All episodes Season 48 S48E16 2016-01-17 60 min 1980s CBS

60 Minutes

The Great Brain Robbery | Sean Penn | Mountain Lions of L.A.

TV Flash files “The Great Brain Robbery | Sean Penn | Mountain Lions of L.A.” as hour 414 of 767 in the TV Flash guide — 60 Minutes (1968–present) on CBS, season 48, episode 16, aired 2016-01-17, 60 min.

From the desk

How this hour is filed

This leaf is S48E16: listed hour 414 of 767 in the 60 Minutes guide, hour 16 of 37 in season 48. It aired 2016-01-17 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Road to Syria | Life After Death Row | Hamilton” (S48E15). Next is “Heroin in the Heartland, Alive and Kickin', David Bowie” (S48E17). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.

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Catalog log

Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.

Economic espionage sponsored by the Chinese government is costing U.S. corporations money and jobs; then, Sean Penn on his controversial meeting with the drug kingpin known as "El Chapo;" and Los Angeles is the only megacity in the world where mountain lions live side-by-side with humans

Viewer FAQ

Where does The Great Brain Robbery | Sean Penn | Mountain Lions of L.A. sit in the 60 Minutes guide?

S48E16 is listed hour 414 of 767 — hour 16 of 37 in season 48, season 48 episode 16.

When did 60 Minutes S48E16 air?

The Great Brain Robbery | Sean Penn | Mountain Lions of L.A. aired 2016-01-17 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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Also in season 48

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