CBS NEWS SPECIAL: WEBSTER GROVES REVISITED (TV)

Summary

This "CBS News Special" focuses on reaction to the documentary "Sixteen in Webster Groves," aired by CBS on February 25, 1966, a program that looked at what it is like to be a sixteen-year-old living in the affluent St. Louis suburb of Webster Groves, Missouri. On that program, Kuralt characterized those sixteen-year-olds as "children of abundance, of privilege, of the good life in America" and asked if something was missing from that version of the "American dream." Kuralt says that CBS wanted to film the reactions of the local residents and that he watched the program with some of the students who appeared in the program. Kuralt recaps the methods and conclusions of the original program, and notes that some people accused CBS of having preconceived notions about Webster Groves; families and groups watch the original program; Kuralt watches the program with several of its student participants who react to themselves, their parents, and their friends; CBS affiliate KMOX-TV in St. Louis samples viewer attitudes; Kuralt views students, parents, and participants; and Kuralt summarizes criticism of the program but notes the power of television to change attitudes, using the segment on vocational courses as an example. Kuralt closes, noting that this is the first time CBS has ever "seen" its audience. Commercials deleted.

Cataloging of this program was made possible by the CBS Foundation, 1998.

Details

• NETWORK: CBS
• DATE: April 8, 1966 10:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:51:25
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T77:0186
• GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
• SUBJECT HEADING: Webster Groves, MO; Adolescence; Children; TV - Social aspects; Youth
• SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1966
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Arthur Barron … Producer
• Peter Davis … Associate Producer
• Walter Dombrow … Camera
• Charles A. Bohn, Jr. … Camera
• Clifford R. James … Camera
• Charles Kuralt … Reporter