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Bennett CerfBennett Cerf
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that were being showed locally in Salt Lake City and Winnipeg and San Francisco, but we had advice for this. We had very good members from San Francisco, San Diego, and Chicago. We tried to make it a national thing. The big awards of course were for network shows we all did watch: amusement, education, news programs, plus specials. The repetitious series with their “laugh” soundtracks and the daytime soap-operas frankly didn't interest us. We never saw them.

Q:

Do you think that you could come to a good decision that way?

Cerf:

Well, it was done by consensus; and when it came to entertainment, it didn't take any inside knowledge to reward people like Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Jack Benny, and Judy Garland. We took turns giving awards to big headliners who had had a particularly successful year. As for news, well, of course HuntleyBrinkly and Walter Cronkhite ran away with it almost every year; but there were other good people like Morgan and Severeid whom we'd recognize. Then we'd give sponsors awards, like Bell Telephone and DuPont and Xerox, who had encouraged superior work in television. Those awards were very worthwhile.

Q:

Your own impression, how do you think that television will become better? Is there any way that you can see it?





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