45/85

45/85
GenreTelevision documentary
Written by
  • David Bohrman
  • Peter Jennings
  • Ted Koppel
  • Eleanor Prescott
  • Pete Simmons
Directed byRoger Goodman
Presented by
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes1
Production
Executive producerAv Westin
Producers
  • Mark Foley
  • Edward Hersh
Production locationsNew York, NY
Editors
  • Larry Alperr
  • Mark Stephen Bogni
  • Robert J. Brandt
  • Walter Essenfeld
  • James Sutton
Running time3:00:00
Production companyABC News
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseSeptember 15, 1985 (1985-09-15)
Related
Our World

45/85 is an ABC News television documentary. It aired on September 18, 1985. The three-hour program combined archive film and television footage with new interviews to document post-World War II history, focusing especially on the Cold War.[1] That special was produced by Av Westin, who also produced Our World.[2]

Ted Koppel and Peter Jennings were the co-anchors. The executive producer of the broadcast was Av Westin and it was written by Koppel, Jennings and senior producer Pete Simmons. 45/85 featured interviews with then President Ronald Reagan, as well as interviews with every living former President, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon. In a stylistic innovation, 45/85 confined itself in its other interviews to people who were eyewitnesses and participants of the events they described, rather than historians or "experts."

The success of 45/85 led ABC to create the documentary series Our World in 1986.[1] Our World, with a similar format blending archive footage and eyewitness interviews, was critically acclaimed but low-rated and ABC canceled it after a single season.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Holston, Noel (1986-07-23). "Ellerbee is Just What 'Our World' Needs". Orlando Sentinel. p. E.1.
  2. ^ Paynter, Susan (1986-10-17). "Our World Draws a Measly 5.5 Million, but So What? Say Hosts". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2008-07-09.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ Schwed, Mark (1987-06-10). "Ellerbee's Down, But Not Out". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 58.