For decades, celebrity news was largely confined to magazine covers and fleeting mentions on nightly news broadcasts. But the launch of Entertainment Tonight in 1981 revolutionized how audiences consumed pop culture, offering a daily, dedicated lens into the lives of stars. Now, as the show enters its 45th season, ET isn’t just making entertainment news – it’s preserving entertainment history. A vast archive of over 200,000 hours of footage is being digitized, offering a fascinating glimpse into Hollywood’s past and proving a valuable resource for current productions.
Entertainment Tonight, currently co-hosted by Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner, reaches an average of nearly 3 million viewers each night, according to Nielsen, and recently surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube. But the show’s enduring legacy extends beyond ratings. The meticulously maintained archive is a treasure trove of moments, from Jane Fonda’s ‘80s aerobics routines to Michael Jackson rehearsing his iconic “Beat It” music video. This collection is increasingly sought after by documentary filmmakers and streaming platforms, offering a unique window into the evolution of celebrity culture.
The sheer breadth of the archive is remarkable. Footage includes a 19-year-vintage Leonardo DiCaprio on the set of Growing Pains, Arnold Schwarzenegger getting makeup applied for The Terminator, and George Clooney’s very first interview in 1985 – one of 164 he’s given to the show over the years. But perhaps one of the most memorable and unusual segments, as highlighted by ET executive producer Erin Johnson, features William Shatner riding a whale at Marine World in Vallejo in 1987. Shatner participated in the stunt to raise awareness for the Endangered Species Act.
The decision to preserve this footage, dating back to the show’s launch when Ronald Reagan was in office and Mary Hart was the original host, was remarkably prescient. Many celebrity talk and late-night shows from the ‘60s and ‘70s routinely erased and reused tapes to save money, resulting in a significant loss of cultural history. ET avoided this fate, recognizing the potential value of its accumulated content.
A Revenue Stream and Historical Resource
The archive isn’t just a nostalgic trip down memory lane; it’s become a significant revenue generator. Footage from ET has been licensed for use in recent documentaries and specials, including Apple TV’s Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Netflix documentaries on Arnold Schwarzenegger and Wham!, Hulu’s Brats, and HBO’s reunions of Friends and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. “Today we were talking about doing something about the Kennedys, and it was like, ‘in the vault, there’s this time we went to Hyannis Port onto the Kennedy compound with Ethel Kennedy,’” Frazier recalled. “Literally name a person, and we can connect the dot and show you something about their life from that ‘ET’ vault.”
The digitization project, involving the shipment of tapes from Burbank to a new facility in New Jersey housing the CBS News archives, aims to make this wealth of material more accessible. Previously, locating footage from before 2008 required a painstaking search through shelves of cassette tapes, often identified only by handwritten Post-it notes. The process is also uncovering previously thought-to-be-lost content, as Johnson noted in a recent interview.
A Young Taylor Swift and the Power of Preservation
Beyond the big names and iconic moments, the archive also captures serendipitous encounters. Frazier recounted a story from the 2007 Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. “She said, ‘Hey, I have this new client. Will you interview her? She’s a young girl and I think she’s gonna be great,’” Frazier remembered, “And it was Taylor Swift.” This early interview footage offers a fascinating glimpse into the beginnings of a global superstar’s career.
Turner and Frazier also shared that actors often express gratitude when they see vintage red carpet footage featuring relatives who have since passed away, highlighting the archive’s emotional resonance. ET regularly features retrospective segments under the title “ET Vault Unlocked,” available on weekends and on demand through YouTube.
As Entertainment Tonight continues to evolve, its archive remains a vital asset, offering a unique and invaluable record of Hollywood’s history. The ongoing digitization project promises to unlock even more treasures, making these moments accessible to a wider audience and ensuring that the stories of entertainment’s past are preserved for generations to come. The show’s commitment to documenting celebrity culture has transformed it from a simple entertainment news program into a significant historical repository.
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