Sunday night at 9pm ET, the History Channel will air "1968" hosted by Tom Brokaw. Watch or set your Tivo, it's really good. I received a screening copy which I watched on an airplane flight last week. I don't think I looked up once.
The topics: Vietnam, hippies, music and civil rights.
More...
Brokaw has assembled many of those who were active or prominent that year, from Weatherman Mark Rudd to Bruce Springsteen, Arlo Guthrie and former Mamas and Papas member Michelle Phillips. It replays the actual footage of the Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations. There's video of the Vietnam War protests, Haight Ashbury, the Columbia University takeover and the 1968 Chicago convention. There's Jon Stewart, Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers, Sam Brown, and many more. It's interesting to see how those interviewed have aged. Then again, it was 39 years ago.
The only negative in the film is conservative tv columnist Dorothy Rabinowitz. Had I been watching on tv, I would have muted her after her second comment. She gets way too much time, has nothing worthwhile to say and casts a pall over the whole thing with her negativity.
Where were you in 1968? If you don't remember, here's a calendar of events . Rolling Stone has a 1968 music trivia quiz...I got 33 out of 40 right. Let us know your score if you take it.
