Omnibus
Omnibus
Produced and funded by the Radio and Television Workshop of the Ford Foundation under the direction of Robert Saudek, Omnibus introduced Sunday afternoon and evening commercial television audiences in the 1950s to a wide variety of programs of cultural distinction. Hosted by Alistair Cooke, the BBC's (British Broadcasting Corporation) American correspondent, the 90 minute Omnibus was carried by the CBS network from 1952-1956; by ABC from 1956-1957; and by NBC from 1957-1959. NBC continued Omnibus on an irregular basis during the 1960-1961 season, and ABC revived it briefly in 1980. Notable segments included James Agee's Abraham Lincoln—The Early Years, which appeared in installments during the 1952-1953 season; Orson Welles' television debut in King Lear in 1953; and concerts conducted by Leonard Bernstein during the 1954-1956 seasons. Omnibus helped establish an elite audience for programming later carried by PBS (Public Broadcasting Service).
—Paul Ashdown
Further Reading:
Bergreen, Laurence. James Agee: A Life. New York, E.P. Dutton, 1984.
McNeil, Alex. Total Television: A Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present. New York, Penguin Books, 1991.
omnibus
om·ni·bus / ˈämnəˌbəs/ • n. 1. a volume containing several novels or other items previously published separately: an omnibus of her first trilogy.2. dated a bus.• adj. comprising several items: Congress passed an omnibus anticrime package.ORIGIN: early 19th cent.: via French from Latin, literally ‘for all,’ dative plural of omnis.
Omnibus
OMNIBUS
[Latin, For all; containing two or more independent matters.] A term frequently used in reference to a legislative bill comprised of two or more general subjects that is designed to compel the executive to approve provisions that he or she would otherwise reject but that he or she signs into law to prevent the defeat of the entire bill.
Laws governing the federal budget are typically omnibus bills; for example, the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996 (110 Stat. 1321).