60 MINUTES {ALL IN THE FAMILY, ACID RAIN, GREATEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of news magazine programs. In the first segment, "All in the Family," Morley Safer attempts to make sense of the clues in a bizarre and layered crime involving the I.R.S., suicide, the Mafia, and the sudden appearance of millions of dollars. Safer sets up the story. A well liked couple living in Middletown, New Jersey, spend their lives scraping by on the husband's meager $28,000 yearly salary. One day, after showing no signs of any sort of depression at all, the man commits suicide. Years later, the couple's son uncovers a secret stash of millions of dollars in cash and gold under the floorboards of the house. The widow is shocked. According to Safer, she swears she knew nothing about it; the fact that the family lived in near poverty for almost forty years is proof enough for the authorities. Shortly thereafter, the Internal Revenue Service contacts the widow, explaining that she must pay taxes on the money. Before she hands over anything to the I.R.S., however, she decides to place the money in a safe place. She gives the cash and gold to her cousin for safekeeping. When she tries to collect it soon afterward, the cousin refuses to give it back. It is at this point that the widow comes to learn that her cousin is the head of the New Jersey Mafia. She is even more shocked to learn that her cousin has put a hit out on her so that he can keep the money. The hit is botched, however, and the widow and her son enter into protective custody. When Safer catches up with the story, the widow is suing her cousin for the return of the mysterious millions. Safer interviews the woman and her son about their decision to sue. "So by suing your cousin," Safer says, "you realize that what you're doing is basically suing the mob. I don't think anyone's ever done that before." The widow's son suddenly looks terrified. "I never thought of it that way," he states. In the second segment, Steve Kroft explores the theory that acid rain is "not particularly dangerous" (as one scientist declares). The theory is explained in several studies produced by a number of scientists that found that acid rain poses no threat to the environment. Viewers learn that Senator John Glenn (D-Ohio) backed the studies, arguing that the $570,000,000 of government money that has gone into investigations about pollution's relationship to acid rain could have been better spent. Critics of the studies point out that Glenn's endorsement of the bill may have more to do with the large number of Glenn constituents who work in the coal industry in Glenn's home state. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) tells Kroft that he thinks that the studies that suggest that acid rain is dangerous are more compelling; he endorses a bill prohibiting pollution related to acid rain. In the third segment, "The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread," Ed Bradley visits a town in which houses were ravaged when their old plumbing systems were replaced with something called polybutylene tubing, advertised to the town as "the greatest thing since sliced bread." The tubing collapsed everywhere, causing massive flooding all over the community. In the fourth segment, Andy Rooney gauges the relative worth of different types of lids, from pickle jars to paint cans. Includes commercials.
Cataloging of this program has been made possible by the Bell Atlantic Foundation, 2000.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: December 30, 1990 Sunday 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:55:16
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:64186
- GENRE: News magazine
- SUBJECT HEADING: Acid rain; Actions and defenses; Fraud; Mafia
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1968-
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - "Dances With Wolves" (feature film)
- TV - Commercials - Alpine Lace cheese
- TV - Commercials - Chrysler automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Dodge automobiles
- TV - Commercials - Dynatrim diet pills
- TV - Commercials - Excedrin pain reliever
- TV - Commercials - Healthy Choice frozen dinners
- TV - Commercials - Honda automobiles
- TV - Commercials - MCI long-distance service
- TV - Commercials - Nicorette anti-smoking gum
- TV - Commercials - Seimens technology
- TV - Commercials - Subaru automobiles
- TV - Commercials - TWA Airlines
- TV - Commercials - TheraFlu cold remedy
CREDITS
- Don Hewitt … Executive Producer, Writer
- Philip Scheffler … Senior Producer
- Marti Galovic Palmer … Producer, Writer, News Writer
- Karyn J. Taylor … Producer, Writer, News Writer
- Jeffrey Fager … Producer, Writer, News Writer
- Merri Lieberthal … Producer
- Arthur Bloom … Director
- Allen Mack … Direction (Misc.), Associate Director
- Alicia Tanz Flaum … Direction (Misc.), Associate Director
- Mike Wallace … Reporter
- Ed Bradley … Reporter
- Morley Safer … Reporter
- Steve Kroft … Reporter
- Andy Rooney … Reporter
- Meredith Vierira … Reporter
- John Glenn
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan