The most suspenseful drama in TV history didn't hinge on who shot J.R. or won a game of thrones.
On July 20, 1969, roughly 600 million viewers worldwide sat riveted to their sets as men walked on the moon, the climax to a series of televised events in which the characters, and the stakes, couldn't have been more real.
The 50th anniversary of that nail biter has prompted an impressive collection of new films and TV documentaries, not to mention political rhetoric about traveling even farther into space. But for many folks under 50, Neil Armstrong might just as well have taken his stroll during the Ice Age.
The lunar landing, which once topped polls of TV's most unforgettable moments, slipped to No. 21 in Nielsen's most recent survey, left in the dust by more current events, including the Sept. 11 attacks, the 1994 O.J. Simpson Bronco chase and the death of Princess Diana in 1997.
"It's sad, so sad," said Jim Hays, the Minneapolis insurance executive who served as an executive producer on "Armstrong," a new documentary about his longtime golf buddy. "When we were kids in public school, they'd wheel a black-and-white TV with rabbit ears into the classroom for every launch. Now, nobody cares. This country could all get behind something back then. We can't all get behind anything anymore."
There were plenty of youngsters at the Bell Museum planetarium in Falcon Heights on Tuesday to watch a 3-D history lesson called "One Giant Leap," but most had no idea a golden anniversary was right around the corner.
One kid in the front row rolled himself into a ball and promptly fell asleep. A precocious teenager, who probably earns straight A's in science, told the moderator that future trips to the moon would be a waste of resources.
When asked if he knew the name of the first man on the moon, a 9-year-old immediately responded, "Neil Armstrong!" Then he paused. "Or maybe it was Buzz Armstrong."