KINESCOPE HD

THE MADE FOR TV PRESIDENT - ELECTION NIGHT COVERAGE - NBC NEWS - CIRCA NOV.8, 1960

2012-02-12T21:28:00.006-05:00

If you ever have wondered how the ballot you cast,behind the curtain of a voting booth in your hometown, winds up as one digit among millions on a television network's, election night,graphic display, I suggest that you click on the video posted below.While it details the process of gathering election night data circa 1960, the premise has not changed , even if the protocols have evolved for news in the digital age.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I posted that video, from MSNBC, as a way to help bring the conventions of election coverage into sharp, if monochromatic, focus.

The 1960 race for the Presidency of the United States was a Templar of the challenges we faced as America entered a new and hopeful decade, that was viewed my most to be filled with promise and fraught with problems.

Two young candidates , Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon, representing almost diametrically opposed visions for this country's future, would engage in ground-breaking debates. These contentious confrontations were not distinguished by the eloquence of the exchange or the substance of the ideas advances, but because it all unfolded on LIVE television for the first time in history.

On election night, two accomplished and aggressive, television news divisions faced-off in a high voltage, high intensity battle for the hearts and minds of American TV viewers.

It took until the morning of Wednesday, November 9th to determine that John Kennedy , son of an affluent Massachusetts family and war hero, would serve as the 35th President of the United States.We now know that his time in office, referred to by many as Camelot,would end in the angry retort of gunfire on a November day in Dallas, Texas, 3 years later.

NBC NEWS won a mandate from the television audience on election night, as well. A virtual, ratings landslide set the course for NBC NEWS to dominate political coverage for years to come.

Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, NBC's weeknight anchor team, head the election night team. Supported by the latest television technology that NBC's parent company, RCA could supply and an incredible team of correspondents, producers and technicians, NBC's smart, engaging and literate coverage stands as the model for election night production to this day.

From the DAVIDVONPIEN1 YOU TUBE site, enjoy NBC NEWS coverage of Election Night 1960!!

PEACE, LOVE & SOUL - WHEN AMERICA RODE THE SOUL TRAIN - SYNDICATION - CIRCA 1973

2012-02-02T12:30:00.004-05:00

Don Cornelius was an entertainer and entrepreneur, who took millions of television viewers on the "Hippest Trip in America" each weekend, aboard the SOUL TRAIN.

He created and hosted a vibrant, exuberant show that introduced some of the greatest performers in R&B to a loyal and diverse audience from its inception in 1971 until he retired in 2007.

Yesterday,at age 75, in poor health, he killed himself. His final years were marked by an ugly divorce and charges of domestic violence.

It's sadly ironic that a man who did so much to bring so many people together in happy celebration of music, fashion and culture would end his life in a lonely,violent act.

The syndicated show that he launched on a Chicago, UHF station changed careers, lives, style and attitudes among all of us who made sure we were in front of a TV set when the SOUL TRAIN came roaring into our homes.

We hope that Don Cornelius will rest in peace, love and soul.

Here , from THE SOUL TRAIN YOU TUBE CHANNEL, is a montage of the teens, the talent, the music and the fashion that made SOUL TRAIN an American institution

HEAVYWEIGHT COMEDY WITH A LIGHT TOUCH - THE BOB & RAY SHOW - NBC-TV - CIRCA 1952

2012-01-29T21:21:00.003-05:00

In the wacky and wondrous minds of consummate comedians Bob Elliot & Ray Goulding, early television programming may have benefited from the services of a referee.

The premise of this hilarious sketch from their sweet but sardonic, NBC television series is so focused and funny, that no more exposition is required.

Here from the KATHERINE'SDADDY1 YOU TUBE site is a rare clip of two, talented men who proved that three chimes mean good times every time the red light went on.

Enjoy this brief but brilliant episode of THE BOB & RAY SHOW.

THE ABC'S OF SPACE COVERAGE - SPECIAL REPORT ON PROJECT GEMINI LAUNCH - ABC-TV - CIRCA JULY 17, 1966

2012-01-23T15:25:00.008-05:00

LIVE television and the American, manned space flight program were, truly, a marriage made in the heavens.

That's exactly where the story took millions of fascinated viewers, here and around the globe.

While American Astronauts and Soviet Cosmonauts explored the frontiers of space, broadcast journalists challenged the new frontier of LIVE, wall-to-wall,space coverage with the added advantage of COLOR television technology.

In 1966, NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was conducting Project Gemini, the second phase in the mythic journey to set foot on the moon.

Starting in 1961, Project Mercury put pioneers like Alan Shepard and John Glenn into space and into orbit for the first time.

In the late 1960's. Project Apollo would propel men like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to touch the surface of the Moon, for the first time in human history.

Project Gemini was the initiative that launched two men into space inside a single capsule to test the systems and cultivate the skills needed to leave Earth's orbit and reach for the stars.

(YOUNG & COLLINS)

On a warm summer day in July of 1966, NASA would , first, launch a satellite atop an Atlas-Agena rocket into orbit.100 minutes later Gemini 10, with astronauts John Young and Michael Collins ( who, 3 years later, went to lunar orbit in Apollo 11 ) aboard, roared aloft, atop a Minuteman ballistic missile.

Once in orbit, they would target the satellite and dock with it, high above the Earth.Perfecting the rendezvous maneuver at high velocity in space, was imperative for the Project Apollo lunar landing system to work. Astronaut Young also made a daring Space Walk or EVA ( extra vehicular activity).

In 1966,ABC-TV was a network that appealed to the very young viewers with shows like BATMAN, SHINDIG! and THE FLINTSTONES.But,its news division, which would become the gold standard for network news coverage in the 1990's under the iconic Roone Arledge, was under-funded and under-watched.

It's an age old formula in television,and you don't need to understand complex,orbital mechanics to do the math:
limited resources = low ratings + low revenues.

Even with an honorable news product , plus talented ,versatile,young correspondents like Peter Jennings, Steve Bell and Ted Koppel and the added expertise of space specialist, reporter Jules Bergman, ABC could command respect, but not an audience.

They simply could not compete with CBS's Walter Cronkite or NBC's Chet Huntley & David Brinkley. Nor could ABC overcome the fact that their rival networks had more affiliated stations to deliver their coverage to many more loyal, news viewers.

Here from the efan 2011 YOU TUBE SITE , is a short clip from an ABC NEWS SPECIAL REPORT on the launch of the Atlas Agena rocket and the Gemini 10 spacecraft. Enjoy!!

EYE ON THE SKY - RARE SPECIAL REPORT ON LAUNCH OF SOVIET SATELLITE - CBS NEWS - CIRCA 10/6/57

2012-01-05T23:32:00.007-05:00

There was a day in the Fall of 1957 when America looked to the heavens and CBS News turned its Eye to the skies, as the Soviet Union made history, high above the earth.

This nation's Cold War adversary pulled off a cosmic coup, by launching the very first artificial, Earth satellite into orbit on October 4, 1957.

But, it was the sound of the tiny spacecraft that unnerved people all over the planet.

Emitting a rhythmic, high-pitched radio signal, about the size of a basketball and circling the globe about every 90 minutes, silvery SPUTNIK 1 fascinated and frightened average Americans.

It provoked the White House, the Pentagon and the Scientific community into reflexive and responsive action.The U.S.A.'s struggling Ballistic Missile Program was quickly reorganized and infused with new resources.

At the CBS Broadcast Center on New York City's West 57th Street, the network's respected news division also explored new frontiers in television journalism.

A team was assigned to produce a CBS NEWS SPECIAL REPORT that would provide clarity and context to a story that truly was way over our heads.

It aired, LIVE on the Tiffany Network, two days after the historic launch on October 6, 1957.

Here,from the MR.DANBEAUMONT YOU TUBE site, is CBS Anchorman Douglas Edwards with SPUTNIK 1 : A CBS NEWS SPECIAL REPORT.
Enjoy!!!

OUR WISHES FOR A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON AND A HAPPY, HEALTHY 2012

2011-12-24T17:09:00.004-05:00

(PHOTO BY OUR TV PAL,BRAD NAU)

To all of you who have been so kind as to visit KINESCOPE HD, we offer our best wishes for the Holidays and for the New Year ahead!

Thanks for your time, your interest and your commitment to classic television.

It is appreciated!!!

Our Holiday gift to you is a musical masterpiece that spans the decades from 1986 to 2010 and crosses network lines from NBC to CBS.

Here are two video versions of a virtuoso performance from 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, the incomparable Darlene Love, singing her 1963 hit, CHRISTMAS BABY.

It has been a Letterman tradition since she first performed the seasonal, fan favorite on NBC-TV'S LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN IN 1986. She reprised her rocking rendition for th 25th time on CBS-TV'S LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN on Friday , December 23, 2011.

We hope she's there to do it LIVE for another millennium or two!!!

First, from the BERNDIGGITYDOG YOU TUBE site, we have the "economy-sized" version from 1986 and then from BOYIN747 YOU TUBE site,the sprawling, brassy 2010 edition.

Have a wonderful Holiday, and Happy New Year and Enjoy!!!!!

1986

2010

CHRISTMAS WITH COMO - HOLIDAY EDITION OF THE CHESTERFIELD SUPPER CLUB - CBS-TV - CIRCA 12/15/53 @ 7:45PM EST

2011-12-18T22:33:00.003-05:00

For three decades, on two television networks,a Yuletide video visit from singing star Perry Como was an American Christmas tradition.

The affable , singing barber from Canonsberg, Pennsylvania was already a major recording artist when he began hosting THE CHESTERFIELD SUPPER CLUB, one of the first "simulcast" programs , that aired LIVE on both CBS Television and Radio.

His success on that fifteen minute program,which aired three nights a week , led him to his own one hour, weekly, variety program on NBC-TV. PERRY COMO'S KRAFT MUSIC HALL , which was produced in LIVING COLOR, was first broadcast from Broadway's Ziegfeld Theater and then moved to NBC's cavernous Brooklyn Studios. It was one of televisions most watched programs in the 1960's.

A reserved and reverent Holiday guest in millions of American homes, his Christmas specials were a warm and wholesome celebration of the season.

Here from the CUPASAURAS YOU TUBE site, is a rare recording of the entire Christmas Night edition of Perry Como's CBS-TV series, THE CHESTERFIELD SUPPER CLUB. Enjoy!!!!

HOLIDAY DRAGNET - JACK WEBB'S CHRISTMAS MYSTERY AND MIRACLE - NBC-TV - CIRCA 12/24/53

2011-12-12T15:16:00.008-05:00

One of television first heroes, world-weary, L.A.P.D detective Joe Friday, saw his world in black and white.

So did the millions of loyal viewers who followed his weekly adventures in crime fighting on the nascent NBC Television Network in the early 1950's.

They didn't just observe the absolutes of good and evil or right and wrong through Friday's eyes , but they watched television's first, true, police procedural, DRAGNET in silvery, shadowy, monochrome images transmitted by their friendly, hometown NBC station.

But, on Christmas Eve 1953, NBC network engineers and programmers joined with DRAGNET's producer-director-star, Jack Webb and his production company , MARK VII, to offer select viewers a holiday present that rivaled the lights and ornaments on their Yuletide trees in hue and palette.

The December 24, 1953 episode of DRAGNET,chronicled the theft of an aged, plaster statue of the infant Jesus in a Nativity scene, from a Los Angeles, Roman Catholic church. The show was consistent with the hit series production values in its use of tight shots, terse dialogue and, for the time, fast pace to convey the daily, methodical, and sometimes minute, challenges confronting a police officer investigating a case.

But this edition of DRAGNET, entitled THE BIG LITTLE JESUS, was different from all that had come before and none that would air until the second run of the durable series debuted on NBC-TV in 1967.

This episode aired on NBC in COLOR.

No, not LIVING COLOR.

That branding and it's attendant peacock animation would not be introduced until September of 1957, when NBC first gave viewers the 'bird' on YOUR HIT PARADE.

No,this Holiday special was broadcast in RCA COMPATIBLE COLOR.

That phrase assured the millions of video viewers with B&W receivers that they could also watch the tinted tale of the minature, missing Messiah without having to spend approx. $500,the 1953 equivalent of buying a late-model,used car or the down-payment on a middle class home, for the purchase of a color television set.

Plus,this program aired a scant, few weeks after the Federal Communications Commission endorsed the RCA ( then the parent company of NBC )system of electronic color television, over a mechanically driven color technology proposed by NBC's mortal, corporate rival,CBS. The timing of this broadcast brought, both, focus and immediacy to RCA and NBC efforts in color programming and receiver sales that could not be ignored.

The episode in question was the first episode of a regularly scheduled, network, filmed series to be photographed and broadcast in color.It was repeated often and re-produced for the second run of the DRAGNET series with many of the same cast members.

Re-titled as THE CHRISTMAS STORY,the Peacock Network aired it on December 21, 1967.In this version, veteran character actor, Harry Morgan played Webb's partner in crime-solving.

While the color negative of the 1953 version is , apparently, hard to find, we have posted , below, from theNOLOGORECORDS YOU TUBE site, the complete BIG LITTLE JESUS episode of DRAGNET. Enjoy!!!!

MARY MARTIN'S FASHION FANFARE - RARE LIVE PERFORMANCE - NBC-TV - CIRCA 1953

2011-12-04T21:58:00.007-05:00

Multiple award winner and Broadway star Mary Martin was also one of television's earliest luminaries.

As incandescent and energetic on the small screen, as she was on the Broadway stage, Ms. Martin, may be best known to video viewers for her high wire performance as PETER PAN.

She achieved new, theatrical heights when NBC-TV brought J. M. Barrie's wondrous flight of fantasy to young viewers, LIVE and in LIVING COLOR in 1955 and again in 1960.

Here , in a raucous, rollicking , B&W clip from a 1953 revue on NBC, posted on the TOLDES YOU TUBE site, Ms. Martin makes a fast and furious fashion statement in song and dance with an able assist from the unseen Don Pardo. Enjoy!!!

WHEN THE CLOCK STRIKES FUN - BEAT THE CLOCK - CBS-TV - CIRCA FALL 1957

2011-11-27T21:21:00.006-05:00

Can you outrun a ticking clock? Even with your spouse throwing pies in your face, while you try to carry 10 boxes of cupcakes on a moving treadmill?

Well you might have won a walloping $100 on a classic, Eisenhower-era, game show.

Decades before superstar chef Guy Fierri became a primetime quizmaster on NBC's kinetic MINUTE TO WIN IT, affable Bud Collyer( network radio's voice of Superman ) was the genial gent who tasked comely contestants with complicated capers and diabolical deadlines on CBS-TV's BEAT THE CLOCK.

This high octane game show was a staple of the Tiffany Network's Saturday night schedule from 1951 until 1956. The eccentric fun-fest was so popular that The Great One , Jackie Gleason, satirized it on an episode of the iconic HONEYMOONERS.

Sponsored by Sylvania Electronics for five of it's six years on the network, the show helped bring new viewers to the nascent medium and even helped to sell them the sets with which to watch.

Here, from the FOXEMA YOU TUBE site, is a Fall 1956 episode of BEAT THE CLOCK.Enjoy!!!!!

AND NOW THESE WORDS FROM THE SPONSOR - EARLY, LIVE COMMERCIALS -WRCV ( NOW CBS-3) -TV - CIRCA 1957

2011-11-20T17:40:00.007-05:00

Before we post more classic video from television's halcyon days, we 'll pause for these messages from our ... well... from two respected Philadelphia companies that have long histories sponsoring television and radio programs ,here, in the City of Brotherly Love.

These commercials appear to be from the the mid-to-late 1950's and were produced as LIVE elements of local programs on what was then WRCV-TV.For a decade WRCV-TV was Philadelphia's, NBC Owned and Operated Television station.NBC ran the television station, and it's AM radio outlet (which is now the mighty KYW NEWSRADIO 1060), from June of 1955 until a federally-mandated, station trade brought Group W's ownership and KYW-TV to Channel 3 in June of 1965.

Channel 3 has always been a kinetic place and an incubator of stellar talent. Video visionary ,Erine Kovacs, first stepped before a camera at what was then WPTZ-TV, for one of the mediums first wake-up shows, THREE TO GET READY. The hip, but wholesome MIKE DOUGLAS SHOW came to town with Group W. Jessica Savitch, David Brenner and Tom Snyder all honed their considerable skills at the station.

The featured announcer is a kind and talented man with whom I had the good fortune to work at KYW, Gary Geers. He was one of those multi-faceted gems of early local broadcasting, who hosted and produced newscasts, comedy shows, children's programs.

Gary also served as host and producer for one of this market's longest running shows, FARM ,HOME & GARDEN, which focused on regional agriculture. We worked together, last, in the 1990's , when he was the station's morning weathercaster and only remaining, in-house, staff announcer.

For decades Gary was the voice of KYW-TV, which, today, is a CBS O & O. He, sadly , passed away at age 84, just over a year ago. Gary and his kind of talent are sorely missed in local television, today.

Posted below from the TINNKAT YOU TUBE site, is a gauzy, monochromatic, video reminder of the contributions that staff announcers made to local television stations. The sponsors showcased here are a defunct, regional, financial institution, PNB Bank, and Philly's enduring, favorite, hometown snack, Tastykake.Enjoy!!!

WHEN MUSIC VIDEOS WERE LIVE - YOUR HIT PARADE - NBC-TV - CIRCA DECEMBER 24,1955

2011-11-12T22:35:00.007-05:00

Before we all tracked trends on Twitter or Facebook, Americans turned to television and radio to find out what tunes were at the top of the charts and top of mind.

Before MTV showcased videos that gave form to the music we love, a LIVE television show produced elaborate musical numbers on expansive sets with innovative imagery to depict the nation's favorite songs.

