Reverend Brooks leads his small Iowa town in a contest to stop smoking for a month. But some tobacco executives don't want them to win, and try everything they can to make them smoke. If townspeople don't go nuts from wanting a cigarette, or kill each other from irritation and frustration, they will win a huge prize.
Dean Martin had a laid-back charm that made him successful in everything from big-screen comedies to television variety shows to live acts in Las Vegas. Filmmaker Tom Donahue explores Martin’s varied career, including his complicated relationships with Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, and others. We hear from admirers such as critic Gerald Early, actor Jon Hamm, and Hip-Hop artist RZA who testify to Martin’s enduring mystique.
The live special event features reenactments of episodes from “The Facts of Life” and “Diff’rent Strokes”.
Pablo blends documentary and animation elements to tell the saga of "famous unknown" Pablo Ferro, a man with a personal journey that spans from Havana, during the pre-Cuban revolution to his current home, in the garage behind his son's house.
This documentary explores Bob Einstein’s unlikely discovery and enduring career, sharing the many evolving layers of his comedy from the people that knew him best.
This essential new documentary pays tribute to the legacy of the late, legendary casting director Marion Dougherty and shines a light on one of the most overlooked and least understood crafts in filmmaking.
Explore the unlikely partnership and enduring legacy of one of the most prolific power couples in entertainment history. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz risked everything to be together.
With unprecedented access to the Mary Tyler Moore Estate, friends, family, and colleagues, Being Mary Tyler Moore constructs an intimate mosaic of Mary's sixty-year career in show business.
DVD featurette documenting the success of "All in the Family".
DVD featurette documenting the beginnings of "All in the Family"
Showtime's "In the 20th Century" is a millennium-related strand of feature-length documentaries in which famous directors take on major subjects of their choosing. In the fifth of the six films, "Funny Is Money," filmmaker Norman Jewison delves into the topic of comedy, using the hype surrounding the finale of the wildly successful NBC series "Seinfeld" as his launchpad to explore how the artform has evolved over the past 100 years.
Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi is a play retelling the Jesus story, with Jesus as a gay man living in the 1950s in Corpus Christi, Texas. This documentary follows the troupe, playwright, and audience around the world on a five-year journey of Terrence McNally’s passion play, where voices of protest and support collide on one of the central issues facing the LGBT community: religion.
Twenty-one year old Ben is on a journey - to follow his TV-obsessed dad and explore how television consumption has evolved from one generation to the next.
A documentary on the six-decades long career of a muckraking journalist, who was involved with the radical 196os magazine Ramparts, with the Los Angeles Times newspaper, and later with the Internet website Truthdig.
An all-star educational film about the positive side of hiring people with disabilities. A board sit and watch the film Michael Keaton's character's assembled to sell companies on hiring the handicapped, which takes "a different approach" by combining several approaches--most of them suggested by Hollywood personalities.
On May 8th, 1945, writer, director Norman Corwin broadcast ON A NOTE OF TRIUMPH, an unforgettable homage to the end of war in Europe. This film shines a light on a lost work of genius, and examines it's haunting resonance to today's current events.
An epic journey forty years in the making, acclaimed filmmaker, Louie Schwartzberg, the director of Fantastic Fungi, takes us on a transformational, cinematic experience of how to live a more meaningful life full of Gratitude through his intimate conversations with everyday people, thought leaders, and personalities such as Norman Lear, Jack Kornfield, Luisah Teish, Alex Grey and other luminaries.
An intimate portrait of Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee, tracing his remarkable ascent from a young Boston boy stricken with polio to the one of the most pioneering and consequential journalistic figures of the 20th century.
The one-night-only celebration honoring the life and legacy of the famed producer features intimate conversations, special performances and surprise reunions that pay homage to the man behind some of television’s greatest stories in celebration of his 100th birthday.
An ET special that features new interviews with stars of the long-running comedies Lear created and never-before-seen interviews from the ET vault. This one-hour special features new interviews with stars of the long-running comedies Lear created, including Jimmie Walker and Mackenzie Phillips. Also included with this new footage and interviews is an in-depth sit-down interview with Lear that ET host Kevin Frazier conducted when Lear celebrated his 100th birthday, in which he reflected on his lengthy, groundbreaking career.
A Case For Kindness is a journey to understand the true nature of Kindness, making a case for why it is our best way forward as a society. The film will examine different themes of kindness while exploring various stories, cultures and conversations. We thread the themes of bullying, hate, mental health, racial injustice, food insecurity and climate change. We interview experts, leading authorities and find real life moments to build the case that inspires humanity to adopt Kindness.
