You Are There (series)

For the book series, see We Were There.

You Are There
GenreEducational
Created byGoodman Ace
Directed byJohn Frankenheimer
Jack Gage
Bernard Girard
Sidney Lumet
William D. Russell
Presented byWalter Cronkite
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes148 (list of episodes)
Production
ProducersJames D. Fonda
Charles Russell
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time22–29 minutes
Original release
ReleaseFebruary 1, 1953 (1953-02-01) –
June 9, 1957 (1957-06-09)

You Are There is a 1947–57 American historical educational television and radio series broadcast over the CBS Radio and CBS Television networks.[1]

Radio

Created by Goodman Ace for CBS Radio, the original radio version of the series portrayed an entire network newsroom on a figurative time warp each week reporting the great events of the past. Reporters included John Charles Daly, Don Hollenbeck, and Richard C. Hottelet. The series was first heard on July 7, 1947, under the title CBS Is There. Its final broadcast was on March 19, 1950, under the title You Are There.[2]

According to author/historian Martin Grams, actor Canada Lee was a guest in episodes 32 and 60. Martin Gabel appeared in character in episode 82. The first 23 broadcasts went under the title CBS Is There and beginning with episode 24, the title changed to You Are There. A total of 90 episodes were broadcast. Only 75 episodes are known to exist in recorded form.[3]

Television

The radio program made a transition to television in 1953, with Walter Cronkite as the regular host. Reporters included veteran radio announcers Dick Joy and Harlow Wilcox. The first telecast took place on February 1, 1953, and featured a re-enactment of the Hindenburg disaster. The final telecast took place on June 9, 1957.

Originally telecast live, most of the later episodes were produced on film. One of the episodes, for instance, features actor Pat Conway as James J. Corbett, the boxer who fought champion John L. Sullivan in 1892.

The series also featured various key events in American and world history, portrayed in dramatic recreations. Events that were covered included the Battle of Hastings, the execution of Joan of Arc, the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire by Hernán Cortés, and the signing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.[4] Additionally, CBS News reporters, in modern-day suits, reported on the action and interviewed the protagonists of each of the historical episodes. Each episode began with the characters setting the scene. Cronkite, from his anchor desk in New York City, gave a few words on what was about to happen. An announcer then gave the date and the event, followed by a loud and boldly spoken "You are there!"

At the end of the program, after Cronkite summarized what happened in the preceding event, he reminded viewers, "What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times... all things are as they were then, except you were there."

Walter Cronkite, TV host of You Are There

In cooperation with CBS, the BBC created and broadcast a United Kingdom version aired for thirty-two episodes in 1954 and 1958. It primarily focused on the historical re-enactments present in the American version.[5]

The program was seen again on Saturday morning as a videotaped color program from 1971 to 1972. The format of the revival was basically the same as the original versions. These programs were also hosted by Cronkite. Both series were produced by CBS News.

From 2000 to 2005, Cronkite presented a series of essays for National Public Radio, reflecting on various key events of his life, including his involvement in You Are There in the 1950s.

Notable guest stars included:

Home media

22 episodes of the 1950s version of You Are There are available on DVD from Woodhaven Entertainment. The 1970s version is currently not available on VHS or DVD. Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications has 20 episodes available for on-site viewing only. Both versions have also been made available to schools on 16mm film for educational purposes.

Some episodes of the radio and television version are available for sale commercially. CBS retains the copyrights.

