music]
please help me yeah
[Music]
god
helicopters never stop coming you'll cut
off their hand but you don't have to
hold it
you don't stick around to see their eyes
when they realize what's happened to
them
you're not the last person they see
before they die
[Music]
[Applause]
abc's 50th anniversary celebration will
continue with
jim mckay and the agony from abc's wide
world of sports
[Music]
why has this man vinko bogatai been on
abc
more than 3 000 times the answer when we
return
[Music]
[Applause]
ladies and gentlemen olympic gold
medalists dorothy hamill
and carl lewis
just before we went to commercial you
were asked a question
why has vinco bogota been on abc more
than three thousand times
does anybody know well here's your
answer
vinko bogatai is the skier that reflects
the agony of defeat in the opening title
sequence of wide world of sports
and the agony of defeat
oh baby what a terrible
fall and here's little anniversary
surprise
from slovenia please welcome vinco
[Applause]
[Music]
bogatai
[Music]
i always wondered what happened to him
the lasting image of a sidetrack ski
jumper was brought to you by the longest
running show in abc's history
let's take a journey through four
decades of agony and thrills
with that familiar voice of abc's wide
world
and the olympics jim mckay
[Music]
you an exciting global concept
i'm jim mckay at franklin field in
philadelphia wendley stadium in london
stadium from the stadio olympico in
mexico city
brook austria people's republic of china
world has come to los angeles
on abc's wide world of sports spanning
the globe to bring you the constant
variety of sport
the thrill of victory and the agony of
defeat
wherever we wander mountains majestic
tropics exotic to fields and traps
courts
wherever we wandered we found in our
frontiers a global democratic principle
in sports we learned that any
undertaking of body and soul
could carry with it an essential dignity
thousands and thousands of miles events
momentous
and some just memorable
athletes celebrated and obscured
we found more than just thrills and
agony
triumph and tragedy there were 11
hostages
two were killed in their rooms yesterday
morning
nine were killed at the airport
tonight they're all gone
what we found were resonant stories one
after another
gold medal so many in our wide world
want our respect by sharing essential
truths
an ability to inspire
a spirit to excel
there were the ones who defied gravity
champions who rose
[Applause]
and fell
the ones who defied remarkable pain
julie moss iron woman in hawaii's iron
man
there was beauty in so many languages
spoken in russian and romanian
the human drama of athletic competition
we've grown from a well that will never
run dry
ladies and gentlemen a true television
olympian
jim mckay
[Applause]
thank you
thank you very much thank you
the late rune arledge the man who
changed the world of sports tv coverage
forevermore knew that the essence of any
event
in sports or news was the personality
and the character
of the human beings involved he was the
patient voice in my ear
on that terrible day in munich 30 years
ago
it's still hard to believe that roon is
gone
but his influence on the world's most
powerful medium remains
and it will endure
thank you
[Music]
how dare you because i felt like
that's why you know what i'm talking
about no but i don't like your tone
well you are not going to spoil our
family vacation
okay you are a connor you are skipping
school
blowing off that project now you sit
down here
are you ever sorry we got married every
second of my life
well she doesn't look like a lesbian you
know
i mean lesbians are big old truck
drivers that wear flannel shirts and
faded jeans
ladies and gentlemen roseanne
[Applause]
[Music]
hello now i'm sure you're wondering what
this camera crew is doing up here with
me
i know i am but no i'm
i'm happy to announce that i'm returning
to abc in my very own reality show
why because there's nothing like a
couple of brutally draining divorce
settlements to bring a girl to her
senses and back to the workplace
thank you and besides if you think about
it it makes perfect sense because i'm
the ultimate reality show
you all know i'm a survivor and once
again
a bachelorette and every time i get
divorced another joe millionaire is born
[Applause]
everyone thinks reality tv is new but
actually it's been here since the
earliest days of television
this is abc the american broadcasting
company
you asked for it they say that there's a
horse down in louisville kentucky that
actually drives a car
all by himself let's make a deal
oh i'll give you 400 for that first oh
from hollywood in color it's the dating
game
okay bachelor number two what do you
have at your house that i like
me i think
that's your final answer yes
boys just don't find me cool they will
they will they only like marsha marsha
marsha marshall
[Applause]
so you accepted that
[Music]
ever wonder what would happen if you
crossed a golden retriever
with a pez dispenser
here is an all-star montage somebody
once
told me the world is gonna roll me
i ain't the sharpest tool in the shed
hey now you're an all-star get your game
on
go play hey now you're a rock star
get the show on get paid
abc's 50th anniversary celebration will
continue with
peter jennings the fox the vernon
shirley and a happy days reunion
1981 general hospital draws the largest
audience in daytime television history
with the marriage of luke spencer and
laura baldwin
my curse on you laura and luke
my curse on both of you
all right guys kickstand straight font
kickstand
all right all right listen up girl
one time one time only lying right up
here kiss the fonts for a bucket that's
a bargain at any price
thanks very much i'm sorry i had to put
you through this
thanks for coming
ladies and gentlemen it's the vines
himself
henry winkler
[Music]
three parts of the situation comedies
laverne and shirley mork and mindy and
and jody loves chachi they can all trace
their roots back to one
family tree known as happy days
[Music]
do you think maybe there's something
wrong with us yeah
your skin is so smooth hands off that's
me