A portrait of the life and career of Robert Downey Sr. (1936-2021), the visionary and fearless US filmmaker — father of actor Robert Downey Jr. — who in the sixties and seventies laid the foundations for countercultural comedy.
The story of a young man's decision to leave the home of his parents for the bachelor pad of his older brother who leads a swinging '60s lifestyle.
Parker Baldwin finds her Christmas plans upended when her network persuades her to spend three days in the wild with survivalist Finn Holt for a holiday television event.
Arguably the most influential creator, writer, and producer in the history of television, Norman Lear brought primetime into step with the times. Using comedy and indelible characters, his legendary 1970s shows such as All In the Family, Maude, Good Times, and The Jeffersons, boldly cracked open dialogue and shifted the national consciousness, injecting enlightened humanism into sociopolitical debates on race, class, creed, and feminism.
Lifetime's "Intimate Portrait" series shines a spotlight on the Golden Girls -- Bea Arthur, Betty White, Estelle Getty and Rue McClanahan -- with a collection of four programs offering an up-close look at the remarkable lives of the hit show's stars. Valerie Harper, John Ritter and Alex Trebek narrate this tribute, with guests including Angela Lansbury, Mary Tyler Moore, Edward Asner, Rosie O'Donnell and many others.
Irrepressible writer-comedian Carl Reiner, who shows no signs of slowing down at 94, tracks down celebrated nonagenarians, and a few others over 100, to show how the twilight years can truly be the happiest and most rewarding. Among those who share their insights into what it takes to be vital and productive in older age are Mel Brooks, Dick Van Dyke, Kirk Douglas, Norman Lear, Betty White and Tony Bennett.
From Amos 'n' Andy to Nat King Cole, from Roots to The Cosby Show, black people have played many roles on primetime television. Brilliantly weaving clips from classic TV shows with commentary from TV producers, black actors and scholars, Marlon Riggs blends humor, insight, and thoughtful analysis to explore the evolution of black/white relations as reflected by America's favorite addiction.
In this documentary, artist-filmmaker Nicholas Hondrogen asks people to describe memorable moments of their lives. Some, such as Norman Lear and Indian activist Russell Means, talk about religion, while composer Philip Glass and film-producer Irwin Winkler discuss the births of their children. Pastor Jess Moody recalls WW II deaths of his friends, and artist Janice Blake remembers being raped.
An intimate portrait and saga of four film pioneers--Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack who rose from immigrant poverty through personal tragedies persevering to create a major studio with a social conscience.
The film is about the formation of a music channel that has shaped modern pop culture. On August 1, 1981, the life of a whole generation of Americans changed forever - on this day MTV began its broadcasting day, making VJ a new teen hero and creating a canon of music video as a vivid artistic statement.
Celebrities re-create an original episode each from "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons."
Live performances of classic holiday-themed episodes from Norman Lear's hit shows "All in the Family" and "Good Times."
In this uplifitng documentary, stars and musicians from across the industry speak to the power and importance of music in society. Here we examine how close we came to not having many of the incredible artists who we cherish today had it not been for arts programs. Music has the power to inspire and change world, and that starts with our supporting young talent.
Rita Moreno defied both her humble upbringing and relentless racism to become one of a select group who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award. Over a seventy year career, she has paved the way for Hispanic-American performers by refusing to be pigeonholed into one-dimensional stereotypes.
The cast of The Princess Bride is together again! The stars of the iconic 1987 fantasy film reunited for a virtual table read hosted by Jason Reitman. The 3-hour virtual reunion included director Rob Reiner and actors Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, and Christopher Guest. A Q&A after was moderated by Patton Oswalt. Guest stars stepped in for actors who were not available, including Finn Wolfhard, Josh Gad, Eric Idle, and Whoopi Goldberg.
Biography of Norman Corwin, the great writer, producer and director of the Golden Age of Radio. Actors in his radio plays included Orson Welles, Jimmy Stewart, Charles Laughton, Danny Kaye, Paul Robeson and Judy Garland.
A documentary about Roger Baldwin, the founder of the ACLU.
Pioneers in Skirts is an Emmy-nominated 60-min documentary about the obstacles that get in the way of pioneering ambition. The film addresses perceptions and behaviors that can chip away at a girl or woman and make her feel like she must re-think her dreams.
A close look at television, the ultimate drug, that keeps society turned on and what to expect of the future.
The video revolution and its impact on both the public and the family.