I first started writing this blog some weeks ago after I was lucky enough to be invited along to a review performance of the Broadway stage play, Good Night, and Good Luck.  Thanks to my friendship with David Bianculli, who always gets the best tickets, I found myself in the audience of a truly astonishing play.

Some background – the film, Good Night, and Good Luck was released some 20 years ago (in 2005). Directed by Geoge Clooney and written by Clooney and Grant Heslov, the film focused on Edward R Murrow’s live on air take down of Senator Joseph McCarthy, the architect of the notorious communist witch-hunt in 50s America.

I had, of course, heard of Joe McCarthy.  A good film student, who hasn’t heard of McCarthyism and the HUAC trials where people were blacklisted from Hollywood during the notorious red scare of the 50s?

But I had no idea of the devil that was in the details until I started teaching (or, rather, learning) American TV of the 50s.  For that first semester I sat in on sessions that filled me with panic.  How could I, an American TV studies scholar, know so little about television in America?  Luckily, I had David to fill me in on the history of television in the country that I was now living in.

Part of the session (about 3 weeks of it) was an in-depth look at Edward R Murrow and his incredible contribution to American radio and television.  The class started with Murrow’s reporting from World War II in the UK on his radio show, then moved back to the states and his TV show – See It Now (CBS, 1951-8) which opened with live broadcasts from New York and San Francisco – simultaneously.  The final week was a broadcast of his legendary documentary Harvest of Shame (CBS, 1960).

Part of the session focusing on Murrow was a comparison of how Clooney’s film measured up to the real life (live) broadcasts.  Because of this, I watched all the broadcasts and the film and then went back again to re-watch.  I could not believe my eyes.  Trump was nearing the end of his first term at that time and, when I got to teach the class, I used Murrow and Fred Friendly’s broadcast to compare to the film (as David did) and took my chance to look at the on air factchecking of Trump (and Boris Johnson’s) unsubstantiated claims.  For the record, aided and abetted by Roy Cohn, McCarthy claimed that there were over 200 communists in the Government.  This was proven to be patently untrue but not until the damage was done to so many.

Fast forward to 24 March 2025.

It wasn’t just that George Clooney was going to be in the flesh in front of me that excited me (well, maybe just a lot) but the fact that I was going to the performance with my husband, David and another colleague, Harold, both amazing TV historians and critics.  And, of course, the fact that I was going to see George Clooney in his first Broadway play (did I mention George Clooney in the flesh?).

To say I was rapt would be an understatement.  The staging, acting and storytelling were absolutely first class and, despite a few nay-saying reviews, more than lived up to the hype.  The closing montage of current news, ending with Elon Musk’s nazi salute, brought gasps from the audience.  I realized that I had seen history being made on stage.  What an absolute treat – how lucky am I?

And then, is if it couldn’t get better, CNN decided to screen a live version of the play, direct from Broadway, on Saturday evening (7th June) evoking the early days of live theatre on television.

How would a television version of a play of a film of a television event translate to the small screen?

This was even more intense than the stage version.  CNN really pushed the boat out. The sound may have been a bit buzzy, but the editing was not.  The play had as much power in a live television broadcast as it had on stage.  The now infamous speech: ‘The fault dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves’ is as relevant now as it was then.  Particularly in today’s political climate.  Fact checking in those days was a slog.  Piles of newspapers.  A team of people scouring newsprint.  The meticulous attention to detail that made sure that Joe McCarthy was brought down by his own words.  The threats towards the network (let’s not forget what is happening to 60 Minutes, CBS’s flagship news programme). The very fact that, at the time of the broadcast, peaceful protests were going on (and still are) in Los Angeles against ICE raids with the president sending in federal troops to quash what he calls an ‘insurrection’.  The parallels to be drawn here are many and became front and centre of CNN’s broadcast.

As I often say, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  The live broadcast of Good Night, and Good Luck not only echoes scheduling during the first golden age of TV but also proves how powerful a medium television is and always was.

As Murrow always said ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’– by goodness America you’ll need as much luck as you can get.

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Postscript:  I have learnt so much during my time in America.  Not all of it good but, I certainly know 100% more about American television than I did when I first got here.  As I prepare to leave, I have to thank David Bianculli, my sled dog, for teaching me so much about American television history, introducing me to unknown TV stars (Ernie Kovacs and Rancid the devil horse are among many unsung heroes) and being the best colleague and friend both before and during my exile.  Milton Berle may have been known as Mr TV back in the day but there is no one in America that knows as much about American television, is as passionate about it and renowned for his teaching as my Mr TV – David Bianculli.

You can hear all of David’s reviews on WHYY’s Fresh Air.

(Listen here for David Bianculli’s excellent potted history and review of Good Night and Good Luck).

 

Kim Akass is, for the next 3 weeks, a Professor of Radio, Television, & Film at Rowan University and managing editor of CSTonline.  Again, let’s hope she isn’t deported as a result of writing this blog.