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, the show was designed similarly to CBS's ''60 Minutes'' but focuses more on human interest stories than international and political subjects. The program's name derives from the "20/20" measurement of visual acuity.

History

The show's anchors on the premiere telecast were Harold Hayes, the renowed editor of ''Esquire (magazine)|Esquire'' magazine who also served as senior producer, and famed ''Time (magazine)|Time'' art critic Robert Hughes (critic)|Robert Hughes. The debut received largely harsh reviews; ''The New York Times'' described it as "dizzingly absurd" and the ''Washington Post'' denounced it as "the trashiest stab at candycane journalism yet." In his autobiography ''Roone: A Memoir'', Arledge recalled that probably the most embarrassing part of that initial program was the Claymation segments featuring cariactures representing then-President Jimmy Carter (singing "Georgia on My Mind") and Walter Cronkite (closing the show intoning, "That's the way it was"). As a result of the scathing reviews, serious and drastic changes were made immediately: Hayes and Hughes were fired (as was original executive producer Bob Shanks), and a then semi-retired Hugh Downs was recruited to take on the role of sole host on the following week's program.

Under Downs as host, ''20/20'' evolved into a more standard yet unique newsmagazine and received kinder reviews. The program originally was seen as a summer replacement series, after which during the 1978-1979 season it was presented on a once-a-month basis before acquiring a regular Thursday 10:00 p.m. slot beginning May 31, 1979. Ratings were generally very good during the summertime during its eight years on Thursday nights despite competition from ''Knots Landing'' on CBS and ''Hill Street Blues'' on NBC.

Barbara Walters joined the cast in 1979 as something less than a co-anchor and soon became a regular special contributor in the fall of 1981. In 1984 she became Hugh Downs' equal, thus reuniting a duo which had already anchored together on NBC's ''Today Show|Today'' from 1964 to 1971. The team would remain together on-air for the next 15 years.

In the fall of 1987, ''20/20'' was moved to Fridays at 10:00 p.m., where by the 1990-1991 season it ranked 20th in the annual ratings as a result. While the series moved to the 8:00 p.m. timeslot briefly on October 12, 2007, it reverted to its usual time two weeks later.

For a time from 1998-2000, ABC News combined ''20/20'' and ''Primetime Live'' to compete with ''Dateline NBC''. The editions were called ''20/20 Monday'', ''20/20 Wednesday'', ''20/20 Friday'', ''20/20 Sunday'', and finally ''20/20 Downtown''. In 2000 ABC News returned the news magazines to the original ''20/20'', reinstating ''Primetime Wednesday'', and spinning off ''20/20 Downtown'' as simply ''Downtown''.

Downs retired in 1999 and Walters became the solo news anchor until 2002 when John Miller (journalist)|John Miller was hired to be a permanent co-host of the series. But he never got very comfortable in the anchor chair and a year later he jumped at the chance to rejoin law enforcement. For a few months in early 2003 Barbara Walters anchored solo again. However, in May of 2003, John Stossel, the man behind the controversial, though popular, "Give Me a Break" segments, was named co-anchor of 20/20. As one of the first veteran anchors, Barbara Walters chose to go into semi-retirement as a broadcast journalist in 2004. However, she remained as a frequent contributor to the show. ABC News reporter Elizabeth Vargas was promoted to the co-anchor spot.

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