"All in the Family"

Queens, NY

No TV show better fits the description: "help us understand our nation, and what it means to be an American."

Innovative, risk-taking, honest...the social and political issues of the day were addressed in the Bunker living room, at their dining room table -- just as the viewers did. Race, war, women's rights, economic issues. Not heavy-handed; we were entertained! Two very different generations: real characters who thought and talked and fought like we did with our families and friends.

Brilliant writing, BRILLIANT acting that shows what REAL acting is -- not just pretty people playing out a scene -- actors who look like people we know.

No way this show could be on TV today; we're too sensitive and too afraid to look in the mirror.

Nanci

THE CAPITOL TOWER

HOLLYWOOD, CA

Well recognized as the 'iconic'CAPITOL TOWER, located at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, with its deacon spelling HOLLYWOOD, was the first air conditioned circular building. It was home of most of the geants of American music who generated goodwill toward the USA. It reflected the creative and innovative genius of the Capitol team, starting with Johnny Mercer and Glenn Wallichs. I'd be delighted to supply taped interview of my late friend, produced Dave Dexter Jr.

Mitch

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

Los Angeles, CA

Chandler's "The Big Sleep" crystallized the hard-boiled mystery genre, especially in melding a detached comic tone to a tragic vision. The 1946 Howard Hawks-directed film version with Bogart & Bacall defined the film noir romance, grafting a darkly absurdist and violent non-linear plot to a linear and romantic narrative form. Novelist Jonathan Lethem recently joined a long line of writers for whom Chandler still defines Southern California: "I breathed in the atmosphere of those books before I even understood Chandler was writing about real places" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/books/review/jonathan-lethem-by-the-book.html). The legacy of the filmed "Sleep" can be seen from the French New Wave ("Breathless," "Shoot the Piano Player"), to "Chinatown," "Blade Runner," "Pulp Fiction," "The Big Lebowski," etc. (Indeed, the Coen brothers entire film oeuvre is infused with Chandlerian wit and dark irony.)

Roger

M.A.S.H. the movie

the Back Lot of 29th Century Fox, or Korea or Vietnam

This movie, based on the realities of the Korean war, captured a well meaning country and the insanity of war which reproduced itself through Vietnam, Lebanon, Grenada, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraq again and now maybe Syria.

And it works as a movie as it captures the sounds, language and relationships of war.

Bob

Tales of the South Pacific

Oceanica

Framed as a collection of loosely-connected short stories, narrated from a single perspectivce, the author weaves together themes of love, loss, and struggle with a lucid and sometimes technical commentary on the American war effort in the Pacific theater. His characters are both intensely human and larger than life, and the developing theme throughout the book is one of titanic and often tragic effors that contribute to the betterment of individual people (and to our society as a whole). It is the oldest story in our collective history: anecdotes and tales of adventure, set against an exotic background, grounded in our own perspective. The "Tales" are above all inspiring--and stand apart from any American literature written since the inception of our nation.

Rafael

Star Trek

Concord, NC

Star Trek is one of the most iconic television shows of all time. There are so many cool characters in the shows and the casts of all that is Star Trek always include very interesting people. There is so much material here to explore. There have been many documentaries done, but I think this american icon needs the Studio360 treatment.

Bodunrin (Bibi)

Napoleon Dynamite

Preston, Idaho

Great Show and you asked for suggestions so.... Napoleon Dynamite will celebrate it's ten year anniversary next June 11th, 2014. That should be plenty of time for you guys to come up with your favorite quotes, scenes, etc. It is amazing how many times this movie pops up in conversation. More then any other I've seen. It also is a great movie to watch with your "out there", "left of center", "march to the beat of their own drummer" friends. I would also say Napoleon is probably an aspergian, though I had never heard of it when the movie came out, I think Napolean was the first poster child for Aspies, (Asperger Syndrome). And congrats on working on such a cool show. "Lucky..." Peace, Kath of Northwest New Jersey

Kath

9/11 Memorial

NYC

Hopefully it's self-explanatory, but when both Americans and the world turn to this beautiful tribute to feel the same range of emotions, it's an icon. While we come from different backgrounds, much of humanity shared the experience of 9/11 as it unfolded. Art speaks a universal language, and the memorial stands as both a work of art and a new commons for the people. The 9/11 Memorial aptly captured the event in a way that generations to come, as well as those that arrived before and after 9/11, will be able to feel and consider that day, and how it brought our world together.

