With ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ on CNN, George Clooney Trusts the Power of Live TV, One More Time

“George Clooney figured it this way: If he was going to travel backmost to television, he mightiness arsenic good do thing different.”

That’s not my lede; that intro belongs to Hilary De Vries. She wrote it for The New York Times successful April 2000 erstwhile Clooney first returned to television. Just a twelvemonth aft he near nan formed of “E.R.,” nan erstwhile Doug Ross convinced CBS president Leslie Moonves to equine a unrecorded accumulation of “Fail Safe,” 1 of nan actor’s favourite films.

“I suggested we do a remake and Les said ‘Yes,'” Clooney said 25 years ago. “Then I said, ‘Let’s do it live,’ and Les said ‘OK,’ and past I said, ‘And let’s do it successful black-and-white,’ and he said, ‘Then you person to beryllium successful it.’ […] I thought that was a adjacent trade-off to get CBS to do thing — a unrecorded broadcast — that they hadn’t done successful much than 30 years.”

Now, it’s astir 30 years later (give aliases return a statesmanlike term) and Clooney is backmost pinch different unrecorded TV accumulation inspired by a black-and-white movie — this time, 1 of his own. “Good Night, and Good Luck,” adapted from Clooney’s 2005 movie, has proven conscionable arsenic successful connected Broadway arsenic it was successful theaters. The movie netted $54 cardinal disconnected a $7 cardinal fund en way to six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. On stage, it became nan first play to gain much than $4 cardinal successful a azygous week, and CNN claims it’s nan “highest-grossing play successful Broadway history.” On Sunday, nan show will compete for 5 Tony Awards, including a imaginable Best Actor trophy for Clooney.

But what happens 1 nighttime earlier whitethorn mean much to nan awards circuit veteran: “Good Night, and Good Luck’s” penultimate capacity is group to aerial connected CNN (and watercourse connected Max), consecutive from nan Winter Garden Theatre, marking nan first clip a play has ever been broadcast and televised unrecorded from Broadway.

“I can’t show you really breathtaking it is to do thing that’s ne'er been done,” Clooney said successful a property release. “CNN is nan cleanable spot to bring this communicative of courageousness to truthful galore much group than we could person ever hoped. Live TV. No net. Buckle up everyone.”

He’s right. What audiences will spot Saturday nighttime connected CNN is thing different. Musicals person been recorded, edited, and released (like “Hamilton” connected Disney+, “Purlie Victorious” connected PBS, and Sony Pictures Classics’ upcoming “Merrily We Roll Along”), and plays person been live-streamed, but those are typically smaller productions connected niche services. TV, moreover successful its modern bifurcated state, is simply a full different ballgame. Considering nan number of plays that person wowed New York since unrecorded tv became an American utility, nan event’s value whitethorn consciousness difficult to grasp.

But nan beingness astatine its halfway is easy to embrace. Few A-list stars spot and promote nan relationship tv creates betwixt an creator and their assemblage for illustration George Clooney. It’s arsenic evident successful nan stories he tells arsenic nan ways he tells them. Conversely, nan goodwill earned from his decades-long narration pinch viewers makes him a trusted fig — personification we’ve welcomed into our homes earlier and will beryllium eager to shake hands again, whether successful a acquainted domiciled aliases via an unprecedented event. For arsenic improbable arsenic it would sound 25 years ago, bringing “Good Night, and Good Luck” from nan large surface to Broadway and from Broadway to our surviving rooms now seems inevitable; an perfect span from 1 mean to another, pinch Clooney arsenic nan cleanable guideline to usher america across.

Speaking Up pinch ‘Fail Safe’

Clooney’s charisma doesn’t request a thorough dissection — it’s ever been obvious, moreover if he’s sharpened it to a lethal constituent complete nan years — but whether you first met him arsenic Doug (on “E.R.”), Ace (on “E/R”), aliases plain ol’ George (on “The Facts of Life”), those early roles near an impression. On NBC’s megahit aesculapian drama, he was a hero. A expert who saved kids’ lives by time and deed nan municipality each nighttime (sometimes, pinch nan moms). An everyman and dreamboat each successful one. His humble “aw shucks” grin and Midwestern demeanor (read: bully manners) are only bolstered, not betrayed, by nan mischievous glint successful his oculus and rogue, often righteous, antics — those unapproachable bully looks made affable by easy forgiven characteristic flaws.

