Petula Clark TV Special
In 1968, Binder was working at NBC. Its executives invited Petula Clark—who had appeared on Hullabaloo—to host her own special. While singing a duet of "On the Path of Glory" with guest Harry Belafonte, she touched his arm, to the dismay of Chrysler, the show's sponsor. The car giant feared the brief moment would offend Southern viewers at a time when racial mixing was still a major issue of controversy in the US. Chrysler insisted "the touch" (as it became known) should be edited and substituted with a different take. However, director Binder, Clark and her husband/producer refused, destroyed all other takes of the song, and delivered the finished program to NBC with "the touch" intact. It aired on April 8, 1968 to high ratings and critical acclaim, and marked the first time a man and woman of different races exchanged physical contact on American television.
Read more about this topic: Steve Binder
Famous quotes containing the words clark and/or special:
“I never felt that getting angry would do you any good other than hurt your own digestion—keep you from eating, which I liked to do.”
—Septima Clark (1898–1987)
“With a generous endowment of motherhood provided by legislation, with all laws against voluntary motherhood and education in its methods repealed, with the feminist ideal of education accepted in home and school, and with all special barriers removed in every field of human activity, there is no reason why woman should not become almost a human thing. It will be time enough then to consider whether she has a soul.”
—Crystal Eastman (1881–1928)