In general, what Pioneers of Television shows is the framework for modern-day TV. It covers 4 different genres: Late Night, Sitcoms, Gameshows, and Variety. Most of the concepts will be familiar to people who have watched only the last 20 to 30 years of television because the foundation was laid early on. What this series does well is show you what was new for the times and how it came to be.
There are some priceless anecdotes collected in these shows. For example, Johnny Carson initially didn't do so well as the host of the "Tonight Show." Acts would often go backstage and talk about how they didn't think he would last. But of course Carson prevailed and found out what worked eventually, and no one would believe he ever had trouble, looking back now. These little stories were great, but I felt they were a little long-winded and lacked detail at times. The people who are interviewed always say this person is great, that person is wonderful, but for the younger audience, we really need to have more examples and details. It's not that examples aren't given, it just seems like there could have been more.
One good story included in the Gameshows episode was about the big scandals that occurred around the late 1950's. Gameshows were wildly popular, and producers did everything they could to push it further. It turned out that one of the things they were doing was rigging the show so the more "favorable" contestant would win. It was a big deal when they were finally found out. Most importantly, audiences were outraged. It actually resulted in laws being passed by Congress in order to prevent further rigging, as well as new, closer monitoring of gameshows by networks.
Overall, Pioneers of Television takes you on an enjoyable trip through early TV. It's interesting to see where the big names in TV started and just what they meant at the time. If you're looking for a flashback, there probably aren't as many original clips as you'd like to see. But clips and original material are used when needed in order to paint the picture and prove the points being presented by the narrator. There really isn't much in the way of special features, just a few minutes of extra interview content, but 4 episode series is packed full of enough content to round out the DVD.
