GREAT AMERICAN DREAM MACHINE, THE {PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The premiere of this series examining the gulf between American promise and reality in a magazine format of short features, sketches and songs. Program highlights include the following: Chase and Shapiro perform a mime of classical music; Marshall Efron makes a lemon pie with preservatives; consumer advocate Nicholas von Hoffman examines sexual ads in "Prescription Sports and Travel" and the "Medical Economics" magazines that encourage massive overprescription of drugs; an operatic pig searches for artistic respect but finds that he is valued more for his ham than his harmony; the idea of violence in America is juxtaposed with interviews and film clips of derby drivers describing their love for destroying cars; singer Nina Simone discusses the meaning of freedom and the absence of fear; Studs Terkel talks with fellow Chicagoans about taxes and Spiro Agnew; and in the tragicomic one-act play "Out to Lunch," Richard Castellano and Ardell Sheridan portray two lonely people who meet in the park and share their grievances, but then return to their lonely lives. Other program highlights include the following: Linda Lavin and Rob Leibman portray two people who have a cruise ship romance and a rendezvous on the beach in a sketch poking fun at dime-store romance magazines; and Congressman-elect Ronald V. Dellums talks about racism and aid to minorities. Includes promos for forthcoming episodes of "The Great American Dream Machine" with guests Joe Namath and Dustin Hoffman.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS WNET New York, NY
- DATE: January 6, 1971 Wednesday 8:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:30:40
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T88:0479
- GENRE: Magazine
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drugs; Racism; TV - Satire; U S - Politics and government; U S - Social life and customs; Violence in America
- SERIES RUN: WNET (New York, NY) - TV series, 1971-1972
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Alvin H. Perlmutter … Executive Producer
- Jack Willis … Executive Producer
- Robert Bendick … Producer
- Fritz Roland … Producer, For "Out to Lunch"
- Penny Bernstein … Producer, For "Better Living Through Marshall"
- Ofra Bikel … Producer, For "Opinion: Nicholas Von Hoffman"
- Arthur Eckstein … Producer, Director, For "Crasheroo"
- Joe Manduke … Producer, Director, For "Crasheroo"
- Barbara Gordon … Producer, For "Talkin' with Terkel"
- Fritz Roland … Producer, For "Out to Lunch"
- Jack Sameth … Director
- Joe Bologna … Director, Writer, For "Out to Lunch"
- Joe Bologna … Director, Writer, For "Out to Lunch"
- Renee Taylor … Writer, For "Out to Lunch"
- Renee Taylor … Writer, For "Out to Lunch"
- Elinor Bunin … Animation
- John Adams … Music (Misc. Credits), Music Supervisor
- Chevy Chase … Cast, "Singing Faces"
- Ken Shapiro … Cast, "Singing Faces"
- Richard Castellano … Cast
- Ardell Sheridan … Cast
- Nina Simone
- Studs Terkel
- Spiro Agnew
- Marshall Efron
- Von Hoffman, Nicholas