The Day After

The Day After
GenreDrama
Disaster
Science fiction
Written byEdward Hume
Directed byNicholas Meyer
StarringJason Robards
JoBeth Williams
Steve Guttenberg
John Cullum
John Lithgow
Amy Madigan
Theme music composerDavid Raksin
Virgil Thomson (Theme for "The River")
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerRobert Papazian
CinematographyGayne Rescher
EditorsWilliam Paul Dornisch
Robert Florio
Running time126 minutes
Production companyABC Circle Films
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseNovember 20, 1983 (1983-11-20)
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The Day After is an American television film that first aired on November 20, 1983, on the ABC television network. The film postulates a fictional war between the NATO forces and the Warsaw Pact over Germany that rapidly escalates into a full-scale nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. The action itself focuses on the residents of Lawrence, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri, and several family farms near American missile silos.[1] The cast includes JoBeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg, John Cullum, Jason Robards, and John Lithgow. The film was written by Edward Hume, produced by Robert Papazian, and directed by Nicholas Meyer.

More than 100 million people, in nearly 39 million households, watched the film during its initial broadcast.[2][3][4] With a 46 rating and a 62% share of the viewing audience during the initial broadcast, the film was the seventh-highest-rated non-sports show until then, and in a 2009 Nielsen TV Ratings list was one of the highest-rated television films in US history.[4]

The film was broadcast on Soviet state television in 1987,[5] during the negotiations on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The producers demanded the Russian translation conform to the original script and the broadcast not be interrupted by commentary.[6]

  1. ^ "The Day After - 25 November 1983". BBC. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  2. ^ Poniewozik, James (September 6, 2007). "ALL-TIME 100 TV Shows: The Day After". Time. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  3. ^ "Tipoff". The Ledger. January 20, 1989. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Top 100 Rated TV Shows Of All Time". Screener. Tribune Media Services. March 21, 2009. Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  5. ^ "«На следующий день» (The Day After, 1983)". КиноПоиск. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  6. ^ "Soviet Union to air ABC's 'The Day After'".