The Museum of Television & Radio's Fall Schedule of Events Includes Seminars with Television Legends, Premiere Screenings, Family Programs, and More
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Los Angeles, CA—The Museum of Television & Radio in Los Angeles kicks off its fall season with a host of high-profile events including public seminars, one-on-one conversations with some of the entertainment industry's groundbreaking leaders, premiere screenings, a retrospective screening series featuring the work of comedian Lenny Bruce pushing the boundaries of the first amendment on television, and a family event celebrating the television western presented in conjunction with the Museum of the American West.
Museum seminars will include Donald Trump and Mark Burnett discussing the impact of The Apprentice, a conversation with television veteran David Milch, and a special evening with Jack Valenti and guest moderator James Woods. The 2004 annual John H. Mitchell Seminar will feature the award-winning television-production team of Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner. Also, in this presidential election year, the Museum will premiere two documentary screenings in Los Angeles examining four of America's most influential politicians—Robert F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The Museum of Television & Radio's
Fall 2004 Calendar* for Los Angeles as of August 23, 2004
MUSEUM SEMINARS
Monday, September 20, 2004; 7:00–8:30 pm
The Apprentice: Why ‘You're Fired!' Has Fired Up Americans
Panelists: Mark Burnett, creator/executive producer
Donald Trump, executive producer/host
Monday, September 27, 2004; 7:00–9:30 pm
American Experience: RFK—This absorbing new two-part biography of Robert Kennedy traces his often-tortured odyssey from "a black-and-white moralist" working for Senator Joseph McCarthy to a thoughtful man discovering his own identity after his brother's assassination.
Documentary screening and seminar in association with the International Documentary Association
Panelists: David Grubin, producer/director/writer
Ed Guthman, Robert F. Kennedy's former Press Secretary
Monday, October 4, 2004; 7:00–8:30 pm
Hill Street Blues, Murder One, and Deadwood: A Conversation with David Milch
Panelist: David Milch, critically acclaimed television writer
Guest Moderator: Brian Lowry, television columnist, Daily Variety
Wednesday, October 6, 2004; 7:00–8:30 pm
Decisions That Shook the World (Featuring Presidents LBJ, FDR, and Ronald Reagan)
In this media age, presidencies take on mythological proportions. This new three-part documentary series, in contrast, examines the presidency from its most human level: as a series of decisions. Decisions That Shook the World takes viewers inside the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Ronald Reagan as it explores presidential choices that shaped history. This seminar will include excerpts from each part of the documentary series.
Panelists: Jerry Rafshoon, filmmaker
Michael Beschloss, presidential historian; coproducer and narrator
Guest Moderator: Michael Kinsley, Editorial and Opinions editor, Los Angeles Times
Additional panelists to be announced.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004; 7:00–8:30 pm
Political Matters: Jack Valenti Looks Back
Panelist: Jack Valenti, former president and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America
Guest Moderator: James Woods, award-winning actor
Wednesday, November 17, 2004; 7:00–8:30 pm
The John H. Mitchell Seminar: Carsey-Werner
Panelists: Marcy Carsey, partner/executive producer
Tom Werner, partner/executive producer
Guest Moderator: Warren Littlefield, president of The Littlefield Company
FAMILY EVENT
Saturday, September 18, 2004; 1:00–4:00 pm
MT&R Family Event: Western Daze
This family experience looks at the golden age of the television westerns to discover just how these popular shows from the 1950s, '60s, and '70s shaped America's idea of the West. There will be performers who will present songs, stories, trick rope twirling, and authentic Native American dances as well as arts and crafts activities with a Western flair. This event is presented in collaboration with the Museum of the American West.
SCREENING SERIES
- Look! Up at the Screen! It's Superheroes on Television (Continuing)
Through October 10, 2004
The television superhero, descended from comic books and movie serials, has evolved in unexpected directions, offering fantastic adventure and spectacle for audiences of all ages and every taste. This screening series will feature multiple packages, covering programs from The Adventures of Superman and Batman to Powerpuff Girls and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- The Presidency: Political Image-making and Television (Continuing)
Through November 7, 2004
Just in time for the coming election, the Museum offers this politically themed screening exploring the process of presidential image-making. "The Presidency" is a compendium of political television commercials from 1952 to the present, including Nixon's "Checkers Speech" and Johnson's legendary "Daisy" spot. This historical survey is paired with Robert Altman and Garry Trudeau's provocative miniseries Tanner '88, a mockumentary covering the campaign of fictional candidate Jack Tanner.
