Bleav: The Good, The Bad & The TV

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Get behind the scenes stories and a unique historical perspective of the most influential television shows in history from media professor and former CBS executive Jim McKairnes.

Bleav Podcast Network


    • Jan 21, 2021 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 14m AVG DURATION
    • 51 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Bleav: The Good, The Bad & The TV

    2001: 24 Hours in the Life of a Hit

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 21, 2021 14:48


    Premiering at the worst time imaginable, the Kiefer Sutherland drama series 24 re-invents the TV thriller in 2001, against all odds.

    1981: The Cop Show is Re-Born

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2021 15:43


    After 30 years of basically black-and-white storytelling about the (usually) boys in blue, the TV cop drama is re-thought in 1981 as the hard-charging and provocative and messy and multi-threaded "Hill Street Blues."

    1949: The News Story That Made News Itself

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 7, 2021 16:53


    The facts are sad and the story is tragic. But the tale of Kathy Fiscus is a watershed moment in the history of broadcast journalism.

    1972: Happy New Year from Guy Lombardo, Dick Clark, or Ryan Seacrest (Depending on Your Age)

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 31, 2020 13:19


    In the 1970s, Dick Clark re-invented an annual New Years Eve tradition and owned the holiday for the next 40 years.

    1970: The Black-and-White of a classic "Bewitched" Christmas

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 24, 2020 11:22


    A class full of 10th graders coming together to write an episode of a TV show? In 1970, it was a holiday treat, with a timely lesson.

    2015: A Tribute to David Letterman

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2020 13:18


    The end of the late-night Letterman era actually begins 35 years earlier on morning TV.

    1965: "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!"

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2020 14:41


    It wasn't the first animated holiday special to air on television, but it did become the most enduring and most popular.

    1963: "Six Seconds that Changed Media Forever"

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2020 14:47


    1992: "Woops"! ... Accidents Happen ... TV Accidents, That Is

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 26, 2020 24:37


    1973: Is It Hot In Here or Is It Just "Steambath"?

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 19, 2020 13:16


    When a satirical (and controversial) 1970 off-Broadway play about the meaning of life comes to TV in 1973, god help PBS.

    1969: A Moon Landing That Brings It All Down to Earth for A TV Pioneer

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2020 13:58


    Philo Farnsworth makes history when he invents TV, but it takes history for him to see it years later.

    2013: A Final Hat Toss on Stage 19

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2020 15:27


    That night in April 2013 when the cast of the "Mary Tyler Moore" show stopped in to "Hot In Cleveland" for a hello and final goodbye.

    1990: Faked Alaska

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2020 14:56


    In celebration of "Northern Exposure" on CBS, the one-hour drama that elevated quirkiness to Emmy-winning legacy-creating heights.

    1980: The Who, Where, and Why of a Sitcom Classic

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 22, 2020 18:47


    After 11 people are killed and 26 injured in a rock-concert stampede, an episode of TV tackles the tragic tale.

    2019: The Sitcom Goes Out With A Big Bang

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 15, 2020 17:17


    When long running hit "The Big Bang Theory" leaves the air in 2019, does it mark the end of the line for the big mass-appeal live-audience TV comedy.

    1977: TV at a Crossroads, "James at 15"

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2020 14:57


    20 years before "Dawson's Creek" and "Party of Five" and "My So-Called Life" a teen-oriented drama dares to present the reality of adolescence. It's a prime-time first.

    1973: That Time When a Prime-Time Tennis Match Created an Historical Racket

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2020 20:09


    At the height of a revolution called women's liberation in 1973, a man and a woman met on the tennis court and made TV and social history.

    1958: Scandal!

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2020 15:03


    Pop quiz: What happened in the late 1950s that changed TV game-shows forever?

    1967: Love, Peace, and "Soul Train"

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2020 14:48


    A small dance-show idea in 1960s Chicago yields a national celebration of black music and culture, thanks to Don Cornelius, the man behind "Soul Train."