Sivan

the american flag on the moon

Merritt Island, Florida

it is an icon because it showed American ingenuity, Superiority in engineering and pioneer spirit.
The image of an astronaut with a flag has been paraphrased by MTV for commercials and a shape for an award.
The size of the flag pole in relation to human is goofy it looks like a flag on a golf course. That proportion also makes it distinct.

Dubi

"Charlotte's Web" by E. B. White

In the hearts and minds of readers everywhere

I
"Charlotte's Web" captures an essence of American life that not many Americans experience any more. It offers a bucolic take on rural living through relationships that are humorous but sincere, unexpected but enduring, innocent but sophisticated. The story is so well etched, it is almost painfully perfect -- a timeless tale that readers wish could turn real. Although it is entirely unlikely, we always fall for its endearing charm.

Ann

On the Road, JD Salinger

USA

Brilliant piece of iconic writing of a significant time in U.S.A. which stands up today. (The novel...not the film).

Carol

Cranbrook Academy of Art

Bloomfield Hills, MI

Cranbrook Academy of Art has been described as "America's Bauhaus," in recognition
of the singular impact the school – one of the nation's leading graduate schools of art,
architecture, and design – has as a place of artistic creation. Charles and Ray Eames,
Florence Knoll, Harry Bertoia, Ralph Rapson, and Eero Saarinen created mid-century
modernism at Cranbrook. Michael and Katherine McCoy started Product Semantics at
the school. Daniel Libeskind, Jun Kaneko, Hani Rashid, Nick Cave, Richard De Vore,
Tony Matelli, Niels Diffrient, Ed Fella, John Glick, Duane Hanson, Jack Lenor Larsen,
and Lorraine Wild all studied or taught at Cranbrook.

elizabeth

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values

On the road, between Minnesota and California.

The book attempts to resolve art and science.

Frank

Infinite Jest

O.N.A.N.

This work should be included based on the enormity of its physical mass to plot resolution ratio. Staggering!

Scott

Tom Waits

California

Bums. Drunks. Prostitutes. Travelers. Nighthawks. Hustlers. Throughout the 1970s — under the spell of Jack Kerouac, Edward Hopper, and Charles Bukowski — Tom Waits told sad, comic tales of the down-and-out.

Waits sang in a gruff, unique voice, sounding older than he was, usually accompanied by just his piano and a jazz trio. Then in the 1980s, his voice and lyrics became deeper and more nuanced. His new sound drew on such disparate influences as the circus, cabaret, Kurt Weill, the field recordings of Alan Lomax, Afro-Cuban rhythms, and the tough blues of Howlin’ Wolf and Captain Beefheart. Waits is an American icon/genius.

Dmitry

The Vasquez Rocks.

California, Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park (Los Angeles County

The Vasquez Rocks have been backdrops in numerous movies and TV shows, from a 1935 film to Star Trek, Big Valley, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, and Army of Darkness.

They're a geologic formation whose frequent use in media has made them instantly recognizable.

Christopher

Slaughterhouse Five

Indianapolis, IN

Vonnegut was the counter-cultural voice who exposed the folly of one war through the story of another. One of the few required readings contemporary high school students (I have 2 in the house) actually enjoy.

david

See Below

Apple Pie, Johnny Airbrushed

Hey,

I really enjoy Studio 360. I loved the Cole Porter segment (and that song! :), but in response to your question (if I may be a bit provocative - and it's with love):

"What's the book, movie, song, play or building that you think should be the next American Icon?"

I have to say that if Anything Goes, I'd like to see the nationalism inherent in that question/this series be the next thing to go! We're a whole world here - and it feels artificial to be trying to prop up one particular country.

Best wishes,
Steve

p.s. Morrissey would be one of the best icons I can think of. But since we're being exclusionary here . . .

Steve

Assassins

Washington, D.C.

A story about the degradation of the American dream told through the voices of American presidential assassins.

Kyle

The Haunted Mansion

anaheim, california

The ultimate dark ride, built during the period Disney. The story of how it was built was an amazing collective method of dealing with the death of Walt Disney by his Imagineers, and the internal battles between competing visions (dark and scary vs amusing macabre) makes for an amazing American sculpture installation unlike any other.

Ken