Feeling Good (lost PBS health series; 1974-1975)

Title card.

Status: Lost

Feeling Good was an American short-lived television series hosted by Dick Cavett and produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now Sesame Workshop). The series aired on PBS from November 20, 1974 to 1975 with two seasons. It was the first TV series produced by the CTW that was aimed at adults instead of children, and it was also the first TV series about health. The show is considered lost, with none of the episodes being publicly shown and images exist.

Plot

Mass‐appeal guest stars were used each week along with a cast of regulars that congregated in a general store called “Mac's Place”—a kind of antiseptic “Hot I Baltimore.” The first season covered such diverse matters as mental health, prenatal and nutrition. Through the health problems and behavior of its residents, and through songs, sketches and animation, documentary segments and tips on staying and tips on staying healthy were presented.

Production

40 years ago, the CTW officials decided to extend their efforts to the adult audience, in particular the under‐educated, and began work on a series about health. Plans called for production of 26 hour ‐ long shows. The budget was a healthy $6.5 million, making the cost per show higher than anything ever before attempted on PBS.

The man in charge of the project was William Robin. executive producer and vice president of the CTW. Robin and his staff worked under the assumption that most people already know the dangers of improper health care but lack motivation to change their habits. Since it seemed clear that traditional documentary methods had failed to influence them (Robin mentions the negligible results achieved with costly anti‐smoking campaigns), the producers of “Feeling Good” wanted a new approach.

The staff worked with the same “model” developed by the CTW for its children's programs. Experts were interviewed and data were gathered about the subject matter. Seminars were held throughout the country at which specific health problems were outlined along with methods of presenting the material to the TV audience.

Availability

The series originally aired on PBS from November 20, 1974 to 1975. After the show was revamped, it later aired on Channel 13 Wednesdays at 8 P.M.—with a repeat Sundays, at 6:30 P.M. It is unknown for how long it lasted, but since it was short-lived, it likely had 26 episodes and ended on June 25, 1975.

None of the episodes have surfaced online and are considered lost. Unlike other shows produced by the CTW, the series never aired reruns and was never released on home video.

The only accessible material are the poster, articles of the New York Times about the show, images of the Feeling Good newsletters and press photos of the show.

Gallery

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  Poster of the series.

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  From left to right: Dick Cavett, Joseph Catano, Karen Kline and Dr. Peter Peacock conducting stress tests.

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  A screenshot featuring Dick Cavett and Julia Child.

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  Dick Cavett and the show's logo.

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  A page of the New York Times featuring an article about the series premiere.

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  Another page of the New York Times featuring an article about how the show went bad.

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  An image of the newsletter.

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  CTW newsletters featuring the logo of the show.

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  Another image of the newsletters.

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  Joe Morton (right) and the cast of Feeling Good.

External Links

• An eBay listing of a press photo of the series.
• Another eBay listing of a press photo of the series.
• An IMDb page of the series.