Feeling Good (lost PBS TV series; 1974-1975): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 12:07, 19 April 2024

Title card.

Status: Lost

Feeling Good is an American short-lived television series hosted by Dick Cavett and produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now Sesame Workshop). The series aired on PBS from November 20th^[1], 1974 to 1975 with two seasons. It was the first TV series produced by the CTW that was aimed at adults instead of children, and it was also the first TV series about health. The show is considered lost, with none of the episodes being publicly shown and images exist.

Plot

Mass‐appeal guest stars were used each week along with a cast of regulars that congregated in a general store called “Mac's Place”—a kind of antiseptic “Hot I Baltimore.” The first season covered such diverse matters as mental health, prenatal and nutrition^[2]. Through the health problems and behavior of its residents, and through songs, sketches and animation, documentary segments and tips on staying healthy were presented.

Production

40 years ago, the CTW officials decided to extend their efforts to the adult audience, in particular the under‐educated, and began work on a series about health. Plans called for production of 26 hour ‐ long shows. The budget was a healthy $6.5 million, making the cost per show higher than anything ever before attempted on PBS.

The man in charge of the project was William Robin. executive producer and vice president of the CTW. Robin and his staff worked under the assumption that most people already know the dangers of improper health care but lack motivation to change their habits. Since it seemed clear that traditional documentary methods had failed to influence them (Robin mentions the negligible results achieved with costly anti‐smoking campaigns), the producers of “Feeling Good” wanted a new approach.

The staff worked with the same “model” developed by the CTW for its children's programs. Experts were interviewed and data were gathered about the subject matter. Seminars were held throughout the country at which specific health problems were outlined along with methods of presenting the material to the TV audience.

Availability

The series originally aired on PBS from November 20, 1974 to 1975. After the show was revamped, it later aired on Channel 13 Wednesdays at 8 P.M.—with a repeat Sundays, at 6:30 P.M. It is unknown for how long it lasted, but since it was short-lived, it likely had 26 episodes and ended on June 25, 1975.

None of the episodes have surfaced online and are considered lost. Unlike other shows produced by the CTW, the series never aired reruns and was never released on home video.

The only proof of its existence is the poster, articles of the New York Times about the series, images of the Feeling Good newsletters and press photos of the series.

Gallery

Poster of the series.
From left to right: Dick Cavett, Joseph Catano, Karen Kline and Dr. Peter Peacock conducting stress tests^[3].
A screenshot featuring Dick Cavett and Julia Child.
Dick Cavett and the show's logo.
A page of the New York Times featuring an article about the series premiere.
Another page of the New York Times featuring another article of the series.
An image of the newsletter^[4].
CTW newsletters featuring the show's logo.
Another image of the newsletters.
Joe Morton (right) and the cast of Feeling Good.

References

External Links

[1] "PBS Expounds Health Care in Feeling Good"

[2] "How TV's 'Feeling Good' Went Bad"

[3] ttps://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-feeling-good-from-left-dick-cavett-joseph-catano-karen-kline-dr-peter-128561543.html

[4] ttps://hornbakelibrary.wordpress.com/2019/12/03/the-workshop-reaches-out-the-childrens-television-workshop-papers/

