The iconic “On the Road” series has been revived by CBS News, with Steve Hartman filling the shoes of the late Charles Kuralt. The first segment was set to air Friday, October 28th, on “The CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley.”
CBS News’ updated version, “On the Road with Steve Hartman,” kicks off on the 125th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. But there’s another anniversary being celebrated in the small town of Dauphin, PA. Twenty-five years ago, in the middle of the night, a group of 20-somethings hoisted a replica of Lady Liberty onto her perch atop an old railroad pier in the middle of the Susquehanna River – and it still stands today. Hartman goes there to find out why they did it, and what the statue means to the residents of Dauphin.
Kuralt set out to see the country in October 1967 and spent much of his career “On the Road,” where he often traveled along rural byways and through the small towns of America. He and his crew traveled in a battered motor home, visited every state many times and logged more than a million miles. Charles Kuralt’s “On the Road” series was broadcast on more than 600 editions of “The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite” throughout the 1960s and ’70s. The acclaimed series won Kuralt personal Peabody Awards in 1968 and 1975.
Hartman has been a CBS News correspondent since 1998, having served as a part-time correspondent for the previous two years. His “Assignment America” reports began in 2006 on the CBS Evening News. He is also well-known for his multiple award-winning feature series, “Everybody Has a Story.” Hartman proved the adage by tossing a dart at a map of America and then randomly picked an interview subject from the local phone book. Debuting in 1998, Hartman produced more than 100 such pieces. He has won many prestigious broadcast journalism awards for his work: an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, an Emmy Award for writing and four RTNDA/Edward R. Murrow Awards, including three consecutive citations for Best Writing.
Patricia Shevlin is the executive producer of the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley.
RBR-TVBR observation: On the Road with Charles Kuralt was one of the elements that made the CBS Evening News unique. Teasers for the quirky stories that he would find could keep you hanging on even on a day when there wasn’t much news for Uncle Walter to deliver.
