Golden Age of Television, The (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

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Two weeks ago, ABC proudly announced the reboot of "V" as the "television event of the year." This week, AMC begged to differ, declaring its reboot of "The Prisoner" as the "television event of the year." I think Jon Stewart would describe these as "the television events of the year of the week."

When you can TIVO it, or watch clips online, wait for the re-run, or buy it on DVD a few months later, is it really an "event" anymore? It´s more like a product launch, your first of many chances to watch what advertisers tell you everyone else will be watching. It´s a commodity before it´s ever broadcast, an item to be passed around and sampled at your leisure. Don´t worry about being in any particular place at any particular time. You can catch up to it eventually.

In the Golden Age of Television, they had real "television events." These were live dramas broadcast once then usually not seen again unless the cast was assembled later for another performance. If you weren´t there last night at eight o´ clock, you didn´t get to see "Requiem for a Heavyweight." Ever.

Or at least not for a while. Fortunately, the live broadcasts were recorded by kinescope which involved pointing the camera at the live feed on set. The kinescopes were rather poor in quality and were not considered acceptable for re-broadcast in most cases. They remained stored on the shelves until the home video age arrived in the 70s and created a new market. Demand existed not just because of new technology but also because the generation that grew up when the long-term outlook for television was somewhat tenuous now wanted to recapture the early days of the medium that has come to define American culture and often to shape its behavior.

In 1981, public television carried a program called, appropriately enough, "The Golden Age of Television." It was curated by former TV executive Sonny Fox and brought the landmark events of early 50s television to a new audience as well as to their original viewers. These broadcasts had hardly been forgotten. They helped legitimize television as a competitor for stage and cinema, after all. But they had been talked about in text books rather than seen.

This Criterion set, also called "The Golden Age of Television" now brings eight of these early live broadcasts to yet another new generation and once again to their original audience. These shows featured writers, directors and actors whose names remain well-known today. Rod Serling´s screenplays for shows like "Patterns" (1955) and "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1956) made him a superstar although he is much better known today for "The Twilight Zone." Paddy Chayefsky ("Network") also solidified his reputation here with the groundbreaking "Marty" (1953), the show credited by curator Ron Simon as "a turning point in the development of live television." Directors John Frankenheimer and Delbert Mann also got their starts during this time. The performers represented in this set, some of whom are now identified with the formative years of The Method in America, are still household names in many cases: Paul Newman, Rod Steiger, Cliff Robertson, Andy Griffith, Jack Palance, Mickey Rooney, Kim Hunter, Julie Harris, etc.

Knowing nothing about these landmark broadcasts, I was surprised by the elaborate camerawork. Though this was live theater, the shows were shot with multiple cameras and used frequent dollies and zooms along with on-the-fly editing that required pinpoint precision from the performers as well as the crew. Though scene changes were generally accomplished only after commercial breaks, ambitious directors like Frankenheimer actually used the multiple camera setups to create live montages.

There are eight shows included in the set, of which I have watched five. My favorite is also probably the best known. "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (Oct 11, 1956), written by Rod Serling and directed by Ralph Nelson, features Jack Palance as a washed up boxer, already a broken down horse at the ripe old age of 33, who struggles to find work and an identity after a doctor declares him unfit to continue fighting. His long-time manager Maish (Keenan Wynn) is ready to dump his no-longer reliable meal ticket, leaving the poor innocent palooka shaken to his very core until potential redemption arrives in the form of a helpful employment agency worker with the not-coincidental name of Grace (Kim Hunter). Palance can be overwrought but his Mountain McClintock is an undeniably charming character.

Another Serling-scripted project "The Comedian" (Feb 14, 1957), directed by John Frankenheimer, is a scathing behind-the-scenes look at a fictional variety show hosted by the lovable Sammy Hogarth. Lovable to everyone except the people that know Sammy, that is. Off-screen, he´s a selfish, egotistical, womanizing tyrant who sees everyone else as a means to his own ends. Hogarth is played by Mickey Rooney in a darker role than most people usually associate with good ol´ Andy Hardy. Rooney is a pint-sized monster who Serling must have been thinking of when he adapted Jerome Bixby´s short story for the now iconic Bill Mumy role in "It´s a Good Life." Mel Torme isn´t quite as accomplished as Sammy´s much-abused brother but Edmond O´Brien shines as Sammy´s also-abused head writer. Don´t look for a neat and tidy ending here.

Most of the live drama broadcasts were dramas, but "No Time for Sergeants" (March 15, 1955) was a rare comic success starring a largely unknown stand-up comic named Andy Griffith. Griffith plays a proto-Gomer Pyle role as Will Stockdale, a bumpkin drafted into the Air Force without a clue in the world as to how life outside his little town in Georgia works. His shenanigans spell trouble for his poor, scheming Sergeant (Harry Clark) and generally disrupt the barracks. I can´t say the comedy held up well for me, but it´s still a kick to see a young Griffith two years before his star-making turn in "A Face in the Crowd."