Our World (American TV series)

infobox television
show_name = Our World


caption = "Our World" title card
format = Documentary
runtime = 60 min. (including commercials)
creator = Roone Arledge
producer = Avram Westin
starring = Linda Ellerbee
Ray Gandolf
country = United States
network = ABC
first_aired = September 25, 1986
last_aired = May 28, 1987
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 26
imdb_id = 0090497|

"Our World" was an American television news series that ran for 26 episodes, from September 25, 1986 to May 28, 1987. The show was anchored by Linda Ellerbee and Ray Gandolf. Each episode of the series examined, through the use of archival film and television footage, one short period in American history. "Our World" aired on ABC.cite news
last = Corry
first = John
title = TV Review: 'Our World' Recalls '69
work = The New York Times
date = 1986-09-25
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE5D71E3FF936A1575AC0A960948260
accessdate = 2008-07-09]

"Our World" grew out of an earlier ABC News special called "45/85", whose producer, Avram Westin, would go on to produce "Our World". Each episode was produced on a budget of $350,000, less than half of the budget of a typical hour of prime time programming at the time.

"Our World" premiered to indifferent critical response but as the series progressed critics became effusive with their praise. Despite being critically well-received and profitable for the network, "Our World" performed poorly in the Nielsen ratings, as its first half-hour was programmed against the extremely popular "The Cosby Show".cite news
last = Medina
first = Sara C.
title = People
work = Time
date = 1986-07-28
url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961854,00.html
accessdate = 2008-07-09] ABC cancelled the show after one season. Ellerbee tried to move the series to PBS but was unsuccessful.

Production

"Our World" was created by ABC News president Roone Arledge. [Arledge p. 320] The show had its genesis in a 1985 ABC News special called "45/85", a three-hour documentary that reviewed post-World War II history with an emphasis on the Cold War. [cite news
last = Holston
first = Noel
title = Ellerbee is Just What 'Our World' Needs
work = Orlando Sentinel
page = E.1
date = 1986-07-23] That special was produced by Avram "Av" Westin, who also produced "Our World".cite news
last = Paynter
first = Susan
title = Our World Draws a Measly 5.5 Million, but So What? Say Hosts
work = Seattle Post-Intelligencer
date = 1986-10-17
url = http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/archives/1986/8601230481.asp
accessdate = 2008-07-09] Anchors Ellerbee and Gandolf co-wrote "Our World", which combined archival footage with new interviews with people who were witness to the events. Initial plans were that each episode would cover one year, but that idea was quickly scrapped; Ellerbee said, "It's hard enough to do a month, or even days."cite news
last = Hodges
first = Ann
title = 'Our World' ratings low, spirits high
work = Houston Chronicle
page = 1
date = 1986-10-16] ABC hired Ellerbee away from NBC to co-anchor the show. The network considered Sander Vanocur, Dick Schaap and James Wooten as possible partners [cite news
last = Rosenberg
first = Howard
title = TV's Ellerbee Keeps Her Cool About Being Hot
work = Los Angeles Times
page = 1
date = 1986-08-06] before selecting Gandolf, at the time the sports anchor for ABC's "World News Saturday" and "World News Sunday". [cite news
title = Gandolf signs on as Our World host
work = Toronto Globe and Mail
page = D.6
date = 1986-08-14]

Set designers modeled the set for "Our World" after a corner news stand. For each episode, artifacts of the period being profiled, including magazines and political posters, decorated the set and a movie marquee listed the title of a film that was then in theatres.

Each episode cost $350,000 to produce as compared to the then-typical $800,000 cost of an hour of prime time network programming. The low budget combined with a dozen commercial spots sold at $35,000 each meant that "Our World" generated an estimated $4 million in profit for ABC during its original run and summer repeats. [cite news
last = Mermigas
first = Diane
title = Despite Basement Ratings, 'Our World' Is Profitable
work = Orlando Sun-Sentinel
page = 8 E
date = 1986-12-30]

"Our World" producers selected each episode's subject time period with the help of consultants from the Smithsonian Institution and Columbia University. The show was limited in its choices by the available footage for the given time period. Ellerbee recalled a viewer-submitted proposal for an episode on the American Civil War, which of course could not be made because of the non-existence of videotape in the 1860s.

Episode list

Critical and popular response

Critical response to "Our World" was overall very favorable. Reviews of the premiere episode, however, were somewhat tepid, with "The New York Times" saying "There are worse ways to spend an hour" and calling the show "a pleasant hour", while pointing to segments such as an interview with "a man, who, 17 years ago, slept in the house next door to a house struck by the Manson gang," as "not terribly interesting." The "Los Angeles Times" was harsher, calling the debut "rather bland".cite news
last = Rosenberg
first = Howard
title = 'World' Offers Little Sense of Way We Were
work = Los Angeles Times
page = 1
date = 1986-09-25] While praising hosts Ellerbee and Gandolf, calling them "refreshing [and] off-center, running against the TV mainstream, making words, not whoopee", the "Times" ultimately felt that "Our World" offers no sense of who we really were in 1969 because, typical of TV, it renders everything equal."

