East Side/West Side No Hiding Place (1963–1964) watch online HD

"East Side/West Side" was a television drama series from the early '60s that dared to tackle controversial issues at a time when most of network TV was escapism. George C. Scott, every week, played a social worker that got involved in various issues that effected society as it was then. Cicely Tyson was one of his assistants. This episode, "No Hiding Place" concerned the moving of a black family in a white neighborhood and the effects of them there. Lots of complex characterizations concerning the white next door neighbors played by Joseph Campanella and Lois Nettleton abound. They're the most interesting characters depicted here. Also appearing are Paul Dooley as one of the disgruntled neighbors, Constance Ford as another one, Ruby Dee as the black female neighbor, and Earle Hyman, best known as Cliff Huxtable's father on "The Cosby Show", as her husband. Very compelling depiction of the times as it was then and possibly a good lesson today on what constitutes as acceptable behavior or attitude to anyone wondering. I'm glad I saw this on Net Nights section of the site From the Archives. I do wish, however, that it didn't cut off just as Hyman was doing his speech at the end...Update-7/21/16: Well, I finally saw the conclusion on YouTube. The rating stays.

****SPOILERS**** It's when a black couple the Mardsen's moved into the all white suburban town of Maple Gardens that panic sets in among the home owners living there. Not only that the Marsden's are not of the same background and race of the people living there but they can cause a white flight Exodus from the town and drive real-estate prices down to those of the inner city slums of NYC. That in having many families there, if they choose to stay, lose their entire life savings. It's Maple Garden home owner Charles "Chuck" Severson who seeks help from his good friend social worker Neil Block to straighten things out in assuring the local inhabitants that things aren't as bad as they seem. And convince them not to check out by selling their homes, at bottom basement prices, to the blockbuster real-estate agents who are more then wiling to take them, for a hefty profit on their part, off their hands.

It's later when black businessman Mr.Adams who runs a construction firm in Harlem is also interested in buying a home from as much as $10,000.00 above the asking price in Maple Gardens that the home owners there completely flip out fearing that soon, with more blacks moving in, their town would turns into a free fire, as well as drug and prostitute ridden, zone like Brooklyn's East New York and Manhattan's East Village. It up to Brock to clam things down but as he sees he's really up against it with his major backers in that effort, to keep the home owners from selling and checking out, the Severson's Chuck and his southern, below the Mason/Dixon line, born wife Ann backing out on him and leaving Brock hanging!

Realistic drama about city as well as suburban life in the 1960's with the dramatic change of demographics that within five years ripped, with race riots and zooming crime rates, the nation apart. Brock, God bless him, did his best to keep tensions in Maple Garden from boiling over but as he sew, and as the future bore out, it was a losing effort on his part. At the end of the episode it became evident that nothing that Brock as well as the City State & Government could do could save Maple Gardens from staying lily white and reluctantly threw in the towel and just faced the inevitable, white flight and urban decay, as he drove down to the nearest bar and proceeded to get himself good and drunk.