  • The 1950s edition was briefly parodied as Were You There in the 1956 Merrie Melodies cartoon, Wideo Wabbit, featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, as Fudd's pursuit of Bugs lands him in a re-enactment of Custer's Last Stand.
    • The 1950s edition was also parodied as Were You There in the 1959 Merrie Melodies cartoon People Are Bunny, featuring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, where Daffy, in pursuit of Bugs for the prize of a thousand dollars for the first rabbit at Studio QTTV, is tricked into rushing into a re-enactment of "Indian Massacre at Burton's Bend".
  • On one of the "Classic 39" episodes of The Honeymooners, Art Carney as Norton—hearing Jackie Gleason as Ralph say he had a plan to get wife Alice (Audrey Meadows) to give him the money to go to the Raccoon Lodge convention—launched into this soliloquy parodying You Are There's famous catchphrase: "May 3, 1953. Ralph Kramden … in search … for money … for capital … to enter his No-Cal Pizzeria … He says, 'I have a sure-fire plan of getting the money, it can't fail!' … Alice Kramden says, 'No!' … unquote … all things are as they were then, except you are there!"
  • The series was parodied on The Ernie Kovacs Show as "Vas You Dere?" The cast performed a lampoon of the stabbing of Julius Caesar, presented as a carnival act.
  • The series was parodied on a segment of The Victor Borge Show which featured journalist Mike Wallace interviewing Franz Liszt (played by Borge) through a "time window". Wallace opened the interview by asking "Are you there?" in a similar style to the series' opening.
  • The series was parodied on The Electric Company in a sketch titled You Weren't There. "You weren't born yet, you were out of town, or you just weren't paying attention," says the narrator.
  • The Evangelical Christian radio program Adventures in Odyssey used the device of a modern news room reporting on past events for their "O.T. Action News" segments.
  • The series was parodied in an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. Titled "You Are There", the episode features a modern-day reporter doggedly following and interviewing various characters (believed to be real, historical figures within the premise of the TV show), both in the field and a studio setting.

