West 57th | |
---|---|
Created by | Andrew Lack Howard Stringer |
Starring | Meredith Vieira John Ferrugia Jane Wallace (1985–1988) Bob Sirott (1985–1988) Karen Burnes (1988–1989) Selina Scott (1987–1988) Steve Kroft (1987–1989) Stephen Schiff (1988–1989) |
Theme music composer | Edd Kalehoff |
Country of origin | United States |
Production | |
Executive producer | Andrew Lack |
Running time | 60 minutes, including commercials |
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | August 13, 1985 – September 9, 1989 |
West 57th is a newsmagazine television program that aired on CBS from August 13, 1985, through September 9, 1989. West 57th originally premiered as a summer show, and took its name from the New York City address of the CBS Broadcast Center, 524 West 57th Street. The original correspondents were Jane Wallace, Bob Sirott, Meredith Vieira and John Ferrugia. Later contributors included Steve Kroft, Selina Scott, Karen Burnes and Stephen Schiff.
The program's popularity, a concern for 60 Minutes creator Don Hewitt, prompted pundit Andy Rooney to dedicate one of the closing segments on his program to a parody of West 57th correspondents. This was widely interpreted by the West 57th team that Hewitt perceived their show as a threat.
After the cancellation, the program was replaced by Saturday Night with Connie Chung , and then 48 Hours . Vieira and fellow correspondent Steve Kroft transferred to 60 Minutes, from which Kroft retired in 2019. Vieira went on to anchor NBC's Today Show (after appearing on The View for nine years). Sirott moved to Chicago to continue a successful career in local TV and radio. John Ferrugia moved to Denver, where he has been an investigative reporter and is currently anchor and managing editor of Insight with John Ferrugia at Rocky Mountain PBS.
Despite serious reporting on issues like the Iran–Contra affair, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, and the dangers of grey market drugs, the program was criticized for its slickness and superficiality. This may have been because 60 Minutes executive producer Don Hewitt campaigned against the program both internally at CBS and through media contacts outside the company. The Christian Science Monitor called it "a ditsy, disco-beat docu-mag for viewers with a short attention span". [1]
In The New York Times , John Corry wrote that the program "isn't really television, and it certainly isn't journalism; it's video, and it's a mess. Nothing works well except the synthesizer music. It's as if news and entertainment fell into combat and neither side won." [2] By contrast, The Washington Post critic Tom Shales wrote of a particular segment, "What's again impressive is the quality of footage obtained, especially unusual on an investigative piece like this. "West 57th" is raising the standards of broadcast journalism as far as video photography and editing are concerned."[ citation needed ]
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation. In 2002, 60 Minutes was ranked number six on TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time", and in 2013, it was ranked number 24 on the magazine's list of the "60 Best Series of All Time". In 2023, Variety ranked 60 Minutes as the twentieth-greatest TV show of all time. The New York Times has called it "one of the most esteemed news magazines on American television".
The CBS Evening News is the flagship evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The CBS Evening News is a daily evening broadcast featuring news reports, feature stories and interviews by CBS News correspondents and reporters covering events around the world. The program has been broadcast since July 1, 1941, under the original title CBS Television News, eventually adopting its current title in 1963.
The Early Show is an American morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999 to January 7, 2012, and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the network since 1954. The program originally broadcast from the General Motors Building in New York City.
CBS News Mornings is an American early-morning news broadcast presented weekdays on the CBS television network. The program features late-breaking news stories, national weather forecasts and sports highlights. Since 2013, it has been anchored by Anne-Marie Green, who concurrently anchored the CBS late-night news program Up to the Minute until its cancellation in September 2015.
Today is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television and in the world, and after 72 years of broadcasting it is fifth on the list of longest-running United States television series.
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. CBS News television programs include the CBS Evening News, CBS Mornings, news magazine programs CBS News Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes, and 48 Hours, and Sunday morning political affairs program Face the Nation. CBS News Radio produces hourly newscasts for hundreds of radio stations, and also oversees CBS News podcasts like The Takeout Podcast. CBS News also operates CBS News 24/7, a 24-hour digital news network.
Meredith Louise Vieira is an American broadcast journalist and television personality. She is best known as the original moderator of the daytime talk show The View (1997–2006), the original host of the syndicated daytime version of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (2002–2013), and as co-host of the NBC morning news program Today (2006–2011). As of 2019, she hosts the syndicated weekday game show 25 Words or Less.
