[The 90’s raw: Orion Samuelson]

Raw tape for the award-winning series The 90's. The tape begins with ten minutes of aerial shots of Midwestern farmland from a small airplane. The rest of the tape follows Orion Samuelson (who created and hosted U.S. Farm Report for WGN Radio AM-720), at the 1991 Farm Progress Show in Dalton City, IL. He broadcasts live from the show, then walks around and does reports in front of a video camera. Wind noise is frequently loud on the tape.

00:00Copy video clip URL Aerial shots of farmland, taken from a small airplane.

11:34Copy video clip URL Shots of farmland, people, and tractors, from the ground. People walk around the Farm Progress Show. Radio personality Orion Samuelson chats (mostly inaudibly) with some people at the show.

17:04Copy video clip URL People set up the WGN radio tent, as the crowd waits in adjacent bleachers.

22:00Copy video clip URL Orion Samuelson begins to address to the crowd, explains that they will be broadcasting live nationally, and gives the schedule for the radio coverage.

27:11Copy video clip URL The broadcast begins. Samuelson gives the weather, and introduces the Farm Progress Show, which he says may have as many as 100,000 people in attendance.

28:50Copy video clip URL Samuelson talks casually with the crowd about harvesting.

30:40Copy video clip URL More shots of people walking around the Farm Progress Show, of the crowd, and of the radio tent.

32:35Copy video clip URL Samuelson’s broadcast begins again. He welcomes one of the host families of the Farm Progress Show. The host explains the concerns he had when deciding to host the show, but he says it has been a wonderful experience. His wife discusses her livestock and dairy farm, which had won several awards. They continue to joke about hosting the show, and then talk about the crop yields of the year, in the area they call the “Racehorse Flats.”

39:45Copy video clip URL More shots of the crowd, bleachers, and general show.

43:00Copy video clip URL The camera returns to Samuelson’s broadcast, which is just ending. Samuelson thanks the crowd and introduces his colleagues.

48:30Copy video clip URL The broadcast ends, and Samuelson signs some autographs. The camera follows Samuelson as he walks through the grounds of the Farm Progress Show.

01:10:00Copy video clip URL Samuelson and the crew begin to tape for the U.S. Farm Report television show. The crew wanders around and Samuelson continues to chat about farming with people on the grounds.

01:16:50Copy video clip URL Samuelson interviews the President of the National Corn-Growers Association, a farmer from Iowa, about the Farm Progress Show, and his insights into the current state of farming. The farmer is involved in the issue of export credit for the Soviet Union.

01:25:20Copy video clip URL Samuelson records an introduction for a segment.

01:27:15Copy video clip URL Samuelson talks about the criteria used for choosing the host of the Farm Progress Show, which include proximity to highways and hotels, size, and type of land. He says they also consult with churches nearby, and the decision is made years ahead of time. He also talks about the minimal consequences for the field that hosts the show, and says the hosts do not get compensation, but they do get their fields plowed and their unused fields harvested.

01:30:00Copy video clip URL Samuelson interviews Tom Budd, the director of the Farm Progress Show. Budd talks about the history of a farming magazine that is 150 years old. Budd says the show itself is 39 years old, and began as a one-day show. He says that he hopes the show will continue, because it is a good venue for marketing.

01:32:48Copy video clip URL More shots of Samuelson, farming machinery, a blimp, and people at the show.

01:40:30Copy video clip URL The videomaker interviews people about the role of Samuelson. The first interviewee thinks Samuelson is knowledgeable and non-partisan. The second believes Samuelson is greatly trusted and “speaks very well for agriculture… I don’t know of anyone who could be the spokesman that he is.”

01:43:30Copy video clip URL The camera follows Samuelson as he walks around and talks to people.

01:48:15Copy video clip URL The videomaker interviews Samuelson’s associate producer, who says Samuelson calls her his “chief of staff.” She talks about her role at the station, and says she gets a lot of great responses from people who listen to the show, and that Samuelson is very popular. She says he always has a “positive attitude” and she has never seen him in a bad mood, even though he barely sleeps and travels regularly to speaking events. She says people often recognize his voice, and they call him “one take Samuelson” because he does not need a script and only needs one take.

01:56:48Copy video clip URL Samuelson tapes a segment about the popularity of the Farm Progress Show, and the benefits of the show.

02:00:32Copy video clip URL End of tape.