CNN To Air Murrow Play

[TheBigA]

CNN will broadcast the Broadway play Goodnight & Good Luck starring George Clooney on Saturday June 7th

How to watch CNN’s broadcast of ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ with George Clooney for free

CNN’s presentation of the five-time Tony Award nominated new play by George Clooney and Grant ... Read More

www.newscaststudio.com

https://www.vulture.com/article/good-night-and-good-luck-george-clooney-tv.html

The play is based on the life of CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow. It comes at a time when the media is under fire by the president.

Good Night, and Good Luck | Official Broadway Website

Starring Academy Award® winner George Clooney. Good Night, and Good Luck played its final performance on June 8, 2025.

goodnightgoodluckbroadway.com

 

[Don CT]

It’s “one night only” so will it be available to stream after or just get one chance to watch and it’s done.

 

[TheBigA]

It’s “one night only” so will it be available to stream after or just get one chance to watch and it’s done.

Explained in the linked article

 

[Weiserguy]

Explained in the linked article

What's not explained is the inaccuracy of the lead paragraph:

CNN’s presentation of the five-time Tony Award nominated new play by George Clooney and Grant Heslov marks a historic Broadway first: Never before has a live play ever been broadcast and televised — and viewers will be able to watch it for free.

There have been a number of plays aired live, way back in the "Golden Age" of live television in the Fifties, on anthology series like Playhouse 90 or Studio 1. Most were original teleplays (e.g., Marty), but over the years I know other Broadway productions have also aired live, or live-on-tape.

 

[NoDakObserver]

What's not explained is the inaccuracy of the lead paragraph:

CNN’s presentation of the five-time Tony Award nominated new play by George Clooney and Grant Heslov marks a historic Broadway first: Never before has a live play ever been broadcast and televised — and viewers will be able to watch it for free.

There have been a number of plays aired live, way back in the "Golden Age" of live television in the Fifties, on anthology series like Playhouse 90 or Studio 1. Most were original teleplays (e.g., Marty), but over the years I know other Broadway productions have also aired live, or live-on-tape.

But were those plays actually broadcast from a Broadway theatre? Or were those in a TV studio somewhere? I read this as the broadcast is live from Broadway, and that is a first from there. That's why the phrase before it says "Broadway first".

 

[tall_guy1]

Their presentation on Saturday is followed by Real Time with Bill Maher. 🤢

 

[TheBigA]

I watched this tonight on CNN. I was pretty familiar with the story. I read most of the books on the subject. But there was one detail that really caught my attention. That was the set. The very picturesque window in the background. That was to represent the location. At the time, the CBS TV studios were located in Grand Central Station. They were there from 1937 to 1964. That window in the background actually looked like this:



Here's how that window was portrayed in the play:



I love those little details.

 

[tbolt909]

Give CNN credit for broadcasting this event. It's a compelling story and extremely relevant. Unfortunately, many Americans are ignorant of their own history (not to mention lack of knowledge about other Countries)...

 

[davideduardo]

Give CNN credit for broadcasting this event. It's a compelling story and extremely relevant. Unfortunately, many Americans are ignorant of their own history (not to mention lack of knowledge about other Countries)...

I can't tell you how many times I was asked "how do you like living in Africa" when I told people I lived in Ecuador.

 

[radiofan2023]

I can't tell you how many times I was asked "how do you like living in Africa" when I told people I lived in Ecuador.

How did you like living in Central America? 😛

 

[davideduardo]

How did you like living in Central America? 😛

Care to try again?

(I had that asked of me, too!)

 

[Mediafrog+]

I can't tell you how many times I was asked "how do you like living in Africa" when I told people I lived in Ecuador.

I would say they are confusing Ecuador with Equatorial Guinea, but very few people are aware of that African country. Spanish is spoken in both places, however.

Despite its name, no part of Equatorial Guinea actually lies on the equator, unlike Ecuador.

 

[Weiserguy]

But were those plays actually broadcast from a Broadway theatre? Or were those in a TV studio somewhere? I read this as the broadcast is live from Broadway, and that is a first from there. That's why the phrase before it says "Broadway first".

Many of them did originate from TV studios. I can't say for certain that any aired simultaneously with a Broadway audience in the house either. But having watched the production last night -- technically it was late afternoon here on the West Coast -- their "Get Out of Jail" card was the way they worded the claim, something like "The first time ever a Broadway performance will air and stream live, all around the world." Since CNN airs and streams into many countries, the claim is sort-of true. ("Sort-of" because it's dubious that someone could watch it, live or otherwise, in places like Russia, China or North Korea.)

Props to everyone involved, BTW. It was excellent in every way.

 

[TheBigA]

Many of them did originate from TV studios.

Keep in mind that doing live TV remotes in the 50s was technically difficult. The Broadway theaters weren't configured for the big TV cameras of the day. Lighting was also an issue. They were able to do live remotes, and See It Now was a pioneer in the process, as seen in the play. Murrow spoke live with Liberace. McCarthy was able to speak live from Washington. AT&T Long Lines were used. But most news coverage was done on film. Throughout the play, we saw producers walking about the newsroom carrying huge reels of film.

 

[Weiserguy]

Keep in mind that doing live TV remotes in the 50s was technically difficult. The Broadway theaters weren't configured for the big TV cameras of the day. Lighting was also an issue. They were able to do live remotes, and See It Now was a pioneer in the process, as seen in the play. Murrow spoke live with Liberace. McCarthy was able to speak live from Washington. AT&T Long Lines were used. But most news coverage was done on film. Throughout the play, we saw producers walking about the newsroom carrying huge reels of film.

All true. The father of a childhood friend worked for CBS in New York, processing and/or editing some of that incoming news film, so that aspect of the play had a skooch of extra meaning for me. I also have snippets of memory of watching actual live broadcasts of See It Now or Person To Person as the shows aired. (What I have no recollection of is which particular episodes I saw, who the guest(s) were, or what the subject matter was. I was definitely too young to have any recall of seeing the Milo Radulovich or Sen. McCarthy episodes live, though I did watch kinescopes of them much later, either on PBS or at the MTR -- now known as the Paley Center.)

 

[Loverofradio]

CNN will broadcast the Broadway play Goodnight & Good Luck starring George Clooney on Saturday June 7th

How to watch CNN’s broadcast of ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ with George Clooney for free

CNN’s presentation of the five-time Tony Award nominated new play by George Clooney and Grant ... Read More

www.newscaststudio.com

https://www.vulture.com/article/good-night-and-good-luck-george-clooney-tv.html

The play is based on the life of CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow. It comes at a time when the media is under fire by the president.

Good Night, and Good Luck | Official Broadway Website

Starring Academy Award® winner George Clooney. Good Night, and Good Luck played its final performance on June 8, 2025.

goodnightgoodluckbroadway.com

I would say this is weird. But ESPN broadcasted an entire Eagles concert hosted by Chris Berman a few years back