I’d say my number one memorable moment is when the Daily Show on Comedy Central did their first show back after 9/11. A lot of talk show hosts gave speeches and tributes when they came back on, but Jon Stewart’s gives me chills every time I watch it.
He did a 9 minute monologue, voice cracking, sniffling, sometimes struggling to get the words out, but he did, and those words are some of the most inspiring, most moving words I’ve ever heard.
Well, I see my memory for people’s names has gone kaput. Sorry about that. Thanks to you who ‘fixed’ those.
I’d like to second that. I’ve got a link if anyone would like to read it. Very moving. I don’t believe I saw it the first time it aired, but I do believe I saw a rerun either later that day or several months later, and I definitely shed tears. I remember thinking “What a great man to come on air and ask us, the viewers, ‘are you okay?’”
I don’t know but I found that Gabe Kaplan only guest hosted one day: 27 June 1977. Now if soneone could find a guest list for that night.
Hearing that Elvis Presley had died. My brother and sister and I were watching t.v. in my parent’s bedroom. We were dumb-founded. What a tragic waste.
Watching Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe slug it out for 5 sets at Wimbledon. Must have been in the mid-70’s. I was despondent when Borg lost.
The episode of thirtysomething where they killed off Gary. I couldn’t BELIEVE they killed him off!
Charlie leaving Kirsten at the altar on thirtysomething. I wept crocodile tears.
The episode of I Only Have Eyes For You were Buffy and Angelus reunite via a poltergeist. (Don’t ask.) Awesome t.v.
Sammy turning off the light at Cheers.
Outside of 9/11…the most memorable thing I have ever witnessed on television was the funeral procession of Princess Diana. I was completely choked up over that. I sat my 5 year old on my knee and explained as best I could what that was all about and she too was struck by the occasion.
Another bad one for me was the day Kurt Loder announced on MTV with breaking news that Stevie Ray Vaughan had died in a chopper crash back in 90’. I’m still tore up about that.
Well, according to this site, here’s the guest list:
So I dunno.
I went to the gym at lunch in May of 1999. The regular news was on, but was interrupted by a breaking story at Columbine HS. Nobody on air or even on the site (reporters) knew what was going on, but the volume of police and emergency workers was like nothing ever seen before. It was about 12:30 and everything started to stop at the gym. All stations (Denver) were covering a situation that none had the info on. It was surreal - every viewer knew because of the volume of police and emergency workers that something horrible was going on, but no one had the story at the time.
Driving home that evening I was in tears all the way, but had my sunglasses on and covered it. I stopped at a red light and looked to my left and saw a rusted pickup with a rough looking cowboy bawling his eyes out. I let loose then, and found everyone else around us in exactly the same state.
I’m about 25 miles from Columbine HS.
9/11, of course.
When I was in eighthgrade, we watched Timothy Veigh’s execution on TV. They showed pictures of everyone who died in the explosion while he was being given the lethal injection, and then they had the press conference.
It was a very strange thing to watch during first hour English.
I also remember watching the September 11 attacks, when the towers fell–and one of the anchors, I believe it was Peter Jennings, said something along the lines of, “it looks like a banana, but a banana full of people,” and I remember thinking that this man was obviously in shock and that he probably shouldn’t be on the air at that moment in time.
Hmm, strange. There’s no doubt in my mind that the guests were Robert Conrad and Scatman Crothers. It had to be during the run of Chico And The Man, so that would make it from 1974-1978 (it says here), so the date sounds about right. I’m thinking that website idn’t 100% accurate.
Hmm, strange. There’s no doubt in my mind that the guests were Robert Conrad and Scatman Crothers. It had to be during the run of Chico And The Man, so that would make it from 1974-1978 (it says here), so the date sounds about right. I’m thinking that website isn’t 100% accurate.
His execution wasn’t broadcast.
To moderately steal a quote from Brian Griffin:
“Are you sure it was his execution? Are you sure it wasn’t NOTHING?”
1999: Dale Earnhardt wins the Daytona 500 in his 20th try. I remember wondering if the car was going to run out of gas on that last caution lap, or if a tire would go flat or something, just to steal it from him one more time. That, and Mike Joy’s classic line, “This may be the longest receiving line in the history of celebrations.”
2001: Dale Earnhardt crashing in Turn 4 at Daytona. I figured he just put the car in the wall to make sure Mikey won. Then they showed that ambulance leaving the race track way too slowly. A few hours later, I came home and the only words my dad said were, “He’s dead.”
I can remember my exact reaction to the whole 9/11 series of events. I was in Physics when the second plane hit, and I stood in my history classroom a few minutes later and said, “They knocked the whole building down. How could they knock the whole building down?”
