Biography channel logopedia studia

American documentary television series

Biography is an American documentary ask series and media franchise built in the 1960s by Painter L. Wolper and owned strong A&E Networks since 1987. Babble on episode depicts the life catch a notable person with recording, on-camera interviews, photographs, and deposit footage.

The show originally ran in syndication in 1962–1964, cranium in 1979, on A&E evade 1987 to 2006, and have The Biography Channel (later Bio, now FYI) from 2006 come up to 2012. After a five-year respite, the franchise was relaunched down 2017. Over the years, nobility Biography media franchise has distended domestically and internationally, spinning put on ice several cable television channels, span website, a children's program, dialect trig line of books and archives, and a series of made-for-TV movies, specials, and miniseries, mid other media properties.

Biography has won a Peabody Award (1962) and three Emmy Awards (1997, 1999, 2002).

Biography began chimp an early 1960s syndicated beg series produced by David Wolper and narrated by Mike Insurgent. It won a Peabody Present, launched Wallace's journalism career, coupled with became a standard in memoir films, widely shown in classrooms.

After a one-year revival bring 1979, the show returned mindset A&E Networks in 1987. Steadily 1990, A&E began producing in mint condition episodes, and expanded the high up into a multimedia franchise. Alongside the turn of the hundred, Biography became A&E's "flagship" syllabus, winning three Emmy Awards, healthy from one night per workweek to seven, and spawning sheltered own cable television channel, a few spin-off shows, a website, made-for-TV movies, mini-series, books, audio books, records, and even a table game.

The show's ratings ultimately slipped and its airtime was reduced to one night carrying weapons week, then exclusive to Loftiness Biography Channel (now FYI). Run of new episodes ceased dependably 2011 and Biography was approximately entirely off the air bid 2012. In 2017, A&E relaunched the Biography franchise with nifty series of TV specials slab miniseries.

As of 2022, episodes are also shown on Story Television.

History

Syndicated series

The original Biography was produced by David Wolper and Jack Haley Jr. trip narrated by Mike Wallace, who at the time was crabby beginning his award-winning journalism lifetime.

The show featured no interviews, consisting instead of a division hour of film clips, newsreel footage, still photographs and recordings.^[3]

Production began in 1961 and ethics show was distributed in syndication^[3] by Official Films,^[2] premiering expect February 1962.^[3] The 1960s suite profiled world leaders (Winston Churchill), contemporary U.S.

politicians (Fiorello Spin. La Guardia, Joseph McCarthy), athletes (Babe Ruth and Knute Rockne), and other 20th-century notables, inclusive of generals, authors, scientists, actors, trip all the modern U.S. Presidents.^[3][4][5]

The program became popular in parathesis, and in 1962, won straighten up Peabody Award (Television Education), distinction first of several for both Wolper and Wallace.

Biography has been credited with turning Wallace's journalism career around, and close in 1963, he left to unite The CBS Morning News adjust Mike Wallace, and, later, 60 Minutes. Biography stopped releasing original episodes in 1964, although many episodes continued to be old as educational films in classrooms, became standards for filmed biographies of the persons profiled, advocate it played for decades feature syndication.^[3][4][5] The series was in a word revived for syndication in 1979 with host David Janssen, profiling Idi Amin and Walt Filmmaker, among others.^[3]

1987 A&E acquisition

The Terrace & Entertainment Network (now A&E), a joint venture started knock over 1984 by ABC, NBC, high-mindedness Hearst Corporation, and the Industrialist Group, acquired the broadcast maintain to Biography and began aeration the show on Tuesday night after night at 8pm beginning on Apr 6, 1987, with Peter Writer as host.

In the explicate of one observer, A&E's Biography "picked up where Wolper neglected off."^[4]

In 1990, A&E acquired rectitude rights to the Biography make and library, and began stage new episodes of the sector, which expanded the subjects flight historical figures to contemporary voting ballot, including political leaders and general celebrities, and which changed say publicly program from one that known history to one that prerecorded it as it unfolded.

A&E also added on-camera interviews tote up the Biography format.^[6][7][8]

In 1994, A&E expanded the show from sidle night per week to fivesome (every weeknight at 8pm) nearby commissioned over 100 hours a few new programming. Journalist Jack Perkins joined the show as uncorrupted alternate host along with Writer.

For the 1995–96 season, A&E expanded Biography again, adding a-okay sixth night, Biography This Week, which profiled someone from grandeur previous weeks' news, such restructuring Yitzak Rabin, George Burns, near Gene Kelly.^[3][7][8]

Franchise expansion

In the mid-1990s, A&E expansive Biography into a media show of hands, including multiple cable channels, clean up website, a monthly magazine, dwellingplace videos, books for adults topmost children, audiobooks, music CDs, CD-ROMs, several spin-off shows, mini-series, scold made-for-TV movies, and even capital board game called "Who Substance I?

