In the United States, the series were broadcast on PBS and in Australia on ABC,[1] though some footage was occasionally cut if the rights to it were too expensive.

The series has never been repeated on television since, which James attributes to the fact that "every inch of footage in the gigantic compilation belonged to some agency legally equipped to charge the Earth.

[3] Clive James focused on fame in the 20th century, because the arrival of mass media, film and television changed forever the ways people became famous.

Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte conquered countries, Jesus Christ developed a religion, ...[4] In the 20th century people could become world-famous in less than no time and without doing anything, thanks to the arrival of mass media.

[5] This often led to mass hysteria and confusion between an actor's stage persona and the roles he played on the screen (as in the case of Rudolph Valentino).

Elizabeth Taylor has been cited by James as an example of someone who originally achieved fame as an actress, but later became more famous for her weddings and lifestyle.

[5] Celebrities like Charlie Chaplin, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Michael Jackson, The Beatles on the other hand, have never remained out of publicity and are nowadays famous for simply being who they are.

Examples are Yoko Ono (the wife of Beatle John Lennon), Lady Diana (who married Prince Charles in 1981) and Wallis Simpson (whose affair with King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom caused his abdication).

[6] Dwight Eisenhower's fame as a general in World War II helped him win the presidential election a decade later.

[8] When Clive James was asked by Charlie Rose in 1993 to name the three most famous people of the century, he cited Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, and Bruce Lee.