    1989: Pop Goes the Madonna Pepsi Commercial

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2020 17:23


    When the Material Girl Comes to TV in a Soft-Drink Commercial, It Ends Up Being Hard News for the Sponsor to Swallow

    1968: The Heidi Bowl

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2020 20:34


    When is a football game more than a football game? When its thrilling and historic deciding 65 seconds are cut off for a children's movie.

    1982: Is "Barney Miller" TV's Best Sitcom Ever?

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2020 17:18


    It was rescued from the ashes of a failed summer pilot; it became one of TV's longest-running most respected sitcoms. A salute to "Barney Miller" and to New York City's finest.

    1972: Playing Gay on TV? "I'd Sooner Play Hitler," Said the Oscar-Winner First Offered the Part.

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2020 15:33


    A certain TV movie that airs during a certain time in history makes a certain impact on a certain social issue. "That Certain Summer" raises the bar as it raises awareness.

    1960: Loving "Lucy" Til the (Very) Bitter End

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2020 18:03


    After nine years and two incarnations, and following two decades of a turbulent marriage for its stars, the curtain comes down forever on Lucy & Desi & Fred & Ethel. The 1950s are over, and a new era begins.

    2002: Down to "The Wire"

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 6, 2020 15:09


    From Bal'more with love and a slightly jaundiced eye comes David Simon's "The Wire" -- considered by many to be the best TV show ever. Here's a looks at how it came about, 18 years ago this summer.

    1974: Free to Be ... A Legacy

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2020 19:26


    A leading voice of the 1970s women's movement and at the height of her TV fame, Marlo Thomas shrank the powerful and divisive social issue of gender equality to kid-size by starring in and producing "Free to Be ... You and Me." The result was a prime-time success and a landmark media moment.

    1986: Crazy Like a FOX

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2020 17:32


    Against significant odds and following a stumble right out of the gate, FOX TV came out of the 1980s with a plan to become a real and formidable competitor to the three prime-time industry kingpins ABC, CBS. and NBC. It succeeded. This is the story of how.

    2009: A Salute to a Modern Family

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2020 16:26


    Eleven seasons, five Best Comedy Emmys, scores of awards for its writing. But one of Modern Family's biggest achievements was its that it presented a longtime gay partnership -- and then marriage -- as just another branch connected to a family tree (albeit one rooted in dysfunction).

    2013: A New TV Model Built from a House of Cards

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2020 9:20


    It was no surprise to see that director David Fincher, star Kevin Spacey, and Netflix had an ace up their sleeves when they came together to develop "House of Cards" nearly ten years ago. But who foresaw that it would be broadcast TV that would topple as a result?

    1970: Are You Ready for Some Football?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2020 12:32


    Once the NFL came to prime-time in the 1970s, the game (and Monday nights) were never the same.

    1975: Movin' On Up (in the Ratings....in the Record Books ...)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2020 16:34


    When television realized in the 1970s that black lives matter, it gave us tons of so-called black sitcoms. But it gave us only one classic -- "The Jeffersons," which ended up being much much more.

    2004: That Time When Everybody Found "Lost" (But Not Everybody Got It)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2020 13:35


    When ABC unveiled the new drama "Lost" in the Fall of 2004, it introduced a new kind of TV drama, based on an experience rather than a job or a person or a city. And it used the new space known as social media for it to live in. It became a huge hit for the network, with scores of viewers getting lost in it with each week's new mysteries and explorations.

    2020: The TV Guy with the Midas Touch

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 11, 2020 17:35


    Fred Silverman was likely the first TV programmer who became a TV star as a result. Here's how the man behind every show you watched in the 70s -- and many of the ones you watched in the decades since -- changed television.

    1971: A TV Commercial That Makes and then Becomes History? Yes, It's the Real Thing

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2020 13:32


    An accident of fate leads to the creation of one of themes successful ad campaigns in media history, leading to and playing a role in a generational movement.

    2009: That Time When NBC and Leno Couldn't Get Arrested for Jaywalking

    Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2020 14:04


    NBC set about fixing a problem it had with Jay Leno not too long ago by making it much much worse -- and not just for itself or for Leno. The result is a costly mistake and one of the network's darker, sadder, sillier chapters.

