Plethora of programs recall JFK assassination
Where were you at 12:30 p.m., Nov. 22, 1963?
I was sitting in class at Forest Heights Junior High in Little Rock. It was the day after my 15th birthday.
It was a perfectly ordinary Friday until word spread that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas.
It was the baby boomers’ first “where were you” moment — like the shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 and the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, would be for future generations.
On Nov. 22, 1963, America wrapped itself in unprecedented blanket TV coverage for the next four days.
The Los Angeles Times reminds us that 96 percent of households with TVs tuned in for an average of more than 31 hours apiece, and a record-setting 41.5 million television sets were in use during the president’s funeral Nov. 25.
Anyone who saw little John-John salute his father’s passing horse-drawn casket will never forget it. It was John-John’s third birthday.
The coverage was a defining moment for television, which was still in its infancy and still in black and white.
The young president had been in Arkansas just the month before to dedicate the dam at Greers Ferry Lake. Now he was gone, but not forgotten. Not even 50 years later. Especially not 50 years later.
If you want to remember — or if you weren’t around and you want to learn — about JFK, the rest of the month will have plenty for you.
There will be a number of prime-time specials on the broadcast networks and PBS, and several cable outlets will follow with their own.
One of the best is TLC’s Letters to Jackie: Remembering President Kennedy. The 90-minute documentary has celebrities — from Anne Hathaway to Zooey Deschanel — reading condolence letters sent to first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. The White House received more than 800,000 letters.
The special airs at 8 p.m. Nov. 17.
Viewers can begin their JFK inundation at 7 p.m. today on National Geographic Channel. Killing Kennedy is a dramatization of the book of the same name by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard.
It stars Rob Lowe as the president and Ginnifer Goodwin as Jackie, and is not a flattering portrait of “Camelot.”
Here’s a partial list of other specials.
Important: Check your cable provider to ensure you actually receive a channel before you fuss at me for writing about a show that “never aired.” This happened recently when I previewed a series airing on Smithsonian Channel.
Smithsonian has many worthwhile programs, but not every cable provider carries it.
Monday: American Experience: JFK, 8 p.m., on AETN. The four-hour, two-part PBS documentary on Kennedy features comments from family members and historians. It concludes at the same time Tuesday.
Part 1 focuses on Kennedy’s life before he was president. Part 2 covers his 1,000 days in the White House.
Note: The assassination is not covered.
Tuesday: Capturing Oswald, 9 p.m., Military Channel. A look at the work of the Dallas Police Department during the crisis.
Wednesday: Nova: Cold Case, 8 p.m., AETN. The special uses modern forensics to address some of the lasting conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination.
Secrets of the Dead: JFK: One P.M. Central Standard Time, 9 p.m., AETN. Covers the time from when the bullets were fired to when CBS anchor Walter Cronkite informed the world JFK was dead.
Thursday: The Sixties: The Assassination of JFK, 8 p.m., CNN. The first of a 10-part documentary series on the 1960s produced by Tom Hanks.
Saturday: As It Happened: John F. Kennedy, 50 Years, 8 p.m., CBS. Hosted by Bob Schieffer, who was reporting in Dallas in 1963.
Nov. 17: The Day Kennedy Died, 8 p.m., Smithsonian Channel. A minute-by-minute account narrated by Kevin Spacey.
Nov. 19: Frontline: Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?, 9 p.m. AETN. Two hours on the alleged assassin.
Nov. 21: JFK: The Lost Tapes, 6 p.m., Discovery Channel. A look at the police radio tapes from Nov. 22.
Nov. 22 : JFK: The Day That Changed America, 6 p.m. MSNBC, followed at 7 by The Kennedy Brothers. Both hosted by Chris Matthews.
JFK Assassination: The Definitive Guide, 6 p.m., History Channel.
Lee Harvey Oswald: 48 Hours to Live, 9 p.m., History Channel.
Tom Brokaw Special: Where Were You, 8 p.m. NBC. The two hours feature archival footage and first-person stories. “A half-century later we’re still bewildered, wondering and trying to cope with who he was and how his death changed us,” Brokaw says.
• The ax falls. In case you missed the memo, ABC has given full-season orders (nine additional episodes) to freshmen sitcoms The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife, but pulled the plug on Back in the Game.
Back in the Game still has seven episodes in the can and word is they will air.
Super Fun Night only got an additional four episodes. I suppose ABC doesn’t want to commit fully. The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com