Were The Watergate Hearings Televised In Prime Time ??? Anybody Remember ?

I remember watching them with much fascination, but was in junior college at the time. Were they on in the late afternoon, prime-time, or did they go all day???

OK you older DUers, help me remember my past, LOL!!!

:silly:

and the Senate hearings were on mostly during the day one fascinating summer. A lot of the House hearings stretched into the night.

Unfortunately, I was a wage slave even back then and missed the whole damn thing.

Mom ironing and watching the Watergate hearings. All day long. I can still hear Sam Irvin.

There were still some Republicans whom you could respect.

:mad:

And my mother was not pleased. No General Hospital. But I was hooked from the first hearing that summer.

I explained at length that there were cartoons on just a few channels away. She ignored me.

I was just out of high school at the time, young, dumb and boy crazy.

I remember sitting in a clam shack on the North Shore of Boston one afternoon. Even there, they had a grainy b&w teevee playing the hearings while we ate dinner. You couldn't escape it if you wanted to. It was like that everywhere, people brought televisions into their businesses to keep abreast. There was nothing bigger at the time. Nothing at all.

Hey, but what about that Aruba chick, eh? Or is it Jacko?

As was predicted in Chicago summer of '68 I believe.

They began just as our first year of law school was ending. We were torn between studying for finals - an experience no decent human being should ever have to endure - and watching the hearings.

I think we learned a hell of a lot more about the Constitution watching the hearings, although nothing about Watergate was on the exam.

So I married the Con Law professor later.

Then, my god, Butterfield!

I worked in a hospital at the time.. All the patients rooms were tuned in, so I didn't miss much.

What I have never known is if they really did know what he was going to say, or Butterfield blew us all away at the same time.

The networks did Haldeman and Ehrlichman -- the big names. But PBS was the champ. They broadcast it during the day -- discussed the day's testimony in the early evening -- and did replays every evenng.

It was also on the radio, so if you had to go somewhere you wouldn't miss a thing.

in "real time." Whenever the hearings were happening, that's when the broadcasts were.

Dunno? I remember watching. I didn't really understand a lot of what was happening, but I understood that it was my civic duty to watch and try to learn.

everyone was talking about it and almost everyone was watching.

I sat down and watched them as a 12 year old.

I didn't quite understand everything that went on.

I just knew that it was bad for Nixon

At the time of the trials, I rented a room from an elderly couple. When I got home from work, there was dinner waiting for me and a complete recap of what had gone on that day.

I read the newspapers everyday w/hope in my heart. But I would not have been able to get the real score w/o our nightly Watergate chats.

I loved that couple and their opinion of Nixon!

and had ripped out my knee that spring. I ended up spending most of the summer home recovering from surgery and watched most of the hearings. They were broadcast live during the day. It was an amazing process to watch.

Now they can do a Watergate every day and get away with it.
In fact, they have.

of CNNN

On all day. Then a recap at night with Walter Cronkite. Then my folks would illuminate it further with historical perspective, possible implications for the future etc. etc. etc. It WAS the story 24/7.

in a PBS documentary produced and broadcast last year's 30th anniversary entitled : Watergate Plus 30 - I saw it on PBS and then ordered the DVD.

It's an incredible documentation of what occurred and I highly recommend that everyone own a copy of this important part of our history. Last year I watched both "All the Presidents Men", (which is also available on DVD) back to back, and foolishly believed that Kerry's Presidential candidacy was some sort of manifestation of karmic destiny - that he was our good prince righteously riding in to save our democracy and bring all things to rights.

I shiver at my own foolish naivete.

I was a Watergate junkie. I was working at my first job out of college. PBS replayed the hearings gavel to gavel every night, starting at 10:00 p.m. I stayed up until two or three every morning watching, and still dragged myself to work the next day.

I own most of the major books written about Watergate. I made my kids read most of them, too. I have little hope that we will see another Watergate with this current bunch of crooks. They learned from their mistakes. They learned well.

The only reason I remember this is because... I used to arrive home from school very disgusted because a bunch of *old men* were on three of our five channels talking about what appeared to me to be a very boring topic!

Little did I know...

The student union was crowded watching the TV and doing homework there instead of in library or room.

in the evening.

After work, I would come home, drag a chair up in front of my little TV, gather my coffee, cigarettes and ash tray and watch the rebroadcast until bedtime. It was fascinating.

Bringin back some powerful memories!

I'm ready for history to repeat itself, and open a can of whoop-ass on the BFEE!!!

LOL!!!

This is ironic, lookee what I found!



:rofl:

Walter Cronkite! That's how "prime time" it was!

I almost shit my pants when I saw that!

my first son was born at 5:03 PM on May 23rd. I almost died in childbirth because I had a breech footling, all the staff was out watching the "Watergate" hearings. They didn't have TV's in the labor or delivery room in '73. They left me alone and watched in the hall. Bunch of dogs! Those hearings are burned in my memory, along with Nixon and his corruption.

You must have been typing your note while I was typing mine. Synchronicity strikes again!

I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience and that the hospital staff ignored you because of the hearings. My son's birth was certainly no picnic (13 hours of back labor), but I wasn't in danger of dying.

I was pregnant with my first child at the time, and I was on maternity leave and going through a period of so-called "false labor," lasting about a month or so, that preceded the real thing. Naturally I was concerned about how I was supposed to recognize the real thing when it came. I was told it would be when the contractions "became regular."

Well, they never did become regular (not even when they were a lot stronger), but I vividly remember spending entire days watching the Watergate hearings while I waited for my son to be born. Those two events have been linked in my mind ever since.

My son was born on June 29, 1973...and Nixon resigned when? Early in 1974, I believe. A few days ago we were in chat and my son mentioned Deep Throat--so again I reminded him that he was a "Watergate baby"! While I was at it, I also told him that what we need in this country isn't so much another Deep Throat, but a real free press like we had then.

Deep Throat - I told my son the same thing. LOL! On the mom side, my daughter was born on June 8, 1968 - the day of Bobby Kennedy's funeral. Her dad was in Vietnam and hit TET of '68. Did you notice because of Deep Throat and maybe the DSM - Bobby was ignored by the whole media. Name not mentioned even one time that I saw. Just thought the powers that be didn't want us reminded of a bad war.

Talk about moms with memories, we've lived through some history.
It seems history is repeating itself and I'm having Deja Vu.
IMO, this bunch is worse than Nixon. We did have some real news then.

The hearings were fascinating! Yes, they were broadcast during the day.



I hate all this revisionism being written by the Republicans today.

Nixon was a crook.

and my mom would be GLUED to the t.v. So I know they were on at least in the afternoon. :)