With subsequent episodes, reviews improved. The "Boston Globe", comparing its debut episode ("a gloppy nostalgia trip that presented history the way MTV presents rock, in digestible, unrelated, bland bite-sized bits") to an episode airing less than five months later, found it "light years ahead in terms of wit, style and historical perspective. It is still easily digestible, but there's nothing bland about it." The "St. Petersburg Times" said of the show, "It educated, but it was not school. It entertained, but it was not mindless. It was quality - television's noblest service."cite news
last = Schwed
first = Mark
title = PBS putting fresh life into 'Our World'
work = St. Petersburg (FL) Times
page = 7D
date = 1987-09-29
url = http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/50121415.html?FMT=FT&dids=50121415:50121415&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+29%2C+1987&author=MARK+SCHWED&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=PBS+putting+fresh+life+into+%60Our+World%27
accessdate = 2008-07-09] The "San Diego Union" concurred, citing "Our World" as "the most refreshing, fascinating and innovative history series ever on TV". [cite news
last = Lawrence
first = Robert P.
title = Ex-Chief at ABC says he favored bid to save 'Our World'
work = San Diego Union
page = D.9
date = 1987-10-19]

Popular response was much less effusive. The show averaged 9 million viewers per episode, as compared to "The Cosby Show", which garnered an average 63 million viewers per week.cite news
last = Schwed
first = Mark
title = 'Our World' buried treasure for ABC
work = St. Petersburg (FL) Times
page = 7D
date = 1987-05-07
url = http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/49987174.html?FMT=FT&dids=49987174:49987174&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=May+05%2C+1987&author=MARK+SCHWED&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=%60Our+World%27%3A+buried+treasure+for+ABC+Series%3A+Television
accessdate = 2008-07-09] "Our World" was the lowest rated prime time show of the 104 that aired during the 1986-7 television season. One segment of the public who responded very favorably to the program was teachers, who assigned "Our World" as homework. ABC created a study guide for the show, mailing out some 39,000 copies a month to educators and fans.

Gandolf, Ellerbee and Richard Gerdau won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Individual Achievement in News and Documentary Programming (writing) for the episode "Halloween 1938". [cite news
title = PBS wins 11 Emmy Awards for news, documentary programs
work = The Frederick (MD) News
page = D.6
publisher = Associated Press
date = 1987-09-10]

Cancellation and PBS

ABC cancelled "Our World" after its first season, replacing it with the situation comedies "Sledge Hammer!" and "The Charmings". [cite news
last = Schwed
first = Mark
title = Ellerbee's Down, But Not Out
work = San Francisco Chronicle
page = 58
date = 1987-06-10] Ellerbee and Gandolf learned that the show had been cancelled from a segment on "Entertainment Tonight". Ellerbee sharply criticized ABC for the cancellation, saying "If they had left it there for three to four years, it could have done what "60 Minutes" did, which went against the Disney juggernaut on NBC. It could have developed slowly as an alternative program without being in the ratings race."cite news
last = Valle
first = Victor
title = Viewers raise their voices to save 'Our World'
work = St. Petersburg (FL) Times
date = 1987-07-05
url = http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/50072435.html?FMT=FT&dids=50072435:50072435&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+05%2C+1987&author=VICTOR+VALLE&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=Viewers+raise+their+voices+to+rescue+%60Our+World%27
accessdate = 2008-07-10] The advocacy group Viewers for Quality Television mounted a letter-writing campaign to save the show – similar to campaigns that had saved "Designing Women" and "Cagney and Lacey" [cite news
last = Edelstein
first = Andrew J.
title = Our World was an electronic excursion into living history
work = Frederick (MD) News
page = 5
date = 1987-07-05] – and generated some 20,000 letters of support, but the campaign was unsuccessful.

PBS expressed interest in obtaining the show. Although ABC asserted rights to the name "Our World," Ellerbee said "We never liked that title to begin with" and stated that the name "Your World" was under consideration. Ellerbee planned to co-produce the show through her production company, Lucky Duck Productions, in partnership with WNET.cite news
last = Shales
first = Tom
title = Ellerbee Leaves ABC for a New 'World'
work = The Washington Post
date = 1987-09-16] Ultimately, Ellerbee was unable to secure the estimated $5 million needed to produce the first season of 13 episodes and "Our World" did not make the transition to PBS.

In 1988, CBS tried to revive the format of "Our World" with a television pilot called "Try to Remember". Anchored by veteran newscaster Charles Kuralt, "Try to Remember" covered August 11-17, 1969, echoing "Our World"'s pilot coverage of the summer of 1969. The show aired on Thursday, June 23. [cite news
last = O'Connor
first = John J.
title = Review/Television; Kuralt Looks Back to August 1969
work = The New York Times
date = 1988-06-23] "Try to Remember" did not get picked up as a regular series.

Notes

References

*Arledge, Roone (2004). "Roone: A Memoir". New York, HarperCollins. ISBN 0060536012.

External links

*imdb title|id=0090497|title=Our World