And here I'd thought I'd seen my fair share of TV shows in the '80s; evidently not the important ones. 'Raised on Television' covers everything from even TV ("Who Shot JR?" and the M*A*S*H finale) to the rebirth of the sitcom to the daytime talk show explosion (the material on both Donahue and Oprah was enlightening, and Morton Downey Jr. was a trip). The time devoted to "Miami Vice" was a pleasant surprise, but the other adult dramas were also interesting ("Hill Street Blues", "St. Elsewhere", etc).
I see now why they chopped this into two parts; it's a wealth of material.
To that end, the second half proves even more interesting. In discussing the retirement of trustworthy Walter Conkite (giving way to a younger generation of newscasters) there's a great talking head quote:
"The '80s may have been the last time where people watching the media liked and trusted the media"
It's a very relevant statement, which funnily enough precedes the segment on the birth of CNN (ugh, cable news; tell me that's not a pivot point in media history). But the episode also highlights how television started going in different directions during the '80s. I haven't seen a lot of the shows profiled here, so it made for a curious history lesson. It's interesting how you can trace our thirst for celebrity culture back to the premiere of "Entertainment Tonight".
7/10
I see now why they chopped this into two parts; it's a wealth of material.
To that end, the second half proves even more interesting. In discussing the retirement of trustworthy Walter Conkite (giving way to a younger generation of newscasters) there's a great talking head quote:
"The '80s may have been the last time where people watching the media liked and trusted the media"
It's a very relevant statement, which funnily enough precedes the segment on the birth of CNN (ugh, cable news; tell me that's not a pivot point in media history). But the episode also highlights how television started going in different directions during the '80s. I haven't seen a lot of the shows profiled here, so it made for a curious history lesson. It's interesting how you can trace our thirst for celebrity culture back to the premiere of "Entertainment Tonight".
7/10
