Television: Mr. Dann of Sesame Street

Through all his 22 years in television, CBS Programming Chief Michael Dann, 48, suffered from insomnia and a nagging conscience. He worked obsessively 17 hours a day producing mass entertainment and trying to win the ratings game. But at the same time, he never let his own kids watch more than one program a week, and that one had to be good. He scheduled plenty of lowest-common-denominator entertainment, but he preferred to be known for quality specials and for the occasional counseling he gave the Democratic National Committee and the staff of Sesame...

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