PBS' Festival '78 National Marathon was 30 consecutive hours of Non-Stop Entertainment Extravaganza which began at 7:00 pm, Saturday March 18th, 1978 and concluded at midnight Sunday March 19, 1978 on many PBS stations including my local PBS station: KPBS in San Diego, California. The Marathon was part of Public Television's 25th Silver Anniversary Celebration (since Houston Public Media (then KUHT) from Houston, Texas debuted as the first public television station in the nation) and was also part to climax Festival '78: 16 Days of Special Programming designed to increase national awareness and support for public television...Join The Celebration on Public TV! It marked the first time that public television stations have ever joined together to present 30 hours of continuous non-stop programming and featured the largest gathering of celebrities and public figures in the history of public television.
Among the celebrity hosts who provided updates from Public TV activities around the country on a giant tote-board throughout the 30-Hour Marathon were:
-Julia Child and Hugh Downs for Austin City Limits and Big Band Bash (7:00 PM to 11:15 PM, Saturday March 18th).
-David Steinberg along with the various members of the cast from Saturday Night Live for midnight programs. (Sunday March 19th, 12:15 AM to 6:30 AM).
-Rita Moreno and the cast members from the Electric Company and Sesame Street, and of course the Muppets of Sesame Street will drop by to visit with younger PBS viewers during children's programming (7:25 AM through 12:00 PM). I hope Cookie Monster didn't eat the giant toteboard.
While local membership breaks will be carried on from local PBS stations from 12:00 PM to 4:45 PM, Sun. March 19th.
More national membership breaks will continue throughout the reprise of Big Band Bash, Sun. March 19th....
-Dick Cavett and Jean Marsh for Sunday night programs (7:45 PM to 12:30 AM, Mon. March 20th).
-Various celebrities have appeared during the Marathon either from the Marathon Studios or from videotaped messages were:
Mitch Miller, Sidney Poitier, Cloris Leachman, Carol Burnett, Skip Hinnant, First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Kathryn Walker, of The Adams Chronicles", Artie Shaw, Meredith Baxter Birney, Bernadette Peters, Robert Goulet, Senator Birch Bayh, Republican Barbara Jordan, former Republican Sam Ervin, and Ed Asner.
By the way, First Lady Rosalynn Carter's message, videotaped by PBS in Washington, D.C. had aired on Sun. March 19th, 1978, 10:00 PM at Eastern time after The Great American Dream Machine Revisited and she said: "Jimmy and I both believe very strongly that public television is an important part of American life," "It (public television) belongs to all of us in a very real and personal way because millions of Americans help make it possible, and because public television reflects the best we have within us."
"Marathon" was a presentation of THIRTEEN PBS-WNET from New York after 16 days of special programming designed to increase national awareness and support for public television: Festival '78. The continuous programming have highlighted by Austin City Limits featuring Chet Atkins and Merle Travis, followed by the "Big Band Bash" a three-hour tribute to the sounds of the Big Band Swing era, then a reprise of "The End Of The Civilization...As We Know It" featuring John Cleese, Three chilling hours of Louis Jourdan as "Count Dracula" on Great Performances, then David Lean's 1947 film classic and winner of three Academy Awards: Great Expectations, The Best of Ernie Kovacs, White Bear: A Soviet Television Documentary, then children's programming were also part of the marathon (The Electric Company, Sesame Street, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Zoom and Studio See), A Birthday Party of Josef Strauss, a repeat of "Don Giovanni" on Live From The Met starring Joan Sutherland and James Morris, a reprise of Big Band Bash, The Great American Dream Machine Revisited: A two-hour retrospective of public television hosted by Marshall Efron from the Great American Dream Machine that took viewers into the 25-year history of the medium and reintroduce them to some of their favorite performers and programs from classic drama to Julia Child to Big Bird, after that, it was followed by another episode of Anna Karenina on Masterpiece Theatre.
The grand finale was a reunion of favorite Masterpiece Theatre personalities live from the Marathon studios and hosted by Dick Cavett and Jean Marsh. The entire 30 hours was a single special event by and about public television and has allowed viewers to give instant feedback and support for their favorite programs.
Among the celebrity hosts who provided updates from Public TV activities around the country on a giant tote-board throughout the 30-Hour Marathon were:
-Julia Child and Hugh Downs for Austin City Limits and Big Band Bash (7:00 PM to 11:15 PM, Saturday March 18th).
-David Steinberg along with the various members of the cast from Saturday Night Live for midnight programs. (Sunday March 19th, 12:15 AM to 6:30 AM).
-Rita Moreno and the cast members from the Electric Company and Sesame Street, and of course the Muppets of Sesame Street will drop by to visit with younger PBS viewers during children's programming (7:25 AM through 12:00 PM). I hope Cookie Monster didn't eat the giant toteboard.
While local membership breaks will be carried on from local PBS stations from 12:00 PM to 4:45 PM, Sun. March 19th.
More national membership breaks will continue throughout the reprise of Big Band Bash, Sun. March 19th....
-Dick Cavett and Jean Marsh for Sunday night programs (7:45 PM to 12:30 AM, Mon. March 20th).
-Various celebrities have appeared during the Marathon either from the Marathon Studios or from videotaped messages were:
Mitch Miller, Sidney Poitier, Cloris Leachman, Carol Burnett, Skip Hinnant, First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Kathryn Walker, of The Adams Chronicles", Artie Shaw, Meredith Baxter Birney, Bernadette Peters, Robert Goulet, Senator Birch Bayh, Republican Barbara Jordan, former Republican Sam Ervin, and Ed Asner.
By the way, First Lady Rosalynn Carter's message, videotaped by PBS in Washington, D.C. had aired on Sun. March 19th, 1978, 10:00 PM at Eastern time after The Great American Dream Machine Revisited and she said: "Jimmy and I both believe very strongly that public television is an important part of American life," "It (public television) belongs to all of us in a very real and personal way because millions of Americans help make it possible, and because public television reflects the best we have within us."
"Marathon" was a presentation of THIRTEEN PBS-WNET from New York after 16 days of special programming designed to increase national awareness and support for public television: Festival '78. The continuous programming have highlighted by Austin City Limits featuring Chet Atkins and Merle Travis, followed by the "Big Band Bash" a three-hour tribute to the sounds of the Big Band Swing era, then a reprise of "The End Of The Civilization...As We Know It" featuring John Cleese, Three chilling hours of Louis Jourdan as "Count Dracula" on Great Performances, then David Lean's 1947 film classic and winner of three Academy Awards: Great Expectations, The Best of Ernie Kovacs, White Bear: A Soviet Television Documentary, then children's programming were also part of the marathon (The Electric Company, Sesame Street, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Zoom and Studio See), A Birthday Party of Josef Strauss, a repeat of "Don Giovanni" on Live From The Met starring Joan Sutherland and James Morris, a reprise of Big Band Bash, The Great American Dream Machine Revisited: A two-hour retrospective of public television hosted by Marshall Efron from the Great American Dream Machine that took viewers into the 25-year history of the medium and reintroduce them to some of their favorite performers and programs from classic drama to Julia Child to Big Bird, after that, it was followed by another episode of Anna Karenina on Masterpiece Theatre.
The grand finale was a reunion of favorite Masterpiece Theatre personalities live from the Marathon studios and hosted by Dick Cavett and Jean Marsh. The entire 30 hours was a single special event by and about public television and has allowed viewers to give instant feedback and support for their favorite programs.
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