Television: The Ultimate Drug

Please note: the original program aired on KQED Ch. 9. This version is 2 minutes shorter, as extended sequences featuring images from the movie 'Being There' and television shows 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' and 'Hill Street Blues' have been replaced by screen titles because of licensing issues. The sound from voiceovers and interviews in these segments can still be heard. A fast paced, video magazine show which reflects on the rapid evolution and powerful influence of television on American society. Produced in 1981 by San Francisco based independent studio Videowest. See their website for more details: 

http://videowest.us/

Includes interviews with producer Norman Lear, writers Harlan Ellison and Jerzy Kosinski and a profile of Philo T. Farnsworth, who invented the first fully electronic television system and sent the first transmitted signal at his 202 Green Street laboratory in San Francisco, on September 7th, 1927. Farnsworth's wife Elma "Pem" Farnsworth" (1908-2006) and son Philo Farnsworth III are interviewed for this segment. Also featured are reports on a collector of vintage television sets, network TV shows 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' and 'Hill Street Blues' and a brief look at a San Francisco cable show 'The Gay Dating Game'.