By nan clip “Fail Safe” came around, Clooney had already started converting his stardom from TV to movie (an oft-perilous leap successful late-’90s Hollywood). “From Dusk Til Dawn,” “Out of Sight,” and “Three Kings” proved he could prime bully projects (after “Batman & Robin,” uh, did not), and Clooney was only a twelvemonth aliases 2 distant from starring beloved deed blockbusters for illustration “The Perfect Storm” and “Ocean’s Eleven.” Making a TV movie could beryllium seen arsenic a measurement backward, moreover if returning to tv aft uncovering occurrence successful movie would only endear him further to fans.

Clooney didn’t request to spell backmost to TV for “Fail Safe.” He chose to spell backmost to TV for “Fail Safe,” which raises nan elemental question, “Why?” Even successful 2000, when TV movies were still a thing and movie stars connected TV weren’t, “Fail Safe” was acold from a money grab. Variety’s ratings report described nan accumulation arsenic “anything but fail-safe,” and while nan broadcast did well, it still vanished 2nd successful Sunday nighttime viewership to “Who Wants to beryllium a Millionaire?”

Adapted from nan aforesaid book that inspired Sidney Lumet’s 1964 film, nan black-and-white characteristic was directed by Stephen Frears and starred Richard Dreyfuss, Noah Wyle, James Cromwell, Sam Elliott, Don Cheadle, Harvey Keitel, and Clooney (among others). Despite playing aviator Jack Grady, a comparatively insignificant domiciled (Variety’s review griped he spent “most of nan movie down an oxygen mask”) Clooney was nan film’s driving unit down nan scenes — conscionable arsenic he was erstwhile “E.R.” went unrecorded for its Season 4 premiere.

“The first clip I saw ‘Fail-Safe’ was connected TV erstwhile I was still successful precocious schoolhouse and I was conscionable blown away,” Clooney told The New York Times. “I conscionable loved nan communicative and I thought nan look of nan film, successful black-and-white and pinch nary philharmonic score, was conscionable stunning. […] I’ve virtually seen it a 100 times.”

Set during nan tallness of nan Cold War, nan movie is simply a cautionary tale rooted successful catastrophe brought astir by chance, miscommunication, and distrust. When an chartless craft breaches American airspace, nan subject scrambles planes armed pinch atomic bombs to hold adjacent designated fail-safe points extracurricular Russia. Although nan original craft proves harmless, a method correction activates 1 of nan bombing groups anyway, and nan pilots caput for Moscow, believing they’re nether orders to destruct nan Russian capital.

Amid its tragic dissection of a ruthless strategy built to grind retired nan past vestiges of humanity (before destroying humankind), “Fail Safe” illustrates really fearfulness tin breed disaster, whether it’s recovered successful nan unreserved to protect 1 state by destroying another, aliases successful building world-ending weapons to statesman with. If a glitch tin bring astir World War III, shouldn’t we limit nan fallout of a azygous irreversible mistake? Shouldn’t we study to spot each other? To perceive to each other? To link arsenic intelligent, empathetic quality beings, alternatively than trust connected nan method prowess of faceless, unfeeling machines?

The original movie was mostly dismissed astatine nan time, aft arriving successful nan aforesaid twelvemonth arsenic Stanley Kubrick’s similarly-plotted and satirically-accessible “Dr. Strangelove,” and its governmental leaders beryllium to a bygone era. (Accepting the president’s civilized character is cardinal to nan plot, and our sitting president has nary civilized character, so…) Still, “Fail Safe’s” connection resonated pinch Clooney, and he wanted to stock it pinch arsenic wide an assemblage arsenic possible. By 2000, immoderate TV pinch Clooney was still considered must-see, and nan unrecorded shape accumulation offered an early opportunity for nan early United Nations Messenger of Peace, Council of Foreign Relations member, and hubby to an actual, real-life hero to blend his onscreen persona pinch his nationalist passions. He wanted to show this story. He wanted to lend his sound to this story.

You tin spot wherever this is going.

“Good Night, and Good Luck” Comes Full Circle

In nan 5 years betwixt nan premieres of “Fail Safe” and “Good Night, and Good Luck,” Clooney’s celebrated image faced governmental pushback. For speaking retired against nan warfare successful Iraq, he was branded a “traitor,” and nan consequence prompted him to constitute “Good Night, and Good Luck” pinch Grant Heslov. Originally, they moreover conceived nan play arsenic a unrecorded accumulation for CBS. That was nan location of Edward R. Murrow, their subject, and it was Clooney’s caller location for “Fail Safe” arsenic well. Much of nan communicative — astir Murrow’s conflict pinch Senator Joseph McCarthy complete his ongoing communist witch hunt — moreover played retired connected TV, via nan anchor’s nightly newscasts.

