East Side / West Side
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| Original title | East Side / West Side |
| Country of production |
 United States
|
| original language | English |
| Year (s) | 1963-1964 |
| length | 45-48 minutes |
| Episodes | 26th |
| genre | drama |
| idea | Robert Alan Aurthur |
| First broadcast | Sept. 23, 1963 - April 27, 1964 on CBS |
| occupation | |
| |
East Side / West Side is an American television series that ran on CBS from 1963–1964 . The series was produced by David Susskind .
The protagonists are the social worker Neil Brock, played by George C. Scott , his secretary Jan Foster, played by Cicely Tyson and the head of the agency, Frieda Hechlinger, played by Elizabeth Wilson . The fact that Cycely Tyson was cast as a black woman for a leading role in a television series was unusual for the time.
The one-hour episodes of the drama series cover topics such as poverty, prejudice, drugs, abortion and the death penalty. On November 4, 1964, an episode was broadcast in which the toddler of a young black couple living in poverty in Harlem dies from a rat bite. The episode led to articles in leading daily newspapers and Republican Senator Jacob Javits praised CBS for the courage to air the episode, saying the series addressed the core issues of workplace discrimination, housing conditions and the deep gap that exist between Blacks and whites rule. While the show caught on, it was a failure for CBS as a third of the ad time didn't sell. So it was discontinued after a year and 26 episodes.
The first episode ran on September 30, 1963, the last on September 14, 1964. Broadcasting was on Mondays at 10:00 p.m.
Web links
- East Side / West Side in theInternet Movie Database(English)