‘Network’ remains tuned into the TV business
When it was released in 1976, “Network” largely was considered a satire ... but now, not as much. Writer Paddy Chayefsky and director Sidney Lumet’s searing, Oscar-winning look at the media – being presented Tuesday, Aug. 9, by Turner Classic Movies in a “Summer Under the Stars” day saluting William Holden – was a remarkable forecast of developments in the television industry, most notably the lessening of the line between news and entertainment.
Howard Beale, the depressed chief anchorman of the fictional UBS network (brilliantly portrayed by Peter Finch, in a performance honored with a posthumous Academy Award) declares he’s going to commit suicide on the air ... prompting bosses including news director Max Schumacher (Holden) to remove him, until his ratings show an immediate, enormous spike. Desperate-for-a-hit UBS entertainment chief Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway, another Oscar winner here) then inserts herself into the process and takes over the news program. Simply, “Network” is smart and superb.