Bicentennial Minutes

Bicentennial Minutes
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Running time	1 minute
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	4 July 1974 – 31 December 1976

Bicentennial Minutes was a series of short educational American television segments commemorating the bicentennial of the American Revolution. The segments were produced by the CBS Television Network and broadcast nightly from July 4, 1974, until December 31, 1976. (The series was originally slated to end on July 4, 1976, but was extended to the end of the year.) The segments were sponsored by Shell Oil Company, then later by Raid (insecticide) from July 1976 onward.

The series was created by Ethel Winant and Lewis Freedman of CBS, who had overcome the objections of network executives who considered it to be an unworthy use of program time. The producer of the series was Paul Waigner, the executive producer was Bob Markell, and the executive story editor and writer was Bernard Eismann from 1974 to 1976. He was followed by Jerome Alden. Associate producer Meryle Evans researched the historical facts for the broadcasts. In 1976, the series received an Emmy Award in the category of Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement. It also won a Special Christopher Award in 1976.

The videotaped segments were each one minute long and were broadcast each night during prime time hours, generally at approximately 8:27 or 8:57 P.M. Eastern time. The format of the segments did not change, although each segment featured a different narrator, often a CBS network television star. The narrator, after introducing himself or herself, would state "This is a Bicentennial Minute," followed by the phrase "Two hundred years ago today..." and a description of a historical event or personage prominent on that particular date two hundred years before during the American Revolution. The segment would close with the narrator saying, "I'm (his/her name), and that's the way it was." This was an offhand reference to the close of the weeknight CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, who always ended each news telecast by saying, "And that's the way it is."

The Bicentennial Minute on July 3, 1976 was narrated by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. The Bicentennial Minute on July 4, 1976 was narrated by First Lady Betty Ford. The final Bicentennial Minute, broadcast on December 31, 1976, was narrated by President Gerald Ford. (This was also the longest Bicentennial minute.) After the series ended, the time slot of the Bicentennial Minute came to be occupied by a brief synopsis of news headlines ("Newsbreak") read by a CBS anchor.

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