Best of the box: The highs and lows of 70 years of TV
FROM THE APOLLO MOON LANDING TO THE FINAL EPISODE OF FRIENDS, HUGE GLOBAL EVENTS ARE CREATED WITH TELEVISION, INVENTED BY OUR OWN JOHN LOGIE BAIRD. SAUL SOROOSHIAN DELVES INTO THE ARCHIVES TO BRING YOU THE HIGHS AND LOWS BEAMED INTO OUR LIVING ROOMS OVER
ASK someone what they were doing when the second plane hit the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, or where they were when man finally landed on the moon in 1969, and almost immediately the conversation will turn to television. Dramatic, worldchanging events for most us have been witnessed through the prism of a square box in our living rooms.
Television has brought joy and despair – as well as many cringeworthy moments – to millions, and has become a powerful force for good, and often bad, since its humble beginnings when John Logie Baird from Helensburgh made the first broadcast in 1925.
Within three years, Baird (born exactly 128 years ago today on August 14, 1888) successfully made the first transatlantic television transmission between London and New York, and presented the first working colour television, effectively creating the modern era’s massmedia juggernaut. Not bad for the son of a Presbyterian minister from Dunbartonshire.
To celebrate, we’ve compiled some of the best and worst that telly has beamed into our lives during its relatively short but colourful history.
THE BEST
THE QUEEN’S CORONATION, 1953
The first time that television gave radio a proper jab to the kidneys, marking a key point in television’s history. For the first time, more people watched an event on their tiny black and white TVs than listened to it on the “wireless”. Around 20.4 million people witnessed Queen Elizabeth II’s crowning, more than twice the amount who tuned in on the radio. And considering there were only 2.7 million TV sets, that means an average of seven-and-a-half people per set, not including children. Decades on, a global audience would turn out in its millions to watch her son Charles’s 1981 marriage to Lady Diana Spencer, and later for her funeral as Princess Diana in 1997, after a shocking car crash in Paris. Big royal occasions still manage to command big audiences, but for how much longer?
FIRST TELEVISED PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, 1960
For the first time on September 26, 1960, people all over America were able to watch John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon debate to become President of the United States. It ushered in an age where television was seen as key to winning a campaign, where voters were swayed by performance, charisma and personal appeal. Not so great now when it indulges the egotistical delusions of clowns like Donald Trump. Interestingly, those listening on the radio thought that Nixon fared better with his answers, whereas the millions of TV viewers who saw the confident, polished and handsome Jack Kennedy knew they had their man.
OLYMPIC BLACK POWER SALUTE, 1968
This powerful, controversial moment from the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City was seen by millions. At the time – the height of the 1960s black civil rights movement – it was not widely met with a positive reaction. Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who won gold and bronze respectively in the 200m sprint, each donned a black glove and raised their fists in protest at the discrimination faced by black people in America. It was a brave protest to make, but the pair were evicted from the Olympic village and subjected to a torrent of hate and abuse back home. In his autobiography, Smith said his salute was not a Black Power salute but a human rights salute. With the current Black Lives Matter campaign dominating the headlines, racism is still a huge problem for the not-so United States of America.
APOLLO 11 MOON LANDINGS, 1969
Let’s all put our tin foil hats and conspiracies to one side and assume the moon landings definitely happened. Over 530 million people around the world – about 14 per cent of the population at the time – watched as Neil Armstrong took “one giant leap for mankind” on to the surface of the moon, making it one of the most-watched television events in history. Broadcasts included Aldrin and Armstrong planting an American flag and Nixon’s phone call to Armstrong. Effectively ending the space race between Russia and America, it is one of the finest pieces of TV history. The world is disappointed that so little has happened since in terms of colonising other planets, holidays on Mars and finding ET really does exist.
THE RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE, 1974
It was a TV event that ticked all the boxes for drama, conflict and spectacle. The build up to the world heavyweight boxing championship on October 30, 1974 saw Muhammad Ali connecting with the people of his mother continent in Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). Despite being the underdog, Ali mercilessly baited the huge and powerful defending champion George Foreman, famously encouraging local crowds to chant “Ali, bomaye” – “Ali, kill him!” beforehand.
