He was introduced by David Frost as the "man most responsible" for "Magical Mystery Tour". Hunter Davies, the Beatles' official biographer at the time, said that "It was the first time in memory that any artist felt obliged to make a public apology for his work." McCartney later spoke to the press, saying: "We don't say it was a good film. It was our first attempt. If we goofed, then we goofed. It was a challenge and it didn't come off. We'll know better next time." He also said, "I mean, you couldn't call the Queen's speech a gas, either, could you?" Writing in 1981, sociomusicologist Simon Frith said that the film was symptomatic of the transformation of "pop" into "rock", the latter being concerned with art and self-expression over mass entertainment. He described "Magical Mystery Tour" as "a willfully inexplicable TV special which put most of the audience to sleep" and added: "The Beatles were no longer in control of their time. Whereas they had once been able to seize on any idea and 'Beatlefy' it, make it common currency, they were now running vainly after a trend that was determined to leave the common audience behind." The poor critical reaction to the telecast in Britain discouraged American television networks from acquiring rights to the film, while its less than one-hour running length made it commercially unviable for theatrical release. The film had its first US presentation eight months after its British release, at the Fillmore East in New York City on Sunday, 11 August 1968, shown at 8 and 10 pm, as part of a fundraiser for the Liberation News Service. However, it was not seen in commercial theatres in the US until 1974, when New Line Cinema acquired the rights for limited theatrical and non-theatrical distribution. It was first broadcast on American television in 1985 on the cable TV series "Night Flight" in an edited version. McCartney later said of the production, saying: "Looking back on it, I thought it was all right. I think we were quite pleased with it." He also commented in "The Beatles Anthology" DVD that the film features the band's only video performance of "I Am the Walrus". In a 1993 interview, Harrison said the negative response from the press was "understandable too because it wasn’t a brilliant scripted thing that was executed well. It was like a little home movie, really.