Great Moments

Great Moments is the name of a CBS campaign from 1982. Shows being launched that year on the network include "Square Pegs" and "Newhart". As with every season from 1979 until 1983, CBS still remained at the second spot in the ratings race behind ABC. However, the gap between CBS and ABC was slowly narrowing as CBS would eventually regain its top spot at the end of the 1983-1984 season.

Campaign Synopsis

The promo begins with a still of the 1951 introduction of the CBS "eye" logo. Then still of previous CBS shows such as "I Love Lucy", "The Ed Sullivan Show", "Lassie", and "Gunsmoke" appears with them in a box that appears to be shrinking into the distance until a tiny version of the 1951 CBS eye logo appears again. Immediately the CBS logo then "morphs" and "enlarges" into other newer versions of the CBS logo until the current rendition of the logo is shown in a deep purple hue and violet outline.

Next the Great Moments appears in a golden metallic font encompassed in a rhombus shape all among an black-orange gradient background. Five beams of light from behind zoom in front of the logo to begin the clip montage of upcoming and returning shows. The promo ends with the same Great Moments logo and five beams of light (expect rather than zooming into the screen, the beams crash intro the logo). A final montage of previous renditions of CBS logos appears until the current one stands out.

Among the many shows featured in the promo, freshman show "Mama Malone" would not debut until 1984. Also the clip show ended with a painting of the cast members of "MASH", which appropriately enough would end its run with its highly-acclaimed and most-watched season finale.

As with the previous season, a shorter karaoke version was aired to complement the promo. It featured everyday people singing along to the tune with the lyrics at the bottom of the screen and a bouncing ball in the shape of the CBS eye moving in sync to the lyrics.

Local versions of the campaign include:
*KFSM in Ft. Smith, Arkansas - "Great Moments on TV-5"
*KSL in Salt Lake City, Utah - "Great Moments on Channel 5"
*KAUZ in Wichita Falls, Texas - "Great Moments on Channel 6"
*KCCI in Des Moines, Iowa - no title, it just used the music from the national campaign tying in with local station footage
*WJKW in Cleveland (now a Fox affiliate) - "Great Moments on TV-8"

[Of note, WJKW (now WJW) switched to Fox in late 1994] .

Links

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv8oKj93EIg Full 2:00 Great Moments promo] on YouTube
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnOoZBVScjE Great Moments custom for KSL] on YouTube
* [http://www.80stvthemes.com/ra/GRTMOMENTSLOCAL.ra Audio-only Great Moments custom for KAUZ] at the 80s TV Themes site
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfBQ4NL_ep8 Great Moments custom for KCCI] on YouTube
* [http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/Cleveland+promo+1982/video/x41e3x_network-and-local-cleveland-tv-prom_shortfilms TV promos featuring Great Moments custom for WJKW, also contains Come on Along custom for WAKR in Akron] on Dailymotion