The 21st Century (1967– ) User Reviews

Before Carl Sagan's Cosmos

[johcafra · 10/10 · 20 July 2009]

...Stateside viewers in weekend prime time had this CBS News documentary series, which I lately and fondly recall with the recent passing of its host Walter Cronkite.

Patterned after its predecessor The Twentieth Century (also hosted by Cronkite) this series looked forward in a straightforward journalistic style, with in-the-field interviews in the groves of academe, laboratories and research centers, occasionally supplemented by animation. Each episode (one hour each, not 30 minutes) addressed one substantive topic, though I dimly recall at least one two-parter.

The series did not run for very long but certainly had more than two episodes, for I recall the topics of at least five: Space and undersea exploration, computers, medicine, and "the population explosion". And the overall theme and style were by no means rose-colored; I recall that last topic given quite the sobering treatment. I clearly recall the musical theme and some imaginative commercials by the principal sponsor, though would appreciate being definitively told if that sponsor was Dow Chemical, Monsanto or Union Carbide, or perhaps all of them.

One episode, I believe concerning the burgeoning medical use of artificial body parts and the prospects for human augmentation, won the 1967 Albert Lasker Medical Journalism Award. The award cites Fred Warshofsky (writer), Isaac Kleinerman (producer) and Burton Benjamin (executive producer). Warshofsky penned books with the series name in the titles; I'm now tempted to find them to determine whether they were educational companions to the broadcasts. (I since found one that helped me recall additional episodes on the future of astronomy and nuclear power.)

With his ongoing live broadcasts of the American space program on its way to the Moon, Cronkite was unquestionably in his element as host. If nothing else he helped convince this budding young science-fiction reader to ponder, judge, certainly prepare to participate in, but not fear the future. (If I didn't grow up to be an engineer I ended up surrounded by them!) I recall most clearly his giggling like a school kid while gripping the joystick on a hand-held box as he played a "space wars" simulation displayed on a black-and-white CRT in a laboratory at IBM, M.I.T., Caltech...anyone recall?

I don't doubt that "masters" or perhaps kinescopes of the episodes reside in some broadcasting museum. And it wouldn't so much be nostalgia or respect for Cronkite that would drive me to view the episodes after so many years as the curious urge to measure the progress we haven't made...

(An UPDATE for Dave from Austin: I'm glad someone else remembers. Yes, Union Carbide, now I'm surer of that. As for the theme music, the composer likely was Lyn Murray, a Juilliard grad who'd had a long association with CBS and television in general. For the longest time I'd thought Morton Gould the composer. The CBS Reports news specials used the "Simple Gifts" orchestration from Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring.)

(SECOND UPDATE: The Web site for The Paley Center for Media lists four episodes in its collection. Each 30 or fewer minutes, commercials deleted, and you're just going to have to visit NYC or LA to view.)

walt inspired this texan to learn everything he could about science

[corp4444 · 10/10 · 5 September 2010]

Ahh ... I will never forget twisting the dial on our old, 3 channel, B&W TV on that hot Sunday night in 1967. I heard Walter Cronkite say 9 short words about the future and I was HOOKED! This fifth grade boy missed an episode of "The Twenty-First Century." I made certain our RCA was perfectly tuned to CBS at 6pm sharp! From my amazed viewpoint, the show was perfect. It started with Aaron Copland's stirring music that set the tone for my entire night. (I still search for the Copland piece, but I remember the notes: "da, dumb. (pause) da, da, da, dom. (pause) da, da, da, dom.) Then Walter would give us a sneak peek of the night's amazing science. Next he would break for an "important commercial message" from our proud sponsor Union Carbide. And sixty seconds later, the machines, the science, and the predictions were marched out for all of America to see. WOW! What a show. What a show. Even after Walt said goodnight, I would stay on cloud nine the rest of the evening: Convinced that my Flash Gordon sketches WOULD be needed in the twenty-first century. Excited by Walt's certainty. Wound-up by Union Carbide's enthusiasm. Yes, it was hard to sleep on Sunday nights.

And now ... forty years later ... I try my best to recreate that same excitement for my first year engineering students.

Thank you Walter for producing such a marvelous show.

I am most appreciative, dave in austin, Texas

In to the future (cuz the present sucked)

[pikappbh · 10/10 · 28 January 2011]

I remember Sunday (afternoons as I remember like 2 or 3pm) in Memphis Tennessee in 1967 or 68. Could not wait for Uncle Walter the Incorrputable to introduce The Twenty-First Century and it was DEFINEAILTY Union Carbide. It put you in another world, which was a real pleasure for this 4-5th grader. America was still a juggernaut on a non-stop diet of simplistically cynical marketing and GOOD legal drugs (alcohol, nicotine and caffeine). JFK had been murdered in the street three years ago, our black citizens felt they did not share in the American dream....imagine that, I saw my first (singular) black student, cities were burning, the Apollo program was accelerating,Vietnam was on the news every night at 6 and was still completely winnable, my dad railed against The Long Hairs (illegal BAD drug crazed anarchists who hated America), Dr. King (and all black and white agitators who hated America) and President Johnson (and all bleeding heart liberals who hated America)in that order. Still there was ,however, this feeling in the air that Americans really COULD do anything, and for the right reasons. It was exhilarating, seeing the world at that time thru the eyes of a child. I now realize the unlimited horizon which could take the breath away from a nice white_protestant_straight_male, came at the cost of limiting everyone else's' horizons.

