Glued to the Set: Th 60 Television Shows and Events That ...

Steven D. Stark is a regular commentator on public culture for National Public Radio'siWeekend Edition Sunday/iandiThe Voice of America./i A former lecturer on law at Harvard Law School and columnist foriThe Boston Globe,/ihe has written extensively foriThe Atlantic Monthly, the Los Angeles Times,/iandiThe New York Times./i He lives near Boston, Massachusetts.b/bbiToday,/i/bbBarbara Walters, and TV's Definition of News (NBC: 1952-Present)/bbrbrFor theiToday/ishow, January 14, 1952, was not an auspicious beginning. At the time, television scheduling was much like the movies: There were prime-time and weekend shows broadcast when everybody was home, but there wasn't much else on at other times of the day, and there was nothing at all on early in the morning. This was also a full decade before the news became a significant TV institution. As conceived by Sylvester "Pat" Weaver, the NBC executive who also creatediThe Tonight Show/i(and the father of Sigourney),iToday/iwould fill this early-morning dead-air time by mimicking radio, and thus steal its audience with a mixture of news, light comedy, conversation, and music--while exploiting television's ability to give the public a "window on the world." The program was originally supposed to be callediThe Rise and Shine Revue./ibrbrRunning on 26 stations, the firstiToday/ishow went according to plan--more or less. Host Dave Garroway, a low-key former Chicago radio personality, called London and Frankfurt, played some records, reviewed the weather, showed scenes of the New York skyline, displayed a few newspaper headlines, had someone review the day's news, and chatted up some guests. ("How's the Navy going these days, Admiral?" "Guess it's all right. It was there last night all right, when I left it.") "I really believe this begins a new kind of television," said Garroway as he introduced