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 |status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
 }}
-'''''Feeling Good''''' was an American short-lived television series hosted by Dick Cavett and produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now Sesame Workshop). The series aired on PBS from November 20<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/20/archives/tv-pbs-expounds-health-carein-feeling-good.html "PBS Expounds Health Care in Feeling Good"]</ref>, 1974 to 1975 with two seasons. It was the first TV series produced by the CTW that was aimed at adults instead of children, and it was also the first TV series about health. Unlike ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Electric Company'', which were also produced by the CTW, the series is considered lost, with no footage being surfaced online and a few images exist.
+'''''Feeling Good''''' is an American short-lived television series hosted by Dick Cavett and produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now Sesame Workshop). The series aired on PBS from November 20th<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/20/archives/tv-pbs-expounds-health-carein-feeling-good.html "PBS Expounds Health Care in Feeling Good"]</ref>, 1974 to 1975 with two seasons. It was the first TV series produced by the CTW that was aimed at adults instead of children, and it was also the first TV series about health. The show is considered '''lost''', with none of the episodes being publicly shown and images exist.
 ==Plot==
-Mass‐appeal guest stars were used each week (the first episode featured Bill Cosby, Helen Reddy and Johnny Cash) along with a cast of regulars that congregated in a general store called “Mac's Place”—a kind of antiseptic “Hot I Baltimore.” The first program covered such diverse matters as mental health, prenatal and nutrition<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1975/05/04/archives/how-tvs-feeling-good-went-bad-how-tvs-feeling-good-went-bad.html "How TV's 'Feeling Good' Went Bad"]</ref>.
+Mass‐appeal guest stars were used each week along with a cast of regulars that congregated in a general store called “Mac's Place”—a kind of antiseptic “Hot I Baltimore.” The first season covered such diverse matters as mental health, prenatal and nutrition<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1975/05/04/archives/how-tvs-feeling-good-went-bad-how-tvs-feeling-good-went-bad.html "How TV's 'Feeling Good' Went Bad"]</ref>. Through the health problems and behavior of its residents, and through songs, sketches and animation, documentary segments and tips on staying healthy were presented.
 ==Production==
-Two‐and‐a‐half years ago, the CTW officials decided to extend their efforts to the adult audience, in particular the under‐educated, and began work on a series about health. Plans called for production of 26 hour ‐ long shows. The budget was a healthy $6.5 million, making the cost per show higher than anything ever before attempted on PBS.
+years ago, the CTW officials decided to extend their efforts to the adult audience, in particular the under‐educated, and began work on a series about health. Plans called for production of 26 hour ‐ long shows. The budget was a healthy $6.5 million, making the cost per show higher than anything ever before attempted on PBS.
-The man in charge of the project was William Robin. executive producer and vice president of CTW. Robin and his staff worked under the assumption that most people already know the dangers of improper health care hut lack motivation to change their habits. Since it seemed clear that traditional documentary methods had failed to influence them (Robin mentions the negligible results achieved with costly anti‐smoking campaigns), the producers of “Feeling Good” wanted a new approach.
+The man in charge of the project was William Robin. executive producer and vice president of the CTW. Robin and his staff worked under the assumption that most people already know the dangers of improper health care but lack motivation to change their habits. Since it seemed clear that traditional documentary methods had failed to influence them (Robin mentions the negligible results achieved with costly anti‐smoking campaigns), the producers of “Feeling Good” wanted a new approach.
 The staff worked with the same “model” developed by the CTW for its children's programs. Experts were interviewed and data were gathered about the subject matter. Seminars were held throughout the country at which specific health problems were outlined along with methods of presenting the material to the TV audience.
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 The series originally aired on PBS from November 20, 1974 to 1975. After the show was revamped, it later aired on Channel 13 Wednesdays at 8 P.M.—with a repeat Sundays, at 6:30 P.M. It is unknown for how long it lasted, but since it was short-lived, it likely had 26 episodes and ended on June 25, 1975.
-None of the episodes have been publicly shown and remain lost to this day. Unlike ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Electric Company'', the series never aired reruns and was never released on home video.
+None of the episodes have surfaced online and are considered lost. Unlike other shows produced by the CTW, the series never aired reruns and was never released on home video.
-The only accessible material are the poster of the series, an article of the ''New York Times'' about the show, a screenshot featuring Dick Cavett and the other doctors conducting stress tests, images of the Feeling Good newsletters and press photos of the show.
+The only proof of its existence is the poster, articles of the ''New York Times'' about the series, images of the Feeling Good newsletters and press photos of the series.
 ==Gallery==
 <gallery mode="packed" heights="175px">
 Feeling Good poster.jpg|Poster of the series.
-Feelinggood1.jpg|From left to right: Dick Cavett, Joseph Catano, Karen Kline and Dr. Peter Peacock conducting stress tests.
+Feelinggood1.jpg|From left to right: Dick Cavett, Joseph Catano, Karen Kline and Dr. Peter Peacock conducting stress tests<ref>https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-feeling-good-from-left-dick-cavett-joseph-catano-karen-kline-dr-peter-128561543.html</ref>.
-Dickcavettandjuliachild.jpg|Dick Cavett and Julia Child in the show.
+Dickcavettandjuliachild.jpg|A screenshot featuring Dick Cavett and Julia Child.
-Dickcavettpressphoto.jpg|Dick Cavett and the logo of the show.
+Dickcavettpressphoto.jpg|Dick Cavett and the show's logo.
 Feelinggoodnewyorktimespage.png|A page of the ''New York Times'' featuring an article about the series premiere.
-Feelinggoodnewyorktimes.png|Another page of the ''New York Times'' featuring an article about how the show went bad.
+Feelinggoodnewyorktimes.png|Another page of the ''New York Times'' featuring another article of the series.
 Feelinggoodreport.png|An image of the newsletter<ref>https://hornbakelibrary.wordpress.com/2019/12/03/the-workshop-reaches-out-the-childrens-television-workshop-papers/</ref>.
-CTWnewsletters.png|CTW newsletters featuring the logo of the show.
+CTWnewsletters.png|CTW newsletters featuring the show's logo.
 Feelinggoodreports2.png|Another image of the newsletters.
-Feelinggoodjoemorton.png|Joe Morton and the cast of ''Feeling Good''.
+Feelinggoodjoemorton.png|Joe Morton (right) and the cast of ''Feeling Good''.
 </gallery>
+==References==
+{{reflist}}
 ==External Links==
@@ Line 42: / Line 45: @@
 *[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0233053/ An IMDb page of the series.]
-==References==
+[[Category:Lost TV|Feeling Good]]
-{{reflist}}
+[[Category:Completely lost media|Feeling Good]]
-[[Category:Lost TV]]
-[[Category:Completely lost media]]