ON TELEVISION: THE VIOLENCE FACTOR (TV)
Summary
One in this series of documentaries that examines the medium of television. In this program, host Edwin Newman explores the issue of violence on television through discussions with industry members, academics, and activists. Highlights include excerpts from the following: congressional hearings on television violence, with Senators Thomas J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and John O. Pastore (D-R.I.); Dr. Frank Stanton of CBS; Dr. John D. Abel of the National Association of Broadcasters; and Representative Timothy Wirth (D-Colo.); the films "Alien," "The Shining," "Network, and "Hamlet," featuring Sir Laurence Olivier; Michael Jackson's music video "Thriller"; the cartoons "Tom and Jerry," "The Smurfs," and "Woody Woodpecker"; and the television shows "The A-Team," "Matt Houston," "Frontline," "The Untouchables," "Batman," "My Three Sons," "Sanford and Son," "Entertainment Tonight," "All in the Family," "Happy Days," "Little House on the Prairie," "Simon & Simon," "Starsky and Hutch," "Blue Thunder," "Riptide," "The Three Stooges," "Remington Steele," "The Rat Patrol," "Falcon Crest," "Police Story," "Dynasty," "Dallas," "Dean Martin's Celebrity Roast," "The Tonight Show," "Saturday Night Live," "Get Smart," "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer," "Hill Street Blues," "Scarecrow and Mrs. King," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "The Fall Guy," "Knight Rider," and "Cagney & Lacey," and others. Also featured are interviews with Dick Van Patten; Charlton Heston; Dr. George Gerbner of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania; Adam West, star of the television series "Batman"; Rep. Timothy Wirth (D-Colo.); Adam Rich of the television series "Eight Is Enough"; CBS media critic Ron Powers; media analyst Dr. Jean Kilbourne; Marvin Barrett of the DuPont-Columbia Survey and Awards in Broadcast Journalism; Richard Threlkeld, ABC News; Frank Gardener, news director, CBS; U.S. Assistant Attorney General Rudolph W. Giuliani; Peter Jennings, ABC News; Bill Moyers, CBS News; television personality Steve Allen; Grant Tinker, chairman of the board of NBC; Don Bellisario, producer of the television series "Magnum, P.I."; Dr. David Pearl of the National Institute of Mental Health; Dr. Joyce Sprafkin of the State University of New York at Stony Brook; NBC researchers Dr. Ronald Milavsky, William S. Reuben, and Dr. Horst Stipp; producer Joan Ganz Cooney of Children's Television Workshop; Peggy Charren of Action for Children's Television; Dr. Alan Wurtzel of ABC's Standards and Practices Department; Doctors Rowell S. Huesmann and Leonard Eron of the University of Illinois; Dr. George Comstock of Syracuse University; Doctors Eli Rubinstein and John Murray of the National Institutes of Mental Health's Report Scientific Committee; Roy Danish of the Television Information Office; U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop; Donn O'Brien of CBS's Program Practices Department; Sam Simon of the Telecommunications Research Action Committee; Pluria Marshall of the National Black Media Coalition; Dr. Harvey Goldstein of the Prince George County Police psychiatric unit (Maryland); Lt. Dan Cooke of the Los Angeles Police Department; Peter Falk, star of the television series "Columbo"; Stephen J. Cannell, producer of the television shows "The A-Team," "Riptide," and "Hardcastle & McCormick"; actor Robert Guillaume; E.J. Gerrity; actresses Jayne Meadows and Ann Jillian; Charles Ferris, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC); and others.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: September 28, 1984 Friday 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:44
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T85:0344
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Peggy Charren); Violence in television
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1984-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Mary Megee … Producer, Writer
- Nicholas Stein … Director
- Edwin Newman … Host
- Jonathan Epstein … Announcer
- John D. Abel
- Steve Allen
- Marvin Barrett
- Donald Bellisario
- Stephen J. Cannell
- Peggy Charren
- George Comstock
- Dan Cooke
- Joan Ganz Cooney
- Roy Danish
- Thomas J. Dodd
- Leonard Eron
- Peter Falk
- Charles Ferris
- Frank Gardener
- George Gerbner
- E.J. Gerrity
- Giuliani, Rudolph (See also: Giuliani, Rudy)
- Harvey Goldstein
- Robert Guillaume
- Charlton Heston
- Matt Houston
- Rowell S. Huesmann
- Michael Jackson
- Peter Jennings
- Ann Jillian
- Jean Kilbourne
- C. Everett Koop
- Cagney Lacey
- Pluria Marshall
- Dean Martin
- Jayne Meadows
- Ronald Milavsky
- Bill Moyers
- John Murray
- Donn O'Brien
- Laurence Olivier
- John O. Pastore
- David Pearl
- Ron Powers
- Adam Rich
- William S. Reuben
- Eli Rubinstein
- Sam Simon
- Joyce Sprafkin
- Frank Stanton
- Horst Stipp
- Richard Threlkeld
- Grant Tinker
- Van Patten, Dick
- Adam West
- Timothy Wirth
- Alan Wurtzel