All episodes Season 44 S44E31 2012-05-06 60 min 1980s CBS

60 Minutes

The Raptor | Cleaning Up Whitley County | Michael Phelps

TV Flash files “The Raptor | Cleaning Up Whitley County | Michael Phelps” as hour 301 of 767 in the TV Flash guide — 60 Minutes (1968–present) on CBS, season 44, episode 31, aired 2012-05-06, 60 min.

From the desk

How this hour is filed

This leaf is S44E31: listed hour 301 of 767 in the 60 Minutes guide, hour 31 of 34 in season 44. It aired 2012-05-06 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Hard Measures | Hooked” (S44E30). Next is “Hank | The Gulen Movement | The Role of a Lifetime” (S44E32). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.

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No original recap on file. TV Flash does not invent plots for missing hours. Title, airdate, and the hour filing above are the magazine record for this leaf.

Viewer FAQ

Where does The Raptor | Cleaning Up Whitley County | Michael Phelps sit in the 60 Minutes guide?

S44E31 is listed hour 301 of 767 — hour 31 of 34 in season 44, season 44 episode 31.

When did 60 Minutes S44E31 air?

The Raptor | Cleaning Up Whitley County | Michael Phelps aired 2012-05-06 and is listed at 60 minutes.

Is 1980s 60 Minutes different from today's?

The grammar is the same: multi-segment hour, stopwatch motif, investigations plus profiles. In the 1980s it frequently outrated sitcoms — proof news could dominate prime time.

In the series

Why this series still plays

The template of TV newsmagazine power — for the craft of the package and the history of broadcast investigation. Hewitt's stopwatch, Wallace's ambush, Safer and Bradley and Rooney's endnotes: Sunday night investigative theater that outrated sitcoms. Appointment news before the infinite scroll. Tick, tick, tick.

Tick, tick, tick — not a theme song, a weapon. CBS's 60 Minutes, Don Hewitt's stopwatch since 1968, was an 1980s Nielsen bully that outrated sitcoms on Sunday night: investigative pieces, profiles, commentator segments, correspondent star power. Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Harry Reasoner, Ed Bradley, Diane Sawyer, Andy Rooney's endnotes. **Ambush interviews and gotcha lore made Wallace a fearsome brand.** The museum guard wants the package as civic virtue. The flash is the ambush. Appointment news before the…

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