Wednesday, September 18, 2013

65th Primetime Emmy Awards to Honor 50th Anniversary of 1963 Television Milestones

The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards will pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of two events that changed the face of our world during the live telecast on Sunday, Sept. 22, (8:00 PM, ET / 5:00 PM, PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Six-time Emmy nominee Don Cheadle will present a moving tribute to television's role in the assassination coverage of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, and then connect that event to the performance of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show merely 80 days later on Feb. 9, 1964. Both of these historic events are often mentioned together as two of the most significant television moments in history, and the segment on the Emmy telecast will explore the tie between them.

Following Cheadle's presentation, six-time Grammy Award-winning artist Carrie Underwood will honor the music of the era with a special performance.

"To have an opportunity to look back at a time that represented television's finest hour in a program that celebrates so many of this year's achievements is what makes the Emmys special," said Executive Producer Ken Ehrlich. "We are certain that viewers will enjoy this special tribute."

In addition to the previously mentioned events, 1963 marked the first year that more people got their news from television than from newspapers. It was at this time that network newscasts were expanded from fifteen minutes to a half hour, and the FCC approved the use of the remote control for home viewing.

The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards are executive produced by Ken Ehrlich. Neil Patrick Harris is both host and producer, and the telecast is directed by Louis J. Horvitz for AEG Ehrlich Ventures, LLC in association with the Television Academy.

Check out the live episode of AS THE WORLD TURNS aired on Nov. 22, 1963, that was interrupted by a special Walter Cronkite news report.



RELATED:
- Creative Arts Primetime Emmys 2013: Complete List of Winners
- 65th Primetime Emmy Awards Telecast to Feature Five Special in Memoriam Tributes

4 comments:

  1. I remember watching a Mad Men box set that I checked out from my local library(can't remember which season) and in the DVD extra, they showed a clip from the episode of ATWT that got interrupted by Walter Cronkite.

    Just for a moment, I wonder what ABC and CBS did with their coverage and why it never gets mentioned in media but then I think 'they didn't have Walter Cronkite so I guess no one cares (lol)'.

    ATWT being my favorite soap growing up so I like the fact that ATWT is linked to one of Walter Cronkite's (and TV history) seminal moments.
    I guess I'm not much concerned with what the other networks might have been doing, to be honest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe NBC and ABC didn't program anything in that time slot in November 1963 (local affiliates got that half hour). So that's why everyone looks at the ATWT clip (aside from the fact that it was the #1 show at the time).

      Delete
    2. You are correct, Roger. The local NBC and ABC stations in Dallas-Fort Worth had local programming in that slot. The ABC station was in the middle of their program, The Julie Benell Show (a women's show), when the news came from just blocks away from that station. IINM, the NBC station's show was also a women's show. It is almost a certainty that the local CBS station of the time pre-empted ATWT that day, as the 3 stations pooled their live coverage of JFK's visit. The CBS station was set up at the Trade Mart building live, waiting on the arrival of the President to make an appearance and speech there.

      The assassination was a turning point of maturity for the local stations; they began to commit more resources to local newsgathering over the years since.

      Delete
    3. A1, from what little I've seen from YouTube, ABC and NBC didn't have anyone like a news-anchor around when the news broke. Announcers were their first on-air voices covering the situation; Don Pardo announced NBC's first few bulletins about the news. And just with CBS, there was no live studio images right away from either ABC or NBC. This was because the studio cameras used at the time weren't instantly ready for use, they had to be warmed up first.

      Delete