Sources

References

  1. ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 476. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  2. ^ "You Are There". Audio Karma. Archived from the original on May 10, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  3. ^ "You Are There Radio Broadcast Log". Audio Classics. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  4. ^ Anderson, Steve (2001). Television Histories: Shaping Collective Memory in the Media Age. University Press of Kentucky.
  5. ^ "Search results for You Are There at the BBC Programme Index". Retrieved June 13, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d Gianakos, Larry (1981). Television Drama Series Programming : A Comprehensive Chronicle, 1975-1980. Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press. p. 419. ISBN 0810814382.
  7. ^ Christiansen, Erik (2013). Channeling the Past: Politicizing History in Postwar America. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-299-28904-1. "African Americans also featured prominently in 1954's 'The Emergence of Jazz,' essentially a condensed history of how white musicians co-opted the musical form from black musicians in New Orleans. [...] The script focused on early jazz legends King Oliver an Jelly Roll Morton, played by two younger legends, Louis Armstrong and Billy Taylor, respectively"
  8. ^ "Free Press Television, Radio Guide: Television Listings for Sunday". Detroit Free Press. September 5, 1954. p. TV-2. "YOU ARE THERE—'The Emergence of Jazz,' Nov. 20, 1917; Louis Armstrong portrays King Oliver, jazz king."
  9. ^ a b c Giannakos op. cit., pp. 420–421.
  10. ^ Winkler, Martin (2024). Classical Antiquity and the Cinematic Imagination. Cambridge University Press. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-009-39671-4. "'The Death of Socrates (399 BC),' a 1953 episode, recreated the last hours of Socrates. Greek-American actor John Cassavetes played Plato. 'You're a clever young man, are't you?' he is told at one point."
  11. ^ "Modern Boxing Birth Shown on 'You Are There; Famed John L. Sullivan vs. James J. Corbett Bout Relived Tonight; Corbett Taunts Sullivan". The Springfield Sunday Republican. June 12, 1955. p. 15C. Retrieved August 12, 2025. "Gentleman Jim' Corbett displays some of his famed speed and agility in getting away from the great John L. Sullivan in a scene from 'The Birth of Modern Boxing' on CBS-TV's 'You Are There' today (6.30-7.00 p.m., Channel 55). Former pugilist Jeff York plays Sullivan and Pat Conway, grandson of former matinee idol Francis X. Bushman, plays Corbett."
  12. ^ "You Are There...". Getty Images. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  13. ^ a b c Brundage, Anthony (2018). Going to the Sources: A Guide to Historical Research and Writing. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. p. 80. LCCN 2016-52002. "The series moved to television in 1953 and ran for four and a half years. Top tier stage and screen actors were cast in leading parts, including James Dean as Robert Ford in 'The Capture of Jesse James,' Paul Newman as Marcus Brutus in 'The Assassination of Julius Caesar,' and Joanne Woodward in 'The Oklahoma Land Rush.'"
  14. ^ "TV Highlights Today". Clarion-Ledger. June 5, 1955. Sec. 4, p. 5. Retrieved August 12, 2025. "DR. ALEXANDER FLEMING (Cyril Delevanti), discoverer of penicillin, talks with Dr. Howard C. Florey (Robert F. Simon) at the right in Dr. Fleming's laboratory in St. Mary's Hospital at the University of London, where he found the lowly mold that destroys germs. Dr. Florey recalls the first patient to be treated with penicillin in the winter of 1941 during the 'You Are There' presentation of 'The First Major Use of Pincillin,' today at 4:30 P.M. on WJTV, Channel 12."
  15. ^ a b c "TV Key". Brooklyn Eagle. February 21, 1954. p. 24. Retrieved August 12, 2025. "You Are There. 'First Command Performance of Romeo and Juliet.' The personalities of Shakespeare, Sir Walter Raleigh, Essex and the aging Queen Elizabeth, are excellently and perceptively, woven in and out of this first rate piece of historical drama. It manages to touch upon Elizabethan theatre, politics and what went on in the minds of the Elizabethan censors one when "Romeo and Juliet" was performed at the request of autocratic, ruthless Elizabeth. Excellent cast headed by Rod Steiger as Romeo, Mildred Dunnock as Queen Elizabeth and Douglas Watson as Shakespeare."
  16. ^ Chance, Norman (2011). Who Was Who on TV, Volume 3. Philadelphia, PA: Xlibris. p. 25. OCLC 701808919.
  17. ^ Gros. (August 31, 1955). "Television Reviews". Variety. p. 27. Retrieved August 12, 2025. "YOU ARE THERE (The Attack on Pearl Harbor) With Walter Cronkite, Hayden Roarke, De Forest Kelley, Roy Linnert, Stanley Farrar, Vivi Janiss, Kam Tong, Edward Earle, others Producer: James Fonda Director: Bernard Girard 30 Mins.; Sun., 6:30 p.m. ELECTRIC COS., PRUDENTIAL CBS-TV (film) (N. W. Ayer; Calkins & Holden) For its fall season return Sunday (28), “You Are There” went back to Dec. 7, 1941, the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor."