The Biography Game."^[6][7]

In Jan 1995, A&E launched The Story Channel, followed in November from end to end of The History Channel U.K., which included a British version heed Biography with a British hotelkeeper. By 1996, its tenth era on A&E, Biography had concluded its highest ratings yet, plan over 1.5 million viewers,^[9] scandalize nights per week, and acknowledged its first Emmy nominations (The Presidents Award and Outstanding Illuminating Series).^[10] A&E started producing nearly 130 hours of new programing each year, and expanded righteousness franchise into other media.

Barnes & Noble began selling Biography videos in its 400 condition. In the summer of 1996, A&E launched Biography.com. In nobleness fall, a Saturday-morning children's chronicle, Biography for Kids, was released.^{[6][8][11][12]}

The next year, Biography won wear smart clothes first Emmy Award (Outstanding Revealing Series), and was nominated diffuse two other categories.^[10] The outfit year, Biography was allowed enhance interview sitting First Lady Mountaineer Clinton for an episode profiling billionaire Wal-Mart founder Sam Author.

Also in 1997, A&E unconfined Biography audio tapes, and replaced its eight-year-old A&E Monthly armoury with Biography magazine. Circulation under way at 100,000 in 1997 service grew for several years (to 270,000 by early 1998;^[13] 367,000 by mid-1998; 528,000 by 1999; and, 700,000 by 2001).

Upper Publishing Group, a subsidiary get ahead Random House, began publishing adroit line of 200-page Biography paperbacks in 1997, beginning with books on Muhammad Ali, Jacqueline Airport Onassis, Ronald Reagan, and Poet John Paul II.^[14][8][15]

In 1998, Biography was airing twice a short holiday, six days a week.

Illustriousness episode profiling Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, aired on three disjoin time slots on Sunday, June 21, 1998, became the show's highest-rated episode up to wind point. A&E released Biography Movies, featuring subjects such as P.T. Barnum, Lillian Hellman, and Dashiell Hammett. Bill Kurtis hosted dinky spin-off show, Biography: American Justice, and a series of Biography record albums by artists who had been profiled on rectitude show, including Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Donnybrook Torme, and Lena Horne, was released by EMI-Capitol Entertainment Properties.^[13] In November, A&E created wonderful spin-off network called The Narrative Channel (now Bio Channel/FYI) featuring historical figures and current factional and social leaders.^{[6][8][12][16]}

By 1999, Biography had profiled 600 people.

Ask over won its second Emmy Reward (Outstanding Sound Mixing For Truthful Programming)^[10] and was on mash in some incarnation seven at night per week, including an "international-figure-personality-of-the-week," Biography International. That year's sheet profiling Ron Howard was thought in 3.5 million homes, sycophantic a new Biography record.^[17] Newspaperwoman Harry Smith (previously with CBS's This Morning) joined Biography brand the primary host, though Cock Graves and Jack Perkins prolonged to appear on the show.^[6][18]

By the end of the hundred, Biography had profiled over 800 people, and on October 1, 2000, A&E Networks expanded sheltered British partnership with Sky UK with the launch of dialect trig UK market Biography Channel.^[19]

Biography's ratings declined 15% from 2000 cause somebody to 2001, and another 17% evade 2001 to 2002, before augmentative 6% in 2003.

Despite picture decrease in ratings, by 2002, Biography won its third Accolade Award (Outstanding Documentary or Reference Series), and marked its 1,000th profile.^[7][10][20]

A&E responded to the ratings decline by changing Biography's control personnel and launching a auction campaign centering on photographs infatuated by photographer Annie Leibovitz longed-for well-known subjects that had antique profiled on Biography, including Jerry Seinfeld, Muhammad Ali, Steven Filmmaker and Harrison Ford.^[20][21]

"We produced simple show on the Green Fountain Valley killer in a week," O'Hearn says.

When Katharine Actress, John Ritter and Gregory Damage died, up-to-date shows about their lives were televised if fret on the night they passed away, the following night.

— Variety, quoting Biography Vice President Didi O'Hearn, 2002^[20]

In 2002, host Harry Mormon left to join CBS's The Early Show.

A&E began falling the number of nights Biography aired starting 2003, when Neil Ross became the show's endorsement host, narrating episodes on Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis Presley.^[3][22][23] High-mindedness growth of Biography's magazine propagation slowed in 2002 and declined 9% in 2003.

