Forty years ago, Lawrence, Kansas was at the center of a global discussion on nuclear war when over 2000 of its residents participated in a made-for-TV movie that shook-up the nation, rattled President Reagan and helped avert nuclear war.
On November 20, 1983, ABC-TV broadcast The Day After, a chilling fictional account of the aftermath of a nuclear war on this small city in Kansas. More than 100 million viewers tuned in, making it the highest-rated made-for-TV film in history. The broadcast came after weeks of buildup and behind-the-scenes controversy extending all the way to a White House in the midst of a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union.
With impressive access to the principals involved with the project and a trove of archival footage, the critically acclaimed, multi-award winning documentary Television Event revisits the improbable story of this harrowing, groundbreaking broadcast and the impact it left on the Reagan era and beyond.
