On this Fourth of July, it seems appropriate to ask:
What are the most patriotic shows in the history of television?
Tough question. What could it be? “The Adventures of Superman”? “Underdog”?
“Hannity”?
On the face of it, I have to give the edge to the Man of Steel. As positioned in the famous introduction to the great, old show of the
1950s, the virtually invulnerable superhero’s sole purpose in life was the preservation of “the American way.”
“Yes, it’s
Superman … who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a
never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way!” said the voice of announcer Bill Kennedy.
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It was the 1950s and patriotism was the vogue.
In the context of their times, at least two other shows that are not much remembered today took up another kind of patriotic battle -- ferreting out communists.
One was “I Led 3 Lives” (1953-56), about a man who infiltrated the U.S. Communist Party on behalf of the FBI.
“In this show, Communist spies really were behind every bush, and anyone with liberal views was indeed suspect,” wrote Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh in The Complete Directory to
Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (Eighth Edition).
The other one was “The Hunter” (1952-54), in which an American businessman and world
traveler took time out of his business trips to fight communists abroad.
At the time, these shows were
likely considered patriotic, although today they are not seen that way.
To get some clarity on this crucial
subject, I did a Google search of patriotic TV shows and came up with very little guidance on this issue.
More lists of patriotic movies could be found than
lists of patriotic TV shows. The TV show lists tended to emphasize military dramas -- particularly the ones that honored U.S. servicemen and servicewomen.
Not surprisingly, the HBO miniseries “Band Of Brothers” and “The Pacific” qualified. So did “Army Wives,” “China Beach” and
“M*A*S*H.”
“Homeland” and “24” were also included because -- not unlike
the commie-fighters of the 1950s -- the two shows were about ferreting out terrorists, both foreign and domestic.
No list of patriotic TV shows included
“The Adventures of Superman,” “Underdog” or “Hannity.”
Also missing was the show that is possibly TV’s most
patriotic show in the current TV universe -- PBS’s annual celebration of America’s independence, “A Capitol Fourth” (pictured above).
This year’s 90-minute show airs, as always, on July Fourth evening, from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Eastern.
Alfonso Ribeiro is this year’s
host. Live performances will include Chicago, Boyz II Men, opera soprano Renée Fleming and the Broadway cast of “A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical.”
Truth, justice, singing, dancing and really loud fireworks -- that all sounds like the American way to me.
I am sure Superman would agree.