Word: sagas
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Siskel: "Well plagiarized, Roger. You know, I think it is about time that Dan Steinman got credit for what amounts to a complete revolution in filmmaking. When seen limb to limb, the episodes in this saga form an existential drama, like those of Beckett, where the characters are hopelessly trapped by a world that does not make sense--and indeed can prove very deadly. If I'm not wrong, you originally panned the films...
...submarine saga illustrates several of the alarming trends in the defense procurement business. The sheer size of the stakes--$100 million or more for a single sub--was enough to excite the greed and test the integrity of even the most well-meaning contractor. Says a former top Pentagon official: "Whenever you have so much money, you are going to have people doing a lot of reprehensible things to get the money. The sums are so huge now they pretty much defy control...
...vice versa. After years of churning out hits, ABC now finds its prime- time fortunes largely dependent on just one show, the long-running, top- rated saga of the Carrington clan. In addition to Dynasty, ABC has only one other prime-time program in the Nielsen top ten this season, Hotel, a fluffy comedy- drama that has the good fortune to occupy the time slot immediately following Dy- nasty. Disappointing performances from most of its other series dropped ABC to last place in the prime-time ratings this season, its lowest finish in ten years. Problems mounted elsewhere as well...
Such assessments, aside from being self-serving, ignored the network's serious contributions. In January 1977, ABC telecast Roots, a twelve-hour multigenerational saga about American slaves that ran for eight consecutive nights. The scheduling tactic was unprecedented, the results staggering. Roots drew the largest audience of any entertainment program in history and helped make the mini-series form a prime-time staple. Since then, ABC has produced its share of ambitious dramatic fare, from the 18-hour The Winds of War to The Day After, the controversial film about the impact of nuclear war on a small town...
Soviet agriculture is a continuing saga of failure. Last year's grain harvest was an estimated 170 million tons, down from 195 million in 1983 and well below the 1978 peak of 237 million. To offset agricultural shortages, the Soviet Union depends on imports. Moscow is expected to buy up to 52 million tons of grain, including at least 20 million from the U.S., in the period from July 1984 through June 1985, an increase of 52% over the previous year. Says Olin Robison, president of Middlebury College in Vermont and a Soviet expert: "A very sad fact about Soviet...