Theme music composer Unknown Original language(s) English Running time 30 minutes (appx.) First episode date September 1989 Number of episodes 26 Language English | Country of origin United States No. of episodes 26 Picture format 480i (SDTV) Final episode date February 1996 Audio format Stereophonic sound | |
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90 Days is a video news magazine produced by McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, MO and distributed at the end of every business quarter (hence the show's title) through the mail to employees and shareholders of the company in VHS format. From its inception in September 1989 until the final episode in 1996 under the "90 Days" title, the program routinely featured segments about employees and company programs or products, all while incorporating a review of financial results from the previous quarter. An example clip from the program can currently be found on the video website YouTube. It was "a video report about issues, events and people important to you and McDonnell Douglas."
Contents
Overview
As Mr. McDonnell explains in "Number 1," the purpose behind going to the expense of producing and distributing 90 Days was to facilitate better communication between the company and its employees and shareholders. In fact, the first episode came with a postcard so viewers could share their comments on the show, and a special mailing address was established for comments throughout the life of the program. When "Number 1" debuted, the company was in the midst of a major transition, and at the time this was an innovative form of communication that served as an insight into the company's direction.
Hosts
Over the course of the program's production, 90 Days had three hosts:
Episode Summaries
Each episode of 90 Days was named according to its numerical order in the series, and featured a summary of that episode either on the reverse of the VHS video cover (early episodes) or printed on a label on the video itself (episodes after "Number 17").
Credits (or lack thereof)
As you'll notice in the infobox, there is little information regarding the production staff that was behind the creation of each episode of 90 Days. This is because there are no formal credit titles either before or after episodes. So for now, everyone from the theme music composer to the graphics designers live on in anonymity.
Legacy of 90 Days
There are not any known plans to resurrect either 90 Days or its successor, Flight Times TV by Boeing. However, at least one episode from the program is currently available on video site YouTube. As such (and considering Mr. McDonnell suggested during the first episode viewers could tape over the show after watching it), 90 Days has fallen into complete obscurity. But for those who look closer, 90 Days lives on as a valuable reference into the ups and downs of the aerospace industry in the late 1980s and most of the 1990s.