It’s only successful hindsight that nan determination to make a characteristic movie seems obvious. When it premiered astatine nan 2005 Venice Film Festival, “Good Night, and Good Luck” was conscionable Clooney’s 2nd directorial feature. Its acclaim not only cemented nan character arsenic a respected filmmaker — he earned 3 Oscar nominations that year: 1 for directing “Good Night, and Good Luck,” 1 for penning it, and nan third, which he won, for his supporting move successful “Syriana” — but gave him nan clout to unfastened his Smokehouse Pictures, his ain accumulation location pinch Heslov.

But nan acclaim didn’t conscionable mean much commendations for Clooney; it meant much attraction to nan film’s message. “Good Night, and Good Luck” exemplifies nan necessity of nan 4th estate. It venerates Murrow not conscionable arsenic a man whose courageousness and convictions came together to protect a state intent connected destroying itself, but besides arsenic a journalist — a pillar of nan American strategy that nan Constitution relies connected to guidelines firm, peculiarly erstwhile nan different columns are crumbling.

“Power benignant of hates nan 4th estate,” Clooney said recently. “They dislike journalism. […] When nan different 3 estates each neglect you, you really request that 4th estate. It has to beryllium nan group that clasp group to account.”

As overmuch arsenic “Good Night, and Good Luck” illustrates nan necessity of journalism, it’s besides a testament to nan powerfulness of tv and nan group down it. TV professional James Poniewozik said of nan play, “In galore ways, watching it is really for illustration watching television.” For one, some nan movie and nan play don’t usage an character to represent McCarthy; they trust connected archival footage of nan existent senator. That gives nan impression, successful nan shape production, that Clooney’s Murrow is going toed to toed pinch nan real-life McCarthy. His nightly news reports are moreover projected connected a elephantine surface truthful nan seated assemblage tin amended spot nan anchor’s face, overmuch for illustration they saw McCarthy’s connected their TVs astatine home.

Providing a person for illustration astatine Clooney, too, should only use nan broadcast version. If, arsenic Clooney told Stephen Colbert, Murrow was nan “most trusted man successful America earlier Walter Cronkite was nan astir trusted man successful America,” Clooney is an character audiences spot successful their homes and spot pinch a message. (Fun fact: Cronkite introduced nan Clooney’s unrecorded type of “Fail Safe.”) He’s ne'er been awkward astir speaking his mind, and performing “Good Night, and Good Luck” 8 times a week for 12 weeks goes to show conscionable really dedicated he is to amplifying its convictions. Bringing it to tv is simply a homecoming, sure, but it’s besides an hold of his desire to make an impact.

No 1 is expecting “Good Night, and Good Luck” to do for Max what “Hamilton” did for Disney+. As of Saturday morning, it’s unclear whether nan play will moreover beryllium disposable to watercourse aft nan first broadcast. Still, betwixt Clooney’s resilient stardom and “Good Night, and Good Luck’s” continued relevancy, nan Broadway show’s fame should travel arsenic nary surprise. It offers a unsocial opportunity for Clooney to effort thing different (as he’s wont to do) while revitalizing a civilized instruction for an era successful hopeless request of it. Yes, Clooney performed connected shape earlier (39 years ago, he had a mini domiciled successful “Vicious,” a philharmonic astir Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious), and yes, audiences had seen this communicative already (and tin watch it again anytime they want via Blu-rays, streaming, aliases VOD), but marrying a caller consequence pinch a caller format — as Clooney does again erstwhile he goes unrecorded connected CNN — is much than capable to warrant our attraction 1 much time. He learned that pinch “Fail Safe,” if not sooner.

In her Vulture review, theatre professional Sara Holdren writes, “Clooney speaks not only of tv and news media, but of theater, of each nan informative, entertaining, and communicative arts: ‘These instruments tin teach, they tin illuminate; yes, and they tin moreover inspire,’ he says. ‘But they tin do truthful only to nan grade that humans are wished to usage them to those ends. Otherwise, they are simply wires and lights successful a box.'”

Behind nan camera aliases successful front, connected Broadway aliases successful our homes, he respects his assemblage capable to grant their unspoken agreement: When Clooney asks for nan spotlight, he’s going to gain it.

“Good Night, and Good Luck” airs Saturday, June 7 astatine 7 p.m. ET connected CNN. The unrecorded telecast will beryllium disposable to watercourse connected CNN.com and nan CNN apps — with nary cablegram aliases outer login required — arsenic good arsenic for Max subscribers (across each plans).