YOUR HIT PARADE debuted on NBC radio in 1935, moved to NBC television in 1950 and ran successfully on the Peacock Network until it transitioned to CBS-TV for it's final season in 1958-1959.

With the formidable financial support of sponsor Lucky Strike Cigarettes, the full commitment of a powerful network, a versatile cast, an agile production team, and a sense of adventure that took the show LIVE from the confines of vaunted Studio 8H to far-flung, remote locales that included the Rockefeller Center Ice Rink and the Deck of the S.S.United States, the weekly musical revue of the nations most popular music was an enduring,viewer favorite.

For amazing insight into YOUR HIT PARADE,I suggest you get a copy of Andrew Lee Fielding's meticulous profile of the program, entitled THE LUCKY STRIKE PAPERS (check it out at bearmanormedia.com). Andrew had a front row seat to the sprawling show, since his late Mother, the multi-talented Sue Bennett, was one of the stars of the effervescent revue.

In all transparency, while Andrew was kind enough to send me a copy of his book, many months ago,I have no financial participation in the book. I am simply a fan.

Here, posted below, from THEFILMARCHIVE YOU TUBE site, is the December 24, 1955 episode of YOUR HIT PARADE. enjoy!!!!

WHEN JOKERS WERE KINGS - GROUCHO ROASTS CARSON - KRAFT MUSIC HALL - NBC-TV - CIRCA OCTOBER 23, 1968

2011-11-06T19:54:00.006-05:00

In October of 1968, there was a confluence of comedy stars in NBC's cavernous,Brooklyn, New York studios.

That's when and where THE PEACOCK NETWORK'S durable and docile KRAFT MUSIC HALL attempted to bring the ribald fun of a Friar's Club roast to television.

Producers of the lavish, long-running,variety show had decided to fete the King of Late Night Television, Johnny Carson, in a family-friendly version of the profanity-laced, showbiz tributes.

The Friar's Club is a fraternity of entertainers whose boisterous bacchanals were always off-color and off the record.

The dais was adorned with some of the biggest names in comedy. Ed Sullivan, Steve Allen, Flip Wilson ,Don Rickles , Dick Cavett, New York Mayor,John V. Lindsay, and Carson's straight man for all seasons,Philadelphia's own, Ed McMahon were among the lambasting luminaries. Stand-up specialist Alan King served as roast-master.

But, one comic contributor was in a class above and beyond all others. The iconic Groucho Marx brought a level of acerbic insult that yielded thunderous laughs.Marx had been Carson's first guest on the first TONIGHT SHOW he hosted in 1962. But Marx never let friendship stand-in the way of a punch-line.

Here , from the LAUGHVIDS YOU TUBE site, is Groucho Marx withering tribute to Johnny Carson on the October 23rd, 1968 episode of THE KRAFT MUSIC HALL.Enjoy!!!!

WHY IS THERE AIR??? -BILL COSBY ON THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE - ABC-TV - CIRCA 12/11/65

2011-10-29T22:26:00.007-04:00

America's favorite television father, and Temple University's most illustrious alum, started his show business career as a stand-up comedian, working in bars, nightclubs and jazz joints.

Bill Cosby was more than a monologist.He was, and still is, a master storyteller.

A deft wordsmith weaving daft imagery for an appreciative audience that was convulsed by his every comic concept.

The pride of North Philadelphia, a committed educator,an unrelenting social critic, and a benevolent philanthropist, Dr. William H. Cosby Jr. was,seemingly,born to carry on a tradition as old as fire. The role of village observer. The keeper of a comic chronicle that detailed the absurdity in life, through an ironic filter.

In the mid-1960's, the former Temple athlete was emerging as America's crown price of comedy and an icon of television.

His hit record albums and appearances on almost every comedy,variety or talk show made him a hot property and a household name.

NBC and uber-producer Sheldon Leonard cast him ,with Robert Culp, in the landmark adventure series, I SPY.

In that show, Cosby became the first African-American cast as a lead actor in a network television series.

Emmy awards, untold honors and the incomparableCOSBY SHOW were still in the offing.

Posted below, from the KANEDA83 YOU TUBE site is a December 11, 1965 appearance the Cosby made on ABC-TV's signature variety show, THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE.

It is Bill Cosby in his element.

One man, one microphone and one spotlight, standing center stage, with all the cameras and every eye in the studio focused on the smart, funny, fascinating fellow from Philly, Enjoy!!!!

WOULD YOU BELIEVE , A PILOT FILM FOR A HIT SERIES ?- GET SMART - NBC-TV - SEPT. 18,1965

2011-10-23T22:22:00.004-04:00

What happens when you mix the exuberant,comedic lunacy of Mel Brooks with the sly, ironic sensibilities of Buck Henry, then add an accomplished, stand-up comedian like Don Adams and the aquiline beauty of Barbara Feldon? But wait, you still have to blend-in rapid-fire dialogue, high-quality production values,a memorable theme song and a fusillade of comic catch phrases that captivated a nation.

What do you get?

GET SMART.

It was the hit, sixties spy spoof that left secret agents Bond, Flint and Solo out in the cold. Each week on NBC-TV ( and subsequently on CBS-TV), CONTROL Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, along with his favorite partner in espionage, the lovely Agent 99, and his exasperated Chief, saved the world from the villains,tyrants,and thugs who ran KAOS, a criminal cabal bent on global domination.

Here from the SNEAKY GUY 55 YOU TUBE site, is the pilot for GET SMART, which aired in Black & White on the PEACOCK Network on September 18, 1965. Enjoy!!!!

PART ONE:

PART TWO:

WHEN CHEVY WAS RIDING SKY HIGH & IN LIVING COLOR - AN AMAZING AD - NBC-TV - CIRCA SEPTEMBER 1964

2011-10-11T22:52:00.006-04:00

For viewers of NBC's, top-rated, Western drama, BONANZA, on a Sunday night in 1964, the most electrifying action sequence may actually have been in a commercial from the show's long-time sponsor, the Chevrolet Division of General Motors.

Clearly , there a backstory to this ground-breaking advertisement.

In the 1950's ,60's and 70's,network television and the automotive industry were dominated by their respective "BIG THREE."

In American living rooms, NBC, CBS AND ABC were the only true options for video viewers seeking the best in comedy, variety ,drama, news,sports and more.

In new car showrooms across the USA, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler were the preference of drivers seeking chrome-clad, high-performance, dream machines.

Those were truly halcyon days for two great,American industries that have confronted hard, economic times in the ensuing decades.

Here is a flashback to an epic commercial introducing the brand new, 1964 Chevrolet Impala, which also revolutionized television advertising. You will see spectacular imagery that was accomplished by a single , helicopter-mounted camera and without the contemporary benefit of computer generated graphics.

The woman you will see perched in the gleaming new convertible is a stunt specialist, who may bears a great similarity to Chevy's smooching spokeswoman of that time, singer Dinah Shore.

On the day after this ad premiered, people across America wanted to know how they captured the vivid and daring images that distinguished this commercial.

From the US AUTO INDUSTRY YOU TUBE site,here is a 2:00 minute commercial that opened new vistas for viewers and new creative options for real-life Mad Men. Enjoy!!!

As a bonus, here . also from the US AUTO INDUSTRY WEB SITE is a 1961 commercial that offers a musical introduction to the new, 1961 Chevrolet car line from the floor of the Detroit auto Show and featuring the effervescent and energetic Dinah Shore. Enjoy!!!

ALL THAT GLITTERS FROM TELEVISION'S GOLDEN AGE - 12 ANGRY MEN ON STUDIO ONE - CBS-TV - CIRCA 9/20/1954

2011-10-01T21:41:00.005-04:00

In what has been exalted as Television's Golden Age of LIVE drama, one weekly program was celebrated as the platinum standard in compelling, dramatic anthology:

WESTINGHOUSE STUDIO ONE on the CBS Television Network.

Airing LIVE, first, from the CBS studios in New York City, and later from CBS Television City in Hollywood, on Monday nights at 10PM Eastern Time, WESTINGHOUSE STUDIO ONE was the proving ground for a generation of electrifying young New York actors,writers, directors and producers.

Established guest stars brought stagecraft and considerable publicity to the award winning hour, which was rich with early television's most opulent production values, thanks to the sponsor support of a high ticket industrial conglomerate.

But, above all, for 10 seasons, from 1948 to 1958, on the Tiffany Network, this program was a crucible in which powerful, enduring stories were forged. WESTINGHOUSE STUDIO ONE brought home the full dimension of theater to television viewers, each week.

One of the series most honored and respected original efforts was playwright Reginald Rose's searing look at the thin line of logic and tolerance which separates a jury of reasonable citizens from becoming a racist lynch mob in 12 ANGRY MEN.

Produced LIVE on Monday September 20, 1954, directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and produced by Felix Jackson, the taut,unadorned drama was the series 7th season opener.The provocative teleplay was shot in a grim, gritty, confining set and showcased film stars Bob Cummings, Franchot Tone and Edward Arnold in lead roles.

The raw and realistic story has resonated with audiences for decades. It was produced as a theatrical film starring Henry Fonda,Lee J. Cobb and E.G. Marshall in 1957.

Cable channel, SHOWTIME,produced a 1997 version that was headlined by Jack Lemmon,George C. Scott and Hume Cronyn.

The video posted was thought to be lost for over 50 years, until it was discovered in a private collectors home in 2003.

Here, from the CANTABRIDIGIAN YOU TUBE site, in one 50 minute, 42 second clip is the entire production of 12 ANGRY MEN from WESTINGHOUSE STUDIO ONE. Enjoy!!!!

STARS ARE BORN - JAMES ARNESS ON THE JOHNNY CARSON SHOW - CBS-TV - CIRCA SEPTEMBER 8,1955

2011-09-24T12:57:00.007-04:00

On a late summer night in 1955 , two talented men, who would soon become titans of television, were paired for a short comedy bit on a breezy, CBS-TV comedy show, that would, itself, last only a few more months in prime time on the Tiffany Network.

The host of the short-lived, comedy-variety show(it ran only two seasons) was the future king of of NBC late night, Johnny Carson.

His bigger than life guest star was six foot, seven inch James Arness, whose landmark, adult western, GUNSMOKE, was just two days away from debuting on CBS-TV.

GUNSMOKE , first aired as a CBS radio program, starring William Conrad , who was later the voice of a thousand commercials and who went on to be the falstaffian star of CANNON on CBS, in the lead role.

The hit series made the transition to video on Sept. 10, 1955.

It premiered with an introduction by John Wayne, who turned down the starring role of Marshall Matt Dillon and recommended Arness to CBS scion William Paley.

The anthology, which offered ensemble acting and mature story lines against the rustic canvas of the Old West, would endure as an audience favorite for 20 TV seasons.

THE JOHNNY CARSON SHOW was deemed a critical and ratings failure.

After it was cancelled,Carson took on hosting chores for a struggling ABC-TV game show, called WHO DO YOU TRUST?

It turned out to be the very showcase that brought him to the attention of Peacock Network executives, who recruited the mischievous mid-westerner to replace the controversial Jack Paar. Provocative and emotional,Paar was leaving THE TONIGHT SHOW and moving to a prime-time, NBC-TV variety show.

Carson ascended to become the brightest star in late night television for 30 years.

But, here from the VIDEOTIMEMACHNE YOU TUBE site, is a clip from THE JOHNNY CARSON SHOW, featuring two protean television performers in the formative stages of their careers.Enjoy!!!!!

SELLING TELEVISION ON TELEVISION - PROMOTING THE YOUNG MEDIUM - ABC-TV - CIRCA 1958

2011-09-17T00:14:00.005-04:00

When fledgling ABC-TV was viewed as 1/2 a network in the mid to late-1950's, programming and promotion executives decided that the best way to grow their audience was to entice new viewers into using television, in general.

To find those new patrons, they designed an affable, yet aggressive , on-air campaign.

They created an animated avatar dubbed Peter Rabbit Ears ( named for the set-top antennas that helped bring home a weak broadcast signal in the Eisenhower-era ) who extolled the virtues of video in family-friendly,60 second adventures.

As always, the alphabet network was also cultivating a younger audience than the firmly entrenched competition at the NBC and CBS networks.

Peter Rabbit Ears was a memorable advertising icon of the time, who helped grow ABC-TV's audience, with a little assist from Mickey Mouse, Dick Clark, Frank Sinatra,The Maverick Brothers and a couple of hip Private Eyes who worked out of 77 SUNSET STRIP.

From the TVDAYS YOU TUBE site, meet Peter Rabbit Ears. Enjoy!!!

TV'S "LIVE" LENS ON AMERICAN LIFE - WIDE WIDE WORLD WITH DAVE GARROWAY - NBC-TV - CIRCA OCTOBER 16, 1955

2011-09-05T21:25:00.009-04:00

Imagine a time when television was young and LIVE technology was primitive, cumbersome and unreliable.

That time was 1955.

On a crisp October Sunday of that year, NBC's resident video visionary, network honcho Sylvester L. 'Pat" Weaver, created and launched a vibrant adventure in television called WIDE WIDE WORLD.

It was a LIVE television magazine designed to allow armchair explorers to meet interesting people,enjoy engaging experiences and sample the American landscape, without ever leaving their living rooms.

But in Weaver's comprehensive strategy, the 90 minute, B&W show was also the perfect vehicle to promote the wonders of the infant medium to a growing audience, in the face of intense competition from the movies.A master of media commerce, Weaver also knew it would help sell the TV receivers that NBC's parent company, RCA, manufactured and sold.

The understated Dave Garroway,first host of the TODAY program, anchored this show, which picked up almost every major award in television, as it meandered through American culture for three seasons on NBC-TV.

While it is now dated like a yellowed, old copy of the Saturday Evening Post in a curio shop, WIDE WIDE WORLD holds up for me, as sort of a rustic artifact of Eisenhower-era life in America. Like viewing a Norman Rockwell painting on the faded screen of a cathode ray tube.

Here , from the MUSICOM 67 YOU TUBE site,are 7 clips that constitute approx. 60 minutes from the 90 minute,debut episode of WIDE WIDE WORLD,hosted by Dave Garroway and sponsored by General Motors.Enjoy!!!!!

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

PART 6

PART 7

TODAY ON THE WAY - GARROWAY MEETS ALLEN - CHESTERFIELD SOUND-OFF TIME - NBC-TV - CIRCA 1951

2011-08-31T22:57:00.006-04:00

Time for a sentimental journey of sorts to 1951 and NBC-TV's production of CHESTERFIELD SOUND-OFF TIME. The show was a comic review starring the urbane comedian Fred Allen,who, in a laugh-laced exchange with erudite broadcaster Dave Garroway, promoted a brand new show on NBC that was to premiere in a few weeks on January 14, 1952.

It was called TODAY.

Garroway,an affable, subdued broadcaster from the quirky Chicago school of television, was the first host of the first daily,morning show in network television history.

The two hour wake-up call for television viewers was devised by video visionary Sylvester L . "Pat" Weaver, who lead the nascent NBC network in the early 1950's. While critics , both internal and external, decried Weaver's wild-eyed notion of people watching a television show ( or, at least, listening to it in radio style)during the early morning hours, Weaver saw value and virtue in the concept. Labeled by nay-sayers as "Weaver's Folly," he pushed forward and put TODAY on America's breakfast-time, media menu.

The pioneering Weaver also launched THE TONIGHT SHOW and WIDE WIDE WORLD, which was also hosted by the omnipresent, multi-talented Garroway .

Today will turn 60,next January. Now a four-hour programming block on NBC, with the first 3 hours hosted by Matt Lauer and Ann Curry, it continues to hold a respected place in American pop culture and in the history of American broadcasting.

Here from the MR.JIMMYFINLAYSON YOU TUBE site is a short clip from the comic exchance between two titans of 1950's media.Enjoy!!!!

KINETIC COMEDY FROM KOVACS - THE ERNIE KOVACS SPECIAL - ABC-TV - CIRCA 1961

2011-08-21T22:36:00.005-04:00

So much has been written in reflection of the late Ernie Kovacs' manifold, innovative contributions to television comedy, here and elsewhere, that at this point, you know I view him as an original video visionary.

Kovacs, who began his career in the early 1950's at Philadelphia's WPTZ-TV(now KYW-TV, AKA CBS3),like his comedic contemporary Steve Allen, used the primitive tools of pioneering television to construct multi-dimensional comedy that endures to this day.

Perhaps , it best just to watch this vibrant sequence of "blackouts" that I've posted below, from one of his many ABC-TV specials in the early 1960's.

With thanks to the Rolko52 YOU TUBE site, here is Ernie Kovacs' MACK THE KNIFE MONTAGE.Enjoy!!!!

DID GROUCHO TAKE OVER "I'VE GOT A SECRET?" "YOU BET YOUR LIFE," HE DID - I'VE GOT A SECRET - CBS-TV - CIRCA JULY 1, 1959

2011-08-13T23:36:00.003-04:00

What happens when the irascible icon of American comedy , Grouch Marx, host of NBC-TV's fast and furious YOU BET YOUR LIFE pays a visit to the genteel and genial I'VE GOT A SECRET ON CBS-TV?

Groucho not only stridently smoked a cigar on a show sponsored by Winston cigarettes, defying a commercial convention that wasn't challenged in 1950's network television, but he scorched the segment with rapid-fire ad-libs that were tinged with acidic wit.

Here, from the CLASSIC VIDEO STREAM YOU TUBE site, is Groucho's guest spot on I'VE GOT A SECRET.Enjoy!!!!!

