DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. I'm TV critic David Bianculli. This Saturday, CNN is presenting a live telecast directly from Broadway, featuring George Clooney as pioneering CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow in the stage drama "Good Night, And Good Luck." CNN is promoting the telecast as unprecedented. That's somewhat debatable. But what isn't debatable is that it's the TV event of the season and not to be missed.
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UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: A CNN special event on June 7. A landmark television event. For the first time ever, Broadway goes live on television. George Clooney in the five-time Tony-nominated "Good Night, And Good Luck." One night only, live on CNN and streaming live on Max.
BIANCULLI: CNN's claim that for the first time ever, Broadway goes live on television technically is accurate, but it's somewhat arguable. Live TV broadcasts of stage dramas, comedies and musicals are as old as television itself. That's not an exaggeration. A musical written expressly for TV called "The Boys From Boise" was broadcast by New York's DuMont station in 1944, back when television still was considered experimental. In 1955, NBC presented a live staged version of "Peter Pan," a musical starring Mary Martin. But that was a Broadway musical that had closed one week earlier to prepare for the live telecast. In 1983, the PBS series "American Playhouse" presented a live version of Thornton Wilder's "The Skin Of Our Teeth," starring Blair Brown. That was broadcast directly from the Old Globe Theater, but the Globe was in San Diego, not on Broadway.
Many TV presentations of Broadway shows over the years were filmed or prerecorded, not performed live. Modern TV musicals that weren't prerecorded, such as Allison Williams and Christopher Walken in NBC's "Peter Pan Live!" in 2014, were staged expressly for TV. One nationally distributed live performance that did emanate directly from Broadway was a 2016 production of the musical "She Loves Me." But that was livestreamed, not televised. So when CNN says of "Good Night, And Good Luck" that for the first time ever, Broadway goes live on television, it's being very careful with its wording. No matter - I'm really excited about this special TV event.
"Good Night, And Good Luck," written by George Clooney and his production partner, Grant Heslov, is based on the story of broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow, who set the standards for excellence in news reporting for the entire industry - first, as a CBS radio reporter during World War II, then as the host of the TV news magazine "See It Now" in the 1950s. He used that TV pulpit to challenge Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy, whose communist witch-hunting tactics of lies, bullying and unfounded accusations had divided and paralyzed the country.
When Murrow and his team, which included producer Fred Friendly and director Don Hewitt, migrated to TV, they were like kids with a new set of toys, playing with the possibilities of live television and a new visual medium. On that first show in 1951, they opened by showing live side-by-side images of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, simply because they could.
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EDWARD R MURROW: We, for our part, are considerably impressed. For the first time, man has been able to sit at home and look at two oceans at the same time. We're impressed with the importance of this medium. We shall hope to learn to use it and not to abuse it.
BIANCULLI: And they used it well - very well. Three years later, in 1954, they devoted an entire program to the tactics of Joe McCarthy, using his own recorded words and images to expose him. The counsel Murrow gave that night, speaking on live TV to his national audience, absolutely is worth hearing today, more than 70 years later.
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MURROW: We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.
BIANCULLI: Twenty years ago, Clooney directed a movie about that Murrow-McCarthy confrontation. He and Heslov wrote it, and named the 2005 film after the phrase with which Murrow ended each radio and TV broadcast. Clooney had a supporting role as Murrow's producer, Fred Friendly. Murrow was played by David Strathairn, whose portrayal was as faithful and respectful as the movie's script.
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DAVID STRATHAIRN: (As Edward R. Murrow) The actions of the junior senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn't create this situation of fear. He merely exploited it, and rather successfully. Cassius was right - the fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves. Good night, and good luck.
BIANCULLI: Clooney wanted to make the movie "Good Night, and Good Luck" in part to salute his father, Nick Clooney, who was a TV news anchor in Cincinnati, and also to salute television news at a time when it, and specifically CBS, had stood up to political power. In 2012, CBS presented a pilot that aimed to revive one of Ed Murrow's TV shows with new hosts, but not "See It Now." Instead, it was the much more celebrity-centered "Person To Person." Clooney was one of the celebrity guests and was asked then why he didn't play Edward R. Murrow in his "Good Night, And Good Luck" movie.
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GEORGE CLOONEY: I thought about playing Murrow, and I'd written it to play Murrow, quite honestly. And I realized that Edward R. Murrow was this character that always felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and that isn't something that is necessarily the way people think of me. And I didn't think I could act my way out of that.
BIANCULLI: Well, it's 2025 now, and things are a bit different. Clooney has the gravitas now and some experience with live TV, having presented the CBS live drama version of "Fail Safe" in 2000. And CBS, instead of standing up to power, these days shows signs of caving. Executives at the CBS flagship news series "60 Minutes" - a series created by Don Hewitt, the director of "See It Now" - have quit over what they say is an atmosphere of editorial interference.
I've seen the Broadway show, and "Good Night, And Good Luck" brings home the distinctions, the stakes and the messages brilliantly and powerfully. The stage production, directed by David Cromer, uses TV cameras and monitors to stunning effect. And a closing news montage, bringing the story and the issues up to the present day, is as much a knockout punch as the final speech Clooney delivers as Murrow. He's excellent. So is the play. And so is the idea that a TV news outlet is presenting it live this weekend on television.
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BIANCULLI: Saturday night's live presentation of "Good Night, And Good Luck" will be available on CNN at 7 p.m. Eastern time. It also will stream live on cnn.com and on Max.
On Monday's show, comedian Atsuko Okatsuka is known for finding humor in the dysfunction of her immigrant family and the daily responsibilities of being an adult. Her new stand-up special is about her father, who reappeared in her life after decades away. Join us.
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BIANCULLI: To keep up with what's on the show and get highlights of our interviews, follow us on Instagram at @nprfreshair. FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. Sam Briger is our managing producer. Our senior producer today is Roberta Shorrock. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham, with additional engineering support by Joyce Lieberman, Julian Herzfeld and Diana Martinez. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by Phyllis Myers, Ann Marie Baldonado, Lauren Krenzel, Therese Madden, Monique Nazareth, Thea Chaloner, Susan Nyakundi and Anna Bauman. Our digital media producer is Molly Seavy-Nesper. Hope Wilson is our consulting visual producer. For Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, I'm David Bianculli.
(SOUNDBITE OF ANAT COHEN'S "FOOTSTEPS & SMILES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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