The Twentieth Century was a documentarytelevision program that ran on the CBSnetwork from 1957 until 1966. The series produced 112 historical compilation films and 107 "originally photographed documentaries" or contemporary documentaries, each running a half-hour. Productions were narrated by Walter Cronkite and drew on the resources of CBS News. The compilations mixed newsreel footage and eyewitness interviews, focusing on great events, unfamiliar historical episodes, and biographical portraits, including contemporary figures in the arts, sciences, law, and politics. As the series progressed, the compilation films were gradually outnumbered by the contemporary documentaries, similar to the work being done in the CBS Reports series, but often treating social and political change overseas rather than in the U.S. Popular and critically-acclaimed, audiences averaged 13 million viewers a week, and the series was an influential forerunner to many subsequent television documentary series.[1]
The 21st Century (1967-1970). The 20th Century with Mike Wallace (1994-2005).
The program was sponsored during its entire run by the Prudential Insurance Company, whose Rock of Gibraltar symbol was often the backdrop for the opening and closing credits. But the company approved the topics and limited the treatment of issues it felt to be potentially upsetting to a large audience, particularly social and religious subjects. Prudential -– and the Department of Defense which provided film footage and cooperation for many episodes—also wanted an uncritical portrayal of the U.S. military. Prudential withdrew sponsorship after the ninth season when sports programming seriously cut into the number of its 6 pm Sunday timeslots, and contemporary subjects came to dominate productions.[1]
The series’ theme music, in which a ragtime-tinged orchestral cacophony abruptly changes to a triumphal contemporary march, was famous in its day. Aired in several versions, it was written by the erstwhile avant-garde composer George Antheil and is arguably his most heard work.[2] (Curiously, the theme never had an on-screen credit and has been available only on copies of the original broadcasts.) Many episodes had original scores commissioned from a wide range of contemporary classical and film composers, including Antheil, Auric, Creston, Gould, Hovhaness, Kay, Kubik, Milhaud, Nascimbene, Rosenthal, Shapero, Siegmeister, Tcherepnin, and Waxman. Alfredo Antonini composed half the scores and led the CBS Orchestra in performances.[1][3][4]
Successor seriesedit
The series was replaced in 1967 with a spin-off, The 21st Century. Produced by many of The Twentieth Century team and narrated by Cronkite, the new series focused on what humankind could shape and expect by examining aspects of the future already evident in the present.[5][6] It was sponsored by Union Carbide ("The Discovery Company"). The 21st Century ran only three seasons (its final broadcast was on 4 January 1970). The reason given was that the writers had run out of topics, but CBS may have wanted a more commercially successful program.[7]
The original program concept was revived in 1994 with The 20th Century with Mike Wallace. The new series was produced by CBS News Productions in association with A&E Network and premiered on The History Channel. 166 episodes were produced and aired during 1994-2005. Peter Fish arranged, adapted, and extended the original theme music, for which Antheil remained uncredited.[3]
External linksedit
The Twentieth Century (TV Series 1957–1966) at IMDb
^“Son of 20th Century”, Time Magazine, Feb. 17, 1967.