DO YOU STILL WANT YOUR MTV? - MUSIC VIDEO CHANNEL CELEBRATES A MEDIA MILESTONE - MTV - CIRCA AUGUST 1, 1981

2011-07-30T16:49:00.009-04:00

On August 1, 1981,at 12:01AM EDT, a disenfranchised generation of adolescent rock fans found a vibrant, new voice and a vivid,new vision for celebrating the music they loved, and they found it by punching a button on their parent's cable box.

From the electronic haze,emerged "MTV-MUSIC TELEVISION."

It was the first ,24 hour, television channel ever devoted to airing the kinetic music young people listened to on vinyl, on cassette and on the radio. MTV also to showcased the musical artists to whom this audience was devoted, including some of those controversial performers whose work wasn't always welcome on AM or FM rock stations.

Commissioned by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment,and with a format designed by Robert W.Pitman , who became the C.E.O. of the music network,at its launch, MTV featured five Video Jockeys to interact with the audience, as Disc Jockeys did on radio stations. They were Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, Martha Quinn, J.J. Jackson and Nina Blackwood.

It is almost impossible to chronicle MTV's electrifying history. From ground breaking, global coverage of the LIVE AID Concert in 1985, to embracing HIP Hop on YO!MTV RAPS!,MTV became a herculean force in rock music and youth culture.

It captured the passion and the power of the music. It overcame American television's barriers of tradition and cynicism. MTV went on to conquer the conventions of mass media around the world.

The debut of THE REAL WORLD launched the reality genre in TV,while MTV's various attempts at producing comedy and game shows launched talents like Jon Stewart,Julie Brown and Colin Quinn.

Some shows, like THE JERSEY SHORE, created controversy. Others, like TRL LIVE created careers for young performers like Brittany Spears and Justin Timberlake. MTV UNPLUGGED showed young viewers that innovative music and honest performance by a talented musician are more important than the Hollywood production values and the dramatic narratives that typified music videos.

ROCK THE VOTE is an initiative that has engaged and focused millions of young people to participate in the electoral and democratic processes.

The channel has pretty much abandoned it's mission of being the place you turn to watch music videos, 25/7. Reality shows abound. The sense of rebellion that radiated from the screen in the late 1980's through the 1990's seems to be a bit subdued.

But the 'Moon Man" logo endures,as it should.MTV's place in television history is undeniable. Video didn't kill the radio star,as the Buggles posited in the very first video shown on MTV, but it change they way we all listen to ...and watch ... the music we love.

Posted , below, from the DALEKENBUCK YOU TUBE SITE, Here is the very first ten minutes of MTV's debut, with links to the rest of it's first hour.Enjoy!!!

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF MONOCHROME - A VINTAGE DISNEYLAND EPISODE - ABC-TV - CIRCA APRIL4 , 1956,7:30pm

2011-07-22T10:37:00.017-04:00

For a man whose creative reputation is rooted in light, wholesome, family entertainment,Walt Disney has always been a lightning rod for the darkest of urban myths.

I don't know if he was cryogenically frozen in death, was a fascist in life , or treated employees with an inhuman and icy dispassion.I would hope he was above the aberrant and abhorrent behavior attributed to him.

But,there are plenty of blogs to explore his politics and persona. This one is designed to examine his role in network television at its nascent stage.

In that environment, he's best described as a pioneer and a video visionary.

In 1954, ABC-TV was a network in search of an audience.

Any audience.

ABC enjoyed occasional spikes in viewership, thanks to fan-favorites like THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET and THE LONE RANGER, but the alphabet net wasn't in the same league with CBS AND NBC.

ABC-TV executives needed a hit and they were willing to pay a significant premium to get one.

They knew that the expertise to create top-rated programs resided in the Hollywood creative community. They approached major studio heads looking for partnerships that yielded hit TV shows. But the almost all of the movie moguls, from Mayer to Warner, viewed TV as a dangerous competitor. Their answer was a resounding "no."

Except for one major film producer.

In 1954,Walt Disney was a show business entrepreneur in search of financing for his most ambitious project.It wasn't to fund one of his hallmark,animated movies, like Fantasia. It wasn't to develop a new animated character, like the beloved Mickey Mouse or Daffy Duck. It wasn't even to support his more recent foray into live action films, like his grand scale, all-star adaptation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

Like so many in post World War II California, Disney needed capital to do a real estate deal. But,this wasn't about constructing tract homes in the San Fernando Valley or a shopping mall in Brentwood. He wanted to build an amusement park which embodied the family values Disney extolled on the silver screen, right in the Golden State.It would also leverage the vast array of Disney cinema characters and growing archive of film titles that had become a part of popular culture.

Disney would bring his rich talents and extensive collection of films, cartoons and original productions to ABC television, if ABC would bring cash to the table. The network did a multi-million dollar deal for Disney to produce a new one hour,family anthology series, called DISNEYLAND and in doing so, provided the financal support that allowed Disney to build and open a theme park that was unlike any that preceded it on the planet.It was also called DISNEYLAND.

From it's premiere episode,DISNEYLAND, the television show, was an immediate hit, debuting in 1954. His relationship with ABC resulted in other popular shows that brought ratings and revenue to the 3rd placed network, while leaving a major impression on the Baby Boom generation. The beloved programs included THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB,DAVY CROCKETT AND ZORRO!.

Along the way , he made stars of Fess Parkey ( Davey Crockett ) , Guy Williams (Zorro ),Annette Funiclello ( Annette ) and a lot of Mouseketeers.

His anthology brought a vital mix of new productions and the best of his classic,cinema catalog to home audiences and lasted on ABC-TV until Disney was lured to NBC-TV in 1961. There,his films and animated shorts could be viewed in LIVING COLOR. WALT DISNEY'S WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOROR went on to become a Sunday night tradition for years, pushing large ratings for the peacock network and selling legions of color television sets for NBC's parent company RCA.

Less than a year after his television show debuted on ABC-TV, Disney unveiled the real life DISNEYLAND in Anaheim, California.It was an amazing and innovative venue for families to vacation and celebrate American life. The ground-breaking theme park featured space age rides , a railroad and a small fleet of submarines,and when it was opened at 4:30pm EDT on July 17,1955, the star-studded and extravagant ceremony was carried by ABC-TV, in one of the most complex, remote broadcasts attempted to that date.

On that occasion Disney refereed to wondrous resort as the Happiest Place On Earth. As the television show grew,and cash flow with it, the executive suite at ABC-TV may have been the second happiest place on earth.

It seems that in real life as on celluloid,Disney specialized in weaving a happy ending. The series served as a foundation on which ABC could build auidience.Other studios followed. Both MGM and Warner Bros. looked at Disney's success and realized the potential from producing for ABC televison.

As for Walt Disney, DISNEYLAND the television show and the theme park embodied his vision as a filmmaker and his strategy as a entreprenuer.For his company, they were Adventureland,Fanatasyland and Tomorrowland, all rolled together. They provided the financial capital and the promotional propulsion that launched the Disney media empire and decades later allowed Disney's acquisition of ABC-TV, itself.

Here, posted below from the DISNEYTV4ME YOU TUBE SITE, here is the April 4, 1956 episode of DISNEYLAND.Enjoy!!!!

THE PASSWORD IS NOSTALGIA - VIDEO WORD GAMES - CBS-TV - CIRCA 10/01/67

2011-07-15T20:16:00.017-04:00

The Fall of 1967 in America preceded the Winter of our discontent.

It was a time of social upheaval and political turbulence. But it was only a prelude to 1968, the year that the very fiber of American culture was tested.

Save the violence that played out on network, evening newscasts at dinner time or the occasional documentary that focused on the political tumult that people confronted at home or those public television,talk programs that examined the determination and capabilities of our enemies, prime time programming was almost oblivious to the real life challenges that caused angst among the viewers.

Private eyes and gentlemen spies were played for satire and sex.Sitcoms focused on the mores of marriage and the amenities of small town life.

Long before the 1971 debut of Norman Lear's, groundbreaking ALL IN THE FAMILY, broadcast networks valued non-controversial programs above all.

In 1967,Tiffany Network executives would famously battle their own SMOTHERS BROS. COMEDY HOUR production team , over content felt to be ,both, lurid and seditious.

But,in the 1960's,the awful truth of America's social and political revolution never really penetrated network television's daytime diet of soap operas, game shows and tv chefs.

In syndication, Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin chatted with the towering figures of politics, arts and literature.But not on the networks, where daytime was still designed to be an idyllic fantasy land for the housewives and children.

CBS,whose network reached deep into rural America, while NBC cultivated urban viewers and ABC embraced the young audience , believed that a mature, engaging word game, showcasing stars of stage, screen and (CBS)television would score in a big way.

PASSWORD, produced by the Goodson-Todman game show factory,was elegant in its simplicity and fun for people at home,who would participate, just by yelling back at the screen.

Affable and Urbane and The late Allen Ludden was the ideal host for the smart and sophisticated game show.

It was all the better when he was given able support from his radiant wife,the vibrant and versatile Betty White. As you'll see below,their personal and professional chemistry was evident and alluring. NY Giants football legend and iconic sportscaster, Frank Gifford , brought a strong , yet stoic presence to the shows usual,but eclectic mix of stars and everyday people. In the clips below, you'll see a special edition of the show, featuring NFL players and performers from the Ice Follies.

Posted here from the INDY 7888 YOU TUBE site are three clips that
constitute a special,Sunday,Prime Time, episode of PASSWORD. from 10/1/67. Enjoy!!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

MEET THE REAL ROB PETRIE - CARL REINER'S BUSTED PILOT - CBS-TV - CIRCA 7/19/60

2011-07-06T09:18:00.000-04:00

Have you ever asked yourself what is unique about your life?

In the late 1950's, an accomplished , but unemployed comedy powerhouse was vacationing with his family on New York's Fire Island, and was searching for his next creative project.

A simple question helped to focus his formidable talents:

On what ground do I stand, that no other person occupies?

That thought, and the striking answer, became a comedy credo for the versatile and voluble Carl Reiner.

He knew that only a handful of people on Earth could claim to have been both a witness to, and a collaborator with, a true comedy genius. Reiner cherished the memories of his years as a performer and writer(without portfolio)working with Sid Caesar on NBC-TV's YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS and CAESAR'S HOUR.

From recollections of his kinetic experiences with comic comrades in the writers room at NYC's City Center to the respite he found with his family in his New Rochelle, NY home, came the stuff of which the vaunted DICK VAN DYKE SHOW was concocted. It was an Emmy Award winning, CBS-TV sitcom that turned the stories of Reiner's life, with help from some of televisions most agile writers, like Gary Marshall, Jerry Belson, Bill Persky & Sam Denoff, into a classic television show.

But, long before Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Richard Deacon, Larry Matthews and ,yes, Carl Reiner, stepped before the film cameras on Stage 8 at Desilu Cauhengua Studios, there was a pilot for a sort of Dick Van Dyke Show, but without Dick Van Dyke.

The 30 minute test episode , commissioned by the Tiffany Network, was called HEAD OF THE FAMILY and it starred Carl Reiner as Rob Petrie , commercial spokeswoman/actress Barbara Britton as Laura, NY actress Sylvia Miles as Sally,comedian Morty Gunty as Buddy Sorrell and Gary Morgan as Ritchie.

In this B&W , single camera pilot, Reiner's Rob contended with a son who claimed not to like his Dad, a condescending wife and immature co-workers at the fictional Alan Sturdy Show.

Network executives and test audiences didn't think that Reiner was the right actor to play the lead in comic tales of Reiner's own life.

The show, which was produced in 1959 sat on the shelf, until it was played off,in 1960, by CBS-TV, as part of a comedy-anthology series calledTHE COMEDY SPOT, that served as a summer replacement for the RED SKELTON SHOW.

About a year later, Uber-producer Sheldon Leonard was asked to review the failed program. He re-envisioned ,recast and remounted the show.

Leonard, who was the creative force behind the top-rated,DANNY THOMAS SHOW and it's hit spin-off THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, elected to produce the pilot at Desilu, to leverage their pioneering work with multi-camera, filmed shows that were staged in front of a LIVE, studio audience.

While it struggled in its debut season with a bad time slot, powerful competition, sponsor defection and character development, THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW was a critical success that recruited a large and loyal audience.

It ran from 1961 to 1966 on CBS and can still be seen in syndication, today.

Reiner was lauded as a genius for the substance and the style of a series that retained the ring of comic truth in most human terms. His work set the course for situation comedy that endures.

Here from the QUICKDOWNLOAD YOU TUBE site, here are two clips that constitute the pilot for HEAD OF THE FAMILY. Enjoy!!!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

COME FLY WITH FRANK - CLASSIC SONG FROM SINATRA'S VARIETY SERIES - ABC-TV - CIRCA 1/3/1958

2011-06-28T21:15:00.008-04:00

Millions of American television viewers cherished their Friday's with Frank on ABC-TV in 1957 and 1958.

THE FRANK SINATRA SHOW also offered hope to ABC's management.

After all it was moderate hit on a third place network.

In a traditional, music/comedy/variety show, the Chairman of the Board convened a large and loving audience with a strategy of hip comedy, glittering guest stars and lush musical numbers.

Originating LIVE and in monochrome from The El Capitan theater in Hollywood , Young Blue Eyes sang the best of the Sinatra songbook and the audience swooned.

But, the weekly effort was designed to showcase more than Sinatra's stage presence and musical talents.

The versatile, if inconsistent, series format allowed Sinatra to alternate between performing in LIVE, variety episodes and filmed drama or comedy. William Self, produced the show and conductor Nelson Riddle, a long time, musical collaborator of Francis Albert, was EMMY nominated.

Fresh from PAL JOEY on film and only a few months away from taking the stage of the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas with showbiz pals and fellow rat pack-ers, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop,life on THE FRANK SINATRA SHOW was ring-a-ding-ding.

That was until rival CBS-TV moved beloved Top Banana,Phil Silvers, and his hit Army sitcom about a non-com,bunco artist named Sgt. Ernie Bilko into the same time slot.

Under heavy fire from THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW ( originally titled, YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH ) , THE FRANK SINATRA SHOW was a battlefield casualty in the network ratings war.

But a year later, America deserted Sgt. Bilko and his show also went off the air.

In the end, I don't think it hurt Sinatra's career. You realize, of course, that understatement is our strong suit at KINESCOPEHD!

Here from the MRSHARRYSTREET You Tube Site, is Frank Sinatra swingin' COME FLY WITH ME.Enjoy!!!!

THANKS FOR THE EARLIEST MEMORY OF BOB HOPE ON TV - HOPE'S DEBUT SPECIAL - NBC-TV - CIRCA APRIL 9, 1950

2011-06-21T22:51:00.012-04:00

On Easter Sunday, April 9th , 1950, early television viewers received a holiday basket of video cheer from the nascent NBC television network, when it brought Bob Hope from silver screen to small screen in his TV debut, THE STAR SPANGLED REVUE.Airing LIVE along the Eastern Seaboard from 5:30PM to 7:00pm, the show reportedly reached almost 50 percent of the available television audience.

A resounding success, Hope's maiden,NBC effort was produced by the video visionary behind Sid Caesar's YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS, the venerable Max Leibman. Guest stars included respected comedienne ,Beatrice Lillie and movie, matinee-idol, Douglas Fairbanks Junior. The smart and sardonic scribe,Larry Gelbart, was among Hope's cadre of comedy writers.

The Frigidaire appliances division of General Motors sponsored the vibrant offering.

Hope was among the last of the great radio and film comedians, like Jack Benny and Red Skelton, to make the transition to television.Legend says he thought it was too hard to do a weekly television offering, while maintaining his top-rated radio show and starring in films.It is said that when NBC asked what it would take to move him into TV , he and agent Jimmy Saphier asked for $50,000. In 1950, that was an exorbitant fee, but it didn't give NBC pause. They wrote the check.

Here, posted below from THEFILMARCHIVE You Tube site,is a complete recording of Bob Hope , starring in THE STAR SPANGLED REVUE. Enjoy!!!!

SATURDAY NIGHT SATIRE IN THE UK - RARE EPISODE OF THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS - BBC-TV - CIRCA 1963

2011-06-13T22:54:00.011-04:00

In the turbulent sixties, a strident, satirical voice rose above the din of violent protest and acrid accusation that filled the streets of global capitals on both sides of Atlantic. As the norms and mores of western culture were tested by pacifists and anarchists, alike, in New York, Washington DC , London and Paris, a comedic revolution was being plotted in the spartan corridors of the venerable BBC.

Broadcaster David Frost , producer Ned Sherrin,a cadre of comedy writers that boasted future Python, John Cleese and future Knight, Clement Freud, plus a cast of multi-talented performers including Millicent Martin and Roy Kinnear were creating a volatile, voluble new genre for television: weekly satire.

If you worked in the laughter laboratory and choose to map the comic genome for SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, THE DAILY SHOW, THE COLBERT REPORT, ROWAN AND MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN, THE SMOTHERS BROS. COMEDY HOUR and more,you would find THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS provides the Double Helix of articulate, acerbic satire from which those shows have evolved.

Funny and efficient,TW3 took less than one hour to spoof the absurd events of the previous seven days.

The LIVE, monochrome revue of politically and socially relevant sketches, songs and monologues ran for just two seasons in the UK, in 1962 and 1963, but it was an instant hit and a Saturday night television event on the BBC.

In 1964, the BBC passed on the show, concerned about the upcoming elections and the impact of,what it perceived to be, the show's provocative material.The production team thought that the series was over.

But across the Atlantic, in New York City a reprieve was in the making.Impressed with the show's topical humor and innovative production values, American Broadway impresario, Leland Hayward, brought the daring show, along with host David Frost, to NBC prime time.

