End-of-the-World-filter: Calming broadcast cued up?
June 5, 2012 5:37 PM Subscribe
Is there (or has there ever been) a special broadcast prepared for just before the annihilation of a nation? I remember reading about it somewhere but I can't find it. I seem to think the BBC prepared one, back in the day. Did it exist? Is it a rumor? Is there an American version? Where would I see it?
I was reading about Protect and Survive and it triggered a memory about some programming that would be broadcast only in the event of the imminent destruction of the nation (or planet). Am I misremembering something? I'd like to know what it would consist of. Calming images of nature, like when Edward G. Robinson has his "going home" ceremony in Soylent Green? Patriotic songs? Non-sectarian religious imagery?
This wouldn't be "stay inside" civil defense blah blah -- this was allegedly ready to go only in the event that all was lost. (How an end-of-the-world message would calm a populace is beyond me, no matter how many kittehs it featured.)
Did this broadcast (or plans for it) exist? Was there an American version? If it existed, what did they plan to show? If it exits, where could I see it?
Or did I dream this?
(Sorry about the Soylent Green spoiler!)
I was reading about Protect and Survive and it triggered a memory about some programming that would be broadcast only in the event of the imminent destruction of the nation (or planet). Am I misremembering something? I'd like to know what it would consist of. Calming images of nature, like when Edward G. Robinson has his "going home" ceremony in Soylent Green? Patriotic songs? Non-sectarian religious imagery?
This wouldn't be "stay inside" civil defense blah blah -- this was allegedly ready to go only in the event that all was lost. (How an end-of-the-world message would calm a populace is beyond me, no matter how many kittehs it featured.)
Did this broadcast (or plans for it) exist? Was there an American version? If it existed, what did they plan to show? If it exits, where could I see it?
Or did I dream this?
(Sorry about the Soylent Green spoiler!)
I wonder if you're thinking about the rumors of an Arthur Godfrey script commissioned by Eisenhower to be broadcast in case of nuclear war? Just one of the fascinating things on conelrad.com.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:46 PM on June 5, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:46 PM on June 5, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you go down to Section Three on this page, you'll see the FCC-issued instructions and scripts for local broadcast media to be used in the event of a nuclear attack on the US.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:49 PM on June 5, 2012
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:49 PM on June 5, 2012
More on the "Doomsday Script", including some relevant government memos.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:51 PM on June 5, 2012
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:51 PM on June 5, 2012
If you go down to Section Three on this page, you'll see the FCC-issued instructions and scripts for local broadcast media to be used in the event of a nuclear attack on the US.
Sidhedevil: I don't know why I'm missing it, but I'm not sure what you mean by "Section Three." I don't see anything on the page that refers to it.
posted by 4ster at 6:25 PM on June 5, 2012
Sidhedevil: I don't know why I'm missing it, but I'm not sure what you mean by "Section Three." I don't see anything on the page that refers to it.
posted by 4ster at 6:25 PM on June 5, 2012
Response by poster: Hmm... The BBC stuff is more along the lines of civil defense as opposed to the "keep calm and prepare to meet thy maker" I was thinking of.
Whenever I try to google, I get lots of links to stupid Harold Camping and that equally stupid John Cusack insult-to-Mayans movie. Ugh.
The Arthur Godfrey thing is fascinating, though!
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 6:41 PM on June 6, 2012
Whenever I try to google, I get lots of links to stupid Harold Camping and that equally stupid John Cusack insult-to-Mayans movie. Ugh.
The Arthur Godfrey thing is fascinating, though!
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 6:41 PM on June 6, 2012
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posted by mykescipark at 5:41 PM on June 5, 2012