60 Minutes
Variants | The Prosecutor | Best Band in the Land
TV Flash files “Variants | The Prosecutor | Best Band in the Land” as hour 598 of 767 in the TV Flash guide — 60 Minutes (1968–present) on CBS, season 53, episode 23, aired 2021-03-14, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S53E23: listed hour 598 of 767 in the 60 Minutes guide, hour 23 of 36 in season 53. It aired 2021-03-14 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Unequal Recession | The Long Shot | Back to the Moon” (S53E22). Next is “Prosecuting the Riot | Race in the Ranks | Back to School” (S53E24). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
An in-depth look at coronavirus variants; Then, Prosecutor Kim Gardner's fight to reform the St. Louis justice system; And, the story of New Orleans' St. Augustine High School Marching Band.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Variants | The Prosecutor | Best Band in the Land sit in the 60 Minutes guide?
S53E23 is listed hour 598 of 767 — hour 23 of 36 in season 53, season 53 episode 23.
When did 60 Minutes S53E23 air?
Variants | The Prosecutor | Best Band in the Land aired 2021-03-14 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 53
- S53E01 The Battle for the Ballot | H.R. McMaster | Coach O and the Sideways Season
- S53E02 Florida's Amendment 4 | The Wall | Sir David
- S53E03 Fire! | Talent on the Spectrum | Seinfeld in 2020
- S53E04 Treating COVID-19 Today | The Lincoln Project | Grizzlies
- S53E05 Putin's Public Enemy | Dr. Fauci | Hell Flight
- S53E06 Election Edition: The Candidates