America's First Television Czar and the Scathing Speech that Made Television History, by Newton N. Minow, Appointed to the FCC by JFK It seems JFK appointed a man that wanted TV to be GOOD, but of course HOLLYWOOD didn't go for that idea at all. "On May 9, 1961, Newton N. Minow stepped to the microphone in front of a meeting of the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington, D.C. Minow had recently been named chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and this would be his first speech. After telling those gathered that he had admiration and respect for the “honorable profession” of broadcasting, he cut to the theme of his remarks: how television could uphold the public interest. And it was clear he felt THAT GOAL WAS NOT YET BEING MET.: When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better. But when television is BAD, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a VAST WASTELAND. You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly, commercials — many screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you’ll see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be VERY VERY FEW. And if you think I exaggerate, I only ask you to try it. The phrase with which he described television—a “vast wasteland”—would stick, cementing the speech in the annals of rhetoric. The reason television needed to be better, Minow said, was bigger than entertainment. During the Cold War, the communications potential of television needed to be put to use for the cause of helping democracy defeat communism. In such a time, he said, “the old complacent, unbalanced fare of action-adventure and situation comedies is simply not good enough.” Though Minow was adamant that his FCC had no intention to “muzzle or censor broadcasting,” he did note that the FCC had the power to refuse to reissue broadcasting licenses. The audience, TIME reported, “took the speech as a deliberate tactic to scare stations and networks into better programing, and as a hint that they should do something about it soon.” https://time.com/4315217/newton-minow-vast-wasteland-1961-speech/ THE CREATOR OF A SHOW CALLED "GILLIGAN"S ISLAND" HAD A TINY SHIP NAMED THE "SS MINNOW" BECAUSE THE CREATOR,, Sherwood Schwartz, WANTED TO POKE FUN at Newton Minow for asking TV to clean up thei act. SAD AND SICK behavior. "Have you ever wondered why the "tiny ship" famously tossed in the opening credits of Gilligan's Island was named the SS Minnow? The creator of the show, Sherwood Schwartz, has revealed that he intended the name as a swipe at Newton Minow, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) appointed by President John F. Kennedy at the beginning of his administration. Minow created a sensation by attacking the whole television industry in a speech before the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) in Washington, DC, on May 9, 1961. Describing television as a "vast wasteland," Minow called upon the networks to clean up their houses and improve their programming. Schwartz regarded the results of Minow's speech as "disastrous."  https://mises.org/library/americas-first-television-czar