60 MINUTES {THE SNITCH, BUG MAN, THE BEST IN THE WEST} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of news magazine programs. In the first segment, "The Snitch," Harry Reasoner profiles a legendary police informant whose life as a career petty criminal has given him insight into police work that he is able to use to his advantage. Reasoner interviews the man in a hotel room while the man is out on bail, and the man demonstrates his techniques for procuring confidential information from police headquarters, the coroner's office, and media outlets. On camera, he telephones a police hot line and asks to speak to a supervisor. "This is Detective Matthews with homicide," he says. "My computer's down. Could you give me some information on the most recent murders?" The operator complies, and soon the man has a complete overview of a case. In the second segment, "Bug Man," Steve Kroft visits a midwestern farmer whose innovation of using "beneficial insects" to kill the bugs that feed on his grain was simultaneously heralded by the Department of Agriculture and shunned by the Food and Drug Administration. The F.D.A. seized the man's grain, in fact, citing an antiquated law that says that any insect is "filth" and must be kept out of contact with food. In contrast, the Department of Agriculture told him that he had finally found a viable way to eliminate dangerous pesticide use. About the government inconsistency, one farmer shrugs, saying, "I guess one hand just doesn't know what the other hand is doing." In the third segment, "The Best in the West," Ed Bradley profiles attorney Gerry Spence, whose reputation as the "Marshall Dillon" and "Robin Hood" of the courtroom has earned him nearly legendary status. Bradley presents a quick overview of Spence's highest-profile cases: Karen Silkwood's successful suit against a negligent nuclear power plant; a Wyoming beauty queen's libel suit against "Penthouse" publisher Bob Guccione; and, most recently, former Filipino first lady Imelda Marcos's much publicized legal battles. In the fourth segment, Andy Rooney discusses a phenomenon he has observed in grocery stores; the commentator notes that a product that is missing a typical ingredient often costs more than the regular version of the same product; e.g., skim milk costs more than whole milk, decaffeinated coffee more than regular coffee, and a jar of unsalted peanuts more than one of salted peanuts. Includes commercials.
Cataloging of this program has been made possible by the Bell Atlantic Foundation, 2000.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: June 17, 1990 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:54:40
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:64294
- GENRE: News magazine
- SUBJECT HEADING: Informers; Insect pests; Insect-plant relationships; Lawyers
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1968-
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - AT&T long distance telephone service
- TV - Commercials - Acura automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Compaq Computers
- TV - Commercials - Gillette razors
- TV - Commercials - Kellogg's Special K cereal
- TV - Commercials - Lestoil floor cleaner
- TV - Commercials - Mercedes Benz automobiles
- TV - Commercials - MetLife Insurance
- TV - Commercials - Nissan automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Philip Morris Company corporate good will
- TV - Commercials - United airlines
CREDITS
- Don Hewitt … Executive Producer
- Philip Scheffler … Senior Producer
- Lowell Bergman … Producer, Writer, News Writer
- Steve Singer … Producer, Writer, News Writer
- Steve Glauber … Producer, Writer, News Writer
- Merri Lieberthal … Producer
- Arthur Bloom … Director
- Allen Mack … Direction (Misc.), Associate Director
- Alicia Tanz Flaum … Direction (Misc.), Associate Director
- Mike Wallace … Reporter
- Ed Bradley … Reporter
- Harry Reasoner … Reporter
- Morley Safer … Reporter
- Steve Kroft … Reporter
- Andy Rooney … Reporter
- Bob Guccione
- Imelda Marcos
- Karen Silkwood
- Gerry Spence