Day to Day (D2D) was a one-hour weekday American radio newsmagazine distributed by National Public Radio (NPR), and produced by NPR in collaboration with Slate. Madeleine Brand, Alex Chadwick, and Alex Cohen served as hosts. Topics regularly covered by D2D included news, entertainment, politics and the arts; contributors included familiar NPR personalities, reporters from NPR member stations, writers for Slate, and reporters from Marketplace, a show produced by American Public Media. D2D premiered on Monday, July 28, 2003, and fed to stations from noon ET with updates through 4:00 p.m. ET. It was the fastest growing program in NPR's history.
Lila Diane Sawyer is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, 20/20, and Primetime newsmagazine while at ABC News. During her tenure at CBS News, she hosted CBS Morning and was the first woman correspondent on 60 Minutes. Prior to her journalism career, she was a member of U.S. President Richard Nixon's White House staff and assisted in his post-presidency memoirs. Presently she works for ABC News producing documentaries and interview specials.
Edward Rudolph Bradley Jr. was an American broadcast journalist and news anchor who is best known for reporting with 60 Minutes and CBS News. After graduating from Cheyney State College, Bradley became a teacher and part-time radio disc jockey and reporter in Philadelphia, where his first major story was covering the 1964 Philadelphia race riot. He moved to New York City in 1967 and worked for WCBS as a radio news reporter. Four years later, Bradley moved to Paris, France, where he covered the Paris Peace Accords as a stringer for CBS News. In 1972, he transferred to Vietnam and covered the Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War, coverage for which he won Alfred I. duPont and George Polk awards. Bradley moved to Washington, D.C. following the wars and covered Jimmy Carter's first presidential campaign. He became CBS News' first African American White House correspondent, holding the position from 1976 to 1978. During this time, Bradley also anchored the Sunday night broadcast of the CBS Evening News, a position he held until 1981.
Harry Smith is a retired American television journalist who has worked for NBC News, MSNBC, and CNBC as a senior correspondent. He hosted the CBS News morning programs, The Early Show and its predecessor, CBS This Morning, for seventeen years. In July 2011, Smith left CBS News to become a correspondent for NBC News and the newsmagazine Rock Center with Brian Williams. He also served as an anchor for MSNBC, conducting daytime live coverage of breaking news and events since first appearing in November 2015.
Morley Safer was a Canadian-American broadcast journalist, reporter, and correspondent for CBS News. He was best known for his long tenure on the news magazine 60 Minutes, whose cast he joined in 1970 after its second year on television. He was the longest-serving reporter on 60 Minutes, the most watched and most profitable program in television history.
Inside Edition is an American newsmagazine television program that is distributed in first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine program that is not strictly focused on hard news. Though it does feature the latter, the rest of each day's edition mainly features a mix of infotainment stories, entertainment news and gossip, scandals, true-crime stories and lifestyle features.
Stephen F. Kroft is an American retired journalist who was a long-time correspondent for 60 Minutes. His investigative reporting garnered widespread acclaim, winning him three Peabody Awards and nine Emmy awards, including one for Lifetime Achievement in 2003.
Donald Shepard Hewitt was an American television news producer and executive, best known for creating the CBS television news magazine 60 Minutes in 1968, which at the time of his death was the longest-running prime-time broadcast on American television. Under Hewitt's leadership, 60 Minutes was the only news program ever rated as the nation's top-ranked television program, an achievement it accomplished five times. Hewitt produced the first televised presidential debate in 1960.
CBS This Morning (CTM) is an American morning television program that aired on CBS from November 30, 1987 to October 29, 1999, and again from January 9, 2012 to September 6, 2021. On November 1, 1999, the original incarnation was replaced by The Early Show, which was replaced by the second one on January 9, 2012.
Robert "Bob" Sirott is an American broadcaster. He is the morning host at WGN in Chicago. He is also a former television news anchor, most recently working in that role at Chicago's WFLD.
Robert Chandler was an American television executive who helped create and oversee the television newsmagazine 60 Minutes during his 22-year tenure at CBS News.
John Ferrugia is an investigative reporter who is currently working as a journalist/trainer for the non-profit Colorado News Collaborative (COLab). He is the former News Anchor and Managing Editor for Rocky Mountain PBS in Denver, Colorado. From 1992 through February 2016, he worked as an investigative reporter at KMGH-TV. He is a former CBS News correspondent. In the 1980s, he covered the White House, foreign and domestic assignments, and was a principal correspondent for the news magazine West 57th.
Andrew Lack is a businessman, film executive and television executive. He was the chairman of NBC News and MSNBC from 2015 to 2020.