While all involved in the program and approving critics saw great promise in the Amercian version of THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS,it just didn't translate to large ratings.Even with a cast that included regulars Nancy Ames,Woody Allen and Alan Alda, plus major guest stars, the landmark show lasted only two seasons on the Peacock Network in 1964 and 1965.

Here from the UTUBESHERLOCK1111 You Tune site are six clips that constitute one, stinging episode of THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS from the BBC in 1963.Enjoy!!!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

PART FIVE

PART SIX

BONUS - IN 1963, Millicent Martin and David Frost released a novelty recording of the theme from THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS in the UK. It was a hit. Here it is from the RAVES0FROM0THE0GRAVE0 You Tube site.Enjoy!!!

HOW TO SUCCEED ON LETTERMAN - BROADWAY REVIVAL LIGHT'S UP THE LATE SHOW - CBS-TV - CIRCA 5/19/11

2011-06-07T22:38:00.009-04:00

On Sunday night ( 6/12/11 ), the American Theater Wing will bestow it's coveted Antoinette Perry Awards to Broadway's Best. It is the 65th time that the Tony Awards will recognize excellence in theater. For most of those years television has brought this elegant event to homes that are thousands of miles off-Broadway.

This year, CBS-TV will carry the dazzling, 2011 TONY AWARDS SHOW, LIVE from NYC's Beacon Theater.

Television and Broadway have always, it seems to me, enjoyed a friendly partnership, since the dawn of video in the 1950's.That's when stage-trained, New York actors brought their protean skills to primitive television studios. These daring performers brought life to characters in the great , LIVE dramas, like CBS'S STUDIO ONE and NBC'S PHILCO PLAYHOUSE.

One of television' first and most celebrated variety revues, THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW on CBS-TV , brought Broadway excitement to American living rooms, by elaborately re-staging dramatic scenes and musical numbers from hit Broadway shows. The theatrical producers got incredible publicity for their offerings and Sullivan got to showcase the most respected talent on New York's Great White Way.

A few weeks ago, on the stage of the Ed Sullivan Theater, now home to THE LATE SHOW STARRING DAVID LETTERMAN, the tradition was rekindled as the accomplished and agile cast of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING performed the energetic
BROTHERHOOD OF MAN number for Letterman viewers.

As you'll see, the audience offered frenzied applause.

The vibrant revival of Abe Burrow's hit, 1960's satire of corporate culture is playing critical raves at NYC's Al Hirschfeld Theater and is Tony-nominated.

On a personal note, my wife and I saw the production and were blown away by the perfomances, the music and the staging, which offered a colorful take on the MAD MEN motif.

Posted below, from the SOPHIABPUENTES YOU TUBE site is that energetic, engaging performance , starring Daniel Radcliffe, John Larroquette and the cast.Enjoy this excerpt & THE TONY AWARDS, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, this Sunday night on CBS-TV!!!!

As a bonus, from THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW YOU TUBE site, here are Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert from the Broadway cast of WEST SIDE STORY performing TONIGHT, on Sunday,November 2, 1958. Enjoy!!!!

THE FIRST VOYAGE OF THE REAL ENTERPRISE - TEST FLIGHT OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE - NBC NEWS - CIRCA 8/12/77

2011-05-30T21:00:00.007-04:00

America's Shuttle Astronauts have made their final voyage to the Final Frontier.

This morning, orbiting approx.200 miles above Bolivia, the United States last operational Space Shuttle, The Endeavour, disembarked from it's last mission to the International Space Station.

NASA mission STS(Space Transport System)-134 took a symbolic, high altitude, high velocity victory lap around the I.S.S.

The skilled crew, led by Commander Mark Kelly, husband of Arizona Congresswoman Gaby Giffords, who was critically wounded in an assassination attempt, last spring, had completed the American module of the orbiting, scientific platform.

This brought to a close the space shuttle component of the U.S. manned spaceflight program. There are still plans to return human beings to the Moon and ,perhaps, to Mars, but the shuttle fleet will now be grounded.

Here from the LOTUS 4115 YOU TUBE site, is an NBC NEWS SPECIAL REPORT ,comprised of two clips that rewind the years of achievement and angst which have defined the shuttle program to the first, test flight of the first shuttle, The Enterprise. The NBC News coverage is anchored by the urbane Jack Perkins and the authoritative Roy Neal. Enjoy!!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

HI HO,STEVERINO!!! - RARE EPISODE OF THE STEVE ALLEN PLYMOUTH SHOW - NBC-TV - CIRCA JANUARY 1960

2011-05-21T22:59:00.010-04:00

Steven Patrick Valentine Allen, better known to his fans and fellow performers as Steverino, was a video virtuoso and a television icon.

Steve Allen,the first host of NBC's TONIGHT SHOW from 1954 to 1956,was a prolific performer with a penchant for rapid fire ad-libs and a Renaissance man with a cultured and curious worldview.

The prodigal son of Vaudeville superstars Belle Montrose and Billy Allen, he authored books, songs, essays,and a Broadway musical entitled THE BACHELOR ( no relation to the lurid dating-reality show on ABC-TV).

That production yielded Allen his upbeat theme song, THIS COULD BE THE START OF SOMETHING BIG.His contributions to late night television are evident anytime you watch Jay Leno, David Letterman or Conan O'Brien.

In 1956, NBC executives, anxious to capitalize on his ratings success in late night, and in an effort to challenge CBS-TV's top rated, ED SULLIVAN SHOW, convinced Allen to host and produce an NYC-based, comedy/variety show that went head to head with the stoic Sullivan.

Allen's eclectic vision for the hour brought controversial comedian ,Lenny Bruce, polticial satirst, Mort Sahl, and the bard of the Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac, to American living Rooms in LIVING COLOR.

(Steve Allen & Lenny Bruce on NBC-TV)

Allen's fast-paced hour held it's own, but it was an engaging western-satire on the struggling ABC television network that dethroned Sullivan and outgunned Allen. The show was called MAVERICK, staring James Garner.

In 1959, Allen's sophisticated show was moved out of MAVERICK'S line of fire to Monday night's,with full sponsorship from the Plymouth motor division of Chrysler Corporation.

Here, from the MUSICOM67 YOU TUBE site are four clips that comprise one episode of THE STEVE ALLEN PLYMOUTH SHOW,produced for airing on NBC-TV,in January of 1960.Enjoy!!!!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

COIFFED IN LIVING COLOR - BETTY WHITE'S HAIR CARE COMMERCIALS - NBC-TV - CIRCA 10/11/59

2011-05-16T15:46:00.012-04:00

Before she was fanning the flames of situation comedy on TV Land's hit, HOT IN CLEVELAND, and before Betty White was a Golden Girl, she was one of the first ladies of LIVING COLOR television.

Her earliest appearance was as a telephone operator on an L.A. variety show produced by KLAC-TV and hosted by singer Dick Haymes.The host asked viewers a question and they called into one of four operators awaiting the right answer. Ms. White was soon asked to ad-lib with the star.

Ms. White made her formal video debut as a comedienne, singer & co-host on a 1947, talk variety program that was also produced by KLAC-TV (now KCOP-TV) in Los Angeles, It was an easy-going,LIVE show that aired for five hours, each weekday, and was hosted by local disc jockey, Al Jarvis.

Her list of video ventures, spanning over sixty years, is too long and laudable to list, here.She has attained venerable status as a versatile actress and a wholesome performer with a stinging sense of humor.

While the term is overused, Ms. White is a verifiable,video icon.

Posted, below, from the VMANFACTOR5 YOU TUBE site are three classic commercials for the Richard Hudnut cosmetics company's line of hair care products , featuring Ms. White as their spokesperson, excerpted from a 1959 MILTON BERLE SPECIAL on NBC-TV
Enjoy!!!!!

THE USA REACHES FOR THE STARS AS THE WORLD WATCHES - 50 TH ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST AMERICAN IN SPACE - NBC-TV - CIRCA 5/5/61

2011-05-05T12:25:00.015-04:00

On a warm, spring day in 1961 , the whole planet was focused on a sandy patch of Florida scrub land that juts into the Atlantic Ocean, called Cape Canaveral. It would,on that day, become America's gateway to the stars for three generations of space travelers,yet to come.

It had been only a few weeks since the Soviet Union launched Yuri Gagarin into orbit, and into history, as the first man in space on April 12, 1961.

The USA lost the first lap of the RACE FOR SPACE between Russia and America,the two global superpowers of the cold war era.

But now, as the countdown clock in mission control ticked toward lift-off, the hopes and prayers of this nation were focused on the intense, intelligent, mischievous, naval officer who was strapped into the claustrophobic confines of the tiny capsule that sat atop the quietly vibrating rocket.

The spacecraft was named FREEDOM 7. The vehicle on the launch pad was one of the first and most striking images of America's most challenging initiative, to date: the plan to put humans in space.

It was designated PROJECT MERCURY.

Even in the Florida heat , a veil of white ice formed along the sides of the Redstone missile, as liquid oxygen fuel vented

When the countdown reached "zero," the stubby craft carrying Alan B. Shepard Jr. streaked skyward, and he made America's first, sub-orbital space flight.

Shepard was one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts, all of whom were military test pilots selected for their agility, flight experience , mature demeanor and raw courage. As a group , they were also world class pranksters.

They became heroes and role models. They brought fruition to the age old dream of exploring the heavens.

Shepard,went on to become head of NASA's astronaut office ,and later walked on the moon as a part of Project Apollo. One other unique event took place on May 5th of 1961.On that day,network television also made history.

For the first time, television was there to cover one of the most daring and dangerous chapters in the American adventure. NBC, ABC & CBS allowed viewers to witness the electrifying birth of the manned spaceflight program on LIVE television.

Millions of people , here, and around the globe , were transfixed in front of their TVs as the silvery, monochrome images of the pencil-shaped, Redstone rocket roared aloft.

Cameras were in mission control to show the launch team and the technology that powered the launch.

Viewers were,later, taken "down range," as the celebrated space traveler and his scorched craft were pulled from the Atlantic and returned for a heroes welcome, after a journeying to an altitude of 116 miles and splashing down 302 miles south of Cape Canaveral.

It appeared that this nation could do anything to which it committed. It was an intoxicating time in a nation that was still innocent in attitudes and in actions.

Here from the MSNBC website is a glimpse back to that day of victory aloft and inspiration on earth. Enjoy!!!!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Jon Stewart Pretty Much Says It All

2011-05-03T23:24:00.001-04:00

The Daily Show - Big Deady
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

A LEGEND LOST - MADELYN PUGH DAVIS, WHO WROTE I LOVE LUCY, PASSES AWAY

2011-04-22T14:24:00.003-04:00

While it was rare to find a woman in the writer's room of early network, television programs, today,it is even more difficult to find a sitcom scribe of any gender who has skills commensurate with the manifold talents of the late, Madelyn Pugh Davis.

Sadly, Ms. Davis, who was one of the four, original writers on the landmark I LOVE LUCY series passed away at the age of 90 in her Bel-Air home.

Teamed with longtime comedy-collaborator, Bob Carroll, Ms. Davis first wrote for Lucille Ball on the CBS Radio comedy, MY FAVORITE HUSBAND, along with producer Jess Oppenheimer.

CBS choose to transition the radio series to television in 1951, and after long negotiations, the Tiffany network allowed Ball's real-life husband, Desi Arnaz,to play her sitcom spouse. A multi-talented showman, Arnaz also served ,off-camera, as the executive producer.When Lucy and Desi formed DESILU PRODUCTIONS they brought Oppenheimer along as producer and then hired Carroll and Davis as staff writers.

Oppenheimer, Carrol and Ms. Davis wrote the pilot for the ground breaking series, which is still on the air , somewhere on this planet, almost every minute of the day.

It has been claimed that Ms. Davis tried many of the physical gags and stunts before putting them into the script for Lucy to perform. Ms. Davis and Bob Carroll wrote the first four of I LOVE LUCY'S six seasons on CBS-TV.

Ms Davis and her fellow writers won Emmy awards and other accolades,but perhaps the highest honor was the respect of their appreciative star. Whenever asked what made I LOVE LUCY so enduring and endearing, Ball would reply, "My writers."

Here, from the TVLEGENDS YOU TUBE Site is a brief interview with MS. Davis, explaining how she got her start as a television comedy writer. Enjoy!!!!

As a bonus, here is one the funniest moments from the early years of I LOVE LUCY,when Carroll and Davis were writing the show,the candy factory. Enjoy!!!

LIVE FROM THE MOON IN 1950 - TV TOURS A SCI-FI MOVIE SET - KTLA-TV - CIRCA 1950

2011-04-17T17:46:00.005-04:00

Here is a flashback to some classic 1950's Hollywood hoopla as CITY AT NIGHT, a talk/variety show that was produced LIVE on location by pioneering, Los Angeles television station KTLA, visits the set of producer George Pal's classic sci-fi movie-in-the-making, DESTINATION MOON.

KTLA-TV was launched in 1947 by Paramount Pictures and was guided by technical innovator and video visionary Klaus Landsberg. His efforts brought everything from an atomic blast in the Nevada desert to the Rose Parade to astonished and appreciative television viewers in Southern California.

Today, KTLA is owned by Tribune and continues to develop engaging and entertaining, local content across a variety of media platforms.

In the clips below, from the CROWTROBOT 1313 YOU TUBE site, which constitute almost the entire program,you'll witness a complex,remote broadcast that many television stations might not even have been attempted in the medium's nascent stages.

On this night in 1950, multiple B&W cameras , including one on a crane,take the audience into the vast sets and the hosts meet with director ,designers,crew and cast members.

Enjoy!!!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

As a bonus , here is the original , theatrical trailer for DESTINATION MOON.Enjoy!!!

FORD HAD A BETTER IDEA - THE 1968 MUSTANG INTRO SPOT - VARIOUS OUTLETS - CIRCA FALL 1967

2011-04-10T21:39:00.007-04:00

In the tumultuous sixties, Detroit car makers were the kings of the road.

The Motor City moguls, like Ford, GM and Chrysler, and their Madison Avenue advertising agencies, were as good at selling the promise of sex and youth to prospective buyers as they were at moving muscle cars off the lot and on to the American highway.

In the Fall of 1967, as this country faced convulsive social and political change, the Ford Motor Company rolled out the new, 1968 Mustang in a super-sized , 2 minute and 58 second commercial that delivered high octane laughs for viewers and high volume results for car dealers.

It was good time spot that diverted consumers attention from upheaval in the streets to horsepower in the driveway.

From the ROGUE SYRENE YOU TUBE site is a fast & funny ad that explains why ONLY MUSTANG MAKES IT HAPPEN. Enjoy!!!!!

AMERICA'S GETS ZONKED FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! - RARE PILOT OF LET'S MAKE A DEAL - NBC-TV - CIRCA APRIL,1963

2011-04-02T17:54:00.013-04:00

In the innocence of Spring 1963, months before fateful gunshots rang out in Dallas, forever changing America , an optimistic United States was reaching for the stars at Cape Canaveral.

The Kennedy White House was focused on the future, while confronting the challenges of the Civil Rights movement and growing concerns about the global spread of communism.

American families were enjoying an economic boom that brought unprecedented prosperity to the middle class. There was already a burgeoning generation of bargain-hunting, Baby-Boomers.

Then, a major television network and a genial , engaging, Canadian game show host were prepared to offer the women who comprised television's daytime audience the deals of a lifetime.

NBC-TV was looking to develop a new concept in an age-old, video genre, the game show. Entertainer and entrepreneur Monty Hall, with partner/producer Stefan Hatos, developed a program that gave studio audience members the chance to bargain for big-ticket goods, or to get Zonked and walk away with a bizarre consolation prize.

By the end of each show, the top winners traded their prizez for what was behind one of the 3 colorful doors during THE BIG DEAL OF THE DAY. They were at Monty's mercy and could drive away with a brand new car, or go home with a year's supply of M&M's.

Here from the BLUELOBSTER YOU TUBE site ,and the GAME SHOW NETWORK, is the 1963 pilot episode of LET'S MAKE A DEAL STARRING MONTY HALL.

Shot at the Peacock Network's Burbank studios, alot of what you see in this episode grew to be bedrock of the long running show, which was on the NBC daytime schedule for over a decade before moving to ABC-TV. Many iterations of the format, including one produced for NBC with Billy Bush as host, have come and gone.

The latest, and most successful, revival/re-boot of the fast-paced game appears on CBS Daytime and is hosted by Wayne Brady.

In the pilot, Hall was supported by legendary announcer Wendell Niles, who was later replaced by Jay Stewart. Music , as was the way in the nascent years of network television,was provided by a lone organist, the prolific Ivan Ditmars.Both Niles and Ditmars were veterans of Bob Barker's venerable TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, on NBC-TV. The enduring and instantly identifiable theme was written by Sheldon Allman. The pilot, like much of the series, was directed by Joe Behar.

Of course, model Carol Merill achieved iconic, pop culture status on LET'S MAKE A DEAL, blazing a path for Vanna White, Barker's Beauties and others to follow, who would coyly caress a Dodge Caravan or a Coleman Grill.

You'll notice that , in the pilot, potential traders and dealers came to the show in street clothes. Early in the series run, audience members started to arrive at the studio dressed in outlandish costumes and make-up, all designed to attract the attention of , as the announcer said every day,"TV's top trader, America's big dealer, Monty Hall!!!"

Enjoy!!!:)

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

BOB LOVES LUCY - THE CAST OF I LOVE LUCY ON THE BOB HOPE CHEVY SHOW - NBC-TV - CIRCA 1956

2011-03-26T21:53:00.008-04:00

In the fall of 1956, comic icon Bob Hope returned to NBC for a new season of Sunday night, comedy/variety specials, sponsored by General Motor's Chevrolet Division.