Being a helluva lot older than nearly all of you….
My Dad bought a bar on the corner of 9th and Bryant in San Francisco right after coming home from WWII. He bought a TV for the bar early on and subsequently bought each new model that came out. The older TVs came home to us. They were usually huge consoles with very small screens (ten inchers at first, and I think one screen might have been round).
I remember the first ten years or so watching my Dad fiddling with the horizontal-hold and adjusting for ‘snow.’ We had a mirror opposite the TV so that my Dad, behind the TV working the knobs, could monitor his progress. Rabbit ears were adjusted constantly and at some point (when invented and available) aluminum foil was wrapped around the ears.
In the beginning, local TV came on between 4 and 7 PM and, IIRC, consisted of news, a cowboy western and a childrens’ show. There was a fifteen minute program that featured a local singer, Roberta Quindlen (how do I remember this?), who, while in the middle of a song, had one side of her strapless dress fall down, exposing a well-endowed breast. Ah! Live TV!
Every few months more hours were added and the test pattern announced the end of the broadcast day.
One huge event was when we were hooked up with Los Angeles television; a few years later, we hooked up with New York. These were major and glued all TV owners to their sets to see if this miracle could actually be performed. Live TV glitches were a constant source of amusement.
A few more kid memories from the olden times:
After childhood:
Los Angeles riots
JFK, MLK and Bobby Kennedy’s assassinations and the aftermath
Kent State
Vietnam war reporting and the subtle turn in reporting the truth
Michael Jackson and the moon walk on whatever awards show
Oklahoma City bombing
Waco
9/11
It might not be. So I’ve gone to the source! Yes, I emailed Gabe Kaplan (seriously). Maybe he remembers.
When I was born we all liked Ike, loved Lucy and the Honeymoon would never end…so I do remember most of the historic news coverage from the TV era and those moments are as much a part of me as they are all of you (from whatever point you started) so I’ll not re-hash the ultimate “reality” series that is our network news.
SNL - Bass-O-Matic; Bob and Ray “Do 'Ya Think I’m Sexy” disco sketch; Land Shark and from an irate Garrett Morris on Weekend Update “Mr. Mick Jagger, where are all these black girls?”
Maybe not life changing, but certainly affirming…
My GOD! That’s who that was! Of course!
We need a good variety show again.
Halloween 1999. Greg Moore’s death at the CART race. Even if there had been any hope for him to survive the actual crash, it was dashed by the fact that the track lowered all its flags to half-staff before they even officially announced his death.
I remember when Earnhardt died, too. At that point I worked in a NASCAR memorabilia store, and I’d watched the beginning of the race on the TV in the store, and gone for the 20-minute drive home after I closed up fully expecting the race to be over when I got home. But I walked in the door of my house just as Dale hit the wall.
I was very, very, very young when the Challenger disaster happened. In fact, I had just turned 3. But I remember sitting up with my parents and watching it on TV in the living room of the house we lived in at the time. I didn’t get its implications, of course, but I have a distinct memory of it nevertheless.
“All in the Family”
Setup: Gloria had earlier told everyone that she was expecting a baby, and nobody is able to react happily. Archie is already stressed that he’s having to share his home with his daughter and son-in-law, who he thinks is a ne’er-do-well; Michael is unprepared for fatherhood and cannot be happy about it; Edith is worried about taking care of all of them; Gloria herself is upset about how everyone else is taking it, as well as the financial and emotional stress having a child will place on all of them. There is turmoil, arguments; not at all how the announcement of a new baby should be reacted to.
Archie comes home later, having accepted the news, carrying a huge teddy bear. Edith greets him at the door with the news that Gloria has lost the baby. He stands there, stunned, disbelieving. Then, he goes up to visit his daughter, who is recovering in bed. They talk quietly, seeing how each other is taking things.
The scene mixes humor and pathos, and shows that whatever his flaws, Archie deeply loves his daughter, and cannot bear her pain and hurt. It also shows Gloria’s connection to her father, and the unshakable bond between them. It was the one of the best acting and writing moments I’d seen on television.
Another is “Star Trek: Next Generation” where Jean-Luc Picard has to mind-meld with Savak because, due to an illness, he has to hold him in emotional control during an important diplomatic conference.
Savak’s character is angry, betrayed, and embarrassed at his loss of control. Jean-Luc becomes caught up in the flood of feeling and is affected by seeing someone who has been stoic and intelligent descend briefly into madness, but will not abandon his duty and friend.
The scene where Jean-Luc has to act as Savak’s emotional anchor is astonishing because Patrick Stewart’s talent lies not just in showing an emotional outburst, but with showing someone attempting to rein in that emotional cloudburst, and all the emotions that come with it.