60 Minutes Program Files
The Program Files series is the largest in the collection and dates from 1968 (when 60 Minutes premiered) to 2007 and is arranged by television schedule years (beginning in September). The content of the Program Files has changed over time and this accounts for some of the subseries that were developed with the passage of time. For the first few years, these files consisted only of the transcripts of the program as aired. Whatever background information was collected or if any post-program material was received, these were usually filed with the collection's General Files (described below). Beginning around 1975, the Program Files began to include, in addition to the broadcast transcript, all of the materials (clippings, articles, producer memoranda, viewer suggestions, transcripts of interviews with participants, etc.) accumulated in connection with the background preparation for any given story. Responses to stories, such as update information, viewer correspondence, and newspaper articles, were also now included in the individual program file. This post-program materials would remain with Program Files until the 1986/87 season when it was transferred again to the General Files.
An important subseries of the Program Files consists of story ideas in various stages of development that were dropped or never aired for whatever reason. Initially, this subseries was designated as "Dead Story" materials and covered the period from 1981 to 1990. Included were clippings, correspondence, and memoranda from producers and others with suggestions for possible program segments. Prior to 1981, story suggestion files were usually maintained as part of the General Files series. Around 1990, the content of the Program Files series again changed and thus was created a subseries of background materials for stories both aired and proposed. Because there is often overlap between the program file and the background file for a given story in the 1990s, the researcher is encouraged to consult both.
Concluding the Program Files is a set of binders containing copies of transcripts for 60 Minutes and other Mike Wallace programs such as CBS Reports and his Biography program. This portion of the collection only covers the period up to 1990.