Great American Dream Machine nostalgia

December 6, 2004 2:23 AM

Do any of you remember a PBS show, late 60's early 70's called The Great American Dream Machine? The last show had a segment about FBI involvement in bombings and fires on university campuses,presumably to justify on campus investigations by the FBI. By the next week this show was canceled. A very early leak of what later became COINTELPRO.
It was a favorite of mine,any one here remember it?
posted by hortense to media & arts (9 comments total)

I don't want to come off as sounding rude, hortense, but your question might be better off in IRC MetaFilter, or the discussion forums at TVTome or TWOP. It's one matter to open an AskMe discussion concerning a program's title, which may have been forgotten; chatting up wether anyone liked a show because it was a favorite of yours stretches the boundaries.
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:15 AM on December 6, 2004

One final note: if you're asking if it'll be available on home video, PBS says they're working on it.
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:21 AM on December 6, 2004

It's available for viewing at the Library of Congress.
posted by luser at 6:35 AM on December 6, 2004

Great American Dream Machine was pretty interesting. I still recall, after lo these many years, the biography of Evel Knievel ("Yes, there is goodness in Evel"), short films like Why Man Creates and Marshall Efron explaining that the smallest size of olive is jumbo.
posted by SPrintF at 7:21 AM on December 6, 2004

Yes I remember it. The host, or one of the hosts, had a fairly prominent mustache. And they did a segment on people who live in the Sears Tower. What do I win?
posted by ParisParamus at 9:22 AM on December 6, 2004

"Great American Dream Machine" was incredibly innovative for its time. Everything that made it good has long ago been incorporated into mainstream media. So much so, that I imagine that seeing it now, people would say, "What's the big deal?" But at the time, it was one of those hotspots where you saw the new culture breaking though the crust of the old media. A landmark show.
posted by Faze at 9:48 AM on December 6, 2004

Thank you every one. I am still looking for that last episode before the show fell victim to the Nixon ax and became deleted news.
posted by hortense at 1:43 PM on December 6, 2004

I think I've seen some of the episodes at the Museum of Television and Radio. I am a frequent visitor, and wouldn't mind re-visiting that show. ( I loved the classic graphics and Marshal Ephron). If there is something specific youare looking for, let me know.
posted by Duck_Lips at 2:58 PM on December 6, 2004

Ephron! That must be the guy with the glasses and mustache!
posted by ParisParamus at 3:22 PM on December 6, 2004