The new documentary Daytime Revolution is in theaters now, giving fans a look at the surprising week in February 1972 when John Lennon and Yoko Ono produced and co-hosted the popular daytime talk show The Mike Douglas Show.
The film’s director, Erik Nelson, tells ABC Audio the music superstars “in essence hijacked” the show, calling it “an amazing piece of cultural and political history.”
“In my opinion, it represented the high watermark of the entire ’60s, as far as the message of the ’60s, the optimism of the ’60s being injected into mainstream American culture,” he says.
The week of shows featured guests invited by the couple, including activist Ralph Nader, comedian George Carlin, musician Chuck Berry and Black Panther chairman Bobby Seale. The movie features plenty of footage from the actual shows.
The film also gives fans a different look at the couple, who got more comfortable with the show and the format as the week went on.
“I’ve never seen John Lennon so relaxed, so funny, so articulate,” Nelson says. “It was a great moment where the venue captured the artist at his peak.”
Daytime Revolution hits theaters on what would have been Lennon’s 84th birthday. The director notes that it was also purposefully released ahead of the upcoming presidential election because he feels the message of that week of shows is very relevant to today.
“If you look at it from an historical perspective, it’s striking,” he says. “This took place in 1972, in the middle of a highly polarized, contentious election year. And in essence, we’re rebroadcasting these shows in the middle of a contentious, polarized election year.”
He adds, “That conversation between eras was quite intentional on the part of the filmmakers.”
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