"60 Minutes" (1968)TV series 1968-????

Creator:

Don Hewitt

Seasons:

2 | 28 | 35 | 41 | unknown

Release Date:

24 September 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | News

Plot:

The premiere television News magazine.

Plot Keywords:

Time For Title | Magazine | Newsmagazine | Non Fiction | Number In Title

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 13 wins & 23 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Sept. 7	7:00 PM	CBS
Sun. Sept. 14	7:00 PM	CBS

Cast

Mike Wallace	...	Himself - Correspondent / ... (37 episodes, 1968-2006)
Morley Safer	...	Himself - Correspondent / ... (36 episodes, 1970-2007)
Lesley Stahl	...	Herself - Correspondent / ... (35 episodes, 1991-2007)
Ed Bradley	...	Himself - Correspondent / ... (34 episodes, 1981-2006)

Also Known As:

TV Land Legends: The 60 Minutes Interviews (USA) (rerun title)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

West 57th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

CBS News Productions

Trivia:

Stopwatches used: Minerva: starting with the third show and for several shows after Heuer: late 1968 to the late 1970s Aristo: late 1970s to present No stopwatch was in the first two shows of October 8th and 15th, 1968

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006) (TV)

Um, where is the investigative news?

60 Minutes has some occasional moments of juice, but it lost its edge. 60 Minutes years ago was a lot more interesting, had harder-hitting stories, more "raw" interviews, capturing priceless moments on camera of innocence, guilt, glory, fame, whatever.

However, the show today is tired and boring. There is no gusto. Is it a coincidence that once Lowell Bergman left, the show started to suck? Anyone who saw The Insider knows the story here. 60 Minutes "sold its soul" in the 1990's due to the tobacco scandal. Stock-owning executives from 60 Minutes falsified dangers that 60 Minutes would be the target of billion-dollar lawsuits from tobacco companies that would fell CBS if they aired a controversial public news piece from a former tobacco executive.

A partial result of the fallout was that Lowell Bergman, the main producer of the 60 Minutes tobacco segment, left the show and now works for Frontline, a brilliant PBS documentary news show. Frontline is FAR more interesting and hard-hitting than 60 Minutes has been in years.

Back to 60 Minutes...they seems to "go easy" these days and have one easy to medium news story. They mix that with some other "profile" type story, and throw in a non-threatening interview with some easygoing person. Something a teenager with a camcorder could do (follow around some singer and throw in some good writing).

All very boring for the most part. Too easy, no more edge.

60 Minutes used to the finest show around. Frontline years ago supplanted it as the best investigative journalism show around.