"East Side/West Side" (1963) TV series 1963-1964

User Rating:

8.8/10   

Director:

Ron Winston

Writers:

Edward Adler (writer) (episode)
M.L. Paterson (writer)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

23 September 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Neil Brock is a young social worker in the slums of New York City; his boss is Frieda Hechlinger; and Jane Foster is the office secretary...

Plot Keywords:

New York | New York City | Social Worker | Race Relations | Social Problem

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 7 nominations

Cast

George C. Scott	...	Neil Brock (26 episodes, 1963-1964)
Elizabeth Wilson	...	Frieda Hechlinger (26 episodes, 1963-1964)
Cicely Tyson	...	Jane Foster (26 episodes, 1963-1964)

Runtime:

60 min (26 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Movie Connections:

Featured in Brilliant But Cancelled (2002) (TV)

A truly Naked City

The comparison has been made between this show and "Naked City", which was canceled the spring before this one appeared. Both were grimily serious shows filmed on the streets on New York using new York City Stage actors, (many of whom became famous movie and TV actors). Both shows were well done but there is more than a few months difference in thinking between them . Naked City tended to show stories with neat, (if often tragic) endings. ESWS didn't show ending at all. Everything it depicted was an ongoing problem, with no clear solution. The heroes could not simply arrest someone to end the problem at the conclusion of the hour. Often, they are nothing more than powerless observers, which is not very dramatically pleasing. The "Who do you kill" episode is somewhat disappointing to me because of the complete inefficacy of the heroes- it seems to rub your face in the problem but supplies no solutions. At least that's "real".

The second difference is that ESWS was the first TV program to come to terms directly with the problem of race, to show white audiences what it was like for a black man or woman in America. Black faces are almost totally absent from Naked City. Imagine a "realistic" story about big-city policeman who investigate nothing but crimes involving Caucasians. ESWS showed New York the way it really was- and is.