ABC’s 1983 film 'The Day After' — the subject of a new documentary as well as a book —not only blew America’s (and Ronald Reagan’s) mind, but it may also have changed the course of human history.
Next to the moon landing, it’s hard to think of a TV moment that had a bigger impact on the collective psyche than The Day After, ABC’s white-knuckle drama depicting the aftermath of a nuclear strike on the United States.
He supposedly got the idea for The Day After while watching The China Syndrome, the 1979 Michael Douglas movie about a near-meltdown at a nuclear reactor, which, in a harrowing example of life imitating art, happened to be released just before the actual Three Mile Island disaster.
Somehow, after much compromising — Stoddard originally wanted a two-night event but settled for a one-night movie — the picture was put into production, with a cast including Jason Robards, John Lithgow, JoBeth Williams and Steve Guttenberg.
Conservative groups went on the warpath against the network, claiming the movie was Soviet propaganda designed to undermine America’s nuclear deterrent (even though Hume’s script never identified who launched the strike against the U.S. or why).
Ted Koppel devoted an entire news special to The Day After, lining up an all-star bench of panelists — William F. Buckley, Carl Sagan, Henry Kissinger, Robert McNamara, Elie Wiesel — to debate America’s nuclear policy.
It’s very effective and left me greatly depressed.” Four years later, in 1987, Reagan would fly to Reykjavik, Iceland to iron out that ICM treaty with Soviet premiere Mikhail Gorbachev that resulted in the dismantlement of thousands of nuclear missiles.
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Next to the moon landing, it’s hard to think of a TV moment that had a bigger impact on the collective psyche than The Day After, ABC’s white-knuckle drama depicting the aftermath of a nuclear strike on the United States.
He supposedly got the idea for The Day After while watching The China Syndrome, the 1979 Michael Douglas movie about a near-meltdown at a nuclear reactor, which, in a harrowing example of life imitating art, happened to be released just before the actual Three Mile Island disaster.
Somehow, after much compromising — Stoddard originally wanted a two-night event but settled for a one-night movie — the picture was put into production, with a cast including Jason Robards, John Lithgow, JoBeth Williams and Steve Guttenberg.
Conservative groups went on the warpath against the network, claiming the movie was Soviet propaganda designed to undermine America’s nuclear deterrent (even though Hume’s script never identified who launched the strike against the U.S. or why).
Ted Koppel devoted an entire news special to The Day After, lining up an all-star bench of panelists — William F. Buckley, Carl Sagan, Henry Kissinger, Robert McNamara, Elie Wiesel — to debate America’s nuclear policy.
It’s very effective and left me greatly depressed.” Four years later, in 1987, Reagan would fly to Reykjavik, Iceland to iron out that ICM treaty with Soviet premiere Mikhail Gorbachev that resulted in the dismantlement of thousands of nuclear missiles.
The original article contains 1,177 words, the summary contains 236 words. Saved 80%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!