AM America explained

Runtime:120 minutes (two hours) (including commercials, and local news/weather cut-ins [on some affiliates])
Starring:Bill Beutel
Stephanie Edwards
Peter Jennings
Country:United States
Network:ABC

AM America was a morning news program produced by ABC in an attempt to compete with the highly rated Today on NBC. Premiering on January 6, 1975, the show never found an audience against Today or the CBS combo of the CBS Morning News and Captain Kangaroo. Lasting just under ten months, its final installment aired on October 31.[1] It was replaced the following Monday, November 3, by Good Morning America.

History

The program's concept was based on Ralph Story's AM, the local morning show on the network's owned-and-operated Los Angeles station KABC-TV.[2] Like Today, AM America employed two hosts and a news anchor. Originally selected in August 1974 as cohosts were Bill Beutel who was co-anchor of Eyewitness News on the network's New York City flagship station WABC-TV, Stephanie Edwards from Ralph Story's AM and Bob Kennedy who hosted morning talk show Kennedy and Company on Chicago's WLS-TV.[3] Kennedy died of bone cancer on November 5, 1974, just two months prior to the series' debut,[4] [5] and was eventually replaced by ABC's Washington correspondent Peter Jennings who provided the news reports.[6]

One notable episode of AM America aired on April 25, 1975, when members of the British comedy troupe Monty Python, with the exception of John Cleese who had temporarily left the group, made one of their earliest appearances on American television. The program ended with the Pythons attempting to tear apart the set and abscond with everything that wasn't nailed down, including Edwards.[7]

Edwards quit the show by the end of May, and Beutel followed her out a few months later.[2] On November 3, the Monday following its final broadcast, it was replaced with a more well-known, more successful effort, Good Morning America.[1]

Logo

The logo for AM America had the letters A and M colored in blue while the rest of the word "America" was colored in red. The "AM" overlapped with "America". A star was placed inside the "A".

Theme music

The series' theme music was "Spirit Of '76 (AM America)," an instrumental composed by William Goldstein which was released as a single for Motown in November 1975.[8] [9]

Franchising

The AM (city name) name was franchised to ABC stations across the United States, for locally produced morning talk programs (which generally aired during the 9 a.m. hour, after the national program ended; they generally had one or two hosts, and most had a live studio audience, especially during the 1980s).

Notes and References

  1. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/20/business/media/20beut.html?ex=1300510800&en=276edb869b5c1043&ei=5088 Robertson, Campbell. "Bill Beutel, 75, Dies; Longtime Anchor of 'Eyewitness News' in New York," The New York Times, Monday, March 20, 2006.
  2. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-aug-30-tm-17779-story.html Ehrman, Mark. "Why Is This Woman Smiling?" Los Angeles Times, Sunday, August 30, 1998.
  3. https://books.google.com/books?id=Q7_kDAAAQBAJ&dq=bob+kennedy+wls&pg=PA158 Londino, Cathleen M. The Today Show: Transforming Morning Television. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.
  4. https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/08/archives/bob-kennedy-dead-at-41-chicago-tv-broadcaster.html "Bob Kennedy Dead at 41; Chicago TV Broadcaster," The New York Times, Friday, November 8, 1974.
  5. https://people.com/archive/her-husbands-big-break-then-he-died-and-bev-kennedy-carries-on-vol-3-no-20/ Witt, Linda. "Her Husband's Big Break—Then He Died and Bev Kennedy Carries On," People (magazine), May 26, 1975.
  6. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/12/archives/tv-is-forging-a-new-format-ailing-am-america-on-abc.html Brown, Les. "TV Is Forging a New Format Ailing ‘A. M. America’ on ABC," The New York Times, Friday, September 12, 1975.
  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfmS-DM8Jc0 AM America, Friday, April 25, 1975  - ABC News (A 9:43 video compilation of Monty Python parts from the actual telecast).
  8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNrJpxNbnc0 "Spirit Of '76 (AM America)" by William Goldstein  - YouTube.
  9. https://books.google.com/books?id=RG_LAwAAQBAJ&dq=william+goldstein+spirit+of+76+am+america&pg=PT190 Betts, Graham. Motown Encyclopedia. AC Publishing, 2014.
  10. Web site: Fournier. Holly. Family: Former TV anchor Kelly's life a 'celebration'. 2021-03-30. The Detroit News. en-US.
  11. Web site: Retro: Southeast Texas Tuesday, March 3, 1987. March 3, 2011. Radio Discussions. September 11, 2022 .
  12. WKYC Be There NBC image spot 1983 .
    1. KBTime
    . September 11, 2022 . YouTube . 0:34 .

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