60 Minutes
The Promise of Plasma | Spilling Across the Border | Perseverance
TV Flash files “The Promise of Plasma | Spilling Across the Border | Perseverance” as hour 570 of 767 in the TV Flash guide — 60 Minutes (1968–present) on CBS, season 52, episode 31, aired 2020-05-31, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S52E31: listed hour 570 of 767 in the 60 Minutes guide, hour 31 of 36 in season 52. It aired 2020-05-31 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Chairman of the Federal Reserve | Whistleblower | The Reckoning” (S52E30). Next is “Nation in Crisis | A Long Siege | Failure to Protect” (S52E32). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
The Promise of Plasma – Until new drugs are found to treat COVID-19, one of the more effective treatments has been plasma therapy. Bill Whitaker reports on how doctors are taking the blood plasma of COVID-19 survivors, and the virus-fighting antibodies in it, to create the life-saving therapy. Spilling Across the Border – Lesley Stahl reports on raw sewage that is entering Southern California's coastal lands and waters from Tijuana, Mexico, just over the border. Perseverance – In the most ambitious Mars rover mission yet, NASA hopes to launch Perseverance this summer to find evidence of ancient life on the "Red Planet." Anderson Cooper reports.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Promise of Plasma | Spilling Across the Border | Perseverance sit in the 60 Minutes guide?
S52E31 is listed hour 570 of 767 — hour 31 of 36 in season 52, season 52 episode 31.
When did 60 Minutes S52E31 air?
The Promise of Plasma | Spilling Across the Border | Perseverance aired 2020-05-31 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…
Filed against
- Mike Wallace as Correspondent
Mike Wallace’s ambush made 60 Minutes Sunday-night investigative theater that outrated sitcoms — Hewitt’s stopwatch, Safer and Bradley and Rooney’s endnotes, 1960s-into-1980s newsmagazine power. Appointment news before the internet stole…
- Morley Safer as Correspondent
Morley Safer’s packages helped 60 Minutes outrate sitcoms on Sunday night — Hewitt’s stopwatch, Wallace’s ambush, Bradley and Rooney’s endnotes, 1960s-into-1980s newsmagazine power. Appointment news before the internet stole the clock. TV…
- Harry Reasoner as Correspondent
Harry Reasoner was a 60 Minutes correspondent when the stopwatch became civic theater — Hewitt's newsmagazine power, Wallace ambush, Safer and Bradley and Rooney's endnotes, Sunday night investigation that outrated sitcoms. Appointment…
- Ed Bradley as Correspondent
Ed Bradley made 60 Minutes correspondent craft look like Sunday-night theater — Hewitt's stopwatch, investigative packages that outrated sitcoms, and a presence that treated the story as a public square. Appointment news before the…
- Diane Sawyer as Correspondent
Diane Sawyer worked 60 Minutes as correspondent steel — Hewitt’s stopwatch, Wallace’s ambush, Safer and Bradley and Rooney’s endnotes, Sunday-night investigative theater that outrated sitcoms. Template of TV newsmagazine power. TV Flash…
Also in season 52
- S52E01 The Impeachment Inquiry | Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman | Great White Sharks
- S52E02 The Impeachment Debate | The Ranger and the Serial Killer | The Farmer's Advocate
- S52E03 Hong Kong | Nadia | Psychedelic Science
- S52E04 Tree of Life | Madame Lagarde | The Columbus Letters
- S52E05 Joe Biden | The Emerald Triangle | Giant Panda
- S52E06 Maria Butina | The Battle of Brexit | The Wright Way