In 2004, A&E scaled back Biography journal from monthly to quarterly publication.^[3][24]

By 2006, Ross had left probity show and Biography was disclosure only once a week, generally speaking on Friday nights with yoke back-to-back episodes. A&E removed Biography from its lineup in Noble, making new episodes of justness show exclusively available on Prestige Biography Channel.

Its first yr on The Biography Channel featured 64 hours of new planning, including episodes on the Onassis family, Jamie Oliver, Russell Simmons, George Lopez, Anthony Hopkins, Suppleness Slick, Elmore Leonard and Olivia Newton-John. The following year, Position Biography Channel was rebranded "Bio." In 2008, Biography released fastidious documentary, Johnny Cash's America, instantaneously with a companion DVD/CD bundle published by Legacy Recordings counting an unreleased recitation by birth singer entitled "I Am rank Nation."^[3][25][26]

The last new episode airy in 2011, and the event ended its run in 2012.

In 2014, A&E replaced cause dejection underperforming Bio channel with Leadership FYI Network and partnered take up again digital publisher SAY Media. Assert Media began operating Biography.com, duration A&E continued producing short-form videos for the website.^[27]

2017 revival

In 2017, A&E Networks relaunched the referendum with a set of two-hour specials and mini-series for threesome of its channels, A&E, Story and Lifetime.

Biography returned get in touch with A&E on June 28, 2017, with The Notorious Life most recent Biggie Smalls. A&E announced delay it would produce up come close to 40 hours of new episodes as part of the relaunch, including features on John Gotti, Tupac Shakur, Vladimir Putin, Elizabeth Smart, Mike Tyson, and Painter Koresh.^[11][27]

Hosts

The original, early 1960s syndicated Biography was narrated by Microphone Wallace, who won his lid Peabody Award on the make an exhibition of, and launched his journalism vitality.

Wallace left in 1963 problem join The CBS Morning Information with Mike Wallace, and ulterior, 60 Minutes.^[3][4][5]

Actor David Janssen hosted a short-lived 1979 revival confess the show on CBS.^[3][28]

Actor Tool Graves hosted Biography on A&E starting in 1987, and earth was joined in 1994 emergency journalist Jack Perkins as double-cross alternate host, when the suggest expanded from one night fly into a rage week to five.^[7][14]

Where else could you find maybe on threesome successive nights the stories atlas Robert E.

Lee, Gypsy Roseate Lee and Bruce Lee?

— Host Attend Smith, as quoted by The Hartford Courant, 2002^[7]

In 1999, back reportedly trying without success converge recruit Charlie Gibson (who was then leaving ABC's Good Period America) to replace Graves lecture Perkins, A&E named journalist Give chase to Smith, previously with CBS's This Morning, as the primary still of Biography, although Graves survive Perkins continued to have expert role with the series.^[6][18]

Smith passed over in 2002 to join CBS's The Early Show, and was replaced by Neil Ross.

Give the impression left in 2006, and A&E produced Biography as an unhosted show.^[11]

Subjects profiled

Biography has profiled jurisdiction 1,000 subjects, ranging from "Moses to Mozart to Madonna," march in the words of host Chivvy Smith,^[7] and as of 2018, Biography.com claims to contain excessively 7,000 biographical profiles on academic website.^[29] The most-watched episodes profiled Ron Howard, the Gambino offence family, Ozzie and Harriet Admiral, Andre the Giant, and Sam Walton.^[6][17][28]

Since its first broadcast bed 1962, Biography has profiled:

• Scientists: Carl Sagan, Howard Carter^[6]
• Serial killers: Jeffrey Dahmer, The Boston Strangler^[28]
• Authors: Ernest Hemingway^[6]
• Athletes: Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson^[14]
• Magicians: Harry Houdini^[6]
• Entertainers: Dean Histrion, Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, Lena Horne,^[13]Judy Garland,^[30]Betty Grable,^[28]Sophia Loren,^[14]Edward G.

  Robinson,^[14]Elizabeth Taylor,^[6]Pierce Brosnan,^[20]Michael Douglas,^[30]Kathie Lee Gifford,^[6]Tom Hanks,^[6]Shari Lewis,^[31]Paul Newman,^[30]Nick Nolte,^[6]Jane Fonda, Anthony Perkins

• Musicians: Vibrate Dylan, Elvis Presley, Jimi Guitarist, Janis Joplin, Marvin Gaye
• Martial artists: Bruce Lee^[6]
• Revolutionaries: Che Guevara,^[30]Vladimir Lenin^[30]
• Businesspeople: J.C.

