Together (ABC Television Network)

Together was a slogan used on the ABC television network during the 1986-87 season. The promos that were a part of the Together campaign bucked the trend towards more realistic settings and concepts, a departure from the highly imaginative and sometimes-fantasy like aspects of past network campaigns. Despite the fact, Together was still very top-notch and uplifiting, with a memorable duet jingle sung by Willie Nelson and Aretha Franklin.

This was the first campaign that was entirely developed by, and which used the direction of, ABC's new parent owner Capital Cities (later known as Capital Cities-ABC), who had bought the network the previous year.

Campaign Synopsis

The general concept of the Together promos was showing ABC stars in all sorts of different settings, doing fun activities and pastimes, while bonding with their fellow cast members. Some were seen playing sports, going on carnival rides, or gathering at lavish parties (what the Dynasty cast did). Others took to the sea and air, yacht/boat-riding and even flying planes. Most clips towards the latter half of the official Together promo had two cast members or colleagues from any given program, shaking hands, talking, or laughing together, emphasizing the meaning of the campaign. Most variants of this official promo ended with the cast of Hotel walking down a busy street, with Shari Belafonte thrusting her head back in laughter among the crowd. The view dissolves into one of the ABC logo descending among a CGI blue background, in what appears to be a cylinder. The effect travels out of this cylinder, revealing the entrance to be the "O" in a plexi-glass model of the word "TOGETHER". The model centers itself on its glass platform, while a plexi-glass replica of the ABC logo sits in front of it. The graphics are still set before a blue background.

The last scene of the general promo, after the logo display, is one of Lucille Ball and Gale Gordon dining at a party and hugging each other. This was the season in which Ball made her major attempt at a TV comeback with Life With Lucy, which also co-starred Gordon, who had played opposite her for years on The Lucy Show (later known as Here's Lucy) in the 1960s and 1970s. This would most likely be the last network campaign that the legendary Ms. Ball would ever appear in, seeing that Life With Lucy was a both a critical and ratings disappointment, being canceled after only two months; and that Ball herself passed away only a few years later, in April 1989.

The campaign was also adapted for ABC's daytime lineup, in which :30 second promos would feature clips from all five daytime soaps of the period, set to a portion of the Aretha Franklin jingle. The clips would usually be those of couples embracing and making love, but sometimes showing physical fights between them. The promos concluded with the same graphic display of the Together and ABC logos, followed by a soap couple looking at the camera saying "Together!" in unison.

Localized versions:

• WPTA Fort Wayne, Indiana: "Together on 21Alive"
• WFTV in Orlando, Florida: "Together on Channel 9"