Meeting of Minds

I was first turned on to "Meeting of Minds" by my high school Humanities teacher during my senior year in 1977, the year it debuted. I'd had some interest in history and historical figures for a few years but NOTHING I'd ever seen before (or have seen since) brought history to life quite like this show. It's one thing to read about the likes of Socrates, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Jefferson, Karl Marx, Teddy Roosevelt, et al., but to actually see them as characters in a talk show/interview format was simply incredible. There has never been a TV program like this one.

It's borderline tragic that this series has never been issued in a DVD format because it's a terrific learning tool and if I was a history teacher, you'd better believe I would incorporate "Meeting of Minds" into my in-class curriculum). Thank goodness several episodes are viewable on YouTube, but it really deserves to be available as a set and I don't know why PBS or Steve Allen's estate (whoever owns the rights) has never issued a boxed set. Some things deserve to be considered beyond rights fees and this series is one of them.

This really was a great show. For those of you not familiar with this show, imagine if you will a round table talk show consisting of famous people from history. One show might include as guests Christopher Columbus and Emily Dickenson and Mata Hari with Steve Allen acting as host. Usually Jane Meadows (Steve's wife in real life) would guest star along with other well known and lesser known celebrities. The guests had "read up" of course on the character they were portraying so the show was an excellent opportunity to see history come to life in an interesting and dramatic fashion. Keep in mind that the guests would never break character throughout the show. The guests were indeed the famous people in history they were portraying. Highly imaginative television and available in VHS format!

Simply put, the general intellect and ability to listen to other points of view are all but no-existent today. Sadly, most people wouldn't even know who these historical personages were, let alone be engaged in an imaginary discourse with them. Mass / social media has succeeded in dumbing down our society. There is no going back.

I remember watching this show on PBS in the late '70s / early 80s. It is without doubt one of the most fascinating, educational, entertaining shows ever put on TV (I rank it with Carl Sagan's Cosmos).

I have volumes #1 - #4 on VHS; It was pure luck that I saw Steve Allen's office address in a magazine in the 80s. I wrote to him and his assistant responded with an order form for the tapes. Although approx. $15 / tape, I could only afford those 4 volumes (I often kick myself for not grabbing the entire series).

I certainly will vote on the website to request they be released on DVD. They should be required viewing in all high schools / colleges. What a shame that shows of this caliber are so rare.

Too bad we can't have stuff like this now. Steve was a genius.

Just saw him in person dec 11th and he hasn't "lost" it.