I Want to Pick Your Brains..

[Jordan327192]

I'm a student at a high school in PA and was wondering if I could ask you guys a few questions. My topic for the research paper was how the September 11th attacks influenced the entertainment industry. My questions are:

1. What areas (sitcoms, dramas, soap operas, etc) of the television industry were altered by 9/11?
2. Did you personally see any effects of the attacks on television?
And finally,
3. What do you think of the story lines that were altered (if there were any) and what does that reveal about American culture?



Thank you so so much -- this will help me a lot.
-Jordan

 

[SquiggyFM]

> 1. What areas (sitcoms, dramas, soap operas, etc) of the
> television industry were altered by 9/11?

Soap operas aren't my forte, so I'll give you what I recall.

After TV had the week off due to wall-to-wall coverage, most shows recut any offensive material or re-edited anything relating to Islam, NYC, airports...etc.
The season premiere of Friends was re-cut to remove Chandler's excapades in a NYC area airport.
The series priemere of 24 was re-tooled (and I beleive delayed) to remove references to terrorists on an airplane.
The West Wing aired a special show which doesn't fit into the show's universe, dealing with terrorism. It aired a week after the attacks.
The season preiemre of pretty much every NYC based show was delayed up to a week.
Every network went into uber-patriotic mode, with the American flag being displayed in the NBC peacock (until the 2002 winter Olympics) and Fox News's Live American flag bug.
The 24/7 News Nets added the ticker, which persists to this day.

EVERY NETWORK aired the Pledge drive.

Infact, I remember Jon Stewart coming back to the Daily Show (based in NYC), and wondering if comedy was dead. That video is here http://www.dailyshowonline.com/node/132


> 2. Did you personally see any effects of the attacks on
> television?

I was actually flying to NYC for a College Music Jounral confrence that day. After I was awoken by my roommate going "Hey, someone crashed into the WTC", I turned on my radio to the local CHR station. Hearing Dan Rather's voice, I turned on CNN just in time to see the second tower fall. I thought it was a Jerry Bruckheimer movie.

> 3. What do you think of the story lines that were altered
> (if there were any) and what does that reveal about American
> culture?

It shows that media changes quickly as not to offend anyone, sometimes too much. 9/11 affected the media just as much as it affected the US in general, meaning that EVERYTHING changed. No one knew anything until late that night and the news agencies did what they could to cover the largest story (hopefully) of their careers.

Some people though, chose to remove any and all references to the WTC from works already completed. Spiderman was opening the next summer (2002) and the powers that be chose to remove images from the teaser trailer. Sort of "if we pretend they never existed it'll be ok" mentality.

JMHO.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

It is my understanding that production of TV sitcoms taped with a studio audience was affected by the aftermath of 9/11.

I recall reading that for a few weeks after 9/11, sitcoms normally taped with studio audiences were taped without audiences. A few weeks later, audiences were again allowed in to studios to attend tapings, but with increased security.

 

[TimInHouston]

> It is my understanding that production of TV sitcoms taped
> with a studio audience was affected by the aftermath of
> 9/11.
>
> I recall reading that for a few weeks after 9/11, sitcoms
> normally taped with studio audiences were taped without
> audiences. A few weeks later, audiences were again allowed
> in to studios to attend tapings, but with increased
> security.
>

There was some of that. I was in Los Angeles the week after 9/11 for vacation (left saturday 9/15). CBS Television City appeared to be in full production mode as we were able to attend a taping of The Late Late Show w/Kilborn on Tuesday, 9/18 (Late Show and Late Late Show resumed taping the day before, 9/17). "The Price Is Right" on 9/19 (which wasn't nearly as crowded for a late summer/early fall taping as I've heard it normally is). That same day, we also attended a taping of "Politically Incorrect" (complete with empty chair in honor of Barbara Olson and the day after Maher's infamous "coward" remarks that eventually led to that show's demise). We passed on the opportunity to attend a taping of the network edition of NBC's "The Weakest Link" because we weren't dressed in dark clothing. If I remember correctly, "Hollywood Squares" was also taping that week at CBS.

Most of the "ticket agents" were working Hollywood Blvd and the area. But overall, Hollywood seemed kind of subdued.

 

[dhett]

> Infact, I remember Jon Stewart coming back to the Daily Show
> (based in NYC), and wondering if comedy was dead. That
> video is here http://www.dailyshowonline.com/node/132

Similar situation with Leno. I remember watching the first night he was back after 9/11. He was pretty upfront about how he felt and even mentioned that he really didn't feel like doing comedy, but he was there because the President had said that people needed to get back to their daily routines. His heart really wasn't in it that night, but it didn't take long for him to get back into form.<P ID="signature">______________
Dave</P>

 

[network]

Speaking Of Videoclips...

> Infact, I remember Jon Stewart coming back to the Daily Show
> (based in NYC), and wondering if comedy was dead. That
> video is here http://www.dailyshowonline.com/node/132

Speaking of returns after 9/11 and video clips...anyone know where I can see Letterman's return to "The Late Show" after 9/11 -- the one where there infamous emotional breakdown occured.

Thanks.