^“The Twentieth Century (1957)”, The Movie Database
January 01, 1970
twentieth, century, century, 1901, 2000, 20th, century, other, uses, 20th, century, disambiguation, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, chal. For the century 1901 2000 see 20th century For other uses see 20th century disambiguation This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Twentieth Century news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2019 Learn how and when to remove this message The Twentieth Century was a documentary television program that ran on the CBS network from 1957 until 1966 The series produced 112 historical compilation films and 107 originally photographed documentaries or contemporary documentaries each running a half hour Productions were narrated by Walter Cronkite and drew on the resources of CBS News The compilations mixed newsreel footage and eyewitness interviews focusing on great events unfamiliar historical episodes and biographical portraits including contemporary figures in the arts sciences law and politics As the series progressed the compilation films were gradually outnumbered by the contemporary documentaries similar to the work being done in the CBS Reports series but often treating social and political change overseas rather than in the U S Popular and critically acclaimed audiences averaged 13 million viewers a week and the series was an influential forerunner to many subsequent television documentary series 1 The Twentieth CenturyComposer Harold Arlen and singer Tony Bennett rehearsing for a 1964 program about Arlen s worksGenreDocumentaryWritten byEarle LubyDirected byPeter Poor 1961 1966 Willard Van Dyke 1961 1965 Nicholas Webster 1960 1965 Wade Bingham 1961 Robert K Sharpe 1961 1963 Av Westin 1961 1962 Harry Rasky 1963 Burton Benjamin 1964 Earle Luby 1966 Narrated byWalter CronkiteTheme music composerGeorge AntheilComposersMany contemporary classical and film composersCountry of originUnited StatesOriginal languageEnglishNo of seasons9No of episodes219ProductionExecutive producerBurton BenjaminProducersBurton BenjaminIsaac KleinermanRunning time30 minutesOriginal releaseNetworkCBSReleaseOctober 20 1957 1957 10 20 1966 1966 RelatedThe 21st Century 1967 1970 The 20th Century with Mike Wallace 1994 2005 The program was sponsored during its entire run by the Prudential Insurance Company whose Rock of Gibraltar symbol was often the backdrop for the opening and closing credits But the company approved the topics and limited the treatment of issues it felt to be potentially upsetting to a large audience particularly social and religious subjects Prudential and the Department of Defense which provided film footage and cooperation for many episodes also wanted an uncritical portrayal of the U S military Prudential withdrew sponsorship after the ninth season when sports programming seriously cut into the number of its 6 pm Sunday timeslots and contemporary subjects came to dominate productions 1 The series theme music in which a ragtime tinged orchestral cacophony abruptly changes to a triumphal contemporary march was famous in its day Aired in several versions it was written by the erstwhile avant garde composer George Antheil and is arguably his most heard work 2 Curiously the theme never had an on screen credit and has been available only on copies of the original broadcasts Many episodes had original scores commissioned from a wide range of contemporary classical and film composers including Antheil Auric Creston Gould Hovhaness Kay Kubik Milhaud Nascimbene Rosenthal Shapero Siegmeister Tcherepnin and Waxman Alfredo Antonini composed half the scores and led the CBS Orchestra in performances 1 3 4 Successor series editThe series was replaced in 1967 with a spin off The 21st Century Produced by many of The Twentieth Century team and narrated by Cronkite the new series focused on what humankind could shape and expect by examining aspects of the future already evident in the present 5 6 It was sponsored by Union Carbide The Discovery Company The 21st Century ran only three seasons its final broadcast was on 4 January 1970 The reason given was that the writers had run out of topics but CBS may have wanted a more commercially successful program 7 The original program concept was revived in 1994 with The 20th Century with Mike Wallace The new series was produced by CBS News Productions in association with A amp E Network and premiered on The History Channel 166 episodes were produced and aired during 1994 2005 Peter Fish arranged adapted and extended the original theme music for which Antheil remained uncredited 3 External links editThe Twentieth Century TV Series 1957 1966 at IMDb nbsp The 21st Century TV Series 1967 at IMDb nbsp 20th Century with Mike Wallace The Twentieth Century The Sailing Oystermen on YouTube The 21st Century Autos and All That Traffic 1969 on YouTube a b c Richard C Bartone The Twentieth Century in The Encyclopedia of Television 1997 Museum of Broadcast Communications TV Guide When The Melody Lingers On May 17 1958 pp 22 23 cited by classicthemes com a b Sehnsuchtshafen George Antheil The Twentieth Century 1957 1994 Film Score Blog Discussion Sept 23 27 2021 Kritzerland The Twentieth Century Soundtrack CD description TV Guide 14 40 October 1 1966 n9 Son of 20th Century Time Magazine Feb 17 1967 The Twentieth Century 1957 The Movie Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Twentieth Century amp oldid 1208972952, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