- American Pop: Singer Presents Elvis (Continuing)
August 6 to October 3, 2004
The Museum honors the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death with screenings of the classic 1968 special, Singer Presents Elvis. This special—Elvis's first television appearance in eight years—is colloquially known as the King's "comeback," and it proved to be one of the most significant events in his career. This screening also includes excerpts from One Night with You, a 1985 repackaging of the improvised segment of the special, which contains material not used in the original program.
- Two Five-Letter Words: Lenny Bruce
November 5, 2004, to January 9, 2005
A great satirist in the Swiftian tradition, Lenny Bruce knew full well the boundaries of the public arena—but broke them anyway, skewering the moral and political hypocrisy of postwar America with a pioneering subversiveness that forever changed the tenets of comedy and free speech. The Museum's ninety-minute compilation traces the evolution of Bruce from harmless mimic to the era's leading provocatuer, and includes many rarely seen examples of the hip, bebop patter and daring social commentary that catapulted him to fame and eventually into court.
- Family Halloween Screenings
Wednesday, October 27 to Sunday, October 31
Family Favorites at 12:30 p.m. and Horror Classics at 1:00 p.m.
Celebrate Halloween at The Museum of Television & Radio by watching such family favorites as It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and a sampling of classic horror programs from the Museum's collection every day during the Halloween season.
RE-CREATING RADIO WORKSHOPS
Re-creating Radio is a two-hour workshop where children ages nine and older produce an old-time radio drama using scripts, sound effects, and music. The workshop takes participants through the many stages of radio production, including casting, microphone and sound effects training, and a cue rehearsal, before putting on a "live" broadcast. The series brings to life stories in the tradition of Superman, The Shadow, and The Lone Ranger. The performance is recorded, and each participant receives and audiocassette following the workshop. Reservations are required. Workshops held on Saturdays starting after Labor Day. For schedule, please call 310 786 1014 or visit www.mtr.org.
*All calendar information is subject to change. Please call the Museum's press office at (310) 786-1042 to confirm all information prior to publication.
Admission and Ticketing
Admission to The Museum of Television & Radio screenings is included with the Museum's suggested contribution: Members free; $10.00 for adults; $8.00 for senior citizens and students; and $5.00 for children under fourteen. Admission is free in Los Angeles. Tickets for The Museum of Television & Radio seminars are now available in the Museum lobby during regular hours or by calling (310) 786-1091. Tickets are $15.00 for general public; $12.00 for Members, senior citizens, and students. For more information about The Los Angeles Annual Gala, please call (310) 786-1038.
The Museum of Television & Radio, with locations in New York and Los Angeles, was founded by William S. Paley to collect and preserve television and radio programs and advertisements and to make them available to the public. Since opening in 1976, the Museum has organized exhibitions, screening and listening series, seminars, and education classes to showcase its preeminent collection of over 100,000 television and radio programs and advertisements and to provide a critical forum for the interpretation of these media and their significance in our society. Programs in the Museum's collection are selected for their artistic, cultural, and historic significance.
The Museum of Television & Radio in New York, located at 25 West 52 Street in Manhattan, is open Tuesdays through Sundays from noon to 6:00 p.m. and until 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays. The Museum of Television & Radio in California, located at 465 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, is open Wednesdays through Sundays from noon to 5:00 p.m. Both Museums are closed on New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Suggested contribution: Members free; $10.00 for adults; $8.00 for senior citizens and students; and $5.00 for children under fourteen. Admission is free in Los Angeles. The public areas in both Museums are accessible to wheelchairs, and assisted listening devices are available. Programs are subject to change. You may call the Museum in New York at (212) 621-6800 or in Los Angeles at (310) 786-1000. Visit the Museum's website at www.mtr.org.