NBC 60th Anniversary Celebration is an American television special

Television special

A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...

 that aired on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 on May 12, 1986. The executive producer was Alexander Cohen and the writer and co-producer was Hildy Parks

Hildy Parks

Hildy Parks was an American actress and writer.Born in Washington, D.C., Parks pursued acting following her graduation from the University of Virginia...

. The same team assembled such famous-faces TV specials as Night of 100 Stars. The 1979 NBC logo, "The Proud N" was still used throughout this special, up until the very end.

Summary

The opening scene was staged in the corridors of corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where many NBC stars like Bob Hope

Bob Hope

Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...

, Milton Berle

Milton Berle

Milton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...

, Barbara Eden

Barbara Eden

Barbara Eden is an American film and television actress and singer who is best known for her starring role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early years:...

, Doris Roberts

Doris Roberts

Doris Roberts is an American character actress of film, stage and television. She has received five Emmy Awards. She began her career in 1952, and may be best-known as Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond from 1996–2005....

 and two kids from The Cosby Show

The Cosby Show

The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...

arrive on the eighth floor via an elevator. They enter just in time to witness a perky musical number featuring "peacock" dancers and NBC tour guides all singing and dancing an opening theme titled Hey Did You Know? within the lobbies of the building. The program quickly gets to a parade of stars in which, as an unseen announcer bellows out their individual names, formally dressed performers appear from behind a curtain, smilingly walk toward the television camera, and disappear to a warm ovation of what has to be canned applause (Johnny Carson

Johnny Carson

John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...

 seems to get more whistles than anybody else).
The roster proceeds, alphabetically, from Steve Allen

Steve Allen (comedian)

Stephen Valentine Patrick William "Steve" Allen was an American television personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his television career. He first gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent...

 and Harry Anderson

Harry Anderson

Harry Laverne Anderson is an American actor and magician.-Early life:Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Anderson was a street magician before becoming an actor.-Career:...

 to Jane Wyatt

Jane Wyatt

Jane Waddington Wyatt was an American actress perhaps best known for her role as the housewife and mother on the television comedy Father Knows Best, and as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock on the science fiction television series Star Trek...

 and Robert Young

Robert Young (actor)

Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...

. Heading the list of the significantly absent is the always judicious Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby

William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...

, whose then-current show has been the main reason that NBC has that season become the top-rated

Nielsen Ratings

Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...

 network for the first time in its history.

The rest, for the most part, consists of clips from shows down through the years, loosely arranged around categories and themes. A rambling plot features two of the youngsters from The Cosby Show, Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Malcolm-Jamal Warner is an American television actor, film director, and musician. He is best known for his role as Theo Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. Additionally, he appeared as Malcolm McGee on the UPN sitcom Malcolm & Eddie. He is currently starring as Dr...

 and Keshia Knight Pulliam

Keshia Knight Pulliam

Keshia Knight Pulliam is an American actress. She is most recognized for her childhood role as Rudy Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. Currently, she appears as reformed con artist Miranda Lucas-Payne on the TBS comedy-drama Tyler Perry's House of Payne.-Personal life:Keshia...

, being given a tour of NBC's facilities in New York and in Burbank, California

Burbank, California

Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....

. Much hinges on the question of whether little Keshia will ever get to see Johnny Carson in person.

The entire special itself pays tribute to every one of NBC television themes from late-night to daytime programming, radio days, early entertainment, comedy, drama, sitcoms, specials, movies, sports

NBC Sports

NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...

, and news

NBC News

NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...

, just to name a few. In the end, Malcolm and Keshia meet up with Johnny Carson himself on a stage full of NBC's guest stars singing a closing version of the opening theme, Hey Did You Know? As the camera pans outward to reveal all the stars on screen, a new version of the NBC peacock logo is unveiled, this time with six feathers. This marks the debut of the now "current" NBC logo.