This was a much anticipated event and not just because Hope was a beloved performer, who earned the affection and respect of a generation of Americans, that he entertained in the face of the Great Depression and World War II.

On this night, Hope, for decades the biggest variety star on television, would welcome the greatest star in situation comedy, Lucille Ball.

Reciprocating for a guest appearance that Hope made on CBS-TV's I LOVE LUCY, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz made their NBC-TV debut performing on THE BOB HOPE CHEVY SHOW.

As you'll see in the clips posted, below, from the RAMBO53915 YOU TUBE site, Lucy and Bob played in a sketch that spoofed Ball& Arnaz's, top-rated I LOVE LUCY. The scene features Hope as Ricky Ricardo, plus Vivian Vance and Bill Frawley. It was produced with meticulous attention to every detail of the hit sitcom from the Tiffany Network.

As for Ball and Hope,the popular pair of jokers had worked together on film, radio and television.Their on screen chemistry was electric.

In the meantime, enjoy this confluence of comic genius on a Burbank soundstage.!!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

BONUS CLIP FROM THE MINNOWTRAPPERMD YOU TUBE SITE

THE I LOVE LUCY SKETCH IN COLOR.ENJOY!!!!

SMART SCIENCE WITH A SMILE- HEMO THE MAGNIFICENT - BELL SCIENCE SERIES - NBC-TV - CIRCA 1957

2011-03-19T21:20:00.008-04:00

Long before PBS or it's precursor, NET, ever flickered on a 21 inch, Black & White Motorola console TV in the family room, commercial television networks and local stations took their obligation to inform and enlighten their youngest and most impressionable viewers quite seriously.

Even if the smartest programming with which they educated the tots in front of the tube was somewhat whimsical.

That's not to say that all tv aimed at toddlers offered classroom instruction by way of a cathode ray tube.

Broadcasters always benefitted from showing pre-pubescent , escapist fare that included everything from crude cartoons to slapstick THREE STOOGES shorts to re-tread cowboy serials.

Each of those offerings brought with it a sponsor, determined to connect with vid-kids, even if it meant spending extravagantly on content and commercials.When it came to advertising revenue, children's television was grown-up business.

But, in the 1950's, as television was in it's adolescence, and long before the deregulation of media ownership in the 1980's and 1990's, the Federal Communications Commission required that television and radio stations regularly provide content aimed at enriching the lives of young viewers.

The admonition to carry this programming was stringently enforced, locally and nationally.

Bell Telephone was, in the Eisenhower-era, one of the largest media conglomerates on earth. When people spoke of "the phone company" they were referring to American Telephone & Telegraph, the parent company of Bell Telephone. Bell took seriously the need to bring shows of substance to the youngest members of the family.

To meet that goal, in 1957, A.T.&T, and its advertising agency N.W. AYER, commissioned THE BELL LABORATORY SCIENCE SERIES.

Produced by some of the most accomplished filmmakers ever to work in television, including Frank Capra and Walt Disney, each of the seven episodes made between 1957 and 1962 were hosted by a gifted and engaging academic, U.S.C.'s , Dr. Frank Baxter.

He was supported by a cadre of cartoon characters, who were, metaphorically, cut from the same cloth as the legendary MUPPETS: equal parts fun , fantasy and fact.

In a vibrant mix of live action and animation, each show explored single topics in science and humanities.Even, then, it evoked a campy quality.

The programs gave young viewers an insightful, yet entertaining look at the human circulatory system, the secrets of weather, a history of time, a lesson on the origin of language and more. An eighth episode,produced in 1964, starring Walt Disney, explored the world's oceans.

For those of us who saw these films on television and again in classrooms, it was an entertaining way to learn.Viewed today, it offers a crystalline window into the innocence of television's nascent years.

Here from the PANSKEPTIC YOU TUBE site, if the opening segment of 1957's HEMO THE MAGNIFICENT, from THE BELL LABORATORY SCIENCE SERIES, Enjoy!!!!!

YOU CAN BE SURE ... & CLOSE ... IF IT'S WESTINGHOUSE - COMMERCIAL FOR A NEW TV SET - CBS-TV - CIRCA 1949

2011-03-12T23:01:00.005-05:00

It was a tiny screen that enlarged America's worldview.

Commercial Television broadcasting finally came to life with the economic boom that occurred in the years following World War II.

Stations were licensed and went on the air as rationed materials needed for military defense were released by the federal government to companies like RCA, Admiral,Westingouse. They , in turn, designed and manufactured the first generation of home, television receivers.

These early, black & white, TV sets cost the average consumer $300 to $400 each , at a time when a new Ford sedan cost about $1500. Yet, across the nation , TV antennas went up on roofs in communities,both big and small.Some sets even had a built-in antenna.

Audio was low and tinny, the picture was often fuzzy and occasionally rolled and screens on these first sets often maxed out at a diagonal measurement of 12 inches.

But, one clever company, Westinghouse, found a way to enlarge the image without making a physical change in your tv set.

Here , from the trabajopublicau you tube site, is a LIVE, 1949 commercial from CBS-TV's STUDIO ONE,introducing this extraordinary innovation THE EXCLUSIVE ELECTRONIC MAGNIFIER.Enjoy!!!!!

A PEACH OF AN AD - REMINGTON RAND SHAVER COMMERCIAL - CBS-TV - CIRCA 1955

2011-03-05T21:36:00.009-05:00

If you think you need a mini-machete with 11 blades that you have to drag across your stubble, after you slather on 28 ounces of viscous gel that smells like industrial grade potpourri,to get a clean, close shave, then check out this commercial from one of the first companies to manufacture electric shavers, Remington Rand.

Yep. That Remington Rand.The same technological titans who developed the UNIVAC computer system, which helped the Strategic Air Command scan the skies for Soviet satellites during the early days of the cold war.

This LIVE, black and white ad ran on CBS-TV's venerable, Sunday night quiz program, WHAT'S MY LINE in the mid-1950's.Remington's sonorous, commercial spokesman,Dick Stark, not only extols the virtues of a dry shave from a device that harvests your facial hair with "diamond-honed blades," but shows how close a shave you'll get by shearing the fuzz off of peach.

All that, plus an extravagant $7.50 rebate , if you trade in your old shaver.

What more could you ask from a giant computer company that apparently dedicated itself giving you a smooth face by ,first, man-scaping your mid-afternoon snack?

Here, from the MATT THE SAIYAN TUBE site, is a convincing clip about about an electric clipper.Enjoy!!!!

NEWS WITH THE ACCENT ON YOUTH - FABIAN ON AMERICAN NEWSSTAND - ABC-TV - CIRCA 11/29/61

2011-02-26T21:05:00.016-05:00

In the monochrome haze of early-1960's,television, ABC-TV was widely viewed as half a network, with only a handful of hot shows. While it may have been Camelot in the White House,at ABC-TV, it was television's equivalent of Tobacco Road.

There was a ray of ratings hope.

Those few, rare, prime-time hits on the ALPHABET NETWORK, like 77 SUNSET STRIP, MAVERICK and THE FLINTSTONES appealed to a fast growing demographic that not only controlled the magic box in the living room, but also had ready,disposable income and had developed highly specific preferences in consumer goods.

For real-life MADMEN, teen aged TV viewers were a new and desirable target for the candy companies, acne creams, haircare products and board game manufacturers whose messages they crafted.

At ABC-TV, programmers felt that the young video viewers were salvation in the face of a mature audience, which had developed brand-loyalty to the venerable CBS and NBC television networks, along with the adult-oriented content they carried.

They also looked covetously at young viewers, with a hope for the network's future.

It was a valid vision: ABC would cultivate and retain that loyal, adolescent audience for decades ahead.

ABC-TV found one of it's biggest hits in a low,cramped, brick building under the elevated train tracks in blue collar, West Philadelphia. The ABC network's first affiliate, WFIL-TV (now, WPVI-TV), produced hour after hour of local programming in the mid-1950's.

Station management and local sponsors envisioned a teen dance party that would feature high school students rocking,rolling and strolling to the latest hit records.

The station's programming manager,executive producer, and television legend, Lew Klein was creating the show. He hired a handsome host ,who was only a few years older than the kids who guested on the video record hop. His name was Dick Clark. Lew knew he had something special and the audience agreed.

The viewer response and the ratings were extraordinary.

Next, Klein took the show to ABC programmers, who decided in 1957,to carry AMERICAN BANDSTAND on the network, so that a young and enthusiastic, national audience could watch. It became trend-setting, appointment television for the adoring adolescent audience.The show would air LIVE, daily, from WFIL-TV's compact studios until 1964, when network executives and Dick Clark moved it to ABC Television Center in Los Angeles.

The programming strategy was working. Teamed with THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB and a young Johnny Carson hosting a comic game show called WHOM DO YOU TRUST?, ABC was suddenly a player in daytime, network television.

How could ABC capitalize on the nascent audience? Could news for Teens help retain viewers?

The ABC NEWS department was under-funded, under-staffed and under the gun. In an effort to capture a part of the growing afternoon audience, they mounted AMERICAN NEWSSTAND, a brief newscast that focused on ideas, issues and personalities that appealed to young viewers.Anchored by ABC correspondents Roger Sharp, Bill Lord and Dave Jayne, the youth oriented newscast aired each weekday after AMERICAN BANDSTAND.

In this clip , from the ROGERSHARPEARCHIVE you tube site, you'll see stories about the cold war, the selection of Col. John Glenn to be the first American in orbit a high school student's observations on unrest in the Dominican Republic and a new Rose Bowl queen.

There is a LIVE interview segment with rock and roll heartthrob Fabian, that's heavy on talk about his appearance on an upcoming ABC-TV drama( see the promo that follows the newscast), BUS STOP.

It would be 1976 before ABC-TV achieved first place ratings in prime time and daytime, and even longer until ABC NEWS , under the inspired vision and direction of Roone Arledge, would become the nation's primary source for news.

Enjoy AMERICAN NEWSSTAND!!!!!

FUTUREVISION IN BLACK & WHITE - ARTHUR C. CLARKE LOOKS TO THE FUTURE ON HORIZION - BBC-TV - CIRCA 1964

2011-02-19T21:56:00.011-05:00

Author, futurist , astronomer and visionary Arthur C. Clarke could see the face of the future, while others had amorphous dreams of mankind's destiny.

From his fertile mind came the notion of communications satellites, the idea for an elevator that would carry voyagers from Earth into space and the avant-garde ,galactic tale of 2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY.

In 1964, in an affable, but astonishing monologue,this renaissance man presaged the technological wonders of the decades to come, on HORIZON , the B&W, BBC-TV science series that was dedicated to exploring the future through the eyes of the finest minds in science and the humanities.

In his 91 years of forward thinking, so many of his predictions met fruition.

Here from the LUCIDL YOU TUBE site, is a prescient preview of the lives we are living , and perhaps wonders yet to come, from Arthur C. Clarke.Enjoy!!!!!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

THE ABC'S OF VICTORY - PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN SPOT - ABC-TV - CIRCA SEPT. 1978

2011-02-13T21:36:00.007-05:00

In the late 1970's , long before disco dancing gave way to digital downloads, two true signs of autumn in America were the prismatic glory of fall foliage and the high voltage promotional campaigns for the three major television networks.

A nation that actually left work at the office, that could not be reached by phone on the beach and that , somehow , survived with a news cycle that stretched silently from 11pm until the morning newspaper hit the front step at 7am would go on a peaceful summer sojourn to the beach or the lake.

When days grew shorter and school loomed large, the networks sang their siren song of new shows and major stars. Growing prime time audience was the prime objective.

In the 1976-77 television season, ABC-TV, long derided by CBS AND NBC as half a network, had jiggled it's way into first place, thanks to Charlie's Angels, Richie Cunningham, The Fonz, Laverne & Shirley and more.

The network had capitalized on its success in 1977 with the kinetic STILL THE ONE campaign, featuring the bouncy, upbeat, Orleans hit.

The alphabet network would next proudly proclaim WE'RE THE ONE!!!They had everything to gain and everything to loose when they launched this voluble and vibrant promo campaign , posted on the BOBTWCATLANTA YOU TUBE site.Enjoy!!!!!!

HAIL THE REIGN OF CAESAR - SCENES OF COMIC GENIUS - NBC-TV & DuMONT NETWORK - CIRCA 1949 TO 1957

2011-02-05T22:56:00.007-05:00

Even in this age of 52 inch, flat panel televisions, there still may not be a screen big enough to display the full range of Sid Caesar's manifold, magnificent, manic comedic talents.

An acclaimed and beloved video virtuoso, Caesar's earliest work in the infant medium was brilliant, visionary and innovative. In fact, it was so good that his first series, 1949's ADMIRAL BROADWAY REVUE, was so successful that it was shut down after just one season on the air.

Caesar's smart and antic comedy motivated so many people to purchase television sets, that his first sponsor, Admiral electronics, cancelled that DuMont Network show, rather than investing in expanding it's manufacturing plant.

Here are three examples of his incomparable comedy and the brilliant ensemble cast that supported him on his three,landmark series, THE ADMIRAL BROADWAY REVUE (1949 DuMont Network & NBC-TV), YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS (1950-1954 NBC-TV ) and CAESAR'S HOUR(1954-1957 NBC-TV)..

On stage, Carl Reiner and Howard Morris, plus leading ladies Imogene Coca and Nanette Fabray, were the nucleus of Television's most explosive , and funniest chain reaction.

In the writer's room, Caesar commanded the most astonishing legion of superlative scribes, all of whom went on to change the architecture of American comedy. Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart , Woody Allen , Lucille Kallen, Joe Stein and Mike Stewart.

The result was a vibrant ,LIVE, entertaining tapestry woven each Saturday night at Sid Caesar's skilled hand. American television viewers could not have been happier.

First, from the ROLKO 52 You Tube site, Caesar is the reluctant and rebellious honoree in a stinging parody of the hit biographical program, THIS IS YOUR LIFE.

Please, enjoy Caesar, Carl Reiner and Howard Morris in THIS IS YOUR STORY, from YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS.

Next, from CAESAR'S HOUR and displayed on the 94 LEE You Tube site, Reiner, Morris and Caesar send-up mid-1950's rock and roll stars as they portray THE THREE HAIRCUTS, singing their hit on the lipstick label,SO RARE.

From the second episode of ADMIRAL BROADWAY REVIEW, and posted on the JSTEEBER You Tube site, here is a televised tour de force. Caesar performs a high velocity, high voltage rendition of a five dollar date in Manhattan. Enjoy!!!!

PRIMETIME PALS BECOME FAST FRIENDS - JOHNNY CARSON VISITS THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM - CBS-TV - CIRCA 11/20/1955

2011-01-29T22:57:00.009-05:00

November 20th, 1955 was an average night of television fare, but it was one of the first times that the flickering box of wires, tubes and lights in the living room acted as a time machine.

On that autumn evening, viewers of CBS-TV'S vaunted and venerable JACK BENNY PROGRAM were introduced to the future sovereign of late night, TV silliness, Johnny Carson. This was just the first of dozens of instances in which this affable pair of meticulous monologists would appear together on television.They became loyal and lifelong friends

On this Eisenhower-era evening, Carson was a fledgling, Tiffany network star visiting Benny's top-rated telecast to promote his own CBS-TV series, "THE JOHNNY CARSON SHOW."

In a prescient bit, the slight and sprightly young performer stood next to Benny, the beloved, American, show business icon and Carson's professional role-model,offering Benny career advice.

It was a pleasant and entertaining exchange, that offers insight into a friendship that would endure for decades.

Here from the AL SMITHEY YOU TUBE site, here are two of television's most accomplished performers.Enjoy!!!!

IN HONOR OF A TRUE TELEVISIONARY - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO COMIC GENIUS ERNIE KOVACS - CIRCA 1/23/1919

2011-01-23T16:51:00.007-05:00

When you think, see and hear things in a funny way that other people don't always observe or acknowledge, it means you are either a world class comedian or an average person in need of immediate psychological attention.

In the case of video-virtuoso Ernie Kovacs, it was the former and we are all fortunate for that.

Today , January 23, 2011, we celebrate what would have been the 92nd birthday of the Trenton, New Jersey native and television innovator. So much of what viewers love in TV comedy , today, grew from his inspired and spontaneous work , at the very dawn of the medium on Philadelphia's Philco-owned Channel 3, then WPTZ-TV.

There he hosted the fast and funny, 3 TO GET READY, a LIVE morning show, that preceded The TODAY SHOW as one of the nascent tube's first,AM offerings.

Kovacs,who took the primitive tools and technology available to him in the early 1950's, and he used the medium as a vibrant prism, though which the small, but loyal audience that had access to tv sets, would view his comic lunacy.

He moved on to host unique and engaging shows for DuMont, NBC, CBS and finally found a professional home at ABC-TV. Superstars from David Letterman to MONTY PYTHON'S Terry Gilliam have credited Kovac's with inspiring them.

An inveterate gambler and a confirmed cigar smoker, he died in a 1962 car accident in Los Angeles. His legacy of laughter and television accomplishment endures.

To learn more about Ernie Kovacs and his formidable contributions to television, I suggest you go to list of links on this page, just to the left of this post, and click on THE ERNIE KOVACS BLOG, an excellent site run by Al Quagliata & Ben Model.

Posted below, from the TURKEYTV You Tube site is a signature Kovac's piece.From one of his 1961 ABC-TV specials, here is THE MUSICAL OFFICE.

Enjoy!!!

TV'S MOST REMOTE POSSIBILITY - RCA'S FIRST WIRELESS REMOTE FOR COLOR TV - RCA - CIRCA 1961

2011-01-22T15:19:00.008-05:00

With President Kennedy's New Frontier and the attendant sense of Camelot come to life , in 1961, came a revolution in rec-room relaxation.RCA, The American communications company that invented LIVING COLOR television, offered its very first, wireless, remote control to operate a Color set.