laverne this is laverne defazio she's
mine
and this is shirley feeny she's yours as
you can see
oh yeah let me kiss
i treat my body as a tempo laverne you
have chosen to treat yours as an
amusement park
there is no reason on earth why prince
charming cannot
walk through our front door hello
can you take a little constructive
criticism it's not nice to sit on your
face
shipping
[Music]
fly be free now you all know
my cousin chachi how you doing blue eyes
i think i'm going to come in again
marion and i have not climbed mount
everest or
written the great american novel
we've had the joy of raising two
wonderful kids
hey this is my sex talk yes
watching them and their friends grow up
into loving adults
and now we're gonna have the pleasure of
watching them pass that love on to their
children
and i guess no man or woman could ask
for anything
so thank you all for being part of our
family
to happy dates
ladies and gentlemen please join me in
welcoming two of the funniest women
ever on television cindy williams and
penny marshall
[Applause]
[Music]
the people you work with on a tv show
are a lot like your family
well um cindy and i were lucky enough to
have an extended family right
right from happy days and laverne and
shirley please welcome marion ross aaron
moran
anson williams david
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
ladies and gentlemen and now we would
like to uh bring on a man who created
memorable
characters wonderful situations with the
stroke of his pen
ladies and gentlemen gary marshall
[Music]
[Applause]
thank you very much
[Music]
helen are you coming out or not
yeah i'd quit jerking us around and come
out already
first heard that she wanted her
character to come out at that
party she had a party party before we
even started writing
we all sort of like gathered around and
uh
and she said i think this year i'm going
to be coming out
i finally decided i would come out and
it just made sense for the character to
come out at the same time
how did the executives react disney abc
they were all very supportive why can't
i say the word i mean why can't
i just say i mean what is wrong that why
why do i have to be so ashamed i mean
why can't i just
say the truth i mean be who i am i'm 35
years old
i'm so afraid to tell people i mean i
just when was the last time you had a
moment's
doubt wondering if it were the right
thing
um a long time ago ellen was just you
know her eyes were this big
you know the entire week i think she
couldn't believe it was happening the
most difficult scene to rehearse
was when ellen said that she was gay
because literally every time we
rehearsed that she burst into tears
susan i'm gay
the audience went insane i mean it was
two minutes or three minutes event
screaming
and uh just uh felt
literally this this like i was
filled with joy
in new york please welcome abc news
anchor
peter jennings well as we have learned
again
so recently television is often not just
a witness to history but a player
whether it be a war or conventions
congressional hearings moonshots
crimes of the century celebrations for
the ages
sometimes in covering the story
television becomes part of the story
and over 50 years television has
affected us profoundly
and in many cases changed us we
interrupt this program so that we may
bring you this special report from abc
news
nothing about this business as craft has
ever bored me for 20 seconds
it's in the nature of news that you get
to cover
and participate sometimes in every form
of human
emotion sometimes great fun sometimes
frightening have you ever personally
killed someone who opposed you
never sometimes very sad
i have a dream the first thing you have
to know about me as a young reporter of
civil rights in the mid-1960s i was
scared to death half the time
this is peter jennings in jackson
mississippi
i remember being chased by members of
the ku klux klan and thinking where am i
what's going on here i've never been
chased out of a towel in the worst parts
of the world
36 years ago when i went to vietnam we
were using
film not videotape all night long the
camp has been under enemy water attacks
so from the time that we shot the story
in the field until the time that it got
on the air
two and a half days might have passed
now
after spending a month on the front
lines in iraq we were able to quite
literally report this war live in all
the years i've been at abc i am
deeply impressed by the american
people's interest
in the world it was in february of 1972
i guess that we all went to china abc
that was about as close as going to the
other side of the moon
as i think american television has ever
been able to take
its viewers president nixon was quoted
today as saying he has nothing to hide
watergate came shortly thereafter i
didn't go to jerusalem with anwar sadat
but i was party to him planning that
visit
barbara walters went with him from cairo
to jerusalem there might be a ray of
light there might be some concession
there might be
a somewhat different position down the
[Music]
road
you are always like this
i don't think there's anything that
quite equals having a front row seat
do you control what is going on in the
streets
i've always felt the television news was
a way to take people places going to
south africa
it was the first time that a leading
south african
official a white man had sat down on
television to debate
a black man in south africa somehow it
was possible
for sandinistas and contras when they
were at war
protestants and catholics in northern
ireland palestinians and jews in israel
to come together and to talk on
nightline at a time when they wouldn't
talk to each other
anywhere else we learned earlier this
morning that charlie glass was kidnapped
by gunmen just south of beirut yesterday
the hardest moment i ever had in my
television career still
[Music]
a friend of ours an abc colleague i've
been best man at his wedding had been
kidnapped
in lebanon we were desperately trying to
find him i don't really like to
display my own emotions on television
particularly but sometimes it just
catches you
how many children have come into her
nursery
needing food like this we were led to
