FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Loretta
Ramos Terry Lynn
Smith
The Museum of Television & Radio Presents
Blast from Your Past—
What Gen X Watched: 1969–1985
Saluting generation-defining television, from Zoom
to Oscar Meyer bologna commercials
June 6 to October 5, 2003
Shows such as The Partridge
Family, Diff’rent Strokes, and Charlie’s Angels all strike a
chord with Gen Xers, now in their twenties and thirties. They woke up early on Saturday mornings,
eager to be entertained by the breakthrough programming of Sid and Marty Krofft
and the diminutive cartoon characters called the Smurfs; they learned about
important social issues such as divorce and alcoholism from sitcoms like The
Facts of Life; and they shared teen angst with Maureen McCormick (The
Brady Bunch) and Sarah Jessica Parker (Square Pegs). Featuring shows from the ABC
Afterschool Specials to Zoom, the screening series invites Generation X to
celebrate television—the defining medium of its childhood.
Screening
Schedule:
Rising Stars
New York and Los Angeles: Friday,
June 6 to Sunday, June 15
Some of
today’s hottest celebrities—including John Travolta, Janet Jackson, Rick
Schroder, and Sarah Jessica Parker— got their big breaks on television in the
seventies and eighties. (Welcome Back, Kotter, Good Times, Silver Spoons, Square Pegs;
105 minutes)
Out of This World
New York: Tuesday, June 17 to
Thursday, June 26
Los Angeles: Wednesday, June 18
to Thursday, June 26
In the
seventies, several new television characters with supernatural powers or
extraterrestrial backgrounds made their way not only into the psyches of Gen X
kids, but also onto the shelves of many stores in the form of action figures,
board games, and clothing. (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Incredible Hulk; 110 minutes)
Action-Packed
New York and Los Angeles: Friday,
June 27 to Sunday, July 6
What
these series may have lacked in plot and dialogue, they more than made up for
with fast-paced action, high-speed car chases, and tall, leggy women, making
them Gen X classics. (Charlie’s Angels, The Dukes of Hazzard;
110 minutes)
Saturday Morning Favorites
New York: Tuesday, July 8 to
Thursday, July 17
Los Angeles: Wednesday, July 9 to
Thursday, July 17
Saturday morning television
was a sacred ritual for Gen X kids. They rose early to watch classic cartoons
such as Hey, Hey, Hey, it’s Fat Albert
and The Smurfs, live action shows like Land of the Lost, and even the educational interlude Schoolhouse Rock. (100 minutes)
Classic Night: 1977
New York and Los Angeles: Friday,
July 18 to Sunday, July 27
If you
channel surfed on the night of November 22, 1977 (and if your parents let you
stay up late), you would have caught the following three programs: Laverne & Shirley, M*A*S*H, and Soap.
(80 minutes)
Afterschool Activities
New York: Tuesday, July 29 to
Thursday, August 7
Los Angeles: Wednesday, July 30
to Thursday, August 7
The ABC Afterschool Special, which aired weekday
afternoons between 1972 and 1988, was a favorite of Gen Xers who ran home from
school to watch a teen drama unfold. With subjects ranging from teen pregnancy
to alcoholism, the ABC Afterschool Special offered feel-good
advice about how to deal with life’s problems.
(ABC
Afterschool Specials:
“Which Mother Is Mine?” and “She Drinks a Little”; 110 minutes)
High School Life
New York and Los Angeles: Friday,
August 8 to Sunday, August 17
From
groovy Westdale High (the Brady kids’ alma mater) to wacky Weemawee High (home
to Square Pegs), high school provides
the endearing—and sometimes poignant—context in which these teen television
characters try to find an identity and gain acceptance. (The Brady Bunch, Square Pegs, Welcome Back, Kotter, The
Facts of Life; 105 minutes)
For Kids/By Kids
New York: Tuesday, August 19 to
Thursday, August 28
Los Angeles: Wednesday, August 20
to Thursday, August 28
The seventies and eighties
gave Gen X youth many television series featuring, and/or inspired by, kids.
Relive great moments like “Ubbi-Dubbi” weather reports and “sliming” incidents
with these children’s favorites. (Zoom, The Electric Company, 3-2-1 Contact, You Can’t Do
That on Television; 115 minutes)
Parents Just Don’t Understand
New York and Los Angeles: Friday,
August 29 to Sunday, September 7
A
pervading theme of the Gen X sitcom is the perennial clash of parents and
teenagers. Shows featuring parents and kids served up a weekly dose of teen
angst. (Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Diff’rent
Strokes; 75 minutes)
Groovy Tunes
New York: Tuesday, September 9 to
Thursday, September 18
Los Angeles: Wednesday, September
10 to Thursday, September 18
Great
tunes of the seventies found their way onto variety shows like the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, which
featured the classic tune “I Got You Babe.” And on sitcoms like the campy Partridge Family, songs regularly became
hits even off-air. (The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Partridge Family; 90
minutes)
Classic Night: 1985
New York and Los Angeles: Friday,
September 19 to Sunday, September 28
ABC’s
Tuesday night lineup in the fall of 1985 included three Gen X favorites: Who’s the Boss?, Growing Pains, and Moonlighting. (115 minutes)
And Now a Word from Our Sponsors:
Gen X Commercials
New York: Tuesday, September 30
to Sunday, October 5
Los Angeles: Wednesday, September
30 to Sunday, October 5
From famous campaigns and personalities to new products
aimed at the X generation, advertisements were as much a part of the Gen X
television experience as the programs on which they aired. Gen X kids were the first to eat Sugar
Smacks, grow up with computers and video games, wear their Underoos, play with
Nerf products, and spin themselves dizzy with Sit & Spin. Remember Mikey, the finicky eater who liked
Life cereal; Iron Eyes Cody, who cried when you littered; and McGruff, who
urged you to take a bite out of crime?
You know you are part of the X generation if you grew up singing “plop
plop fizz fizz” and learned how to spell bologna from Oscar Mayer ads. And what Gen Xer can’t list the ingredients
in a Big Mac thanks to that unforgettable McDonald’s commercial? (35 minutes)
Blast from Your Past—What Gen X
Watched: 1969–1985 screenings are 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.
The Museum of Television & Radio, with
locations in New York and Los Angeles, is a nonprofit organization 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 collection of over 100,000 television and radio
programs and advertisements. In 2001
the Museum initiated a process to acquire Internet programming for the
collection. Programs in the Museum’s
permanent collection are selected for their artistic, cultural, and historic
significance.
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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.
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