I remember REALLY GRAINY black and white (maybe what I now know could have been kine-scope). Mr.Cronkite's voice would matter-of-factly begin "In the Twenty First Century...and go on to transfix me on the miracles of enthusiastic technological future. I treasured each one I saw. I wish I could remember more of them. The one I remember was on robotics and how this would allow menial jobs to be done without bothering real people. Of course we now know they left out the part where real people had real jobs supporting real families doing those menial jobs. It would be a wonderful retrospective especially in schools before discussing the current miracles of a enthusiastic technological future. Maybe we could stimulate some critical thinking ...oops not one of the four R's, the only things kids need to learn...a least here in Florida. Who can we write to? I'll join.

What an amazing time capsule

[chargerrich · 25 August 2011]

I am not old enough to have watched this amazing show during its original run but do remember the Science Channel back in early 2000 running a "retro weekend" airing this series.

I was only able to see three episodes regarding the future of robotics and circuitry, a manned mission to mars (predicted by NASA for the summer of 1986!) and the "future kitchen". All amazing to watch in today's advanced society.

I have not seen it since and have not been able to secure any VHS/DVD source for the original programming. If anyone has a source, I would love to share this with my children.

Please if you have ANY leads to acquiring this great work, share.

The Future Looks Bright But Still Waiting for That Flying Car

[ricksmail449-imbd · 9/10 · 17 March 2022]

I just heard the Steely Dan song- IGY and was reading about how an American astronaut could be left stranded up in the ISS because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It made me think of a TV show I watched as a young lad when it aired in 1967 and was narrated by The Most Trusted Man in America- Walter Cronkite. At that time, life changing moments such as, "One small step for man..." and the TET Offensive were still in the future but close. There was a lot of buzz about the promise of the world's future through technological marvels that were either in R&D or in the conceptual stages.

Before books like Alvin Toffler's: Future Shock or Martin Ford's: Rise of The Robots, we had Cronkite's 21st Century TV show. It was neither utopian nor dystopian but fairly balanced as to where our never-ending quest for better living through advances in technology can take us.

It's often stated that the one thing we've learned from predicting the future is that we really aren't very good at it. But I have to give credit to this show by how close it got. After all, the 21st century is just 21 years old and the relentless march of technology has not stopped. I'm still hoping that flying car will get parked in my garage some day.

Want to see it AGAIN; I was 8 yrs old!

[outdoorjanitorial · 10/10 · 22 February 2021]

Have to give a more rosy review, in 2021, than the 2011 review by a once-properly-excited 4th grader, which, surprisingly, here at the end of the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century!

I was equally excited by this show, as the (so far) only other reviewer, who prolly had to wait to COLLEGE to become as jaded and anti-American as part of his post suggests he is; or perhaps the character Archie Bunker (who even conservatives found amusingl, and did their best to apologize for) made him hate his father?)

Walter Cronkite, who President Johnson DID credit for convincing the public that Vietnam could not be won, I learned later on my life, WAS believable, dramatic, and trusted, as he told about wonders to come - I'm wishing I could see the series again, as I THINK I recall an episode wherein they had a man underwater in a tank of (super-oxygenated? Isotonic, I hope!) water, BREATHING that water like a fish-this seems like such a potentially lethal thing to do with a person I almost think I'm dreaming. My last comment is that I've got an actual 21st century miracle in my hand😃 an iPhone XR; but, people being people, and myself being now a Christian, like our founders, if not the negative reviewer, I realize that tho I can take perfect pix, and even morph them into "oil paintings" create invoices for my biz on-the-fly, etc, they will be used as revelation predicts, to control us by antichrist; and our inventiveness will not become harmless until, as Hanna Bergstrom, mother of the first Texas airman to die in WWII saw in a vision from God, our great technological inventions are displayed in a lower level of heaven like the Smithsonian, -displayed below the Marriage Feast of the Lamb (Jesus) which will be attended by millions from all tongues, tribes, and nations, including the good old USA.

Bring This Back For Streaming

[mlhlrh · 9/10 · 16 March 2024]

As a kid, this show fascinated me. I loved the ideas it had and excited me about the future. I always loved listening to Walter Cronkite as well. I still think he was the best journalist ever, now or then!

I've said many times this short series needs to be restored and offered on streaming services. It'd be great to see what was predicted and came true or not. I've seen a few reels that very possibly came from this series, so I know it's collecting dust somewhere on some shelf. There are also other old shows or series that have few episodes already being streamed, and the retro series are always fun to watch, as this one definitely would be.