the most extraordinary moments live on tv

[jefhatfield]

reagan being shot
barry bonds 71
moon landing
hank aaron beating ruth record

...at least from what i saw live

i was sleeping when 9-11 hit
i missed 62 by mcgwire
i heard about john lennon many hours later
i heard about space shuttle later

[themadchemist]

northwestern beating ohio state on saturday! woohoo!

[jxyama]

if we are talking baseball, then... ichiro's hits #257 and #258.

i saw mcguire's 62nd, but not barry's 71st...

[jeremy.king]

Janet Jackson's right boob
OJ Simpson Car Chase
First Iraq war

[Phat_Pat]

the many slips of the "F" word.

[yellow]

9/11/01

Space Shuttle Challenger

The 1st & 2nd time the Patriots won the Super Bowl.

Bobby Orr's spectacular goal to win Lord Stanley's Cup for the Bruins in 1970.

And I suppose the Immaculate Reception.. but.. the Steelers. Meh.

[wordmunger]

I'm surprised there are so few mentions of 9/11. I missed that one--I was at work, where there were no TVs.

How about the Beatles on Ed Sullivan? Or Elvis?

How about "shock and awe"?

The streaker at the academy awards.

The space shuttle disaster (the first one -- much more dramatic television).

The Kennedy-Nixon debates.

The Vietnam war (whole thing) -- first televised war.

Roots (not live, though).

And last, but not least: the live DAILY SHOW coverage of the first presidential debate :)

[come to think of it, I think the Daily Show and the space shuttle are the only ones on this list that I actually saw live]

[Mr. Anderson]

And no one mentioned 9/11? That will never be something I'll be able to get out of my head.... :(

Moon landings.....

US Hockey Team Beating the Russians at the Olympics in Lake Placid :D

D

[Blue Velvet]

9/11

Was at home off work due to illness, sleeping.

Woke up, turned on radio (2pm London time) to hear reports of fires at WTC. Turned on TV, saw some unbelievable pictures (some of which I have never seen again on any documentary). Watched it solidly for next 4-5 hours...

[virividox]

9/11

EDSA II (its a philippine thing where we ousted our president, i was in the streets)

the shuttle thing

[yellow]

And no one mentioned 9/11? That will never be something I'll be able to get out of my head....

I'm pretty sure I mentioned it..

Was when Bob Dole took a header off a stage on live TV? If so, that one should be in my list as well.

[Mechcozmo]

On our local news, a report was talking about some festival and this guy jumps in front of the camera and makes a funny face. The reporter punches the guy and throws him off screen into some shrubbery. I laughed so hard... :D

9/11/01 ranks up there. I had my alarm clock set to a radio show, but when I woke up I hear:
"...now more on the emergency in New York Trade Center..."

I turned it off, got dressed and ready, went downstairs. Turned on the TV which is something I never do in the morning. TV came on it time to see the second plane hit, someone offscreen yells "holy f***!" Got ready for school while watching it. At school, we had an assembly about it, then off to class. :( Most teachers tried to keep teaching but one of our teachers hooked up a projector and for the rest of the day I watched along with the rest of the class both of them fall. Not a good day.

[Mr. Anderson]

Oh, football one I forgot...

Joe Theisman and his snapped leg....did a search and seems there were a couple other nasty ones...

http://www.maximonline.com/sports/articles/article_1566.html

D

[yellow]

Oh, football one I forgot...

OHOHOH!! Yes, that was horrific. With Theisman lying there screeching (which I would obviously not fault him for). Way to go, LT.

[wdlove]

All the space flights loom large in my mind, especially the moon landing. The Kennedy Assassination coverage was a very moving time for Americans. Another time of great emotion was of course 9/11. Television has brought many great events in our homes.

[yellow]

Television has brought many great events in our homes.

And now that I'm a "TiVotee" (19 hours and counting), I'll catch them "all"!

[WinterMute]

Watching the 2nd plane hit on 9/11 on my PowerBook at the office, someone had said that there was a fire in the WTC, I ran QT up and almost the first thing I saw was the impact, I watched until the 2nd tower fell, then I went home and watched it all again.

9/11 is my generation's Kennedy assasination.

The first shuttle disaster also sticks in the mind, as does Manchester United scoring twice in the last few minutes to win the European Cup.

Jonny Wilkinson's drop-goal to win the rugby world cup in the last moments of extra time was pretty special too.

I saw Tommy Cooper die live on TV, he just fell over, and everyone thought it was part of the show, he was laying there and the audience was still laughing...

[Lyle]

I agree with all of the previous posters, so I'll just add one that I haven't seen mentioned here yet: the news coverage immediately following the report of the car accident in Paris that killed Princess Diana. At first they reported the accident but wouldn't say (perhaps because they didn't know for certain) that she'd been killed. We were pretty much glued to the TV set waiting for them to eventually confirm what we already suspected.

[Phat_Pat]

9/11 is probably the most shocking moments ever on live tv.

listening to the reporters talking about a "freak accident" and then watching as another plane smashes into the second tower right as they are in the middle of that line was just horific. 9/11 is defintally my #1 most extraordinary moment

[Lyle]

I saw Tommy Cooper die live on TV, he just fell over, and everyone thought it was part of the show, he was laying there and the audience was still laughing...On the off chance that there's some other American like me who didn't recognize this name: Tommy Cooper was (according to Google) a British magician and comedian.

[emw]

9/11 - No more to be said.

Challenger explosion - My first real exposure to something truly horrific on live TV.

First Shuttle launch ever - A very positive experience. I remember getting up really early to watch it on TV. Those first launches were always a family experience.

OJ Simpson car chase - Just so sureal.

All Pennsylvania miners pulled alive from flooded mine. - This one is a little more obscure, but I just remember it was amazing that everyone was alive.

