GAIL SHEEHY'S "NEW PASSAGES" (TV)

Summary

This television special, based on Gail Sheehy's book "New Passages" and hosted by actress Kate Jackson, explores the progressive stages of adult life. Included are interviews with celebrities and everyday people, and scenes from their lives, accompanied by comments by Sheehy and Jackson. First, the "tryout twenties" are described as a time for trying different things in an effort to break away from parents and forge an adult identity. MTV correspondent Tabitha Soren calls this stage a prolonged adolescence, and the editorial staff of Swing magazine discuss issues faced by this age group. Tony-winning performer Wilson Jermain Heredia discusses his struggles to build a dancing career and his generation's insecurity and sense of impending doom. The "turbulent thirties" are described as a time when people's lives are brimming with commitments. Two couples are featured: one is expecting a child and preparing to buy a home, and the other has two children while juggling parenting and work, but both make sacrifices to fulfill their myriad responsibilities. Sheehy describes the "flourishing forties" as a time for security and stability, as well as new choices. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein and television executive Brandon Tartikoff discuss their backgrounds and coming of age during the prosperous 1950s, the turbulent civil rights era, and the Vietnam War. Two people describe drastic career disruptions due to layoffs or late childbearing, and Sheehy discusses the "meaning crisis" that many experience in their forties. Journalists Lee May and Jim Hubbard describe their decisions to abandon successful careers to pursue their passions, testifying to their personal growth and satisfaction. Sheehy discusses "the flaming fifties" or the "age of mastery," while journalist Barbara Reynolds and singer Judy Collins describe the trials they faced and the control they assumed over their lives. Next, actors Renee Taylor and Joe Bologna comment on the richness of their marital relations in their sixties, calling the age a time of freedom where one has nothing to prove and no one to impress; actor Larry Hagman and comedian Robert Klein also note the physical changes people encounter. Finally, Sheehy calls the seventies an "age of integrity." An Oregon cowboy describes the renewal he experienced when he embarked on projects to save endangered species and America's wild horses. Liz Carpenter reflects on her long career in Washington D.C., her new life in her seventies, raising her deceased brother's teenage children, and singing with a group of seniors. Includes commercials, promos, and public service announcements. Commercials include Melanie Griffith and Cindy Crawford for Revlon, Kim Alexis for Monistat 3; public service announcements include Spencer Christian for Children First.

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: August 26, 1996 7:30 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:54:00
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:45774
• GENRE: Specials; Education/Information
• SUBJECT HEADING: Human development
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1996
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV - Commercials - "Aladdin and the King of Thieves" (home video)
  • TV - Commercials - "All Dogs Go To Heaven" (home video)
  • TV - Commercials - "The Sound of Music" (home video)
  • TV - Commercials - Almay cosmetics
  • TV - Commercials - Arizona jeans wear
  • TV - Commercials - Axid AR antacid
  • TV - Commercials - Citibank credit cards
  • TV - Commercials - DirecTV satellite television service
  • TV - Commercials - Fact Plus pregnancy test
  • TV - Commercials - Folgers coffee
  • TV - Commercials - Jello gelatin dessert
  • TV - Commercials - Master Card credit cards
  • TV - Commercials - Mentadent toothpaste
  • TV - Commercials - Monistat 3 yeast infection medication
  • TV - Commercials - Nicorette stop smoking aid
  • TV - Commercials - Oldsmobile automobiles
  • TV - Commercials - Payless Shoe Source shoe stores
  • TV - Commercials - Pledge furniture polish
  • TV - Commercials - Ragu pasta sauce
  • TV - Commercials - Red Lobster restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - Revlon cosmetics
  • TV - Commercials - Tampax tampons
  • TV - Commercials - Target stores
  • TV - Commercials - Tylenol Allergy Sinus allergy medicine
  • TV - Commercials - Walt Disney World
  • TV - Commercials - Wendy's fast food
  • TV - PSA - Children First
  • TV - Promos - "ABC News: The 96 Vote Democratic Convention"
  • TV - Promos - "Coach"
  • TV - Promos - "Common Law"
  • TV - Promos - "Dangerous Minds"
  • TV - Promos - "High Incident"
  • TV - Promos - "Home ImprovementÓ
  • TV - Promos - "L.A. Story" (telecast of a feature film)
  • TV - Promos - "Life's Work"
  • TV - Promos - "Relativity"
  • TV - Promos - "Roseanne"
  • TV - Promos - "Spin City"
  • TV - Promos - "The Beatles Anthology"
  • TV - Promos - "The Drew Carey Show"
  • TV - Promos - "Townies"

CREDITS

• Barbara Kopple … Co-Executive Producer
• Joseph F. Lovett … Co-Executive Producer
• Brandon Tartikoff … Co-Executive Producer
• Susan Lester … Senior Producer
• Jerry Kupfer … Supervising Producer
• Suzanne Mitchell … Producer
• Vicki Sufian … Producer
• Gail Levin … Producer
• Gail Sheehy … Co-Producer, Writer, Based on the book by
• Hilary Birminghan … Associate Producer
• Kathleen Bambrick … Associate Producer
• Kristi Jacobson … Associate Producer
• Ellen Rodman … Associate Producer
• Micah Cormier … Researcher
• Jesse Moss … Researcher
• Art Labriola … Music by
• Kate Jackson … Host
• Kim Alexis … Talent, Monistat commercial
• Spencer Christian … Talent, Children First PSA
• Cindy Crawford … Talent, Revlon commercial
• Melanie Griffith … Talent, Revlon commercial
• Joe Bologna
• Liz Carpenter
• Judy Collins
• Larry Hagman
• Wilson Jermain Heredia
• Jim Hubbard
• Robert Klein
• Lee May
• Barbara A. Reynolds
• Gail Sheehy
• Tabitha Soren
• Brandon Tartikoff
• Renee Taylor
• Wendy Wasserstein