Insight (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Insight was an Emmy-winning syndicated television series produced by Paulist Productions
that aired 250 episodes from 1960 to 1983. The series presented half-hour dramas illuminating the contemporary search for meaning, freedom, and love. Insight was an anthology series, using an eclectic set of story telling forms including comedy, melodrama, and fantasy to explore moral dilemmas.
The series was created by Roman Catholic priest Ellwood E. "Bud" Kieser, the founder of Paulist Productions. A member of the Paulist Fathers
, an evangelistic Catholic order of priests, he worked in the entertainment community in Hollywood as a priest-producer and occasional host, using television as a vehicle of spiritual enrichment.
Insight was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Religious Programming in 1972 and 1973 and won the category from 1981 to 1984. The anthology format and the religious nature of the program attracted a wide variety of actors (including Ed Asner
, Jack Albertson
, Beau Bridges
, Patty Duke
, Wesley Eure
, Bob Hastings
, Cicely Tyson
, Jack Klugman
, Robert Lansing
, Walter Matthau
, Deborah Winters
, Bob Newhart
, John Ritter
, and Martin Sheen
), directors (such as Marc Daniels
, Arthur Hiller
, Norman Lloyd
, Delbert Mann
, Ted Post
, Jay Sandrich
, and Jack Shea
), and writers (Rod Serling
, John T. Dugan, Lan O'Kun, and Michael Crichton
) to work on the series.
In the United States the series was typically shown on Sunday mornings or late night. Often stations aired Insight in order to meet the Federal Communications Commission
's public interest standard for broadcast television.
Several episodes are available for purchase from the Paulist Press.
Paulist Productions
Paulist Productions and its sister company Paulist Pictures are production companies for religious television and film projects, respectively. Paulist Productions was founded in 1960 by the Paulist priest Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser to produce the religious television program Insight...
that aired 250 episodes from 1960 to 1983. The series presented half-hour dramas illuminating the contemporary search for meaning, freedom, and love. Insight was an anthology series, using an eclectic set of story telling forms including comedy, melodrama, and fantasy to explore moral dilemmas.
The series was created by Roman Catholic priest Ellwood E. "Bud" Kieser, the founder of Paulist Productions. A member of the Paulist Fathers
Paulist Fathers
The Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle, better known as the Paulist Fathers, is a Roman Catholic religious society for men founded in New York City in 1858 by Servant of God Fr. Isaac Thomas Hecker in collaboration with Fr. George Deshon, Fr. Augustine Hewit, and Fr. Francis A. Baker....
, an evangelistic Catholic order of priests, he worked in the entertainment community in Hollywood as a priest-producer and occasional host, using television as a vehicle of spiritual enrichment.
Insight was nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Religious Programming in 1972 and 1973 and won the category from 1981 to 1984. The anthology format and the religious nature of the program attracted a wide variety of actors (including Ed Asner
Ed Asner
Edward Asner , commonly known as Ed Asner, is an American film, television, stage, and voice actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, primarily known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Lou Grant on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant...
, Jack Albertson
Jack Albertson
Jack Albertson was an American character actor dating to vaudeville. A comedian, dancer, singer, and musician, Albertson is perhaps best known for his roles as Manny Rosen in The Poseidon Adventure , Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Amos Slade in the 1981 animated film The Fox...
, Beau Bridges
Beau Bridges
Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
, Patty Duke
Patty Duke
Anna Marie "Patty" Duke is an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16, and later starring in her eponymous sitcom for three years, she progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely...
, Wesley Eure
Wesley Eure
Wesley Eure is an American actor.Eure came to prominence when he appeared in two long running television series in the 1970s, Days of our Lives and Land of the Lost. For several years, he appeared in both shows simultaneously...
, Bob Hastings
Bob Hastings
Robert "Bob" Hastings is an American film, radio, and television character actor. He has also provided voices for animated cartoons....
, Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson is an American actress. A successful stage actress, Tyson is also known for her Oscar-nominated role in the film Sounder and the television movies The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots....
, Jack Klugman
Jack Klugman
Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman is an American stage, film and television actor known for his roles in sitcoms, movies, and television and on Broadway...
, Robert Lansing
Robert Lansing
Robert Lansing served in the position of Legal Advisor to the State Department at the outbreak of World War I where he vigorously advocated against Britain's policy of blockade and in favor of the principles of freedom of the seas and the rights of neutral nations...
, Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
, Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters
Deborah Winters is an American actress and businesswoman. Winters is probably most remembered for her roles in Kotch, The People Next Door, Class of '44, and The Winds of War...
, Bob Newhart
Bob Newhart
George Robert Newhart , known professionally as Bob Newhart, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart came to prominence in the 1960s when his album of comedic monologues The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a worldwide...
, John Ritter
John Ritter
Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively...
, and Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen
Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...
), directors (such as Marc Daniels
Marc Daniels
Marc Daniels , born Danny Marcus, was an American television director.-Life and Career:After serving in World War II, Daniels was hired by CBS to direct its first dramatic anthology program, Ford Theater. He mastered live television directing, and was hired to direct the first 38 episodes of I...
, Arthur Hiller
Arthur Hiller
Arthur Hiller, OC is a Canadian film director. His filmography includes 33 major studio releases, including the 1970 film Love Story...
, Norman Lloyd
Norman Lloyd
Norman Lloyd is an American actor, producer, and director with a career in entertainment spanning more than seven decades. Lloyd, who currently resides in Los Angeles, has appeared in over sixty films and television shows....
, Delbert Mann
Delbert Mann
Delbert Martin Mann, Jr. was an American television and film director. He won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Director for the film Marty...
, Ted Post
Ted Post
Ted Post is an American TV and film director.Born in Brooklyn, New York, he started his career in show business in 1938 working as an usher at Loew's Pitkin Theater. He abandoned plans to become an actor after training with Tamara Daykarhanova, and turned to directing summer theater...
, Jay Sandrich
Jay Sandrich
Jay Henry Sandrich is an American television director.He began his career as an Assistant Director on I Love Lucy. Sandrich has directed and/or produced episodes of The Bill Dana Show, Get Smart, 2/3 of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Soap, first 3 seasons of The Cosby Show, and The Odd Couple...
, and Jack Shea
Jack Shea (director)
Jack Shea is an American film and television director. He was the president of the Directors Guild of America from 1997 to 2002.-External links:*...
), and writers (Rod Serling
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...
, John T. Dugan, Lan O'Kun, and Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton , best known as Michael Crichton, was an American best-selling author, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...
) to work on the series.
In the United States the series was typically shown on Sunday mornings or late night. Often stations aired Insight in order to meet the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
's public interest standard for broadcast television.
Several episodes are available for purchase from the Paulist Press.