Soul Train

Required Saturday morning viewing where I lived, that was Soul Train. Usually, it was American Bandstand first, followed by Soul Train. Because of sports and other youthful activities I missed a lot of these shows. This was pre-VCR, so if you missed it, you missed it. There were no reruns.
VH1's sterling documentary on Soul Train, commemorating the 4oth anniversary of the show, is a great reminder of how much this show influenced non-black viewers. Even at a young age, I had a love of Soul music, and Soul Train helped keep that going. I think many white viewers throughout the Country got to see many Soul acts on this show than they would have on American Bandstand.
I've often wondered why Don Cornelius isn't in the Rock Hall of Fame (and Quincy Jones, too). The legacy of Soul Train should be enough to put him in. I think Cornelius' legacy has been vastly underrated. More doc's like this one would help.