TV Flash
All episodes Season 53 S53E31 2021-05-09 60 min 1980s CBS

60 Minutes

Ingenuity and Perseverance | The Ritchie Boys

TV Flash files “Ingenuity and Perseverance | The Ritchie Boys” as hour 606 of 767 in the TV Flash guide — 60 Minutes (1968–present) on CBS, season 53, episode 31, aired 2021-05-09, 60 min.

From the desk

How this hour is filed

This leaf is S53E31: listed hour 606 of 767 in the 60 Minutes guide, hour 31 of 36 in season 53. It aired 2021-05-09 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Secretary of State | Chips | The Premonition” (S53E30). Next is “Facial Recognition | UAP | Rafa” (S53E32). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.

60 Minutes — Ingenuity and Perseverance | The Ritchie Boys (S53E31)

Catalog log

Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.

Ingenuity and Perseverance - How NASA's Mars rover landing almost went terribly wrong. NASA wasn't sure if Perseverance could slow itself down as it barreled toward Mars at over 300 miles per hour earlier this year. Anderson Cooper reports on the missions carried out on the red planet by the rover and its special cargo, the tiny helicopter Ingenuity, to search for ancient life on Mars. He also covers the painstaking process of launching the helicopter and the extraordinary images the two have already sent back to Earth. The Ritchie Boys - Ritchie Boys were a secret U.S. unit bolstered by German-born Jews who helped the Allies beat Hitler. They were responsible for uncovering more than half the combat intelligence on the Western Front during World War II. For the many German-born Jews in their ranks, defeating the Nazis was heartbreakingly personal. Jon Wertheim tells this little-known story of the Jews who escaped the Nazis during World War II and returned to fight Hitler as part of a secret American military intelligence group trained in espionage and psychological warfare. This is a double-length segment.

Viewer FAQ

Where does Ingenuity and Perseverance | The Ritchie Boys sit in the 60 Minutes guide?

S53E31 is listed hour 606 of 767 — hour 31 of 36 in season 53, season 53 episode 31.

When did 60 Minutes S53E31 air?

Ingenuity and Perseverance | The Ritchie Boys aired 2021-05-09 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

Filed by Vivian Cross · The Carpet Report · Show package

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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