Our World

ABC probably realized that programming against NBC's Thursday line up juggernaut was almost impossible, so why not put on a show that didn't require a huge amount of money to produce. What would fit the bill better than a news show, that used film footage that could be pulled from archives?

Each show would revolve around a particular year, 1958, for example, and one, as I recall, was about the movie "Gone With The Wind", and what was involved in it's complicated filming.

Linda Ellerbee and Ray Gandolf shared hosting duties. And Ms. Ellerbee's dry wit showed true as each story played out.

I remember that when the network tried to cancel the show, a national write-in campaign was started. the host even joked about the fact that many folks watched "Cosby" and taped "Our World" to watch later.

I used to pop a tape in my Beta(!) machine and head out for the evening.

A good effort, but doomed to low ratings due to it's placement. If it was a weekend show, we'd probably be watching, now!

I was fortunate to have taped the Our World episodes. I have twenty-four complete shows and two incomplete shows. There were twenty-six episodes total. I left the commercials intact, except for one show, as I recall. I was teaching Contemporary History at the time and encouraged my students to watch the program. Many of them did. It made for good discussion the next day. My chore now is to see if I can find air-dates for them. On air comments indicate which episode was first (Summer of '69) and which episode was last (Liberation Summer 1944). I plan to view all of them and write a summary of each. That is probably a good project for when the snow starts flying. I wouldn't think that a show like this would fare any better now because of all the offerings of the cable world, but it is hard to say.

Our World (1986) is a fascinating time capsule - not of fiction, but of global ambition, creativity, and unity through media. A television special with a truly unprecedented scope, it brought together musicians, artists, and visionaries from across the globe in a synchronized broadcast meant to showcase the human experience on a planetary scale.

What makes this production so compelling is its bold attempt to use technology not just to inform, but to inspire. Long before the internet made the world feel small, Our World dared to present it as interconnected - not through politics or commerce, but through culture. With segments filmed live across dozens of countries, the project feels both massive in scale and intimate in its personal moments.

Of course, technical limitations of the era are visible, but that only adds to the historical charm. There's a raw, unfiltered honesty in seeing the world as it was - different, yet united by common threads. From music performances to moments of everyday life, it's a snapshot of a world still discovering the power of global communication.

In retrospect, Our World was not just a broadcast - it was a statement. A quiet but resonant call for global understanding, decades before such ideas became commonplace. For those interested in the history of media, international collaboration, or simply nostalgic for the optimism of 20th-century broadcasting, this is a truly meaningful watch.

Over the years I taped many shows and happened to stumble upon this particular show of "Our World" (1986) The reason I saved this particular film was because of the Year 1939 and the New York's World's Fair. The photography was fantastic of the entire Worlds Fair and even had FDR opening the Fair with a speech. America was trying to stay away from War and getting involved with World Affairs and was enjoying the hopes for a future with all kinds of new inventions and modern conveniences. However, as this film progressed we learned about Hitler and his horrible threat to the Jewish people, and how they tried to obtain passage on the "ST. LOUIS SS" to Cuba and possibly Florida from the Nazi's in Europe. FDR would not allow this ship and its passengers to enter the United States and some of these Jewish people had to go back to Europe only to be put into prison camps. I only wish this film could be shown once again in the Year 2000! This was a very well produced film and clearly shows that America cannot just sit back and let other countries take control like Hitler or any other DICTATOR!

I remember coming across Our World in the TV listings a couple of days before it first aired. When I saw what ABC was out to do, I realized immediately- "It's going to be smart, educational, and historical in nature...it doesn't stand a chance." The second thing I did was prepare some blank videos to record every episode for as long as Linda Ellerbee and Ray Gandolf could keep the show going.

Today, twenty years later, I have still have those four video tapes with all 25 episodes- most without the commercials. (Looking back, it would be interesting to see the commercials now too!) My hope is to transfer these tapes to DVD- hopefully they're still in decent condition.

This little known and short lived show was one of the high points of television history. It is also sad note on our society that it wasn't put on to actually educate people, but by executives who saw it as a cheap alternative in a ratings time slot they could never win.