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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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1990-09-17
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VIDEO, Page 98BEST OF THE DECADE
Nightline (ABC, 1980- ). From the hostage crisis in Iran (which
inspired ABC to start a late-night news program in November 1979)
to teary Tammy Faye Bakker, all the decade's major stories were
illuminated by Ted Koppel's probing questions. When a crisis is
brewing, and even when one isn't, the most indispensable news
broadcast on television.
Hill Street Blues (NBC, 1981-87). Though it grew stale and
self-important, Steven Bochco's gritty, rambunctious, richly
textured look at a big-city police precinct set new standards for
TV drama in the '80s.
Late Night with David Letterman (NBC, 1982- ). While waiting
for Johnny Carson to retire, Dave went out and reinvented the talk
show. After nearly eight years of NBC jokes, stupid pet tricks and
Larry ("Bud") Melman, his video fun house is as inventive and
fiercely funny as ever.
Jeopardy! (syndicated, 1984- ). TV's most challenging game show
was too smart for the '70s: NBC canceled it in 1975 after a decade
on the air. But it reappeared triumphantly in a new syndicated
version in the '80s. Who says TV is getting dumber?
The Burning Bed (NBC, 1984). Farrah Fawcett, as a battered wife
who kills her husband, made everyone forget Charlie's Angels, and
director Robert Greenwald gave this TV movie -- a model for scores
of ripped-from-the-headlines dramas to follow -- haunting force.
Crime Story (NBC, 1986-88). Producer Michael Mann brought a
flashy film-noir style to TV in Miami Vice, then perfected it in
this brooding, operatic underworld drama. And Anthony Denison, as
gangster Ray Luca, created the TV villain who, along with J.R.
Ewing, loomed as the decade's most memorable.
Eyes on the Prize (PBS, 1987). The history of the early civil
rights movement recaptured in six compelling hours. Henry Hampton's
documentary series, using news footage from the 1950s and '60s and
narrated by Julian Bond, was a masterpiece of eloquent reportage.
thirtysomething (ABC, 1987- ). The life and habits of the
Yuppius domesticus. Too whiny and self-indulgent, yes, but in its
examination of contemporary lives and attitudes, this series starts
where other TV dramas leave off.
Tanner '88 (HBO, 1988). In the midst of the decade's most
boring presidential campaign, writer Garry Trudeau and director
Robert Altman invented their own candidate (played with
mealy-mouthed hilarity by Michael Murphy) and concocted a brilliant
satire of politics, media, life.
Lonesome Dove (CBS, 1989). Just when the epic mini-series
seemed to have bitten the dust, this vivid and lyrical adaptation
of Larry McMurtry's novel of a Western cattle drive, led by a
grizzled Robert Duvall, brought the genre rousingly back to life.
Twenty-nine-and-a-half hours of War and Remembrance put it to sleep
again.