Our World

Over the years I taped many shows and happened to stumble upon this particular show of "Our World" (1986) The reason I saved this particular film was because of the Year 1939 and the New York's World's Fair. The photography was fantastic of the entire Worlds Fair and even had FDR opening the Fair with a speech. America was trying to stay away from War and getting involved with World Affairs and was enjoying the hopes for a future with all kinds of new inventions and modern conveniences. However, as this film progressed we learned about Hitler and his horrible threat to the Jewish people, and how they tried to obtain passage on the "ST. LOUIS SS" to Cuba and possibly Florida from the Nazi's in Europe. FDR would not allow this ship and its passengers to enter the United States and some of these Jewish people had to go back to Europe only to be put into prison camps. I only wish this film could be shown once again in the Year 2000! This was a very well produced film and clearly shows that America cannot just sit back and let other countries take control like Hitler or any other DICTATOR!

"For the next hour, think of your television set as a time machine." That was lead-off line on most episodes. I really enjoyed this history program. It was always an interesting look back. For someone who had gone through school in the 1970s, much of the history from the 1950s and later was not taught in our schools yet. It was on this show that I learned of Little Rock (1957), the Rosenbergs(1954), Francis Gary Powers and the infamous "U2 incident"(1960), the March on Washington (1963), Brown verses the Board of Education (1954), the great GM strike (1936/37), Jonas Salk, the McCarthy era, the "War of the Worlds" broadcast (1938), Gold Star mothers, the Tet Offensive, Levittown, Detroit race riots, Kent State and countless other events that have now become well known. When Billy Joel's song "We didn't start the fire" came out in 1989, I knew just about every event mentioned in that song, mainly because I had watched this show. The show would take a period in time and review the events/news of that period, for example, "Fall 1973" they reviewed the Tennis match between Billy Jean King and Bobby Riggs, the Yom Kippur war, the Saturday Night Massacre etc. all of which occurred during that period. The time periods featured ranged from 1936 - 1975 and it was amazing what they could pack into an hour. As the closing credits rolled, the hosts (Ray Gandolf and Linda Ellerbee) would rattle off the more obscure events that happened during that period and often tied them to modern day figures ("Also in 1952, Ronald Reagan married Nancy Davis..." etc). I wish there was a show like this on today. Unfortunately, ABC put this show on opposite The Cosby Show which was the most popular TV show on the air at the time so Our World had a hard time finding an audience. I watched, and taped Our World every week. I still enjoy watching the episodes and often watch them with my children when discussing their history lessons. It is sad that the term "Educational TV" has now become an oxi-moron. Shows such as this educated a lot of viewers. Thank you Linda and Ray! You did the job my history teachers did not do. Linda Ellerbee is still a prominent figure in TV, however, Ray Gandolf seems to have disappeared. Both did a fine job on this show. It truly is a forgotten jewel of the 1980s. Our World itself could now be a topic for a modern show looking back on 1986/87 - I wonder how many would remember it?

ABC probably realized that programming against NBC's Thursday line up juggernaut was almost impossible, so why not put on a show that didn't require a huge amount of money to produce. What would fit the bill better than a news show, that used film footage that could be pulled from archives?

Each show would revolve around a particular year, 1958, for example, and one, as I recall, was about the movie "Gone With The Wind", and what was involved in it's complicated filming.

Linda Ellerbee and Ray Gandolf shared hosting duties. And Ms. Ellerbee's dry wit showed true as each story played out.

I remember that when the network tried to cancel the show, a national write-in campaign was started. the host even joked about the fact that many folks watched "Cosby" and taped "Our World" to watch later.

I used to pop a tape in my Beta(!) machine and head out for the evening.

A good effort, but doomed to low ratings due to it's placement. If it was a weekend show, we'd probably be watching, now!

Our World (1986) is a fascinating time capsule - not of fiction, but of global ambition, creativity, and unity through media. A television special with a truly unprecedented scope, it brought together musicians, artists, and visionaries from across the globe in a synchronized broadcast meant to showcase the human experience on a planetary scale.

What makes this production so compelling is its bold attempt to use technology not just to inform, but to inspire. Long before the internet made the world feel small, Our World dared to present it as interconnected - not through politics or commerce, but through culture. With segments filmed live across dozens of countries, the project feels both massive in scale and intimate in its personal moments.

Of course, technical limitations of the era are visible, but that only adds to the historical charm. There's a raw, unfiltered honesty in seeing the world as it was - different, yet united by common threads. From music performances to moments of everyday life, it's a snapshot of a world still discovering the power of global communication.

In retrospect, Our World was not just a broadcast - it was a statement. A quiet but resonant call for global understanding, decades before such ideas became commonplace. For those interested in the history of media, international collaboration, or simply nostalgic for the optimism of 20th-century broadcasting, this is a truly meaningful watch.

....thanks to Linda Ellerbee, Ray Gandolf and the writers. Like others in this forum I too taped this show and have them to this day. Every couple of years or so I re-watch the series. It never grows old or dated. It is history, it is timeless, it is who we are.

It was the only television program that ever prompted me to write to a studio (ABC) regarding a show. ABC was kind enough to send me really nice educational materials that they made available for each episode and provided to schools and institutions. From these and other materials about the show that I was able to gather during its run in the 1986-87 season, I was able to assemble a nice "Our World" educational scrapbook.

OUR WORLD lives on.....