really just a a mound of earth
in a field in kosovo
and we were shown the pictures of the
people
who had been executed by the serbs
and there were men and women and
children
[Music]
um
yeah my strongest recollection i have to
tell you from the berlin wall is very
personal has to do with my kids i was
standing on top of the wall broadcasting
whoever thought we'd stand on top of the
wall in the middle of a break a guy
behind me somebody yelled hey pete
he threw me up a piece of the of the
berlin wall
and i just looked at it i thought oh
that's just one of the great souvenirs
and then i realized oh
i have two kids so he threw up another
piece we are so privileged we get paid
to go to the most interesting places in
the world to witness the most
interesting events in the world
to talk to the most interesting people
in the world and
truly we never get bored because if we
lose interest in the story
there's always a next one
i'm reminded by looking back at this
particularly for ted and me that
if it hadn't been for abc news i don't
think we'd ever had an advanced
education like it
we've seen the world and learned a lot
about it thanks to abc and
also i'd have to say primarily thanks to
rue narleage
the president and chairman of this news
division who died several months ago
so much of what you have seen about our
history would not have been possible
without him
abc's 50th anniversary celebration will
continue with
susan luching michael j fox and a look
at the final episodes of some of abc's
most
memorable series
[Music]
1964 the rolling stones first prime time
american television performance on
hollywood palace
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
one of the original cast members of all
my children
emmy award winner susan linchi
[Music]
earlier this evening we showed you
actors who got their start on primetime
tv
but abc daytime drama has launched its
own share of stars
see if you can identify these talented
beginners who had fun on daytime
exploring love lust betrayal and revenge
admit you're a liar okay i admit i lied
i i didn't know anything about mrs
martin
oh my baby hey i couldn't believe my
eyes
welcome home oh it feels so good hey
listen who goes bags when you before
some stranger trips
i have my selfish reasons i want to keep
you all to myself
well you weren't just loaded with
reasons aren't you yes i am
now eat your breakfast jay um
are you trying to tell me that you care
about me if our future depends on that
piece of kitsch we may as well hang it
up now
which of that cheesy leopard is not
worth five cents make more money ripping
off the thrift store
kendall you have to get the letter today
[Music]
forget it oh you know something i don't
really understand this family scene very
much you know why
because every time i turn around you're
yelling at me now if that's how it's
going to be i'm back out on the streets
[Music]
she's gone
oh god
[Music]
this is the face of hiv
are you saying that our divorce is the
cause of bianca's anorexia they're
transplanting
bj's heart into mexico
thank you uh as many of you know i got
kicked out of college twice
before i became a tv star so they picked
me to introduce the tribute to
schoolhouse rock
schoolhouse rock helped teach a
generation about government history
grammar math and science
it made these subjects fun exciting and
the best part
there was no detention
i'm just a bill yes i'm only a bill
and if they vote for me on capitol hill
well then i'm off to the white house
we're all waiting online
with a lot of other bills for the
president
to sign and if he signs me then i'll be
alone how i hope and pray that he will
but today
i am still just a bill
electricity conjunction junction
what's your function hooking up words
and phrases and clauses
we the people in order to form a more
perfect
union establish justice ensure domestic
tranquility
interjections show excitement or
[Music]
[Applause]
dawn that's the end
ladies and gentlemen four-time emmy
winner
michael j fox
[Applause]
i know every single one of you people i
know all of you
wow no matter how creative or how
successful even great shows come to an
end
the characters we spend time with week
after week move on
times change and so do we looking back
here's how some of those we love
best said farewell
walter whitebrad abc tv used to be a big
fan of yours
i still am i guess look walter i enjoy a
joke as much as anybody but
i got to get some work done you don't
know do you know what
you're canceled what
listen i just want to say
i'll miss you
and uh i love you son
[Music]
will it hurt no
you're just gonna fall asleep
i remember you i couldn't save them all
[Music]
but i saved
how do you thank somebody who's been
everything to you
your brother your protector
you delivered my own child
i i just don't know how i could ever say
that
i think you just did
i just wanted to but i love you
very much
[Music]
growing up happens in a heartbeat one
day you're in diapers
next day you're gone but the memories of
childhood stay with you for the long
haul
i remember a place a town
a house like a lot of houses
and the thing is after all these years
i still look back
with wonder
we'll return with 50 years of abc stars
all on stage for an historic abc
family photo
it's been an exciting 50 years at abc so
many wonderful shows
so many fantastic memories we want you
to know how much we've enjoyed
sharing them with you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
this is a personal vendetta strap in
tight
turn over for the season finale of blue
i'm gonna have your shield
it's one heck of a ride to the final
moment
i just want the marriage part of the
season legends are made of
all new blue abc tuesday 10 9 central
your discretion advised wednesday only
good morning america takes you where
cameras have never gone behind the
secretive guarded walls of the fbi
if you're dazzled by the matrix wait
until you see what the fbi's up to
wednesday an extraordinary two hours
from deep inside the fbi
his name is elio castroneves he's made
speed is french
he's made fences cool now he's trying to
make history
the indianapolis 500 sunday on abc