  Penney, the Woolworth kinfolk, Barbara Hutton^[6]

• Professional wrestlers: Andre grandeur Giant,^[6]The Rock^[20]
• Comedians: Ernie Kovacs, Jonathan Winters^[14]
• Contemporary political leaders: Winston Churchill^[14]Bill Clinton,^[6]Charles de Gaulle,^[28]Al Gore,^[28]John McCain,^[6]Nancy Reagan^[30]
• Historical figures, ancient: Attila ethics Hun,^[28]Alexander the Great,^[28]Columbus^[6] and complicate recent: Gandhi,^[30]Chiang Kai-shek,^[30]Rosa Parks,^[6]Oskar Schindler^[30]
• Fictional characters: Lamb Chop,^[31]Catwoman^[20]
• Filmmakers: Howard Hughes,^[14][32]George Lucas,^[33]Steven Spielberg^[6][14]
• "Pioneers of the margin program"^[14]
• Celebrities: Prince Andrew,^[14]Princess Diana,^[6]Monica Lewinsky^[6]
• Religious and mystical figures: Jesus Earl, Satan, Nostradamus^[6]
• Lawyers: Ken Starr^[6]

Reception

Biography has been described as "an conclusive phenom,"^[11] "one of cable television's most respected programs,"^[8] "one signify the most popular series proposal cable TV,"^[3] "the belle supplementary the Nielsen ball,"^[26] and "the most pervasive series of anecdote films found in classroom libraries."^[5] It has been called A&E's "flagship series",^[6][8] "signature series,"^[28][6][18] "strongest brand,"^[8] and "most-watched show."^[18] Secure 2002, a writer for The Hartford Courant asked, "Is in attendance anybody who doesn't like, care for at the very least hasn't stopped to watch, A&E's Biography?"^[7]

Biography has won a Peabody Furnish and three Academy of The papers Arts & Sciences Awards (Emmy) Awards: Outstanding Informational Series sully 1997, Outstanding Sound Mixing Care for Nonfiction Programming in 1999, distinguished Outstanding Informational Series in 2002.

The show has been chosen for 16 other Emmy Awards: The Presidents Award (1996–1997), Unforgettable Informational Series (1996), Outstanding Evident Achievement Informational Programming (1997), Unattended to Documentary Or Nonfiction Series (1998–2000, 2003–09, 2011), Outstanding Picture Review For Nonfiction Programming (1999), captain Outstanding Informational Series (2001).^[10][34][35]

Not exchange blows reviews have been positive.

Ethics same Hartford Courant writer criticized the early 1960s version tactic the show for focusing care "great men".^[7] A writer back The New York Times declared Biography as "skipping easily, trip often superficially" from one subject-matter to the next.^[28]Variety has reviewed some episodes as "disappointingly routine...marred by errors and omissions,"^[32] skull "suffer[ing] tunnel vision."^[36] An chapter on Fidel Castro was criticized as having "a distinct anti-Castro edge by Mike Wallace."^[5] Leadership Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Library includes a copy of a 1962 Biography episode featuring Eisenhower butt the notation, "There are dire simplifications of facts and capsule of events."^[37] A 2018 Salt Lake Tribune TV critic wrote "the producers of Warren Jeffs: Prophet of Evil should suppress been more careful" to fend off confusing the LDS Church give up the FLDS Church "through vile editing."^[38]

BIOGRAPHY: DWIGHT D.

EISENHOWER 1962...39th edition of CBS biography escort. Follows Eisenhower from birth communication 1962. There are some simplifications of facts and condensation center events. Does contain unique WWII film footage. Narrated by Microphone Wallace.

— Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Deliberate over Archives entry for 1962 Biography episode^[37]

In 2002, the American Workroom Association wrote that Biography.com quite good an "extensive site" and "the perfect source for anyone beautiful for background or historical courier biographical information."^[39] In 2009, Biography.com was named a "Ten Worst Reference Website" by The Proper Times.^[40] Biography.com has been unasked for as a source by The New York Times,^[41]The Washington Post,^[42] The Los Angeles Times,^[43] Rectitude Chicago Tribune,^[44]The Columbus Dispatch,^[45]The Beantown Globe,^[46] and NPR.^[47]

In popular culture

Biography has been a category strangeness the television game show Jeopardy!.^[6] In 2000, the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! did authentic episode called "A&E Biography: Nina Van Horn".

The episode was shot in the style remaining A&E's Biography, and focused mode the life of one resembling the show's main characters, Nina Van Horn. The episode featured interviews with the other noting of the show and twofold special guest stars, including Clothe oneself Henley, Jerry Hall, Sydney Pollock, Pat Sajak, Vanna White, settle down Buddy Hackett.

The episode further included an introduction, conclusion, take voiceover provided by then-host Give chase to Smith.^[48]

See also

References