# Was Steve Allen's "Meeting of Minds" ever sold on VHS/DVD or whatever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335 "2013-03-08T01:29:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/1 "2013-03-08T01:29:21Z")
I’d love to own episodes of Steve Allen’s show “Meeting of Minds” I found the interplay between characters from different eras quite fascinating. Jayne Meadows, Allen’s wife, played most of the female characters that appeared, except for when the race of the character was different. For example, an Asian actress played Tzu Hsi, the Chinese Dowager Empress. Watching Francois Marie Arouet, aka Voltaire, go up against Martin Luther was great. I don’t think I ever saw them all, but even the ones I did see I’d like to see again. Does anyone know if they were ever released in any video format? ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/2 "2013-03-08T01:39:42Z")
This site has scripts, audiocassettes, and VHS tapes available: [http://www.steveallenonline.com/television\_pioneer/meeting\_of\_minds.htm](http://www.steveallenonline.com/television_pioneer/meeting_of_minds.htm) Also here: > **[Meeting of Minds: The Complete Scripts, with Illustrations, of the Amazingly...](https://www.amazon.com/Meeting-Minds-Illustrations-Amazingly-Successful/dp/0879755679)** > > Meeting of Minds: The Complete Scripts, with Illustrations, of the Amazingly Successful PBS-TV Series, Fourth Series \[Allen, Steve\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Meeting of Minds: The Complete Scripts, with Illustrations, of... ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/3 "2013-03-08T01:48:31Z")
Thank you for those links. The two I’d really like to see are the one episode with Martin Luther/Plato/Voltaire/Florence Nightengale, and the one with Margaret Sanger and Gandhi(I don’t remember the other two from that episode. the latter show was the only one, I think they said, with two characters who actually were contemporary with each other. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/4 "2013-03-08T01:55:22Z")
I remember as a kid loving that Martin Luther was played by Leon Askin (who I knew as General Burkhalter from _Hogan’s Heroes_). Every woman in history looked, of course, like Jayne Meadows Allen. I’d like to see these now that I know a lot more about history. It was a great concept and one that I think History Channel would have success with if they revived it (well, if they gave a damn about history- Smithsonian maybe). ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/5 "2013-03-08T01:58:50Z")
And do they cut out all the Jayne Meadows scenes? Because she was insufferable. I did like Gen Burkhalter as Karl Marx. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/6 "2013-03-08T01:59:25Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I remember as a kid loving that Martin Luther was played by Leon Askin (who I knew as General Burkhalter from _Hogan’s Heroes_). Every woman in history looked, of course, like Jayne Meadows Allen. > > I’d like to see these now that I know a lot more about history. It was a great concept and one that I think History Channel would have success with if they revived it (well, if they gave a damn about history- Smithsonian maybe). Wasn’t Oliver Cromwell in one episode? I can’t remember for sure, I think it was one I saw a promo for but never got to see. Reviving it would be great, but only if the writer/host was someone with a touch of wit, like Allen had. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/7 "2013-03-08T02:10:43Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Wasn’t Oliver Cromwell in one episode? I can’t remember for sure, I think it was one I saw a promo for but never got to see. > > Reviving it would be great, but only if the writer/host was someone with a touch of wit, like Allen had. It’s being revived on stage with Gary Cole as Allen: [Meeting of Minds - Torture and S&M 1](http://vimeo.com/8343813) > **[Log in or sign up to view](https://www.facebook.com/events/221292427423/)** > > See posts, photos and more on Facebook. And Cromwell: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNqkzDHkATY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNqkzDHkATY) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/8 "2013-03-08T02:26:47Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I’d like to see these now that I know a lot more about history. It was a great concept and one that I think History Channel would have success with if they revived it (well, if they gave a damn about history- Smithsonian maybe). It was a great concept and I would certainly watch it a revival of it today. However, sometimes Steve Allen used the show to get on his soapbox. I have a couple of books of the collected scripts, and the episode mentioned above with Tzu Hsi also featured a lesser known historical figure of the Marchese di Bonesana Cesare Beccaria who wrote against the use of torture in the 1700’s. (Steve Allen credits him with “stopping the practice of torture in Europe” but I think that’s overstating it a bit.) Anyhow, most of the show was given over to a thinly veiled diatribe against the death penalty. Now, I’m also against the death penalty, but the program was supposed to be a presentation of supposed conversations between various figures of history, not a freakin’ sermon about the issues of today. Of course, you would want to hear what historical figures might think about what’s going on in the world now, but this show totally mishandled the focus. At least, that’s how it reads. I actually do remember watching the episode years ago, and all I can really remember is Roscoe Lee Browne as Frederick Douglass hitting the table with a bullwhip. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/9 "2013-03-08T02:28:08Z")
The only one I remember featured Jane Allen as Cleopatra. I don’t remember who the other personalities were, but it’s amazing how many times I’ve thought of the concept over the years. How intensely interesting it would be to write those scripts. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/10 "2013-03-08T03:02:31Z")
