Duration: 0:59

Views: 812

By: fuzzymemories

Description: Here's a promo, opening and first commercial break for the Lifeline episode "Dr. Joan E. Hodgman, L.A. Pediatrics/OBGYN" on WMAQ Channel 5. Just from watching this little excerpt you can see that it was an early example of "reality" television. Too bad it didn't stay on the air. Includes:

Promo for episode, in which voiceover (by ??) pronounces the good doctor's first name as "Joanne" (which was the actual pronunciation, despite the spelling)

Full Disclosure: The promo did not air immediately preceding the Station ID and opening of the show but I decided to combine them in one clip to keep everything from this obscure show together. In actuality, the Lifeline promo aired maybe 10 minutes or so before the show started.

Station ID with PSA for Crusade of Mercy (voiceover by ??)

Opening moments, with Dr. Hodgman (1923-2008) entering the grounds of Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center where she worked (and among other things, was a pioneer in the field of neonatology and was among the first to define Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), taking an elevator to the Acute Care Nursery section, removing her jewelry and putting on hospital garb, and attending to various births, speaking with new mothers, enquiring about diagnoses of newborns, and other duties relating to her job, before leaving for the night

Voiceover (by ??) describing her thus:

"Los Angeles, California. This is a story about Dr. Joan Hodgman, Physician-in-Chief, Newborn Infant Care, L.A. County-USC Medical Center. The doctor and her patients are real people, and the events portrayed are true."

Opening titles:

Lifeline
Produced by Alfred R. Kelman
Post-Production - Geof Bartz
Executive Producers - Thomas W. Moore, Robert E. Fuisz, M.D.

Note: This show was apparently also known as "Operation: Lifeline" at some point in its short history.

Commercial: Jeep Renegade CJ, Cherokee and Honcho by AMC - "We Wrote the Book on 4-Wheel Drive" (voiceover by Jackson Beck)

Commercial: Comtrex Multi-Sympton Cold Reliever - New from Bristol-Myers - (C) Bristol-Myers Co. 1978

Opening of the show before the recording ended due to end of tape.

This aired on local Chicago TV on Sunday, November 5th 1978.