Our faithful chronicler informs that on this day in 1983, ABC aired The Day After—portraying a skirmish at the East and West German border that quickly escalates in a full-scale nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States told through the lens of several farming communities seemingly far-removed from the front but near American missile silos. Starring Jason Robards, John Lithgow, Steve Guttenberg and JoBeth Williams, the made for TV-movie garnered an incredible audience-share of over sixty percent of households (no commercial interruptions) and showed the struggle and aftermath of nuclear fall-out for the survivors—see also—and was rather incredibly re-broadcast by Soviet state television (dubbed but true to the original dialogue) just four years later during the negotiations for the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Treaty between Reagan and Gorbachev. The film ends with a disclaimer right before the closing credits that the work is fictional and the actual outcome of a nuclear war would be far worse.
synchronoptica
one year ago: Cabaret (1966), assorted links to revisit plus Incense and Peppermint (1967)
two years ago: Dasius of Durostorum plus more adventures in Poland
three years ago: more links to enjoy, Italy’s fateful day plus St Felicity
four years ago: emoji storms plus the Occupation of Alcatraz and Unthanksgiving
five years ago: a variation on Nyan Cat plus another lesson in Slang School
