five. I figured it would be good for them, like baths. Surprise number one is that they all love it, to a person. Surprise number two is that I myself would much rather listen to Carol Channing on housework than to Robert Klein on dope." According to Thomas, "Larry Uttal at Bell Records told me, this kind of record might sell 15,000 copies tops. Well it went Gold right away, went Platinum within two years and went Diamond in under ten years. EVERYBODY was amazed it had touched such a nerve. It's still in the top 100 albums of all time over 40 years later." Free to Be faced backlash from some conservative religious leaders, including Evangelical author and psychologist James Dobson. Kyle Smith from the New York Post claimed the project emasculated men. The Daily Beast issued a rebuttal. In her 2010 memoir, Growing Up Laughing, Thomas reflected on the astonishing impact the Free to Be projects had on the culture. The show won an Emmy and a Peabody, the book became number one on the New York Times best-seller list and the record went gold. We were floored by the impact it all had. My little message for Dionne had gone straight to the hearts of moms and dads and aunties and uncles and, most of all, teachers, who embraced it as a way to teach the kids in their lives a new way of thinking about themselves. Television special A television special, produced by Marlo Thomas and Free to Be Productions, in association with Teru Murakami-Fred Wolf Films, Inc. and cosponsored by the Ms. Foundation, first aired March 11, 1974, on ABC. The broadcast earned an 18.6 rating/27 share and went on to win an Emmy Award. 16mm prints were also struck, and some schoolchildren from the 1970s and 1980s remember seeing the television special, or the filmstrip based on the special, at school during the era. The special appeared occasionally on HBO throughout the 1980s, and was released on VHS and Betamax videotapes through Vestron Video subsidiary Children's Video Library in 1983. It also aired on cable channel TV Land, but hasn't been seen since. A Region 1 DVD was released in November 2001, and in 2010, a newly remastered version was issued featuring a number of new extras, including a deleted scene showcasing Dustin Hoffman. Cast Marlo Thomas Alan Alda Harry Belafonte Mel Brooks Jack