Logie’s Legacy

Ask someone where they were the night Lady Diana died, or (if they are old enough) where they were when man finally landed on the moon and almost immediately the conversation will turn to television. Huge, world-changing events like the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics or the fall of the Berlin Wall for most us have been witnessed through the prism of a square box in our front rooms.

Television has brought tears of joy and despair – as well as many cringe worthy moments – to millions and has become a powerful force for good and, oftentimes, bad since its humble beginnings when our very own John Logie Baird from Helensburgh made the first broadcast in 1925. Within three years of that first transmission, Baird, who was born exactly 128 years ago today on August 14, 1888, successfully made the first transatlantic television transmission between London and New York and presented the first working colour television, effectively becoming the inventor of the mass media juggernaut we today take for granted. Not bad for the son of a Presbyterian minister from Dunbartonshire.

To celebrate the great Scottish inventor's birth, we compiled the best and worst that TV has beamed into our lives and our minds during its relatively short history.

BEST

Apollo 11 moon landings

Let’s all put our tin foil hats and conspiracies to one side for the moment and assume the moon landings definitely happened. Over 530 million people around the world, about 14 per cent of the population at the time, watched as Neil Armstrong took humanity’s first step on the moon, which makes it one of the most-watched television events in history. Broadcasts included the first steps, Aldrin and Armstrong’s strolls across the moon’s surface and Nixon’s phone call to Armstrong. Effectively ending the space race between Russia and America, it is a privilege to have this recorded as a piece of television history.

Queen’s coronation 1953

The first time that television gave radio a proper jab to the kidneys, and saw a turning point in television’s history. For the first time more people watched an event on their tiny black and white TVs than listened to it on the wireless. Around 20.4 million people watched Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, over double the amount who tuned in on the radio. And considering there were only 2.7 million TV sets, that means there was on average seven-and-a-half people for each set, not including children. Had John Logie Baird been alive he’d have been grinning ear to ear.

1968 Olympics Black Power salute

Another powerful image from the Olympics witnessed by millions on their tellies while sitting in their living rooms. However at the time this was received with markedly less positive reactions than Ali’s lighting of the flame. Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who won the gold and bronze respectively in the 200m sprint, donned black gloves and raised their fists in protest of black discrimination in America. At the height of the fight for civil rights in America, this was a brave protest to make, and they were rewarded with an eviction from the Olympic village and a torrent of hate and abuse back home. But with the troubles and less than peaceful occurrences over racism in the US today, we can look back on this peaceful but powerful protest with pride.

Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic Torch

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, and provide a hell of an emotional start to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. 20 years on and this is still the most moving and powerful lighting of the Olympic cauldron, thanks to this man’s stout performance. Sadly diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1984, the boxing champion was given the well-deserved honour of lighting the Olympic flame at the Atlanta Games. Visibly shaking while holding the torch, he fought through his condition just as he had fought through so many opponents in the ring and finished the torch relay from Olympia to Athens. This television highlight is just one way that Muhammad Ali will be remembered for generations to come.

First Televised presidential debate, 1960

Noticing a trend with the 1960s and television? On September 26, 1960, people all over America for the first time were able to watch John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon debate to become President of the United States. This ushered in the age where television was the most important part of a presidential campaign, and debates were won through performance and rallying the audience on the spot. Not so great if it produces clowns like Trump. Interestingly, those listening on the radio thought that Nixon fared better with his answers, whereas the millions of TV viewers preferred the much more polished and better looking Kennedy.

Last episode of Friends

Put your hand up if you cried when Rachel appeared in the doorway behind Ross. Millions of people did, certainly not me though. The most-watched and enjoyed sitcom ever produced that ran for 10 seasons, the final episode was watched by 52.5 million people in the US, making it one of the most watched TV episode of all time. Friends was a cultural phenomenon that hasn’t been replicated since, and is definitely one of the best things to come out of television.

Fall of the Berlin Wall

Shown on news programmes the world over, the fall of the Berlin Wall was a poignant symbol of the death of communism in Eastern Europe and Russia. The wall was finally breached by Berliners on November 9, 1989 as they came at it with sledgehammers, pickaxes, and anything they could get their hands on. A message that was seen by people across the world, that you can’t keep people somewhere against their will forever.

WORST

First TV advert

In 1941 American viewers sat down to watch the Brooklyn Dodgers face off against the Philadelphia Phillies. What they were unwittingly about to see was television history, the first paid TV commercial. A 10-second view of a Bulova clock face with the voiceover saying “America runs on Bulova time”. It cost them $9 to show that ad, a bargain compared to the millions that companies pay today at the Super Bowl. They couldn’t have known what they had started. The pain and suffering that viewers would have to go through, turning down the volume of the overly loud commercials while they wait for I’m a Celebrity to come back on, enduring through advert after advert trying to make them laugh. They couldn’t have known …

Chris Evan’s Top Gear

No, not the handsome Captain America Chris Evans. The shouty annoying TFI Fridays Chris Evans. Top Gear fans were still reeling when Jeremy Clarkson left on that bombshell but, surely, the BBC would only look for the best to replace him. So imagine their confusion when they choose … Chris Evans? Luckily his shouty and grinding presenting has only lasted a season. Should’ve stuck to radio Chris, telly ain’t for you.

Ed Miliband making a tit of himself

Ed Miliband is a walking, talking television mistake. We all miss him being Labour leader in a strange way. We won’t get a more cringeworthy and hilariously awkward opposition leader for some time. Many handshakes with constituents have been muddled, many a Labour MP’s name have been forgotten, bacon sandwiches have been eaten weirdly and eggs have been cracked on his shoulder. There are just too many blunders to pin one down. “Am I tough enus-tough enough?” Err, not for television, clearly.

Made in Chelsea (all of it)

This show epitomises everything that is wrong with television today, something that Logie Baird would not be so happy about. Presented as a reality show that is structured but with unscripted dialogue, where we get to see the dramatic lives of London’s top “socialites”. In reality what we get is a forced and fake show that wastes an hour pushing stuck up London snobs in our face, expecting us to be gripped by the “drama”. Even the fly on the wall has legged it before the episode is over.

OJ Simpson verdict

“If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit”, words that have become synonymous with failures in the criminal justice system. In 1995 millions of people were glued to their screens to witness the conclusion of what had been a yearlong trial that had often been in the headlines. Oprah held a famous live viewing of the verdict with her audience, with half of them jumping for joy while the other half were left shocked and speechless. Twenty years on, The Juice's acquittal is as controversial as ever. While good entertainment, this is perhaps a stain on television’s history.

9/11

Everyone remembers where they were, what they were doing, and what television programme they switched from to witness the news that the World Trade Centre in New York had been hit by a terrorist attack. Over the following hours and days whole families were glued to their televisions to watch the coverage of the aftermath of this horrific attack. The globalised television broadcasting which had evolved allowed millions of people across the world to witness a tragedy together.

JFK assassination

One of the most shocking events of the 20th century, John F Kennedy’s assassination was not seen live on television, but over 10 years after. It was through endless news coverage of the event that people experienced the event. However, the recording of the assassination is still one of the most famous videos, and was made available to people through their TVs before the age of the internet. The assassination of the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was seen live on NBC as he was being taken to jail two days later. Certainly one of the most grisly and shocking couple of days for television viewers.