[emw]

Oh, football one I forgot...

Joe Theisman and his snapped leg....

Yeah. Thanks for that reminder <cringe>. I imagine quite a few people will remember the Ohio St. vs. Miami championship game in January 2003 where McGahee blew out his knee....

[MacNeXT]

Dutch television: murder of politician Pim Fortuyn.

Anyone in the UK or Germany or USA hear about that? What were your thougths?

[Mr. Anderson]

Dutch television: murder of politician Pim Fortuyn.

Anyone in the UK or Germany or USA hear about that? What were your thougths?

The name sounds familiar, but not the events...what happened exactly?

Also, Ronald Reagan getting shot was something played over and over again...

D

[Doctor Q]

The reading of the verdicts in the Rodney King police conduct trial in Simi Valley (April 29, 1992) and the O.J. criminal trial in downtown Los Angeles (October 3, 1995) were extraordinary moments on TV, especially here in Los Angeles. One resulted in a riot and both produced much debate, controversy, and national discussion.

The O.J. case was of special interest to me because I saw the murder scene in person. Wait, hold on, I'm innocent, really I am, but I just happened to be driving down the street next to Nicole's condo early the next morning, June 13, 1994, and saw the police starting their crime scene investigation. And I had watched the low-speed chase (June 17, 1994) on TV as it went up the same freeway I often drive.

On the lighter side, I recall the TV coverage of the worldwide millennium New Year's Eve party, which showed us the fantastic celebrations from Paris, New York, and other cities, followed by the biggest dud of a celebration in history here in Los Angeles. For a city famed for Hollywood extravaganzas, we sure took a big swing and missed that night! Extraordinarily bad.

[WinterMute]

On the off chance that there's some other American like me who didn't recognize this name: Tommy Cooper was (according to Google) a British magician and comedian.

Not know Tommy Cooper? Are you mad sir? ;)

Fair point, I doubt his genius translated as well as Monty Python or Billy Connelly... :D

MacNeXT: I certainly heard about it, it was big news in the UK for a while, I saw a replay of it, but not the live event. Shocking in such a moderate country.

Was Bill gates getting flanned a live event, I have it on a Quicktime, but I would have loved to see it happen live.

[blackfox]

I was going to mention the footage of Rodney King (beat by Dr Q)

Also, I would imagine that any footage of the Watts riots and of the Iranian revolution and/or hostage release would've been compelling. I was too young to remember first-hand.

Speaking of hostages, the release (and captivity) of Terry Anderson in Lebanon in the 80's.

The recent beheading videos.

Hitler's speechs (old-school, I know)

MLK speech.

[Doctor Q]

I was going to mention the footage of Rodney King (beat by Dr Q)Did you really have to phrase it that particular way? :eek:

[blackfox]

Did you really have to phrase it that particular way? :eek:
haha <ahem> sorry about that...completely unintentional, I assure you.

[jefhatfield]

bruce jenner winning the gold in the decathalon
kristi yamaguchi winning the gold
ellen de generes coming out on her show
mrs. reagan saying goodbye to ronnie for the last time in the state funeral
the first us attacks on iraq in the first gulf war..shocking after saigon '75
geraldo rivera and the empty secret mobster's room...sorry, dude ;)
john ritter suddenly dying of a heart problem

nixon resigning the presidency...i was only 10 in august '74 so i didn't understand the huge historic moment that was going on...recently i read "all the president's men" and i am reading "nixon, the final days" (the followup) and it's truly the most shocking political event of the 20th century...my wife worked on a billionaire's house in california (painting and decorating it, along with a gazillion other workers) and when the rich man moved back in, he put one thing on the wall in his study...the original resignation letter from richard nixon...i think this is the man who clinton would visit when he came to pebble beach golf links in northern california ;)

[musicpyrite]

9-11
Janet Jackson's boob
Columbia space shuttle
Michael Jackson's brother say the F word on CNN :D
Dale Earnhearts death

Things that I've missed (or wanted to see)
World War II
detonation of the first nuclear bomb
Pearl Harbor
Hilton's tape (in real life!)
formation of the universe, or the big bang


That pretty much covers it.

[Doctor Q]

john ritter suddenly dying of a heart problemOn live TV?

I was more shocked hearing about the death of Jim Henson (May 16, 1990) because he didn't know he had anything but a cold, didn't bother going to a doctor, and then died suddenly of a rare bacterial infection. Seems like it could happen to anyone. But that wasn't on live TV either, unless you mean that we heard about these news stories when reported live.

[jefhatfield]

On live TV?

I was more shocked hearing about the death of Jim Henson (May 16, 1990) because he didn't know he had anything but a cold, didn't bother going to a doctor, and then died suddenly of a rare bacterial infection. Seems like it could happen to anyone. But that wasn't on live TV either, unless you mean that we heard about these news stories when reported live.

for those who knew henson, it really was not that much of a shock...he was a workaholic and would work dozens and dozens of hours on end due to his passion for his work

one toy store owner where i live worked 7 days a week, 12-18 hours a day, or more, and he died of bad circulation...a very treatable ailment but he was so focused on his business...actually so focused his wife left him...he was, on the outside, a carefree hippie, but he had a major addiction to work and making money...and making money is something he did to a great degree, but at a cost of cutting 20 years from his life

[Rod Rod]

northwestern beating ohio state on saturday! woohoo!

I agree with that sentiment. A few years ago, NU and OSU were co-champions of the Big Ten but OSU (as always) got more credit for it.

I couldn't believe what was happening when I saw the fourth quarter last Saturday.

Outside of Big Ten football, the most extraordinary moments on live TV are (in my estimation, of course):

2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S.
1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
1952 Army-McCarthy Hearings (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6444/)