The producer and director of the sports anthology series discuss his memoir "The World Was Our Stage" on Good Morning America Live!
Here's the video.
Here's the video.
 Originally published in The Adelphean, Spring 2014
The official publication of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority Like many Americans in the 1960s and 70s, Jody Cohan, Alpha Chi—UCLA, spent her Saturday afternoons on the couch with her family watching ABC’s Wide World of Sports and experiencing “The thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat!” This groundbreaking sports anthology program brought many sporting events from around the globe to the public for the first time, whether it was tennis from Wimbledon or cliff diving from Acapulco. But what made Wide World so special was that the show was as much about history and human nature as it was about sports. Read more...  Foreword Reviews has announced the finalists for its 16th Annual Book of the Year Awards, and The World Was Our Stage is a finalist in two categories: Sports and History.
Finalist in Sports Finalist in History Originally broadcast on RNN Richard French interviews Doug Wilson, who worked on ten Olympic telecasts while a producer/director for ABC Sports. Doug was in Munich for the 1972 Games, where eleven Israeli Olympians were taken hostage and killed by Palestinian terrorists.  Originally broadcast on WDET-FM
The Olympics begin in Sochi, Russia tomorrow and the opening ceremonies are on Friday evening. Doug Wilson covered several Olympics during his time as the Director and Executive Producer of ABC's Wide World of Sports and he knows what it takes to pull off the TV coverage of these games. Craig and Doug discuss this years media coverage. Listen to the interview...  By Ryan Stevens
Originally posted on Skate Guard When in the first few moments of our phone conversation Doug Wilson serenaded me with a rousing version of "O Canada," I just knew I was in for a wonderful time and I don't think I had any CONCEPT of just how wonderful a time I'd have. His 50 year journey in sports saw him as the producer and director of ABC's iconic Wide World Of Sports and in that journey he worked with Dick Button, Peggy Fleming, O.J. Simpson, David Letterman, Frank Gifford, Julie Moran, Terry Gannon and Jim McKay. He travelled to all corners of the sport presenting every sport imaginable and started his lifelong love affair with figure skating in 1964 when he covered his first U.S. Championships and watched Peggy Fleming take come the crown. He went on to be in attendance for almost every U.S. Championships from 1964 through to 2008. Read more...  Originally published on Lifeskate
January 22, 2014 Do not watch the 2014 Sochi Olympics without first reading Doug Wilson's The World Was Our Stage. There are so many figure skating stories in this book that you will get a history lesson spanning 50 years and then more fully appreciate today's skaters and also television's coverage of skating! Read more...  By Allison Manley
Originally published on The Manleywoman Skatecast December 22, 2013 An interview with Doug Wilson, the ABC Producer and Director that I interviewed in 2008 on SkateCast #16. He contacted me again to talk about his new book,“The World Was Our Stage: Spanning the Globe with ABC Sports.” It’s full of wonderful stories of not only his coverage of figure skating, but so many sports and sports moments that are ingrained in our culture and memory. He talks about the changing role of female commentators, being able to talk with Irina Rodnina after the Iron Curtain fell, and why we should all listen to Carol Heiss. 1 hour, 06 minutes, 37 seconds. Read more/listen to the podcast... 
 Originally published in The Wall Street Journal
December 13, 2013 If you remember the phrase "the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat," you will revel in these stories, from the terror of the Munich Olympics to the delight of Muhammad Ali. Diana Nyad Journalist and World Record Long-Distance Swimmer  Originally posted on Kirkus Reviews
Wilson proves himself an excellent, entertaining guide ... providing readers with the perfect balance of insider politics, shrewd estimations of his celebrated colleagues...and a store of enthralling anecdotes.... A monumental show brought to life again in a perfectly pitched read for sports fans.  Book Review by Neal Reid
Originally published in Skating magazine December 2013 To read Doug Wilson's book The World Was Our Stage: Spanning the Globe with ABC Sports is to take a step inside the realm of sports television production as never before, to learn the secrets that helped make the network's Wide World of Sports program a revolutionary hit on a global scale.... Reading the book becomes a pleasure from the first page, and Wilson's behind-the-scenes accounts of some of the most transformative events in the history of sports make it a tough one to put down.  By Alina Adams
Originally published on Soap Opera 451 It's the Cyber Monday prior to a Winter Olympics! That means every skating fan's virtual basket should be filling up with books dedicated to their favorite sport, including veteran ABC Sports director Doug Wilson's The World Was Our Stage (see the Buy link at the bottom of this post). And enjoy Part #5 - The Scandal Edition, below: Wilson reveals, "There's a no-man's land between center ice and the corner, where we have no camera. Very often, great skaters -- because when they skate in arenas they want to cover the whole audience--will stand in that position, making eye-contact with the audience. And all I see is an ear. They're looking away. What they want to do to the audience of 1,000 people in front of them, they're not doing to the TV audience that's ten million people watching center-ice. If they're about to present themselves to the world, it's better if we see their faces." Read more...  By Michael Nelson
Originally published in The Hudson News Doug Wilson has a wide sphere of influence, culled from a long career as a producer and director with ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.” From 1961 through 1998, Wilson helped to produce 10 Olympic Games telecasts and become known as the premier director in figure skating. No wonder he counts Dick Button and Peggy Fleming among his friends. Button says of him, “Doug Wilson has an elephantine memory.” Fleming wrote the foreword to his book “The World Was Our Stage: Spanning The Globe with ABC Sports,” which he co-wrote with Jody Cohan. Read more...  Originally broadcast on IceNetwork Olympic medalist Tanith Belbin interviews Doug Wilson at Skate America 2013  By Alina Adams
Original published on Soap Opera 451 November 5, 2013 At the 1988 Olympics, the plan was to make Russian Pair skater Ekaterina Gordeeva, the Olga Korbut, media-darling of the show. It was a fine plan, hampered by the fact that Pairs was, and typically is, the first discipline to finish competition. Meaning an immense build-up was impossible. Undaunted, television refused to abstain from their scheme, so that, even though she'd already won the gold, Katya stayed on the air for the duration of the Games, whether she was walking around the village, or simply sitting in the stands. Another plan that didn't come off quite as it was supposed to was Doug Wilson's coverage of Brian Boitano's Long Program... Read more...  By Carley Johnson
Originally published in the DGA Quarterly October 25, 2013 Wilson’s new memoir, The World Was Our Stage: Spanning the Globe with ABC Sports, is a loving tribute to that halcyon, golden age of sports directing, and a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of what it was like to bring viewers “the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat,” week in, week out. |
Jody Cohan-FrenchWriting Tips Archives
April 2025
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed