Agronsky & Co. (1976)

The show origins were with a show titled Martin Agronsky: Evening Edition on a local PBS affiliate in Washington, WETA, in 1971 The re-titled showed went national in 1976 on PBS affiliates and syndicated by the shows producer, the Post-Newsweek company. The host Martin Agronsky was a distinguished journalist who gained national prominence as the host of the long running CBS interview show "Face the Nation". At the time, Face the Nation used the dominant format for the network Sunday morning interview shows. Similar to a press conference, a prominent figure in politics or the news would be interviewed by a panel of reporters and journalists. Each panelist would ask their questions in turn, with no interaction with each other. In contrast, the Agronsky show popularized the "Journalist Round Table Discussion" format used by other more well more known shows, such as the McLaughlin Group and PPS's Washington Week in Review. Each week, a group of noted journalists engaged in a free wheeling discussion on a wide range of hot button issues moderated by Agronsky. Many other news show, notably ABC's This Week David Brinkley began incorporating the format into segments of the show. Agronsky & Co is most often compared to the McLaughlin Group. However, the style of the hosts could not be more different. Where Martin Agronsky was a calming influence on the sometimes heated discussions, John McGlaughlin is known to raise the decibel levels and stir things up. Several of the Agronksy regulars moved on to those shows, most notably columnist and author George Will. Other prominent regulars on the show included Time Magazine editor Hugh Sidey and journalists Elizabeth Drew, Carl Rowan and James J. Kilpratrick. Kilpatrick gained fame in the 1970s for his contentious commentary in 60 minutes "Point-Counter Point" segment". Rowan was a pioneering black journalist. Although tame by today's standard, the contentious exchanges between the very conservative and Kilpatrick and very liberal Rowen foreshadowed a style of discussion that some call "food fight" TV. With Agronsky & Co., Drew and Will provided more calmed reasoning from the left and right, with Sidey appearing to be the quintessential moderate. After the show ended in 1987, several of the cast members, including Drew and Sidey participated in a show distributed by the same producer that could be considered a successor series. However, it never gained the prominence of the ground breaking Agronsky & Co. Martin Agronsky passed away in 1999.