Television audiences throughout Northern California were introduced to Life Theatre Services' unique approach in 1998. Together with ABC/7 we produced three half-hour specials entitled "Talking Back: Life Theatre Looks at the American Family." "Talking Back" prominently featured our interactive dramatizations before a live studio audience and won an Emmy Award in 1999 for Outstanding Achievement in Current Affairs Programming.
June 1998: "Talking Back; Kids and Drugs" premieres. The show, a first of its kind, examines intergenerational marijuana use both past and present in an American family.
July 1998: "Talking Back; AIDS and Ignorance" airs. This second program explores the stigma of HIV and AIDS and how it affects the assimilation of a family moving into a new neighborhood.
September 1998: "Talking Back; Caring for Aging Parents" is shown. The third special in the series looks at the delicate issue of placing a parent in a senior care facility. A live radio interview on KGO Talk Radio with Cynthia Cristilli, Molly Goode and leading experts on aging immediately follows the show.
May 1999: "Talking Back; Caring for Aging Parents" wins the Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Current Affairs Programming.
From Boardrooms to the Emmy Awards