The Day After

1983 American television film by Nicholas Meyer The Day AfterGenreDramaDisasterScience fictionWritten byEdward HumeDirected byNicholas MeyerStarringJason RobardsJoBeth WilliamsSteve GuttenbergJohn CullumJohn LithgowAmy MadiganTheme music composerDavid RaksinVirgil Thomson (Theme for "The River")Country of originUnited StatesOriginal languageEnglishProductionProducerRobert PapazianCinematographyGayne RescherEditorsWilliam Paul DornischRobert FlorioRunning time126 minutesProduction companyABC Circle FilmsOriginal releaseNetworkABCReleaseNovember 20, 1983 (1983-11-20) The Day After is a 1983 American television film directed by Nicholas Meyer. The film postulates a fictional conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact over Germany that rapidly escalates into a full-scale nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. The action itself focuses on the residents of Lawrence, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, and several family farms near American missile silos. The cast includes Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg, John Cullum, and John Lithgow. The film was written by Edward Hume and produced by Robert Papazian, with clips from the 1979 Air Force documentar