Our World was a documentary-style series hosted by Linda Ellerbee and Ray
Gandolf that premiered on ABC in 1986. Each week's hour-long episode was devoted to "a
kaleidoscope of the sights, the sounds, the emotions" of one year from the latter part of the twentieth century.
By using a judicious mix of interviews, news footage, photos, and witty narration, the program had the polish of a one-time special rather than a weekly series. Amazingly, the show's producers were able to locate and interview many past newsmakers long before you could simply "Google" someone on the web. The news footage, which almost always fit perfectly with the topic at hand, was no doubt the result of hours of painstaking research.
To describe each episode as merely "covering" a year's worth of events is a disservice to the show's writers and their considerable talent. Each program began with a theme (see titles below) and then proceeded to support that theme throughout the program. For instance, in "Duels In The Sun: Campaign 1952," the theme of duels is portrayed not only between presidential candidates, but also among
Olympic athletes, countries in the Korean War, and the movie industry's struggles against television.
If you've read any of Ellerbee's work, you can easily spot her influence on the show: acerbic comments sprinkled throughout, pithy observations, and no-nonsense reporting style. You would not find Ellerbee engaging in any superfluous banter with her co-host. Even the set, as it were, reflected a
Spartan sense of style. The hosts sat on stools in a soundstage that was draped with artifacts and mementos from the year being covered. Voiceovers were used between commercials and during the end-credits to relate
even more facts, keeping wasted air time to a minimum. The opening sequence used
understated computer animation that still holds its own twenty years later, and rousing symphonic theme
music
was written by Bill Conti of Rocky fame.
The show aired opposite the immensely popular Cosby during the 1986-1987 season, which may help explain why the show did not reach the audience it deserved. I suspect that ABC, unable to counter-program the competition, commissioned Our World from the news division as a relatively low cost time filler and received much more than they expected. Unfortunately, few shows have come close to the quality, entertainment, and educational value of Our World.
