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Remembering David Frost

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Eyes Of A Generation.com

Remembering David Frost

British journalist David Frost, who was best known for his interview with former President Richard Nixon, died on Saturday, his family said. The veteran broadcaster was 74. During his 50-year career not only were there plenty of heavyweight interviews – Frost sat down with seven US presidents and six British prime ministers – but there was also a string of satirical news shows, celebrity interviews, and some light entertainment.

“The Week That Was,” presented by Frost when it launched in 1962 on the BBC, was a groundbreaking show that mocked the British establishment. It was broadcast on Saturday evenings and its sketches lampooning politicians, churchmen and celebrities drew huge audiences. Production style also broke the established rules with, for example, technical equipment in vision.

TW3 as it was known was followed by “The Frost Report”, another satirical show broadcast in Britain. Comedian and actor John Cleese, at the start of his career, was a writer together with others who then formed Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

“Through the Keyhole” was a tour of celebrity homes, and “Breakfast with Frost” a Sunday morning show where the presenter sat down with a range of guests from politics and show business. The long list of those who agreed to be interviewed by Frost throughout his career includes Nelson Mandela, Paul McCartney, Orson Welles, Muhammad Ali and Prince Charles.

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11 responses to “Remembering David Frost”

  1. Art Chimes

    [PART 3] TW3 aired in B&W its first season with TK11s on the floor. The second season was in color, captured by TK41s. (Disclaimer: I’m a radio guy and the camera models info is mainly a good guess based on my memory from broadcasts I attended as confirmed by info elsewhere on this excellent site.)

    In the 1980s I found in the Leland Hayward papers a memo confirming to NBC that the production company didn’t want to buy the tapes, so it was okay for NBC to destroy them. 🙁

    [END]

  2. Art Chimes

    [PART 2] TW3 aired on NBC (again, produced by Leland Hayward) for two seasons, 50 episodes. The last show was May 4, 1965.

    Only a handful of shows are known to exist, and are viewable at the Paley Centers in LA and NYC. Audio of all shows are in private collections, and the scripts are in the Hayward Collection at the N.Y. Public Library and in the NBC Collection at the Library of Congress.

    The shows originated in NBC Studios 8H and 6A. [MORE]

  3. Art Chimes

    Some follow up on “That Was the Week That Was.” The original BBC version aired from Nov. 1962-Dec. 1963. Leland Hayward Productions licensed the format for an American version, starting with an hour-long pilot on Nov. 10, 1963, on NBC. The network picked up the show for a regular, half-hour series starting on Jan. 10, 1964.

    In between, the BBC show’s cast did a short, non-humorous program when Pres. Kennedy was assassinated. That ~20-minute piece was aired by NBC. [MORE]

  4. Jarbas Jam Mesquita

    Frost x Nixon

  5. Mike Clark

    Monty Python’s Eric Idle worked for David Frost in the mid-sixties. A few years later Eric wrote and played “Timmy Williams,” obviously based on Mr. Frost. It’s a hilarious sketch that you’ll find “Super….marvelous!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evc8KTGdF7E

  6. Susan Black

    George did the first satellite link up( from YTV) with him in 1982, sad loss….

  7. Terry Ricketts

    TW3, lovely pictures from Marconi MkIV’s.

  8. Kenneth Johannessen

    Don’t know if any full NBC eps exist, but I know Radiola put out an LP of TW3 excerpts in the early 80s, I have a copy. Sure would be nice to see the video, though.

  9. Bryan Durr

    You can see the studio in this chaotic closer…

    http://youtu.be/dyg-TLEmn6c

  10. Eyes Of A Generation.com

    There was the original ‘That Was The Week That Was’ on the BBC, but NBC did the show here in the US too for a season. I don’t think there are any episodes of the US version left. Does anyone know?

  11. Steve Byrd

    Yes, “That Was the Week That Was”.

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