By Jan Wahl—
Did you ever see a movie that perfectly portrays your workspace? I’ve got a few that portray the world of broadcasting. I asked my friend and colleague Adam Kent to help me illustrate.
Adam Kent: You get impatient with movies that don’t reflect the authentic world of television.
Jan Wahl: That is so right, Adam, but I can right away think of two that get it exactly right in all its bloody details. This first one also explains our current president. 1957’s A Face in the Crowd is the astonishing story of Lonesome Rhodes, a vulgar rogue who goes from bum to the nation’s number one broadcast philosopher. With his importance, his ego takes over his being and he goes quite mad. This is Andy Griffith as you’ve never seen him; he should have won an Oscar. It is also a prescient critique of American media, ending with a monster created by popularity.
Another perfect look at broadcasting is one of my favorite films ever made: 1976’s Network. Like the previous film, it captures the cruelty of this industry and is a satirical black comedy. It won Oscars for director Sidney Lumet and writer Paddy Chayefsky. We watch a national anchorman threatening to kill himself on the air, as well as an obsessed TV executive who can only have an orgasm depending on the ratings! See it or see it again; it will blow you away.
Adam Kent: You keep mentioning cruelty, but The Mary Tyler Moore Show takes place in a newsroom. Everyone is nice to each other.
Jan Wahl: And that’s what drives me crazy about that show. The only real character is Ted Baxter, an egocentric anchorman. I worked at KABC in Los Angeles in the 1970s and Ted Baxter was said to be based on our anchor Jerry Dunphy. Another jerk anchorman is portrayed in The Legend of Ron Burgundy. We are lucky here in the Bay Area to have two very cool anchors, Janelle Wang and Dan Ashley.
Adam Kent: I know you never miss an episode of The Comeback on HBO.
Jan Wahl: Lisa Kudrow perfectly plays a B-list sitcom star desperate to revive her career. I have been watching it since it began. I think it is on season three now, and it is a perfect depiction of the lack of humanity in Hollywood. Far more glamorous is Robert Altman’s 1992 movie The Player; this neo noir mystery is about a hotshot studio executive losing his moral compass.
See any of the movies and shows we have talked about here and you’ll enjoy the dive into broadcasting’s underbelly.
Jan Wahl is a Hollywood historian and film critic on various broadcast outlets. She has two Emmys and many awards for her longtime work on behalf of film buffs and the LGBTQ community. Learn more at www.janwahl.com
Off the Wahl
Published on April 9, 2026
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