Pioneers of Television DVD Review
Posted by Ryan Byers on 02.07.2008
PBS takes a look back at TV's formative years in this mini-series.
Pioneers of Television is a four episode mini-series featuring documentary style shows, each of which highlights the early development of a particular TV genre. The series itself debuted on January 2 of this year on PBS, and a DVD release through the network's home video label took place at virtually the same time. The series promises interviews with almost one hundred stars from the golden era of television, though obviously it will need much more than a large quantity if interviewees if it is going to provide a worthwhile product. Let's take a look at whether Pioneers delivers in that regard.
Episodes
Late Night: This episode doesn't come off as the story of the early stages of a genre as much as it does the history of one show. Specifically, I'm talking about The Tonight Show. Though a few forerunners to that program get a bit of play, it doesn't seem like any in depth discussion begins until Steve Allen is named the host of Tonight. Allen's performances on Tonight are more heavily featured than virtually any other single performer's act for the rest of the Pioneers series. This helps set up a nice contrast between Allen and the man who replaced him, Jack Paar. Paar's more somber style of hosting is discussed using more current interviews and voiceovers than actual Tonight clips, which makes sense given that his style of hosting is more difficult to capture in fifteen or twenty second spurts. Finally Paar gives way to Johnny Carson, whose career is discussed for twice as long as either of his predecessors. The majority of the discussion consists of Caron's peers talking up just how great he was, which is undoubtedly true. Arsenio Hall's late night talk show receives a nod towards the end of the episode, though it is the only program of the post-Carson era discussed. As previously alluded to, this episode is rather good if what you're looking for as a history of Tonight. Granted, that program did not have very many legitimate competitors in its genre over the years, but it did seem odd that David Letterman in particular was barely mentioned during this episode if at all.
Sitcoms: Four key sitcoms are profiled in this episode, namely I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Honeymooners, and The Andy Griffith Show. (Also receiving some time is Make Room for Daddy, though it is treated as more of a footnote to the four primary programs.) It is in this episode that one of the unfortunate drawbacks of the series is first and most heavily highlighted. Each of these four programs had such a great influence on television that limiting them all to roughly twelve minutes each seems to be doing them a disservice. I would love to see an entire hour devoted to in-depth discussion of the influence of I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners, but, in the episode as it is presented, there is simply not room for such discussion to take place. It was good to see Andy Griffith doing a rare television interview, though.
Variety: This episode differs from the rest in that the genre it is discussing is now completely extinct. Thus, instead of a profile of the first few decades of a type of television, we are basically treated to its entire history. Ed Sullivan and Milton Berle are obviously featured early on, with some interview clips with Berle from the 1990's providing interesting insight in to his philosophy on performing. This is also the episode of the series with the most frank discussion of racism in the television industry, which I found lacking in the "sitcoms" episode (particularly given the popularity of blatantly racist programs like Amos 'n' Andy in the 1950's). Specifically, Pat Boone talks about the difficulty that he had in booking African American guests, and the difficult that Nat King Cole had in launching his own variety program is also highlighted. The show goes on to rightly paint Flip Wilson's hugely successful series as a turning point in the genre, while also documenting the rise of Carol Burnett. This episode seemed to be the most balanced in terms of presenting both lighthearted nostalgia and harder-hitting analysis of the influence that the featured series had on popular culture.
Game Shows: The structure of this episode struck me as a bit odd. It started off as any other episode in the Pioneers series, covering important shows in the genre in chronological order. This began with the origin of the game show in radio and moved on to You Bet Your Life, Password, and Let's Make a Deal before concluding with Merv Griffin's powerhouses Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy (the former series apparently being inspired by childhood games of hangmen played in the car during family vacations). Yet, instead of lasting the entire fifty-five minutes allotted to the episode, the chronological breakdown cuts off around the forty minute mark, after which fifteen minutes is spent discussing the qualities of a good game show host. Folks like Bob Barker did provide some unique insight during this discussion, though I have to wonder if its inclusion was so important that the rest of the episode had to be shortchanged.
Special Features
Extended Interviews: "Extended interviews" is a bit of a misnomer, as these really aren't lengthier versions of interviews already included in the series. Instead, what we have here is roughly fifteen minutes worth of anecdotes about working in television from several of the individuals who were interviewed for Pioneers. Highlights include Betty White telling the story of how she thought that the sitcom would never take off and Jonathan Winters explaining his family's connections to the Wright Brothers. All of these clips were entertaining, and I would have liked to have seen more of them, though the disc is probably filled to capacity between these fifteen minutes and four hours with of the series itself.
The 411: Before picking up this DVD, I think you have to step back and ask yourself exactly what you want to get out of it. The answer to that question is likely to have a large bearing on how you view the quality of the series. If you are a younger individual who did not have an opportunity to see the classic television series discussed in Pioneers and are looking to this DVD for a detailed discussion of why exactly they are important to the modern television landscape, chances are good that you are going to walk away disappointed. Though the producers included a bit of material which indicated that they wished to take the project in such a direction, the unfortunate fact of the matter remains that the format of the show's episodes did not provide them with enough time to provide a full assessment of each show's influence and importance. However, if you are an individual who grew up watching each of the shows highlighted in Pioneers and already realize their importance, I have a feeling that the mini-series will provide a fun nostalgic romp, full of clips sure to evoke memories and tributes to the shows' stars provided by those who knew them best. In short, chances are good that, if you're a part of this website's target demographic, you're going to want to pass on this release. However, if you're a decade or two older than the "internet generation," Pioneers may be worth a look.