While Zenith offered the original wireless, "Space Command," remote, RCA was the primary player in Color television.The introduction of the "Wireless Wizard" remote system, had significant impact with RCA distributors and prospective buyers.

The heavy, oblong device, had "rocker bars" that controlled the seven functions required to operate the RCA television. There were no knobs or dials to ruin the sleek lines of the elegant cabinetry.It opened tge door to our goldebn age of sloth on the sofa!!:)

If you were among the first people in human civilization to lose the remote, there was a control panel , hidden in a drawer, that had identical switches to operate the set.

Here,from the HAUNTED STUDIOS YOU TUBE site, is a promotional film for RCA dealers and window shoppers explaining the protocols and the promise of the "Wireless Wizard" remote.

Better set the Color before Bonanza comes on!!!!Enjoy!!!!

WHERE THERE'S COMEDY ,THERE'S HOPE!!! - THE BOB HOPE BUICK SHOW- NBC-TV - CIRCA OCTOBER 8, 1959

2011-01-15T17:56:00.008-05:00

It is rare that you can present a superlative entertainer who is so universally recognized and respected as a comedy icon, that there really is no need to tell his back story.

Do we need to say anything more than 'BOB HOPE?"

Born Leslie Townes Hope on May 27, 1903 in London,England, Bob Hope was a pioneer, an innovator and a household name. In 1908, Hope's family migrated to Ohio and for most of his 100 years,the Bristol-born, multi-talented Bob Hope was viewed as an American original.

While he achieved stardom on Broadway, in Vaudeville, on the Silver Screen, in Radio and on Television, he may be best recalled for his selfless dedication to the American Military. In war and peace, here at home and around the globe, the committed comedian entertained all who served the United States, our allies and the cause of Freedom.

Indefatigable, on and off stage, Hope was a superstar in the 1940's, 50's and 60's. Posted below, from the MOPSHIA15 You Tube site, is a prime example of Old Ski Nose in the spotlight.

Here is the BOB HOPE BUICK SHOW from Fall of 1959. Enjoy!!!!!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

PICTURE PERFECT IMAGES IN 60 SECONDS - POLAROID LAND CAMERA COMMERCIAL - NBC-TV - CIRCA 1960

2011-01-03T21:30:00.005-05:00

Three or four decades before you could instantly snap a vivid, crisp, digital image on your cellphone, I-phone or Blackberry, your grandparents marveled at the chance to see a moment of their lives,frozen in time on a curly, silvery, black and white photo, that was developed just 60 seconds after they clicked the shutter.

The Polaroid Land Camera revolutionized personal photography in the early 1950's. No more would an amateur Ansel Adams have to take a roll of film off to a photo shop or drug store to be developed.

With this high-tech apparatus, you could take a picture, count off a minute, open the back of the camera and pullout your completed photograph , suitable for frame or album.

The Polaroid folks were among the earliest companies to use television as the primary platform on which to sell their innovative product.

They staged LIVE, unedited product demos on shows, like the 1960 edition NBC-TV's THE PERRY COMO SHOW, that's posted, below from the MUSICOM 67 YOU TUBE site.

You'll notice actor Don Amechee, who portrayed telephone inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, on the silver screen, is the pitch perfect spokesperson for Polaroid.
Enjoy!!!!!

FROM KINESCOPE HD TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY: WARM WISHES FOR A JOYOUS HOLIDAY SEASON- MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY, HEALTHY 2011!!!!

2010-12-24T15:41:00.006-05:00

PHOTO BY BRAD NAU

Here's a yuletide present for all who are kind enough to visit KINESCOPE HD.

It's the 1957, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby Christmas Special, HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM FRANK AND BING. The show was directed by Old Blue Eyes as a special edition of his ABC-TV variety series.The warm and relaxed half hour was filmed at the Hollywood studios of 20th Century Fox,and aired on December 20, 1957.

Set in a stylized vision of a mid-1950's Beverly Hills bachelor pad, Crosby and Sinatra, the two consummate crooners of their time, swing to Christmas favorites while sharing a flagon of egg nog or two.In a nod to Eisenhower-era convention among the idle-rich, Leon Lontoc appears as Frank's butler. Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra provided the musical support, while the hipster dialog was written by William Morrow.

The Chairman of The Board (as New York, Disc Jockey William B. William had christened Sinatra) decided to have the program filmed in color, with a prescient eye towards durable, future distribution.

But, at that time, the alphabet network had only monochrome, broadcast capability, so it was telecast in vivid Black & White.

The version posted below from the RETROSPECTAVIDEO YOU TUBE site, may actually be the colorized version of the special that commissioned by the Sinatra family in October of 2003.

The performers, however, like their musical selections, are timeless Enjoy!!!!

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

WE LOVE LUCY AND LUCY LOVES HER NEW FORD - THE LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR - CBS-TV - CIRCA 1957

2010-12-21T22:56:00.012-05:00

Television viewers across America and around the globe have loved Lucy since CBS first introduced us to the henna-headed heroine of a thousand hare-brained schemes in the Fall of 1951.

The show was I LOVE LUCY and it was a true Templar for the multi-camera, situation comedies that endure ,even, to this day on network television.

You know the back story:

Insistent,impish and indefatigable Lucy Ricardo ( Lucille Ball ) craves the showbiz spotlight even more than her bandleader husband,Ricky ( Desi Arnaz ). In pursuit of fame and fortune Lucy enlists landlord/neighbor Ethel Mertz ( Vivian Vance ) as her co-conspirator in comic capers, while Ethel's husband, Fred Mertz ( William Frawley ) always has to help Ricky in cleaning up the rubble of Lucy's latest,laughable adventure.

In the Fall of 1957, Desi and Lucy's Desilu Productions had just purchased RKO Studios and rapidly became the largest producer of filmed comedy in television. The pressure on the pair was increasing. After 8 years of critical accolades and audience adoration, as ratings started to decline and as the real life marriage of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz became fraught with tension of Desi's drinking and womanizing,both the network and theArnaz's decided it was time to revamp the beloved series.

The solution was to do fewer episodes, but to extend them to a one hour format, studded with guest stars that Lucy would aggravate to comic extremes. The Ricardo's would move to the suburbs and the Mertze's would go with them.

On November 6th , 1957 @ 10pm Eastern time, THE LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR debuted to huge ratings, that pleased network executives and their new sponsor, The Ford Motor Company.

Producing just 13 episodes per season,the super-sized sitcom alternated with another Desilu production. It was a new anthology hour that Arnaz sold to CBS-TV for the Monday night, 10PM time slot, called WESTINGHOUSE PRESENTS THE DESILU PLAYHOUSE.

Desi Arnaz produced and hosted the stylish, expansive series, which was an incubator for Desilu produced pilots, that included THE UNTOUCHABLES ( sold as a series to ABC-TV, when CBS passed ) and an hour called THE TIME ELEMENT, which served as a test episode for the Tiffany network's iconic, sci-fi/fantasy series THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

Below, we have posted six clips from the XDESILU YOU TUBE site, which constitute one episode of THE LUCY-DESI COMEDY HOUR ( originally titled as A LUCILLE BALL-DESI ARNAZ COMEDY SPECIAL)that aired on December 1st , 1958.

It's brings together the rambunctious redhead with the voluble Danny Thomas and the cast of characters from his MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY series, in a vibrant example of early , prime-time, crossover programming. Enjoy!!!!

But,first, from the MISSLILLYBLUE YOU TUBE site, here's a word from their sponsor. See what happens when Lucy and Ricky visit their local Ford dealer and see the ne, 1957 Ford Retractable Top Convertible. Enjoy!!!!

And, now, LUCY MAKES ROOM FOR DANNY.Enjoy!!!!

LUCY & DANNY KAYE ... LAUGHTER IN LIVING COLOR - A DANNY KAYE SPECIAL - NBC-TV - CIRCA NOV. 5, 1962

2010-12-12T12:43:00.010-05:00

In the 1960's, Color television may not have always made comedy seem funnier, but it did provide a vibrant, vivid canvas for a multi-talented performer.

On November 5, 1962, NBC presented a comic symphony in red , as the funny, formdiable Danny Kaye and his special guest, a true American video icon , Lucille Ball, came together for an hour of henna-tinted television .

The DANNY KAYE SPECIAL, was directed at NBC's Burbank studios by Greg Garrison (who also guided network series for Milton Berle and Dean Martin) and was written by accomplished, variety veteran Ernest Chambers in concert with Kaye's collaborator in show business and in life, his wife, Sylvia Fine Kaye.

The special showcased the superlative comedic skills of two respected and beloved performers in their primacy.It also proved to be a precursor to the kinetic Kaye's CBS-TV variety series, which ran from 1963 to 1967 and which received many critical accolades and industry awards.

THE DANNY KAYE SPECIAL also won the acclaim of reviewers, along with Emmy nominations and Director's Guild of America recognition.

The first clip posted, below,from OLDTVHISTORY YOU TUBE site is an excerpt of sketch about a shy couple on a date at a Japanese restaurant. This video comes from the NBC 50th Anniversary show which aired in 1976 and starts with narration from Johnny Carson. Enjoy!!!!

Danny Kaye and Lucille Ball 1962

As a bonus, here is a longer excerpt of the same sketch from the HUILIFOJ YOU TUBE site, but recorded as a Black and White kinescope. Enjoy!!!!

Danny Kaye and Lucille Ball in B & W

As a second bonus, here is an updated , re-envisioning of the "dining on a date" sketch, now set in a French restaurant, that comes from the HUILIFOJ YOU TUBE site and appears to have aired as a part of Kaye's CBS-TV series. Enjoy!!!!

Danny Kaye and Lucille Ball in COLOR on CBS-TV

HANUKKAH HILARITY - WJZ-TV - CIRCA 1979

2010-12-03T22:17:00.009-05:00

Now,from the secret files of KINESCOPE HD comes a story so powerful, dangerous and daring that it has been kept under a clandestine...er...eh...ah... What? Too much local news hype?

Okay, the story posted below didn't really change the world.It's just one of the funniest moments you'll ever see on a LIVE newscast.

I know. I was there and fortunate to have served as executive producer of CHANNEL 13 EYEWITNESS NEWS.

But, before we go back to the videotape...

It was the first night of Hanukkah,1979,and high atop Baltimore's Television Hill, in the WJZ-TV studios, producers wanted to do a LIVE talkback with a Rabbi and his family to explain the significance and history of this ancient Hebrew celebration.

Rabbi Bradley Bleefeld of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation agreed to explain the story behind the traditional lighting of the menorah , accompanied by his wife and two sons, while the comely Talmudic tableau was to be captured ,LIVE, by EYEWITNESS NEWS camera person Carol Kummer and technician Carmine Lisciandrello.

In the studio, legendary, Baltimore Anchorman Jerry Turner was paired with the fast and funny newsman,Richard Sher, on this infamous night. Producer Nanette Wilson was in the control room, navigating through EYEWITNESS NEWS AT 6pm, which was Maryland's most watched news program.It was a relatively quite news day...until...

Well ... keep an eye on the little guy on the right side of the frame and enjoy!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING - HOLIDAY FUN FROM THE VIDEO VAULT - WKRP IN CINCINNATI - CIRCA 1978

2010-11-25T12:35:00.003-05:00

We hope you are enjoying the warmth of family and the comfort of food on this Thanksgiving Holiday.

Here is a fast and funny flashback to one of the best episodes produced for the wacky and wonderous CBS series, WKRP IN CINCINNATI. Think of it as sitcom sorbet between full courses of parades and football.

From the MRSTEPHENRGILMAN YOU TUBE site is the WKRP Turkey Drop episode , scoped down to just thirty seconds. Best wishes for the holiday season, and enjoy!!!!!:)

REALLY BIG SHOW WITH REALLY BIG LAUGHS - THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW - CBS-TV CIRCA 1948-1971

2010-11-21T14:37:00.008-05:00

In the 1950's and 1960's, America's hottest comedy club was your parent's living room.

No cover charge. No drink minimum, Just the greatest array of comic talent that you could fit with the confines of a 21 inch television screen.

All for free.

YOu just had to turn your dial ( TV's once had dials for channel tuning) to your hometown, CBS Television station at 8pm Eastern time(7pm Central) on any Sunday night.

That was the time for television viewers to participate in a true American ritual and a show business institution , THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW.

First entitled THE TOAST OF THE TOWN when it debuted in 1948, it was one of the nascent Tiffany Network's first and finest offerings.The name of the weekly, video variety show was changed in 1955, to honor the clunky and constrained host.

The show was performed "LIVE" from CBS-TV's STUDIO 50, which was re-named THE ED SULLIVAN THEATER IN 1966.

Today, that facility is home to THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN.

Sullivan, while an awkward personality on camera, had an innate ability to successfully combine video and vaudeville. A native New Yorker,he was a teen aged boxer and an acclaimed Broadway columnist, before stepping in front of the primitive cameras and under the scalding lights required to produce the earliest network broadcasts.

Smart and facile, his acute awareness of social trends and his surgically sharp, journalistic instincts help to drive the stellar roster of guests. Sullivan, along with producers Marlo Lewis and Bob Precht, delivered the most diverse programs on the tube. On any given Sunday, recording artists, night club comics, plate spinners, opera stars, poets and puppets would share the sprawling stage of CBS Studio 50 on Broadway.There were no barriers of gender, color, race, ethnicity or religion. Talent was the only ticket to center stage.THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW defined variety in video.

While the earliest TV stars were comedians, and the actors who portrayed cops or cowboys, Sullivan defied definition as a performer. America embraced the stoic star as a family member.

Sponsored for many years by The Ford Motor Company's Lincoln/Mercury Division, Sullivan ( aka The Great Stone Face)was a welcome presence on Sunday nights for 23 television seasons.His program was still drawing large, household audiences in 1971, when his show, like THE RED SKELTON HOUR and THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW, were cancelled, as CBS and advertisers sought to cultivate younger, more urban demographics.

So many careers were launched, sustained or revived on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW. The Beatles are ,actually, a small, albeit incandescent, part of the show's history. Like NBC's TONIGHT SHOW, Sullivan's weekly revue was a crucible for comedy. One appearance could launch a career.

Here from THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW YOU TUBE site, are six classic comic peformances from the mid-1960's through the early 1970's, when the program was in its primacy.Enjoy!!!!

RICHARD PRYOR - 1966

JOAN RIVERS - 1967

RODNEY DANGERFIELD 1970

GEORGE CARLIN 1966

THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS 1966

HENNY YOUNGMAN 1966

THE KING OF COOL - DEAN MARTIN ON STAGE - CLOSED CIRCUIT - CIRCA JUNE 20, 1965

2010-11-14T23:28:00.003-05:00

Dean Martin famously joked once that this is Frank Sinatra's world and we all just live in it.

But,if you examine the so-called Rat Pack , the show-biz confederation comprised of Sinatra, Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.,Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, through a nostalgic prism,one thing comes into focus: Dino was the very apotheosis of cool.Not icy and biting , but offering a refreshing brace.Like a heavy tumbler of scotch on the rocks after a round of golf on a torrid Palm Springs afternoon.

On stage, Dino was impeccably tailored. had classic good looks, a pleasant voice, a deep reservoir of humor and mischief in his eyes.

In the clip posted ,below, from the SERGIUNEGHINA YOU TUBE site, you'll see an excerpt from a classic Dean Martin performance. He radiates confidence and suavity, while singing, joking and kibitzing with an off-stage Sinatra.

This segment comes from THE FRANK SINATRA SPECTACULAR, a black and white, benefit variety show that was staged on June 20, 1965 at the Kiel Opera House in St.Louis.

The show was was a closed circuit telecast beamed to theaters across the nation, where proceeds from the tickets that patrons purchased, went to Dismas House, a half-way house for former convicts in St. Louis.

On this night, Martin (who was just months from the debut of his hit NBC variety series) shared the stage with Sinatra, Davis and, ironically, Johnny Carson acted as host, substituting for his regular TONIGHT SHOW,back-up,Joey Bishop.Enjoy!!!!!

CAMELOT CAPTURED ON KINESCOPE - THE ELECTION OF PRESIDENT JOHN .F KENNEDY - NBC-TV - CIRCA 11/08/60

2010-11-07T17:10:00.014-05:00

Every day, in Living Color, Dolby Sound and High Definition Video, the fiber of this nation is tested by partisan politics, as the unending multi-media news cycle puts all of us on the front lines of the acrid debate.

Relax. KINESCOPE HD is not going all ideological on you.

We just want to take a moment to flashback on a more gentile, if not truly innocent, time in the American political process and a landmark night in network television news.

November 8th marks fifty years since the debonair, young, US Senator from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy,was elected President of the United States. A Democrat, he defeated the incumbent Vice President ,Republican Richard M. Nixon.

The adversaries made history facing off in the first televised debates in American History.While the content of their discourse is still being debated five decades later, most agree that it was a vital, virtuoso performance by Mr. Kennedy that propelled him to the American presidency.

JFK was as much a cultural phenomenon as a political option. He was handsome, charming, liberal and a Roman Catholic. Kennedy was the prodigal son in a family that was all but American royalty.His wife , Jackie was elegant, smart and socially engaged, while raising their toddler son, John-John and young daughter, Caroline.

Mrs. Kennedy was an aspirational figure for so many young women of the time. The personable Kennedy was positioned by many pundits and show business luminaries as the perfect figure to lead America into the 1960's, a decade laced with nuclear threat, social upheaval and sexual liberation, that offered more danger than optimism.

