STORY:
Y2K Movie Airs....next "Apocalypse"

NBC's Y2K movie airs with some disclaimers, now it's PBS's turn

The NBC Movie "Y2K" aired across the nation last night, and several local affiliates took steps to make sure viewers knew it was fictional. The movie showed power outages and a threatening nuclear meltdown because computers misread the year 2000 as 1900.

The made-for-TV movie showed the world in hysteria on New Year’s Eve. It is the television ratings period after all and networks want to cash in on viewers. Tonight PBS will be talking about the end of the world also in its show "Apocalypse". The PBS show is much different from the NBC movie, which was pure fiction. The PBS show offers a look at the 2,000-year history of apocalyptic visions.

Let’s first talk about the NBC show. NBC did run a disclaimer before the movie stating "This program is a purely fictional thriller…. This program does not suggest or imply that any of these events could actually occur."

Several local NBC affiliates ran stories about actual Y2K preparedness after the broadcast; others set up phone banks during the show. In Denver the NBC station set up a phone line for viewers to call in with questions about the Y2K bug. The phones started ringing 20 minutes into the show with the usual questions. Will my power go off? What about the banks? In Pennsylvania, a state agency bought airtime during a break in the movie to calm viewers’ concerns. Some viewers called in saying NBC was irresponsible for the airing the show in the first place.

Tonight, Monday, November 22, 1999, PBS takes on the end of the world issue in a two-hour show titled "Apocalypse". The program will take a look at 2000 years of apocalyptic visions, beginning with the final book of the New Testament, the book of Revelation.

Prophecies of apocalypse have been told since the beginning of time and continue today. The Rev. Jerry Falwell tells his congregations that he believes in the premillennial coming of Christ. Remember David Koresch’s followers they thought they would end up in Jerusalem. The PBS show end with news that the Israeli police are keeping a close eye on new groups that take a literal view of the old Book of Revelation.

We probably haven’t seen the end to the end of the world shows. After all, there’s still about six weeks until the end of the year.

DATE: 11/22/99

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