Seems like a big deal but maybe it's just me.
shareI doubt it. It wasn't representative of any great sociopolitical trend. I'm sure there will be a lot about Nixon, Vietnam, Watergate, and how TV shows and movies reflected changes in society.
But again, it did take place in New York City, which often moves an event to the front of the line. I was living in Indianapolis at the time, just graduated from high school, and this friend of mine half-jokingly said that if that happened in downtown Indy, he would be on his motorcycle immediately, helping the looters. So it did make a nationwide impression.
I guess only seeing the 70s from its back end as a child of the 90s born in the late 80s makes me view it differently. To me it symbolizes a boiling point. The combination of everything going on culturally and then having no A/C just caused some to snap. Having it occur during Son of Sam couldn't have helped either, I'd have been scared to death if I'd been there.
Maybe because I didn't see rioting in my lifetime until Ferguson and Baltimore, I think of this particular event in a crazier fashion than if I'd been around during Watts, Detroit, Chicago '68, or even just 1968. In '77 it probably just came across as another thing, and maybe it didn't make as big of a splash in the news as I'm figuring Munich, Squeaky, and Three Mile Island did. Of course I'm also hoping to see them talking about Disco Demolition Night so perhaps I'm not the greatest decider of what was relevant during an era I didn't live!
Can you please tell me what channel it comes on?? I hate hate hate that IMDB doesn't list the channels that shows come on, wonder why that is?? I always have to go searching for the channel... The biggest gripe I have of about this app, and it's my FAV!!!!!!! I'm on here like others are on FB, IG ect... LoL thanks if you can help...
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That seemed to be more of a local NYC tri-state area story than a national one. For one thing, unlike the "big" blackout of 1965, which hit NYC, parts of NJ, Connecticut, and even stretched into parts of Canada, the 1977 one was confined
to the city. I was 14 at the time and, from NJ, was able to watch the news reports
on TV delivered by the local anchorpeople, reading news reports by flashlight.
The whole city went dark, except for the Statue of Liberty (NJ pays her electric
bill). It was notable for causing widespread looting and fires around the financially strapped outer boroughs, which tended to symbolize the decaying state
of the city at the time.
One weird thing: since the local NYC TV stations went off the air completely
for the first night of the blackout, CBS' scheduled movie for its "Late Show"
program that night could not be shown. The movie on that night's schedule was
a 1954 Dane Clark film: Blackout. Coincidence? Perhaps.
I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!
Hewwo.
That's like saying WTC 93 wasn't a big deal because it didn't happen in Washington as well.
shareThe only reason I think it could be mentioned is because it was shown in the movie "the 70s" so it was a big enough event to depict in that movie so maybe it'll be mentioned
shareI saw a power grid in the opening credits right after they show the nuclear cooling towers. Not sure if it was linked, if they were separate ideas, or if it relates to the gas shortage, crisis of confidence, or Clean Air Act/EPA.
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Your wish came true. They covered it in the episode, "Crimes and Cults".
What we do in life, echoes in eternity.
I wasn't sure if they would, and then when they did I couldn't contain myself!
shareI heard about the blackout because if I remember correctly it happened in the movie "summer of Sam." Seemed like all hell broke loose and everyone's most primal instincts came out that night.
I wonder if people really got so paranoid about son of Sam that they really suspected their friends and neighbors (not to mention the Yankee player who wore #44) as being the killer.
They joked about it in Men in Black that's how I first found out about it. Seems like my interest sparked because I remember it happening a few years ago and people were immediately crossing bridges to leave the borough. I guess I've always had a fascination with how it feels like we basically can't function without something the human race didn't always have. Every time my power goes out I go flipping the switch in the process of looking for a flashlight! It gets boring really quick and it begins to make sense why people started getting up so early in the morning. Because they went to bed as soon as it got dark since there's nothing to do and if you figure that's 10 at the latest, 8 hours later is 6 am!
shareThis week, PBS' American Experience devotes an entire episode to the
NYC blackout that happened 38 years ago today. American Experience generally does an excellent job with its subject matter, so this week's episode,
"Blackout," sounds like it's worth a look.
I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!
Hewwo.
Thanks, I'll definitely be recording that!
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