something somewhat similar was done on CBS radio (1947-1950) and tv (1953 - 1957) called You Are There where a historical event was reported as if it were a news event with radio or tv reporters present, it used the CBS news reporters and actors. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/11 "2013-03-08T03:19:27Z")
From following **Tony Sinclair** ’s Amazon link, I find that at least some of the episodes are available at [audible.com](http://audible.com), though one customer review complains that they’re disappointing and lose a lot in audio-only format. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/12 "2013-03-08T05:29:53Z")
There was also Patrick Watson’s _Witness to Yesterday_ and _Titans_. And _History Bites_, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/13 "2013-03-08T10:51:44Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > something somewhat similar was done on CBS radio (1947-1950) and tv (1953 - 1957) called You Are There where a historical event was reported as if it were a news event with radio or tv reporters present, it used the CBS news reporters and actors. I never saw the original of those, but they did revive that show later one, when I was growing up. I liked it, but the only one I remember offhand was the “fall of Constantinople” episode, with the doomed defenders, including the last Byzantine emperor, talking to the reporters. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/14 "2013-03-08T14:25:01Z")
I enjoy Horrible Histories and wish there would be an American history based version. Of course what I really would love is to find out one of the Edmund Blackadders sired a bastard who was exiled to Jamestown and see a line of shows built around his descendants. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/15 "2013-03-08T16:11:58Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > something somewhat similar was done on CBS radio (1947-1950) and tv (1953 - 1957) called You Are There where a historical event was reported as if it were a news event with radio or tv reporters present, it used the CBS news reporters and actors. Episodes of that show have been released on DVD. I found them at Barnes and Noble. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/16 "2013-03-08T16:17:24Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Thank you for those links. The two I’d really like to see are the one episode with Martin Luther/Plato/Voltaire/Florence Nightengale, and the one with Margaret Sanger and Gandhi(I don’t remember the other two from that episode. the latter show was the only one, I think they said, with two characters who actually were contemporary with each other. Really? Because I remember seeing Karl Marx (General Burkhalter) on a panel with Ulysses Grant. In real life Marx was four years older than Grant. That episode ended with Grant pointing out that every country where Marx was a hero was a brutal dictatorship, with Marx sputtering..“but,but,but”. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/17 "2013-03-08T22:36:10Z")
I nominated that show for the Hugo every year that it ran, though it never did make the final ballot. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/18 "2013-03-09T21:27:34Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > However, sometimes Steve Allen used the show to get on his soapbox. Yeah, that’s when I stopped watching. Also because I thought the writing was simplistic and didn’t go deep enough into the characters’ thoughts and beliefs. It was like it was written from an encyclopedia of biographies and aimed at high schoolers. Some characters hadn’t been paying any attention at all since dying while others had, like how Grant knew what happened when countries went Marxist. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/19 "2013-03-09T23:23:14Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Yeah, that’s when I stopped watching. Also because I thought the writing was simplistic and didn’t go deep enough into the characters’ thoughts and beliefs. It was like it was written from an encyclopedia of biographies and aimed at high schoolers. Some characters hadn’t been paying any attention at all since dying while others had, like how Grant knew what happened when countries went Marxist. An hour long show doesn’t have time to go too deeply into “thoughts and beliefs”. I think it was meant to be “introductory”, and to interest viewers to do more research/reading on their own. The episode with Paganini the violinist was great. I don’t know who played him but that was one fantastic musician. ---
**Author:** ![Leelan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Leelan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leelan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335/20 "2013-04-28T17:40:36Z")
I have emailed Steve Allen’s website for many years asking when they would be released on DVD. The most I ever got was “Soon.” But the last reply was many many years ago. There was one episode where Jane Meadows did not play the female character. That was the discussion with the Empress Theodora who was played by Salome Jens, IIRC. I have most of the shows on audiocassette. But I really wish they were out on Blu-ray or DVD. The episode with Paganini, Blake and DaVinci just isn’t the same without the visual component. The series was available on VHS at one time. But those tapes are rare these days and hard to get. It would be great if the plays could be re-filmed and made available to a wider audience. I never missed an episode when they were first broadcast. Even then I knew there had to have been a spin on what was shown. But it really got me interested in reading history. And that was the real point I think. - Leelan [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-steve-allens-meeting-of-minds-ever-sold-on-vhs-dvd-or-whatever/652335.md?page=2)