    1993: NYPD (Very) Blue

    Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2020 14:44


    In the early 90s, producer Steven Bochco was determined that the slowly evolving TV industry hurry up with its plans to *grow* up. He finally forced its hand with broadcast television's first adults-only drama.

    1971: The Rural Purge (It Was Really Called That)

    Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2020 10:17


    Big cities and young people were where it was at in early 1970s TV, dig? Both on screen and off. So CBS, for one, dug up all its hits shows and got rid of them, because they were attracting the wrong audience. Fifty years later, it's still known as The Rural Purge.

    1977: Pryor Restraint

    Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2020 13:25


    In 1977, NBC had an idea to make Richard Pryor a weekly TV star. Then ... re-thought it. (So did Pryor.)

    1999: The Day That Breaking News Broke a Few Brain Cells

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 30, 2020 13:24


    In April of 1999, the news about the Columbine massacre spread throughout Hollywood and changed TV in the process, if only for a bit. One executive didn't get the memo.

    2006: TV's One-and-Done-ders

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2020 12:40


    It takes a special kind of bad luck, bad fortune, or bad idea for a TV series to be cancelled after just one airing. Here's a look at a handful who make the DisHonor Roll.

    1941: And Now A Word From Our First Sponsor

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2020 8:10


    The object of imagination and experimentation and litigation for decades before its public presentation at the 1939 New York Worlds Fair, television becomes official in July of 1941 when it airs the first official TV commercial.

    1980: Anatomy of a Prime-Time Television Disaster

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2020 12:36


    In the world of television, there are good shows, there are bad shows, and there are fiascos. "Pink Lady and Jeff" is a 1980 variety series that stands out as one of the worst things ever put on the air. (Spoiler Alert: When staring in an American TV series, it usually helps to speak English.)

    1973: Freddie Prinze = 22 Forever

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2020 13:10


    Discovered at 19, a rising and wild popular primetime sitcom lead over the next three years, Freddie Prinze was apparently a celebrity conflicted by success. The conflict lead to a dark night of depression -- and a gun -- in January 1977.

    1960: And Now For Some Toilet Humor (No! Really! Humor About a Toilet!)

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2020 9:05


    A long time ago in a TV galaxy far away, the reigning host of NBC's Tonight Show (Jack Parr) told a joke about a toilet that got network censors so nervous they deleted it without telling the host. The next night, he quit on the air.

    2007: Is This The End for Tony Soprano?

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 19, 2020 15:16


    When HBO's The Sopranos aired its final episode, it left fans scrambling for answers about what. just. happened. And 13 years later they still are. How have other TV shows made their own farewells through the years?

    1975: Live from New York, It's History in the Making!

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2020 10:09


    In the fall of 1975, NBC took a chance on an unproven producer, an unproven cast, and an unproven idea. Live comedy in late-night would never been the same. Especially after Richard Pryor came by.

    2004: The Nipplegate Affair

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2020 7:51


    The 2004 Super Bowl led to a super mess for the TV biz when a flash of breast was milked for a decade's worth of controversy.

    1969: You Say You Want a Revolution?

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2020 10:00


    As the explosive 1960s came to an end, there was only one way up for TV: Grown up.

    1974: Th Night That Television Lost Its Innocence

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2020 15:45


    Can a movie-of-the-week change the television industry and shake Capitol Hill in the process? This one did. And the effects are still being felt. It's part of a 60-year discussion about the effects of TV violence.

    2017: These Reboots Are Made for Walking

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2020 10:07


    Where there’s a Will & Grace, there’s a way for every possible old TV series to get a dusting off and revival. But remaking old cancelled shows with the same cast isn’t necessarily a new thing. The question might be: Is it a thing that anyone is really looking for?

    1977: Jiggle TV

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 6, 2020 12:51


    Back in the mid-to-late 1970s, two things in particular got TV shows on the air — and, more important TV viewers to it.

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