However, this moment of sporting history truly marked the world’s acknowledgement of Ali’s genius, sheer chutzpah and unshakeable selfbelief in the form of his ‘rope-a-dope’ technique that had even his trainer Angelo Dundee bamboozled. Round after round, Ali lolled on the ropes protecting himself from Foreman’s punishing blows, all the while tiring out his opponent till he had nothing left. In the end, Ali knocked out Foreman and Kinshasa and the rest of the world went crazy. In that moment Ali went from disgraced Vietnam refusenik to national hero and remained so for the rest of his life.
FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL, 1989
Shown on news programmes the world over, the fall of the Berlin Wall was a poignant but defiant symbol of the death of Communism in Eastern Europe and Russia. The wall was finally breached by Berliners on November 9, 1989, as people came at it with sledgehammers, pickaxes, and anything they could get their hands on. A powerful moment of television witnessed by millions, it saw the reunification of Germany after 28 years. Officially, 138 people were reported killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall over the years.
LAST EPISODE OF FRIENDS, 2004
Put your hand up if you cried when Rachel appeared in the doorway behind Ross. The most-watched and enjoyed TV sitcom ever produced ran for 10 seasons until 2004. The final episode was watched by 52.5 million people in the US and 8.9 million in the UK, making it one of the mostwatched TV moments of all time. Friends was a cultural phenomenon that hasn’t been replicated since.
GOGGLEBOX, 2013-PRESENT
Eventually television had to eat itself, so along came Channel 4’s Gogglebox, a TV programme about watching TV. The great British public is the star, revealed affectionately in all its glory, diversity and daftness. From drunk old poshos to campy gay couples to lifelong friends and nerdy collections of assorted males and gaggles of gobby women, all bosomy laughter and faux-shocked expressions, this is a paen to television and the way it brings people together. And the dumb, hilarious and occasionally brilliant things they say when they’re watching it.
THE WORST
FIRST TV ADVERT, 1941
On July 1, 1941, the great American viewing public sat down to watch a game of baseball between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. Unbeknownst to them, they were about to witness television history: the first paid-for TV commercial. A 10-second view of a Bulova clock face with a voiceover booming, “America runs on Bulova time”, it cost $9 for the air time. A bargain compared to the millions of dollars companies pay for a Super Bowl slot today. Let’s not even start on what they unleashed.
ASSASSINATION OF JFK, 1963
One of the most shocking events of the 20th century, John F Kennedy’s assassination was not seen live on television, but endlessly afterwards. It was through the looping news coverage that people experienced the event. However, the recording of the assassination is still one of the most viewed film clips, and struck fear in the heart of a more innocent America of the early 1960s. The assassination of the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was seen live on NBC as he was being taken to jail two days later. Grisly and shocking.
OJ SIMPSON VERDICT, 1995
“If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit!”– words that rang around the globe as the world waited with baited breath to hear the fate of former American footballing hero Orenthal James Simpson, accused of murdering his wife Nicole and her lover. The conclusion to the year-long trial had dominated the headlines. Oprah famously held a live viewing of the verdict, with half her audience delighted, the other half horrified. Twenty years on, The Juice’s acquittal is as controversial as ever.
BIG BROTHER, 2000-PRESENT
The end of civilisation for some, for others simply marvellous entertainment that prompted much glee and the realisation that Britain is full of really dumb people. It also unleashed the dubious talents of contestant-turned-presenter Rylan Clark and his infeasibly white gnashers. The very first series was actually rather good and fulfilled the original concept: watching what happens when a group of ordinary, random people interact in close proximity, out of touch with the outside world. In the end it became a platform for wannabes, exhibitionists and narcissists, hitting new lows each season, from revolting on-camera sexual exploits to the ignominy of MP George Galloway in a red Lycra bodysuit pretending to be a cat.