If you haven't seen this classic jeremiad, UBS News boss Max Schumacher (William Holden) and Howard Beale (Peter Finch) are tying one on in a Manhattan bar after Howard had threatened, on air, to commit suicide after being told he was about to lose his gig.

Howard: I'm gonna kill myself.

Max: Ah shit, Howard.

Howard: I'm gonna blow my brains out right on the air, right in the middle of the seven o'clock news.

Max: You'll get a hellofa rating, I guarantee you that. Fifty share, easy.

Howard: You think so?

Max: Sure. We could make a series of it: Suicide of the week.

All hell, why limit ourselves? Execution of the week.

Howard (raises head off the bar): Terrorist of the week.

Max (eyes glinting): I love it -- Suicides. Assassinations. Mad bombers. Mafia hit men. Automobile smash-ups.

Great Sunday night show for the whole family! Wipe that fuckin' Disney right off the air.

(Nods, goes back to his drink)

Network came out in 1976 and won four Academy Awards -- Best actor (Finch), best actress (Faye Dunaway as the driven, empty programming exec), best supporting actress (Beatrice Straight, Max's wife [he left her for Dunaway's character]) and best original screenplay for the incomparable Paddy Chayefsky.

Besides the above, the film also featured other giant acting talents of the time -- Robert Duvall as network exec Frank Hackett ("we're not a 'respectable network' -- we're a whorehouse") and Ned Beatty as corporate overlord Arthur Jensen, who begins a dressing-down of Beale by bellowing, "You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it! Is that clear?'' He was referring to Howard's denunciation of a looming deal to have Saudi Arabian oil money buy out the network.

You can see that speech, still a valid outline of the principles of modern capitalism, here:

At the end, Howard blurts: "I have just seen the face of God." Jensen's reply? "You just might be right, Mr. Beale."

The important thing to note about Network is how it shows the most important contribution of satire lies in its predictive value.

Within a decade, the rise of modern tabloid television began and inexorably continued, leading to another harsh satire -- 1994's Natural Born Killers (see the the director's cut; it's a much better film). For a time in the late 1990s, the Jerry Springer Show outdrew Oprah.

Ultimately, tabloid TV did jump the shark and falter, but tabloid culture has found a new outlet online, making celebrities out of worthies like Tila Tequila.

What can I say? People crave the stimulation of entertainment. They are fascinated by outsized personalities who will do anything for fame. It's a primal force of nature, and you wouldn't want to meddle with that.