Product Details

• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: PBS
• DVD Release Date: February 21, 2008
• Run Time: 240 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000XCZGWC
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,530 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Pioneers of Television" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Until television history gets the Ken Burns treatment (preferably by Ken Burns), this four-part PBS pledge-bait documentary series should warm the nostalgic cockles of Baby Boomers' TV-lovin' hearts. A generous sampling of clips and interviews with some of TV Land's most beloved personalities fondly and reverently recall television's golden age and the pantheon of mold-breakers and template setters. "Late Night" confers King status on Johnny Carson, but it does pay tribute to his trailblazing predecessors, Steve Allen, with his unpredictable blend of wit and silliness, and Jack Paar, equally unpredictable (he once quit his show on the air after a tiff with network censors), who mastered the art of conversation. "Sitcoms" spotlights five groundbreaking series, The Honeymooners, Make Room for Daddy, I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, and The Dick Van Dyke Show. "Variety" begins with The Ed Sullivan Show and proceeds through a host of entertainers who fronted their own shows, culminating in the gold standard, The Carol Burnett Show. "Game Show" is a winner with hilarious, rarely seen clips of classic game show moments (it's always a naughty delight to hear Paul Lynde's Hollywood Squares zingers).

There will be quibbles. Ernie Kovacs is but one glaring and bewildering omission, and icons such as Carol Burnett are missing in action. The series often blurs the line between being a pioneer and merely popular. But talking heads don't come any more entertaining than Tim Conway, Barbara Eden, Andy Griffith, Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, Betty White, Jay Leno, Jim Nabors, Marlo Thomas (talking about her father, Danny, but herself something of a pioneer), Joyce "Trixie" Randolph, Dick Cavett, Regis Philbin, and Tony Orlando (Tony Orlando?). Pioneers breaks little new ground. Most of these stories have been told better elsewhere, and certainly less clichéd ("The winds of ambition were blowing Johnny westward"). But there is much to treasure in the well-chosen clips, including Johnny Carson's earliest talk- and game-show gigs, Carl Reiner's failed pilot, Head of the Family, which became The Dick Van Dyke Show, and an early Honeymooners clip with Pert Kelton as Alice. There are still pioneers breaking new ground, but this welcome series is a reminder of those who paved the way. And if nothing else, in this era of reality television, it's a great escape to a bygone era. --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 01/29/2008 Run time: 240 minutes Rating: Nr

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding insight and background information, February 12, 2008

By 

S. V. Anderson (Idaho) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pioneers of Television (DVD)

This series is among the finest documenting television's early history. Complete with interviews from those involved with the earliest broadcasts and programs, this series reveals the inside story behind the quiz show scandal, the Smother's Brothers cancelation, the popularity of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, as well as the various talk shows to grace late-night television. Each program discusses one facet of television's history: game shows, talk shows, comedy, etc...

A must for those interested in the history of the medium.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Informative, October 31, 2008

By 

Timothy M. Ritze - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pioneers of Television (DVD)

As a child of the 60's, growing up watching television, I found this DVD to be very entertaining and informative. Lot's of trivia in this progam. I would recommend it to anyone under 50 for a better understanding of what good television was, and the people who made it.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My Childhood Makes More Sense Now, April 10, 2008

By 

Shadoxfire (Pacific Northwest USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pioneers of Television (DVD)

I wasted a lot of time when I was young watching re-runs of these shows. I felt, watching this DVD, like I was looking through an old family photo album.

This DVD explains a lot of stuff I could never have figured out on my own. "Family secrets", explained 30 years later.

These actors, shown in color and black & white clips, never seem to get any older. Their faces are so familiar. It's kind of freaky to realize that none of them have the slightest idea who I am.