20/20 (U.S. TV Series) - History

History

The show's anchors on the premiere telecast were Harold Hayes, the renowned editor of Esquire magazine who also served as senior producer, and famed Time art critic Robert Hughes. The debut received largely harsh reviews; The New York Times described it as "dizzingly absurd" and the Washington Post denounced it as "the trashiest stab at candycane journalism yet." In his autobiography Roone: A Memoir, Roone Arledge recalled that probably the most embarrassing part of that initial program was the Claymation segments featuring caricatures representing then-President Jimmy Carter (singing "Georgia on My Mind") and Walter Cronkite (closing the show intoning, "That's the way it was"). As a result of the scathing reviews, serious and drastic changes were made immediately: Hayes and Hughes were fired (as was original executive producer Bob Shanks), and a then semi-retired Hugh Downs was recruited to take on the role of sole host on the following week's program.

Also in the premiere telecast of 20/20, the opening sequence consisted of a pair of eyeglasses, whose lenses showed colored bars, which are often seen in the SMPTE test pattern (always used when TV stations were off the air). The eyeglasses were keyed over a yellow background, and rotated to its rear position to reveal the 20/20 studio.

Under Downs as host, 20/20 changed into a more standard yet unique newsmagazine and received kinder reviews. The program originally was seen as a summer replacement series, after which during the 1978–1979 season it was presented on a once-a-month basis before acquiring a regular Thursday 10:00 p.m. slot beginning May 31, 1979. Ratings were generally very good during the summertime during its eight years on Thursday nights despite competition from Knots Landing on CBS and Hill Street Blues on NBC. It was around this time that the program started using the Brock Brower-written signoff line "We're in touch, so you be in touch" to end each program, which continues to be used to this day (the program also used "Around the world and into your home, the stories that touch your life" as the introduction during the show's opening titles for much of the 1990s).

Barbara Walters joined the cast in 1979 as something less than a co-anchor and soon became a regular special contributor in the fall of 1981. In 1984, she became Hugh Downs' equal, thus reuniting a duo which had already anchored together on NBC's Today from 1964 to 1971. The team would remain together on-air for the next 15 years.

In the autumn of 1987, 20/20 was moved to Fridays at 10:00 p.m., where by the 1991–1992 season it ranked 21st in the annual ratings as a result. It aired in that same slot until the fall of 2001, when the series was briefly replaced by Once and Again, only to return again four months later. It has basically retained that slot ever since. While the series briefly moved to the 8:00 p.m. timeslot on October 12, 2007, it reverted to its usual time two weeks later.

In 1997, a second weekly edition of 20/20 was launched on Thursday evenings. For a time from 1998 to 2000, ABC News chose to consolidate their newsmagazines by combining 20/20 and Primetime Live into a singlular brand under the 20/20 name and format in order to compete with Dateline NBC, which itself ran four nights during the week at the time (Dateline has since been reduced to twice weekly airings). At its peak, 20/20 ran on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays, in addition to its longtime Friday timeslot; these additional nights of 20/20 were joined by the younger-skewing 20/20 Downtown on Thursdays. In 2000, ABC reinstated Primetime under the title Primetime Thursday, and spun off 20/20 Downtown as a separate newsmagazine simply titled Downtown. By early 2002, 20/20 once again was airing only in its original Friday timeslot.

On March 3, 1999, Monica Lewinsky was interviewed by Barbara Walters on the program; that particular edition of 20/20 was watched by an estimated 70 million viewers, which ABC stated was a record audience for a news show.

Downs retired in 1999 and Walters became the solo anchor until 2002 when John Miller was hired to be a permanent co-host of the series. But he never got very comfortable in the anchor chair, and a year later, he jumped at the chance to rejoin law enforcement. For a few months in early 2003, Barbara Walters anchored solo again. However in May 2003, John Stossel, the man behind the controversial, though popular, "Give Me a Break" segments, was named co-anchor of 20/20. As one of the first veteran anchors, Barbara Walters chose to go into semi-retirement as a broadcast journalist in 2004. However, she remained as a frequent contributor to the show. ABC News reporter Elizabeth Vargas was promoted to the co-anchor spot. In September 2009, before the start of its new season, John Stossel announced he would leave the program after 28 years to pursue a new weekly show on the Fox Business Network. Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer also contribute reports. On December 10, 2009, it was announced that Good Morning America news anchor Chris Cuomo was promoted to co-host 20/20 alongside Elizabeth Vargas.