Around the dial - JFK, Thanksgiving and more!

Recently I got a very nice email from Marc Ryan, in the course of which he mentioned his e-book Three Shots Were Fired, a look at the coverage of “TV’s first global story,” the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Regular readers know of my interest not only in the Kennedy assassination itself, but in the media coverage during and after the event, and so it should come as no surprise that Marc’s book is right up my alley, one that’s going to find its way to my Kindle queue sooner rather than later. Marc also has an informative blog supporting the book. Do check it out!

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, Kevin Butler has a great piece up at TVParty! reviewing the history of CBS’ Thanksgiving Day Parade Jubilee coverage.  Growing up, I always preferred CBS’ multi-parade coverage, which included (at various times)New York, Detroit, Philadelphia, Toronto and Hawaii, to the bloated Macy’s broadcast on NBC.  Alas, there’s not much difference between the two anymore, which is why I’ve switched over to WGN’s broadcast of the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago. 

At About Last Night, Terry Teachout links to the broadcast of Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera The Medium, originally broadcast on CBS’ Studio One in 1948.  I own this broadcast myself (probably the oldest TV show in my collection), which was part of the very good boxed set of Studio One productions that came out a few years ago.  It never ceases to amaze that operas were once a regular (if infrequent) part of television.  I admit a bias in that Menotti is one of my favorite composers, but this broadcast shows just how tight and suspenseful an opera can be without taking any more than an hour.

More great stuff coming your way on Saturday - don't miss it! TV