The middle of September 1964 was one of the most historic periods in world history. Rarely has humanity seen the kind of cultural shift that occurred fifty years ago this month. Subsequent generations will never be the same. In one week, families, friends, fiends, fish and fun boat-rides changed forever, because fifty years ago this month, the following television programs premiered on U.S. television:
The Munsters
The Addams Family
Bewitched
Gilligans Island
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Flipper
Gomer Pyle, USMC
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Pause for a moment and reflect on how truly blessed the world was to have such amazing and important cultural gifts.
(Cue the musical theme from Jeopardy, which also premiered earlier in 1964.)
OK…that’s enough reflection. After all, you don’t want to over-think the significance of this, and get a headache.
Today, let’s come up with ideas of what it takes to create something that lasts fifty years or more. Using the examples of the TV programs listed above, make some observations on the following question:
How do you create something today so that a random blogger will be writing about it fifty years from now?
Today is your turn. Whether you saw some of these TV programs in their original black and white broadcast glory fifty years ago or last week in reruns or Roku, let’s see if you have any ideas what made them stick around for half a century!
By the way, I know why the Minnow crashed, stranding the passengers and crew…they had so much stuff packed into that little boat, there was no way it could remain stable in a storm!
