| West 57th | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Andrew Lack Howard Stringer |
| Starring | Meredith Vieira John Ferrugia Jane Wallace (1985–1988) Bob Sirott (1985–1988) Karen Burnes (1988–1989) Selina Scott (1987–1988) Steve Kroft (1987–1989) Stephen Schiff (1988–1989) |
| Theme music composer | Edd Kalehoff |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Andrew Lack |
| Running time | 60 minutes, including commercials |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | August 13, 1985 (1985-08-13) – September 9, 1989 (1989-09-09) |
West 57th is anewsmagazine television program that aired onCBS from August 13, 1985, through September 9, 1989.West 57th originally premiered as a summer show, and took its name from the New York City address of the CBS Broadcast Center, 524 West 57th Street. The original correspondents wereJane Wallace,Bob Sirott,Meredith Vieira andJohn Ferrugia. Later contributors includedSteve Kroft,Selina Scott, Karen Burnes andStephen Schiff.
The program's popularity, a concern for60 Minutes creatorDon Hewitt, prompted punditAndy Rooney to dedicate one of the closing segments on his program to a parody ofWest 57th correspondents. This was widely interpreted by theWest 57th team that Hewitt perceived their show as a threat.
After the cancellation, the program was replaced bySaturday Night withConnie Chung, and then48 Hours. Vieira and fellow correspondent Steve Kroft transferred to60 Minutes, from which Kroft retired in 2019. Vieira went on to anchorNBC'sToday Show (after appearing onThe View for nine years). Sirott moved toChicago to continue a successful career in local TV andradio. John Ferrugia moved toDenver, where he has been an investigative reporter and is currently anchor and managing editor ofInsight with John Ferrugia atRocky Mountain PBS.
Despite serious reporting on issues like theIran–Contra affair, theSpace Shuttle Challenger disaster, and the dangers ofgrey market drugs, the program was criticized for its slickness and superficiality. This may have been because60 Minutes executive producerDon Hewitt campaigned against the program both internally at CBS and through media contacts outside the company.The Christian Science Monitor called it "a ditsy, disco-beat docu-mag for viewers with a short attention span".[1]
InThe New York Times, John Corry wrote that the program "isn't really television, and it certainly isn't journalism; it's video, and it's a mess. Nothing works well except the synthesizer music. It's as if news and entertainment fell into combat and neither side won."[2] By contrast,The Washington Post criticTom Shales wrote of a particular segment, "What's again impressive is the quality of footage obtained, especially unusual on an investigative piece like this. 'West 57th' is raising the standards of broadcast journalism as far as video photography and editing are concerned."[citation needed]