  18. ^ "Diana Lynn Stars as 'Joan of Arc'". Oklahoma City Advertiser. February 3, 1956. p. 2. Retrieved August 12, 2025. "The Final Hours of Joan of Arc' is the moment in history captured by 'You Are There' for its viewers on Saturday. Diana Lynn stars in the dramatic recreation of the trial and execution of the maid of Orleans over KWTV at 4 p. m. This will make history in its own way, as it is the first time any actor has received star billing on the program since its inception three years ago."
  19. ^ "Sunday: Washington's Farewell". Battle Creek Enquirer. February 26, 1955. p. TV-2. Retrieved August 12, 2025. "A Martha memorable and unexpectedly poignant occasion will be recreated for You Are There viewers at 6:30 p.m. when Walter Cronkite and the TV cameras return to Dec. 4, 1783, and to "Washington's Farewell to His Officers." E. G. Marshall will portray him."
  20. ^ a b Scheuer, Steven H. (March 8, 1953). "TV Key". Brooklyn Eagle. p. 30. Retrieved August 12, 2025. "6:00 p.m. Ch. 2-You Are There. 'The Assassination of Julius Caesar.' Expert casting of Joseph Wiseman as Cassius and talented newcomer Paul Newman as Brutus, enhance this terse, authentic account of events leading up to Caesar's assassination."
  21. ^ "CBS to Recreate Story of Nathan Hale". The Star-Ledger. August 30, 1953. p. T-14. "Nathan Hale will be portrayed by Paul Newman, currently appearing on Broadway in 'Picnic.'"
  22. ^ "As THE Actress". The Baltimore Sun May 1, 1955. p. 18A. Retrieved August 12, 2025. "JEANETTE NOLAN was both delighted and dismayed when she won the part of Sarah Bernhardt perhaps the most accomplished actress in all theatrical history. The 'divine Sarah' ruled the stage for more than half a century, applauded by millions of theater lovers, acclaimed by letters. Miss Nolan learned she was to be this genius of a woman in "The Performance of Sarah Bernhardt," to be presented on 'You Are There,' May 8 (CBS Television, 6.30-7 P.M.)"
  23. ^ "'The Sacrifice of Gandhi' on 'You Are There,' Jan. 24". New Pittsburgh Courier. January 23, 1954. p. 19. Retrieved August 12, 2025. "One of history's foremost examples of the effectiveness of passive resistance- -when a thin little man in a white loincloth broke the back of India's 5,000-year-old caste system by fasting- -will recreated on Sunday, Jan. 24, when Walter Cronkite and the you Are There" cameras return to Sept. 25, 1932 to report 'The Sacrifice of Mahatma Gandhi' (CBS Television, 6:30-7 P.M., EST)."
  24. ^ a b "Washington's Staff Parting Enacted on TV". Atlantic City Press. February 27, 1955. p. 20. Retrieved August 12, 2025. "Trying to anticipate the type of farewell and the personal character of General Washington (E. G. Marshall), Walter Cronkite, key newsman of the series, has a reporter interviewing the officers who arrive early. Present are such famed men as General Clinton (Russell Hardie), Colonel Tallmadge (Michael Higgens), General Von Steuben (George Voskovec), | General McDougall (Ed Binns) and General Knox (Milton Selzer),"
  25. ^ Scheuer, Steven (March 1, 1953). "TV Key". Brooklyn Eagle. p. 27. Retrieved August 11, 2025. "6:00 p.m. Ch. 2-You Are There. "The Execution of Joan of Arc." with Kim Stanley. From the familiar story of Joan of Arc, playwright Jeremy Daniel has fashioned an eloquent drama that fits perfectly into the format of this ever improving 'on-the-spot' dramatic show. We've seen Kim Stanley play Joan of Arc before and can tell you that she has the right quality for the Maid of France. With ace director Sidney Lumet on hand this promises to be the outstanding show of the day. Don't miss it."
  26. ^ a b Hutchinson, Tom (2000). Rod Steiger : Memoirs of a Friendship. New York : Fromm International. p. 71. ISBN 088064253X. "He also appeared often on You Are There, a CBS series of dramatic recreations of history presented as news, with the network’s top newscaster Walter Cronkite acting as its anchor, intoning at the end of each broadcast, ‘What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our lives ... and you were there’. The roles were varied, ranging from the intense Russian monk Rasputin to the Elizabethan actor Richard Burbage playing Romeo for the first time."
  27. ^ "Preview of Sunday Shows". The Minneapolis Star. May 1, 1954. p. 21. Retrieved August 12, 2025. "YOU ARE THERE. 'The Death of Rasputin.' An interesting and objective look into the colorful life (and death) of the 'mad monk,' whose peculiar talents raised him from a miserable Russian peasant to the most powerful man in czarist Russia; and whose corruption was thought to have been partially responsibie for the Bolshevik revolution. Excellent cast with Rod Steiger, Hurd Hatfield. Recommended."
  28. ^ "Anne Boleyn Story on 'You Are There' Tonight". The Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 20, 1954. p.42-D. Retrieved August 12, 2025. "Beatrice Straight, well known Broadway actress, will be seen in the title role in 'The Crisis of Anne Boleyn' on the 'You Are There' show tonight at 6:30 on WEWS."
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