The dashing young president's personal involvements with the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Judith Campbell Exner would not be made public until years after his death.There are still questions centering on the role that organized crime may have played in getting him elected.

Cut down by an assassin's bullet in Dallas,Texas, on November 22, 1963, his short but electrifying time in office is still referred to by many as Camelot, in reflection of the mythical kingdom in which all who lived enjoyed a full, rich life.

On Election Night 1960, American television viewers and radio listeners turned to NBC NEWS in extraordinary numbers. From an elevated anchor position in the vast and versatile Studio 8H, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley anchored comprehensive coverage that was agile and contemporary in execution, while breezy and affable in tone.

It was one of the first times that television technology was commensurate with the scope of the story it captured, taking viewers across the nation.NBC turned to its corporate parent for the use of an RCA 501 computer to perform the high speed tabulations required to project key races.

As Tuesday night morphed into Wednesday morning, the TODAY SHOW team of Dave Garroway, Jack Lescoulie and Frank Blair joined Huntley and Brinkley to say that the network's morning show was deferring to election coverage and would join viewers when the all of the ballots were finally tallied.

The vote count in California ( Nixon's home state) was so slow that it would be after 7:00AM Eastern Time before NBC NEWS could project a Kennedy victory. NBC's News Division was back throughout the broadcast day to cover Mr.Kennedy's upbeat acceptance speech and Mr. Nixon's bitter concession.

Huntley and Brinkley dominated network news ratings during most of the 1960's, even in the face of relentless competition from CBS's redoubtable and respected Walter Cronkite. On election night and in every other major story of the decade, from War in Viet Nam to Man on the Moon, the pair was ably supported by Peacock Network stalwarts, John Chancellor, Frank McGee, Sander Vanocur, Merrill Mueller, Nancy Dickerson, Herb Kaplow, Ray Scherer, Peter Hackes and so many more.

Here from the David Von Pein 1 YOU TUBE site are nine, extraordinary excerpts of NBC NEWS coverage from Election Night 1960. Enjoy!!!!

VIEWERS KNOW THE SCORE - REBOOTING THE HAWAII FIVE-O THEME - CBS-TV - CIRCA JUNE 16,2010

2010-10-29T22:42:00.010-04:00

From pulsating percussion to blasting brass, there are few television soundtracks that offer the instant recognition or evoke the kind of exuberant, viewer response as the vibrant theme for HAWAII FIVE-O.You might think that an attractive,agile cast, on-screen chemistry, taut scripts, vivid video and lush locations would be enough to bring most viewers to their televisions. You might consider that the proven premise of daring cops taking down brazen villains in a tropical paradise might be sufficient.

Nope.

Not without that song.

The original series debuted on CBS-TV in the fall of 1968, and the dynamic, complex title sequence, designed by director Reza S. Badiyi, was heralded by a high voltage, high velocity musical score, written by the respected film and television composer and arranger, Morton Stevens.

(COMPOSER MORTON STEVENS)

When FIVE-O's flinty Steve McGarrett and his cadre of island crime fighters first began busting bad guys, a rock group called The Ventures had a top 40 hit with a guitar powered cover of the show's supersonic theme.

Twice, since HAWAII FIVE-O ended it's original run in 1980, the Tiffany Network has tried to revive and relaunch the franchise.But, no matter how plot lines, producers or players changed ,in both instances, CBS-TV, and loyal fans insisted that Steven's iconic theme song be retained and respected.

( THE NEW CAST OF HAWAII FIVE-O)

This fall, when a new cast and crew hit the beach in Honolulu, the familiar and welcome theme was being reworked and updated on a music recording stage in Burbank.

Here from the WATCHHAWAIIFIVEO YOU TUBE site is a backstage look at that scoring session, mixed with video from the 2010 reboot of the CBS series.Enjoy!!!!!

As a bonus, here, from THEFUSIONCOMICS YOU TUBE site, is HAWAII FIVE-O's Co-Executive Producer, Alex Kurtzman,talking about the musical score at COMIC CON 2010, and presenting the above music video.Enjoy!!!!

BIG NEWS FROM A LITTLE NETWORK - ABC NEWS PROMO - ABC-TV - CIRCA 1961

2010-10-21T23:32:00.005-04:00

At the dawn of the 1960's, while NBC's Chet Huntley and David Brinkley were doing mortal, broadcast battle with CBS-TV's Walter Cronkite, struggling ABC NEWS was fielding a troika of rotating news anchors,on multiple daily newscasts, including veteran correspondents Bill Lawrence, Al Mann and Ron Cochran.

In 1961, the youth oriented, alphabet network even added the mature presence of John Cameron Swayze,former anchor of NBC's Camel News Caravan, one of the mediums earliest national newscasts, and future pitchman for Timex watches.

Traditionally viewed as half a network , because it had fewer affiliates and fewer hit shows than the Peacock or Tiffany networks, ABC also had the smallest news division with the fewest employees and the least available resources.In 1960, the patriarch of the company,Leonard Goldenson, made a modest investment in the news division, which, in turn, mounted four daily, national newscasts and fortified it's promotion.

It would take years of experimentation, effort and the manifold talents of journalistic televisionary Roone Arledge, before ABC NEWS became America's leading broadcast news organization in the late 1980's.That positon has long since been surrendered to NBC NEWS.

Here, from the ROGERSHARPARCHIVES YOU TUBE site, is a bombastic blurb exolling the virtues of ABC NEWS.Enjoy!!!!!!

HAM & CHEESE ON TV - MILTON BERLE'S KRAFT MUSIC HALL - NBC-TV - CIRCA 3/18/59 & 1/21/59

2010-10-09T19:30:00.017-04:00

It's hard to imagine how many words have been written and spoken about comic-virtuoso and video icon, Milton Berle, since that warm, June night in 1948 , when the former vaudeville star stepped through the curtain ,under the scorching lights of studio 6-B and into the homes of those fortunate few who could afford home receivers to become Mr. Television.

There was only one Uncle Milty.

You know the legend: That his Tuesday night NBC-TV show, THE TEXACO STAR THEATER, often had 80 to 90 per cent of all available viewers watching. That during his commercials,big city water departments could see changes in pressure as all of those viewers flushed their toilets and got back to see what Berle would do next. He was the first verifiable television star, predating video victories by Lucy, Gleason,Godfrey and ,even, Howdy Doody.

He was the king of television from 1948 to 1953.

As the competition grew, ratings diminished and as his style of slapstick comedy wore thin, Texaco cancelled its sponsorship. Buick sped in to underwrite Uncle Milty in a one hour, weekly, musical/comedy review on NBC, airing Tuesday at 8pm.But,after 3 seasons, THE BUICK-BERLE SHOW came to an abrupt stop in 1955.The Peacock Network had Berle under a 30 year , exclusive contract, so it installed him in a more traditional variety show in 1956,that lasted only one season.

But, there was a Kraft Recipe for TV success , waiting in the wings at NBC in Burbank.Here it is:Take one part Ham (Uncle Milty) and America's biggest Cheese factory(Kraft Foods).Next, add guest stars, topical monologues,contemporary music and bake under hot studio lights.

What they got was the two seasons of THE KRAFT MUSIC HALL STARRING MILTON BERLE that aired in 1958 and 1959 on NBC-TV. In the end, Berle couldn't find a new audience for his more mature style of humor. He was cancelled and Kraft, in turn, began a long association with another NBC luminary, Perry Como.

Berle next did a bowling show for NBC. It lasted only one year.

Here , below, are three clips that are derived from the high octane,high jinks that Milton Berle delivered every time the red light went on.Enjoy!!!!!

CLIP ONE:

CLIP TWO:

CLIP THREE:

STEPHEN J.CANNELL PASSES AWAY- TV'S MYSTERY MAN FOUND KEYS TO SUCCESS ON HIS TYPEWRITER

2010-10-02T22:22:00.006-04:00

What do B.A. BARRACUS, JIM ROCKFORD & TONY BARRETTA have in common, besides their tireless devotion to take down the bad guys,each week, in 57minutes and 28 seconds or less?

These chimerical crime fighters , and dozens more TV tough guys, were created and developed by prolific, protean television writer/producer Stephen J. Cannell.The facile and formidable Cannell died in his Pasadena home on October 1st, at age 69,as a result of complications from melanoma.

A video visionary who had the unique ability to cultivate the human and vaunerable side of the characters he crafted , Cannell created, wrote and produced THE A-TEAM,WISEGUY,THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO,RIPTIDE, HUNTER, 21JUMP STREET, THE COMMISH, SILK STALKINGS,BARETTA and even won an EMMY AWARD for his work THE ROCKFORD FILES. He was a guiding force in the production of the recent A-TEAM movie.He got his start writing on UNIVERSAL's stable of classic caper shows like, Robert Wagner's stylish,ABC-TV spy series, IT TAKES A THIEF.

He was was often referred in the media to as a TV Mogul, but always preferred to be known as a writer, first. The son of a successful businessman, Cannell overcame dyslexia to launch and manage one of the medium's most successful production companies.

In 2008, he told an interviewer that he still wrote on an IBM Selectric Typewriter, because his dyslexia was so pronounced, that his many misspelled words rendered his computer's "spell check" feature useless.

Stephen J. Cannell leaves a legacy of dignity, decency and a portfolio of engaging, entertaining television shows, novels and films.It is an impressive achievement.

Here is an excerpt from his recent interview with THE ARCHIVE OF AMERICAN TELEVISION, posted on YOU TUBE. Here , he offers sage advice for aspiring writers.

Cannell explains the origins of his company's distinctive logo.

Here is the final iteration of that logo, from 1999.

HOW BUICK GOT TOP BILLING OVER BERLE!!! - THE BUICK-BERLE SHOW - NBC-TV - CIRCA 1953-1956

2010-09-27T23:01:00.010-04:00

As the American automotive industry moves into high gear, introducing new, Fall 2010 models, here is a monochrome flashback to the early 1950's. That's when carmakers like Dodge, Oldsmobile, Ford,Chevy,DeSoto and Buick sponsored major network, television programs and perfected the not-so-subtle arts of talent endorsement and product placement.

Here, from autumn of 1953 and from the AUTOMOBILE HISTORY USA YOU TUBE site, is a vintage video clip of THE BUICK/BERLE SHOW. The lavish variety program was a Tuesday night tradition on NBC-TV that starred Uncle Milty, AKA television pioneer and master comedian, Milton Berle.

General Motors Buick division was the sole sponsor and the commercials featured, the star, guest stars, dramatic portrayals, music jingles, vast sets, and of course, a mammoth ,new Buick. This excerpt extols the virtues of buying a six passenger sedan from the woman's point of view. The Buick musical signature is provided by Mr. Television himself, with an assist from guest star Peter Lawford. Enjoy!!!!!

Here is a bonus commercial featuring Buick spokesperson and TODAY SHOW announcer, Jack Lescoulie, with the history behind the panoramic windshield of the 1955 Buick Special.Enjoy!!!!!

Here are the openiong credits to the BUICK/BERLE SHOW on NBC-TV. As you'll see, subtle was neither Berle's nor Buick's strong suit.Enjoy!!!!!

WHEN ABC WAS STILL THE ONE - PROMOS WITH POWER - ABC-TV - CIRCA FALL 1977

2010-09-18T23:03:00.012-04:00

In the fall of 1977, Prime Time dominance was ABC-TV's to loose.

From it's inception in 1953 until the 1976 television season, the so-called alphabet network was a perennial loser in ratings and reputation.

The joke was "How do you end the Viet Nam War? Put it on ABC and it will be cancelled in 13 weeks!"

It enjoyed sporadic hits over the intervening years, that ranged from OZZIE & HARRIET TO THE ODD COUPLE, THE LONE RANGER TO MAVERICK, GENERAL HOSPITAL TO MARCUS WELBY M.D., and 77 SUNSET STRIP to BURKE'S LAW. BATMAN, THE FLINTSTONES,AMERICAN BANDSTAND, THE WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS AND MONDAY NIGHT NFL FOOTBALL also brought viewers and value, to what critics derided as "half a network," but never the throw weight to grow a successful schedule.

That changed in the Bicentennial year, when ABC established itself as a kinetic, diverse, sexy, smart, channel choice.Bolstered by strong local stations, it defeated NBC and CBS to win the largest nighttime audience in network television.

The network's evening schedule boasted heavy duty hits, like CHARLIE'S ANGELS(jiggle tv), HAPPY DAYS(family tv)and WELCOME BACK, KOTTER (sweathog tv).Network executives also produced evocative, energetic, upbeat promotion that helped them reach the pinnacle of Prime Time.They knew that engaging a similar strategy would be the only way to preserve that position.

With their dignity, jobs and millions of dollars, on the line, ABC-TV's promotion department placed a very volatile bet on a 1976, top 40 hit from a band called Orleans to carry the networks corporate flag into broadcast battle.

The creative result was striking television that helped ABC-TV stay in first place for the 1977 television season.

So, as the American broadcast networks launch their new Fall schedules, this week, please watch the clip posted below from the DANF62465 YOU TUBE site, and enjoy a classic promo that moved the audience and rocked the television industry. Enjoy!!!!!!

LANDMARK TELEVISION FROM A LEGENDARY TEAM - SEE IT NOW - CBS-TV - CIRCA DECEMBER 2,1951

2010-09-13T00:21:00.004-04:00

Just a brief post to remind ourselves of early television's innovative spirit.

In December of 1951, when CBS-TV debuted the legendary journalist and commentator, Edward R. Murrow, in one of the young medium's first magazine shows, SEE IT NOW, the production team decided to show viewers something that no human had ever seen before.

It should be no surprise, that along with the venerable producer of the program, Fred W, Friendly, who would later ascend to the presidency of the Tiffany network's news division, the director was video visionary, Don Hewitt, who would go to devise the protocols by which newscasts are produced and directed on television to this day ,and ,later,to create 60 MINUTES.

Watch this short excerpt from the EDUDKOWSKI YOU TUBE site and witness how the nascent medium sought to bring the world into a viewer's living room.Enjoy!!!!!

IN MEMORY, AND IN HONOR, OF THOSE LOST, THOSE WHO SURVIVED AND THE INDOMINABLE AMERICAN SPIRIT

2010-09-11T22:24:00.006-04:00

September 11, 2001 was one of america's most painful days . We mourn the loss of life. We honor those who endured. We believe that the American Ideal is still the brightest of lights to offer those shrouded in darkness and in need of hope.

As is often the case in life, from the angry and acrid events that unfolded on 9/11/01, came one of the most honorable and significant moments in television news.The nation was served. There is no higher compliment to offer journalists thrown into a blinding whirlwind of personal angst and professional obligation.

They did their jobs.

VINTAGE VIDEO GAME - WHAT'S MY LINE? - CBS-TV - CIRCA 1950 TO 1967

2010-09-03T23:07:00.016-04:00

ON FEBRUARY 2, 1950, America fell in love with a primitive video game.

Not the kind of complex, digital diversions we enjoy , today, over six decades later.No Nintendo system was required and it was not powered by PlayStation. Especially, since they had not yet been invented.

This was a sophisticated parlor game, featuring erudite panelists, and an eclectic array of guests, that was played out on the CBS Television Network, first in glorious B&W and then in vivid color, for over 17 years.

On that Sunday night in 1950, WHAT'S MY LINE debuted and the show went on to become a durable, family-viewing fixture on the Tiffany Network for years. The premise of the game required that a panel of celebrities be tasked with quizzing a guest until they could determine that person's profession.

WHAT'S MY LINE? was hosted by noted journalist, and ABC News anchorman, John Daly. After much trial and error, the core panel stabilized with effervescent actress and broadcaster Arlene Francis, acerbic columnist Dorothy Kilgallen and urbane publisher Bennet Cerf, plus a rotating guest panelist. They appeared on 876,LIVE episodes.

(CAST: FRANCIS, CERF, KILGALLEN, DALY)

The final network episode aired LIVE from New York City on Sunday September 3, 1967.A new version of the venerable game show went into national syndication from 1967 to 1975.This version was firsty hosted by newsman Wally Bruner and then actor Larry Blyden.Comedian Soupy Sales was a regular on that version.

WHAT'S MY LINE? , was created by game show titans,Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. It shaped the modern television game show and it was one of Goodson/Todman's earliest television productions.They appeared to thank the audience on the final CBS episode.

(the cast as viewed by the legendary artist, Al Hirschfeld)

The long running show always respected the audience and radiated intelligence.Plus,with host and panelists clad in evening gowns and black tie attire, WHAT'S MY LINE? had an air of 1950's , New York elegance.

Here, are two clips that show excerpts of the very first edition of WHAT'S MY LINE?on CBS-TV and the very last on the network.They come from the WHEELBRAINand 8498653YOU TUBE sites.Enjoy!!!!

February 2, 1950

Sept. 3, 1967

HAPPY DAYS AND NOSTALGIC NIGHTS - BARBARA STREISAND ON THE GARRY MOORE SHOW - CBS-TV - CIRCA 5/29/62

2010-08-26T23:04:00.006-04:00

Garry Moore was television's quintessential quiet man.Even if his sportcoats were loud.

An affable, courtly video visitor to the homes of the baby boom generation, the Baltimore native, born Garrison Morfit, was known more for the company he kept, rather than showcasing his own talents.

Like Carson, Benny ,Douglas and Griffin, Garry Moore turned the spotlight on his guests and cast, knowing viewers would always recall that THE GARRY MOORE SHOW was really entertaining.

Carol Burnett was a regular on THE GARRY MOORE SHOW , his Tuesday night, variety series.

Major stars of stage, screen, radio, records and TV appeared on his daily,daytime, talk program, which was simulcast on the CBS RADIO NETWORK.

