Youth '68
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Youth '68 is a one-hour documentary produced by Jim Henson, covering the various lifestyles of the 1960s. The special, subtitled "Everything's Changing. . . or Maybe It Isn't," aired over NBC on April 19, 1968, as part of the anthology series Experiments in Television. The following year, another Henson production, The Cube, would air on the series.
TIME magazine's listing described the broadcast as "a visual and sound montage juxtaposing outspoken opinions on love, religion, drugs and war with the sights and sounds of popular music and dance." Interview subjects included an assortment of "average" people with different perspectives, including hippies, college students, and disapproving older folks. Also interviewed were musicians from the era, including members of Jefferson Airplane, The Mamas & the Papas, and Vanilla Fudge. These interviews are strung together between quotes (read aloud by a number of readers), and choreographed dance scenes shot using then-cutting-edge video technology.
The soundtrack included music by The Who and Bob Dylan.
Youth '68 is currently available for viewing at The Museum of Television and Radio.
Credits
- Jim Henson: Producer, Writer, Special Script Material
- Barry Clark: Associate Producer
- Jon Stone: Director
- Jerry Juhl: Writer, Special Script Material
- Gordon Hunt: Reader
- Michael Keene: Reader
- Donald Billett: Reader
- Marc Chinoy: Music Supervisor
- Anne Henry: Music Supervisor
- Marie Lake: Choreographer
- Jim Young: Film Editor
Quotes
Quoted passages and phrases are used as central anchoring points throughout the film, serving in an almost moderator-like position between the viewpoints of different interviewees. Since there is no person on-camera conducting the interview footage, these quotes aid in facilitating the juxtaposed ideas into a synthesized commentary. Among those quoted are:
