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  Minnie Miñoso documentary… a great start!

  Blog

  I am so honored and grateful for the pledges for “Baseball’s Been Very, Very Good To Me.” They have come from all over the world… from  close friends, valued Media Burn supporters, and complete strangers. I went out with Minnie yesterday and was reminded of how long we’ve been getting together and talking about baseball and life. He was compelling last night in the way he spoke about the Ozzie Guillen controversy. It wasn’t on video, but the documentary will […]

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  Minnie Miñoso: The Documentary

  Blog

  This is not one of our ordinary video blogs. It is a request for your help as we finish producing an exciting and important video documentary. The subject is MINNIE MINOSO…Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso Arrieta. Minnie was my childhood hero as he broke the color line and became the first Black ball player in Chicago in 1951. Now, he’s 89 and seems just as spry as when he was the ringleader of the Go-Go White Sox. With your help, Baseball’s Been Very, Very […]

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  How they dye the river green

  Blog

  Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In Chicago, it has been a tradition since the first Mayor Daley to dye the Chicago River green for the St. Patrick’s Day parade. In 1992, videomaker Patrick Creadon, on assignment for THE 90’s, went downtown at 2:30am to cover the preparation for the parade and to talk with the guys from Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local Union #110 about this tradition. The footage didn’t make it on the show, but 20 years later, we pulled it […]

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  Happy 175th Birthday, Chicago!

  Blog

  Chicago is celebrating the 175th anniversary of its incorporation. Nobody personified Chicago better than Richard J. Daley.  This 1986 special, produced for the 10th anniversary of his death, reveals the life and times of the man who was synonymous with Chicago for 21 years. You can also watch the full special at Media Burn.

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  Steven Spielberg didn’t win the Oscar

  Blog

  Steven Spielberg expected to be a big winner at the 1976 Academy Awards. TVTV was in the room documenting his reaction when he got the news that, despite dominating the box office that year with Jaws, he was not nominated for Best Director. Spielberg’s movies have made more than $8.5 billion at the box office worldwide, but his only Academy Awards for Directing so far were for 1993’s Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan (1998). One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s […]

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  Internet freedom is not a new issue

  Blog

  A month ago, much of the internet went dark for a day as websites and individuals protested two pending Congressional bills, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA). In this 1991 interview, John Perry Barlow, founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (and Grateful Dead lyricist), warns that the big internet battle to come will be over corporate control of intellectual property. Watch the full 12-minute interview, produced for our show THE 90’s by Eddie Becker, at Media […]

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  Super Bowl!

  Blog

  As you get ready for this Sunday, enjoy TVTV’s irreverent take on Super Bowl X in Miami 1976. The game was between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys, but the video featured very early appearances by Bill Murray and Christopher Guest, as well as candid and enjoyable footage of Johnny Unitas and Phyllis George. Watch the trailer below. You can buy the new dvd packed with never before seen outtakes (including improv with Harold Ramis and Brian Doyle Murray) […]

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  Don Cornelius, 1936-2012

  Blog

  As just about everyone knows by now, Don Cornelius ended his life yesterday. He had an enormous influence on millions of us with “Soul Train.” I’d say that it was even more important internationally as he presented the leading edge of culture to the world. Don was perseverant, committed to his work, and had the longevity (on-air in five decades)  that very few TV performer/producers were able to achieve. No other African American has matched Don’s TV history. “The Don’s” […]