Saturday School: You Are There (1971)

You Are There was produced by CBS' news department, and originally aired in prime time back in the late 50's or early 60's. Stuck for programming to counter ABC's afternoon juggernaut, American Bandstand, CBS decided to revive You Are There in 1971, complete with legendary anchor Walter Cronkite at the desk. 70skidvid uploaded the open & close to the episode, "The Siege at the Alamo", starring Fred Gwynne (ex-The Munsters) as Davy Crockett, to YouTube:

Aside from CBS News reporters Bob Schieffer & Douglas Edwards, the only other notable name in the cast was Roger Davis, who at the time was the announcer, and later co-star, of Alias Smith & Jones. I recall sitting with my brother & father watching this show at lunch time, and this was the sort of Saturday fare the parents could actually make time for. Unfortunately, CBS, seeing the low ratings, shunted the series off to Sundays the next season before putting it to bed for good. Cronkite would put this experience to good use several years later. While working on the animated series, Liberty's Kids, Cronkite, voicing Benjamin Franklin, would anchor news briefs during the show (it originally aired on PBS before going to commercial syndication). And, as Cronkite himself would say, "that's the way it was".

Rating: A.