And Moore's hosting chores on the hit quiz show, I'VE GOT A SECRET put him in public proximity of presidents,pundits,actors,athletes and real people.

The comedian's accomplished writing staff included Woody Allen, Neil Simon and Vin Bogert. He was a very funny, versatile, unobtrusive performer who made the best of the material.

Moore was a household name in the 1950's and 1960's and a human profit center for the CBS television network, where his programs generated large audience and major revenues.Like so many of early television's star performers, who worked on LIVE shows, he faded in the public memory because his efforts were not preserved or repeated.

His CBS-TV variety show originally aired LIVE from The Ed Sullivan Theater, now home to LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN. It was subsequently produced on videotape, as his show had to share production facilities with other large-scale,variety efforts starring Jackie Gleason and the aforementioned Ed Sullivan.

On May 29, 1962, the Tiffany Network aired the 32nd episode of the series 4th season.Moore ended that series, each week, with a nostalgic, musical segment called THAT WONDERFUL YEAR.

In the clip posted ,below,from THE STREISAND TRIBUTE YOU TUBE site, a vivacious, young Barbara Streisand sings HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE, AGAIN. Enjoy!!!!!

THE FINE LINE OF ART AND COMMERCE - R.O. BLECHMAN'S TV ADS - CIRCA 1966-67

2010-08-17T16:14:00.010-04:00

There is nothing sketchy about the video work of Brooklyn-Born, artist and illustrator R.O. Blechman. In fact, his animated efforts paint a vibrant portrait of American television sensibilities in the mid-1960's.

The author of an acclaimed graphic novel, entitled the JUGGLER OF OUR LADY, the cartoonist's black, animated line drawings, displayed over white backgrounds were , both, sharp and well defined, while almost ethereal. They brought an essential hipness to his storytelling.

Blechman's evocative holiday spot, commissioned by CBS-TV in 1966 essays the warmth of the holiday season in just,sixty captivating seconds. His Clio award winning debate between a long-suffering man and his acerbic, acidic stomach for Alka Seltzer was a triumph of advertsing as art.

Posted Below , from the DICKENSCAROLLERS & THE SMASH9GRAB YOU TUBE sites, are both of those extraordinary spots. Enjoy!!!!!

ALKA SELTZER - 1967

SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM CBS - 1966

COMIC MASTERWORK: JACK BENNY & FRIENDS - MONROE AND MARX - CBS-TV - CIRCA 1953 & 1955

2010-07-31T15:02:00.016-04:00

Seven decades before digital media could bring a viral video world-wide recognition in a matter of minutes, a gentle, affable comic genius and violin virtuoso became one of history's first ,global ,multi-platform superstars.

He did it the old fashioned way: by plying his many talents with tenacity, consistency and commitment.

Jack Benny achieved success in vaudeville, films, nightclubs, radio, television and on Broadway. His talents were internationally acclaimed. But,his work didn't travel the world on the information super highway.

His reputation was formed and re-enforced by acetate discs of radio shows, newspaper accounts of live performances and reels of Hollywood celluloid that were shipped around the planet by snail mail.By LIVE, shortwave broadcasts of his radio shows beamed to American Troops stationed around the world.By Television appearances on Britain's BBC, Italy's Rai and Canada's CBC.

As a performer with masterful timing, meticulous editing skills and the ability to fire -off high velocity, high quality ad-lib's, Jack Benny worked without A Net and did it, long before we learned of THE NET.

Born Benny Kubelsky, the son of a Waukeegan, Illinois saloon keeper,on February 18, 1894, the beloved icon spent years, laboriously crafting his comic persona. On stage he was a vain, skinflint, who fancied himself a master violinist and an irresistible ladies man. His character usually failed on all counts.

In films, on radio and on television, the surrogate Benny was surrounded by laughable lunatics who always provoked and aggravated him to titanic comic proportions. Announcer Don Wilson, Radio Girlfriend(& Real-World Wife) Mary Livingstone,comic sidekick Eddie" Rochester" Anderson and singer Dennis Day provided the nutty nucleus of the first situation comedy.Their characters provided the challenges from which rich comedy was mined,in every episode.

Benny once described his character as a cheap schnook. But In real life , appearing as himself on the concert stage with legends of classical music like Issac Stern and Itzhak Perlman, Benny was a true violin prodigy.

Thanks to longtime writers Sam Perrin,George Balzer,Milt Josefsberg & John Tackaberry , with producer/directors Ralph Levy and Fred de Cordova, the artistic integrity of Benny's parsimonious personage was scrupulously maintained on the radio and television versions of THE JACK BENNY PROGRAM ( he liked that word, and disdained NBC and CBS branding his seriesTHE JACK BENNY SHOW).

Like his contemporaries, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, Benny made a successful transition from network radio to network television, and like them,refused to do a weekly video show. He felt it was more of an event to appear every month or every two weeks, as opposed to showing up every seven days.

In demand, right to the day of his death, December 26, 1974, Jack Benny was still doing occasional comedy specials for NBC-TV and was set to star in the film version of Neil Simon's THE SUNSHINE BOYS.He was replaced by his longtime friend, George Burns.

Posted below , from the AATRAGON & MARILYN FAN YOU TUBE sites,are two of Benny's best television performances from his landmark, CBS-TV program, in the early 1950's.

His 1953 outing with Marilyn Monroe shows him as a seagoing romeo, who tries to find snug harbor with the star of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES. The 1955 face-off with friend Groucho Marx shows how far cheapskate comic will go ( and will drag fellow contestant Irene Tedrow) to win the jackpot on YOU BET YOUR LIFE. Enjoy!!!!!

Jack Benny VS Groucho - April 3, 1955
CBS-TV - LIVE FROM TELEVISION CITY

Jack Benny Meets Marilyn Monroe - Sept.13,1953
CBS-TV - LIVE FROM TELEVISION CITY

JUST OVER THE RAINBOW : THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE WITH JUDY GARLAND - ABC-TV- CIRCA MAY 7, 1966

2010-07-24T21:52:00.009-04:00

FROM HOLLYWOOD!!! THE HEART OF THE ENTERTAINMENT WORLD!!! THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE!!!!

That emphatic greeting, voiced first by announcer Dick Tufeld and , later, by the legendary Ernie Anderson, heralded the biggest and most successful , weekly variety show that ABC-TV ever mounted: THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE.

Like so many things in network television, it was born of desperate need.

In the Fall of 1963, ABC-TV signed comic icon Jerry Lewis , fresh from incredible success guest hosting on NBC-TV's TONIGHT SHOW. He was hired to star in a LIVE, 2 hour, Saturday night variety show, telecast in B&W from the refurbished Hollywood Playhouse Theater in Los Angeles. THE JERRY LEWIS SHOW was one of the most anticipated offerings of the 1963-64 television season.The program was kinetic in pace and lavish in production. It was almost instantly rejected by the audience and was cancelled after three months.

So,if you are, as ABC-TV was in late 1963, America's third placed television network,left with a gaping hole in Saturday prime time and a multi-million dollar investment in a vacant theater, what do you do?

You'd fill one of those open hours, and your renovated stage space, with a weekly variety show, designed to showcase the greatest and most eclectic array of talent in show business, hosted by a globally recognized superstar, each week.

That's just what ABC-TV opted to do, creating THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE.From January 4, 1964, until the curtain came down on February 7, 1970, producers Bill Harbach and Nick Vanoff delivered a polished, wholesome, engaging, video-variety series with a kaleidoscopic array of performing talent and a glittering assemblage of guest hosts.

The Harbach/Vanoff team, which had worked with the innovative, inventive Steve Allen, decided to showcase unique talent in a traditional vaudeville format, They would amass rock & roll groups, opera singers , aerialists (often videotaped in the parking lot), stand-up comedians, comic sketches, and impressive production numbers, and sometimes, did it in a single episode.

The weekly guest host set the tone for the show.

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby , Elizabeth Montgomery and Fred Astaire were among those who made appearances as performer/hosts. The Rolling Stones made their American TV debut on the show, as did a young Raquel Welch, who served as a"billboard girl" on the show. The show helped to solidify Saturday-night viewing for ABC-TV, along with THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW and THE KING FAMILY.

Judy Garland hosted hosted THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE in 1965 and,again, in 1966. Much has been written about her being a tortured soul with a superlative talent. Her second and final hosting stint was on May 7, 1966 with guest stars including her former MGM colleague Van Johnson, comedian Jack Carter and rocker Johnny Rivers singing his hit theme to CBS-TV's SECRET AGENT.

This appearance was about two years after her vaunted, Emmy-nominated, Sunday night, CBS-TV, variety series was cancelled, after one season opposite NBC-TV's ratings powerhouse, BONANZA. It has been reported that she was humiliated by the cancellation. This show was one of many television appearances that helped her regain her place in the pantheon of show business and popular culture.

Here from the DENTEL2 YOU TUBE site are four clips that comprise her 1966 episode of THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE and a fifth clip with rehearsal footage. Enjoy!!!!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

REHEARSAL VIDEO

TIME TO FOCUS ON YOU

2010-07-20T20:07:00.011-04:00

Do you read KINESCOPE HD?

Is this the first time you've found the page or do you check in more frequently?

Would you take a moment, please , to comment on this post, and just let me know if you find the blog to be fun, interesting and informative?

Or not.

We've been blogging about vintage video and classic television for about 19 months and since there are so few comments, even when we record a significant number of pageviews, that we, simply, want to know what you think of our site.

Thanks for your time and attention!

WHAT WERE NIXON AND KRUSHCHEV COOKING UP IN THE KITCHEN?- RARE VIDEO OF DIPLOMATIC DEBATE ON THE FLY - AMPEX COLOR TAPE - CIRCA 7/24/1959

2010-07-17T21:56:00.017-04:00

Television has a limitless capacity for capturing the spontaneous and significant moments in life and delivering them to our living room screens.
It changed they way we receive and consume news and , over the decades, it has changed the substance, style and form of the news, itself.

Television and journalism were,seemingly, made for each other.

From the first flickering,B & W , LIVE scenes of the 1948 Presidential nominating conventions, to the grainy, filmed images of American solders fighting in Korea, to Edward R. Murrow's daring display of technological wizardry , that allowed his viewers the opportunity to be the first people in human history to share a LIVE, simultaneous view of the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans , television , the news and the viewing audience were bonded at the molecular level.

On July 24th, 1959, an RCA COLOR television camera and an early AMPEX COLOR VIDEOTAPE RECORDER were in the right place at the right time, when two cold-warriors committed an act of global news. The right place turned out to be The American National Exhibition in Moscow's Sokolniki Park.

This event was a ground-breaking American trade show, extolling the virtures of capitalism and it's technological advancements , that was held in the heart of the communism's homeland The commercial cornucopia sheltered from the scorching Moscow sun under a glittering, gold geodesic dome.

As they toured the RCA WHIRLPOOL, "Miracle Kitchen," a $250,000 monument to the advantages of a more mechanized life for MOM in the post-Sputnik, push-button era, American Vice President Richard M. Nixon,and Soviet Premiere Nikita Khrushchev faced-off in what has come to be known as the KITCHEN DEBATES.

Through interpreters,and in a most informal, almost affable atmosphere, they engaged each other on the visions and values of their competing ideologies. Today, we would expect that kind of confrontation , with true global impact, to be captured on camera.

Not the case in 1959.

But,as it has often been the case, in recent years , tape was rolling on this day.

AMPEX COLOR VIDEO TAPE was rolling on the Odd Couple of International Commerce. That tape, once thought to be lost or decayed beyond all recognition, has been restored, in its full, polychromatic glory by AMPEX.This,as we are about observe the 51st anniversary of the spontaneous, diplomatic throw-down.

Here, below, are two clips from the AMPEX DATA SYSTEMS YOU TUBE site, that comprise the historic events of , what some refer to as, The Summit over the sink. Enjoy!!!!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

BONUS - AN INTERVIEW WITH JACK MASSEY, ORGANIZER OF THE 1959 AMERICAN EXHIBITION

MEN INTO SPACE AND THE METEORIC RISE OF ANGIE DICKENSON- CBS-TV - CIRCA 9/30/59

2010-07-12T12:03:00.014-04:00

In the Fall of 1959, long before Capt. James Tiberius Kirk piloted the Starship Enterprise from the sound stages of the Paramount Pictures lot to exotic planets , where no man had gone before, and long after Captain Video took his Video Rangers on primitive voyages through paper mache galaxies, in a DuMont-Designed rocketship, CBS-TV launched a thoughtful,pragmatic, drama about the human factor in exploring the universe,called MEN INTO SPACE.

The 30 minute, B&W series , which took almost a blue collar view of space exploration,was rooted in science-lab fact, not space-opera fiction. No atomic monsters, no ray-guns,and no alien life forms were seen. The action is placed just ten minutes into the future. Observers of MEN INTO SPACE say the story lines had clues indicating that the first moon landing, in the the show's universe, happened in the mid-1970's.

The consistently engaging show starred film actor and Chrysler spokesman,William Lundigan, as an everyman astronaut,named Col. Edward McCauley and Joyce Taylor as his dutiful wife Mary. As for the Angie Dickenson connection, the sylphen siren, who WASabout to co-star with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack in the 1960 version of Ocean's Eleven was cast as Col. McCauley's wife in the pilot film for MEN INTO SPACE. She was replaced by wholesome Ms.Taylor for the run of the series.

MEN INTO SPACE, was produced by Louis J, Rachmill,who enlisted the advice of several distinguished scientists from the military and industry, to add authenticity to the series. The program's special effects and star-scapes were meticulous in their execution.With a robust score by composer David Rose, the show was sold to the Tiffany Network by one of the supreme companies in TV syndication, ZIV Productions, which also mounted HIGHWAY PATROL,SEA HUNT, and BAT MASTERSON .

The short-lived program blasted-off at 8:30pm EDT on Wednesday night, September 30 1959, opposite the benign ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET on ABC-TV and the energetic, original PRICE IS RIGHT hosted by Bill Cullen on NBC-TV.

Despite America's all-consuming, fascination with Project Mercury's plan to put the first American into orbit, the serious and austere MEN INTO SPACE crash landed, having been canceled after one year in space and on the air.

Here, posted below, are 3 clips from the VERBUSEN YOU TUBE site, which comprise the debut episode of CBS-TV's MEN INTO SPACE.Enjoy!!!!!

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

OLD BLUE EYES IN LIVING COLOR ON CBS - FRANK SINATRA - A MAN AND HIS MUSIC PART II - CBS-TV - CIRCA DECEMBER 7, 1966

2010-07-01T20:39:00.019-04:00

Why would Frank Sinatra need to stage a comeback, when he'd never really been away?

It was a popular question in the mid-1960's and KINESCOPE HD , who is a world-class F.O.F ( Fan of Frank:), isn't sure the answer is known, even to this day.

Much has been written about that period in our country and in Old Blue Eyes' career, when the nascent youth movement was sending seismic ripples through American society, and popular music was at the epicenter of that tectonic shift.

Critics said that the problem with the 1965 Sinatra , Dear Frank , was not in your stars, but in your charts.

No,not the astrological charts.

They felt Sinatra had moved, quickly, from the pinnacle to passe as rock, roll and soul artists from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones to James Brown topped the very record sales charts that Sinatra once dominated.

They complained that the swingy, brassy musical charts that Gordon Jenkins and Nelson Riddle arranged for Frank's albums were feeling outdated and archaic.

There was no more expedient way to reach a new audience and demonstrate relevance in the mid-1960's than to step in front of a network, television camera and engage the video viewers.

On November 24, 1965, The Chairman of the Board sauntered center stage in NBC's vast Studio 1 in Burbank, Ca and ignited a new and vibrant phase in his storied career with the CBS-TV special FRANK SINATRA - A MAN AND HIS MUSIC.

The song selection was fun,familiar, and welcome: "I've Got You Under My Skin," "I Get A Kick Out Of You," "My Kind Of Town," "Come Fly With Me," "Witchcraft," and "The Lady Is A Tramp.

But wait, Image Orthicon Breath...Did you just say...???

That's right - The 1966 Emmy award winner, for Outstanding Musical Program, was videotaped at NBC, but aired on CBS. Apparently it as the preference of both the star and his legendary producer/director Dwight Hemion, to work in the Peacock's Palace, but deliver their efforts on the Tiffany Network.

The stunning show introduced Sinatra to a new generation of viewers, cast him in a more playful, contemporary light and caused CBS-TV to order a sequel for the 1966 season.

On June 5th & 6th of 1966, Old Blue Eyes, Hemion and the production team were joined by the next Sinatra progeny to voice a chart-busting tune, daughter Nancy, as they returned to NBC's Burbank studios to record FRANK SINATRA - A MAN & HIS MUSIC - PART II.

The program , which CBS-TV aired on December 7, 1966, introduced American television viewers to a song that would become a Sinatra standard, Dean Kay's,"That's Life." This show was austere, while opulent, in production values and featured the dual orchestras of Gordon Jenkins and Nelson Riddle on a sprawling set.Part of it was even staged in the manner of a recording session. Above all, when not rhapsodizing, Sinatra's repartee connected with the audience in a personal, one on one conversation.

The 60 minute, COLOR effort was an unqualified success in the estimation of the audience,the critics, the network ,the sponsor (Budweiser Beer) and ,of course , Sinatra, himself.

In this, and the many television specials to follow, Frank Sinatra re-established himself as a sovereign, global force in music, media and in the minds of an appreciative audience.

Here, posted below, from a variety of YOU TUBE sites, are four excerpts of the 1966 CBS-TV special, FRANK SINATRA-A MAN AND HIS MUSIC PART II. Enjoy!!!!!!

FLY ME TO THE MOON

YOU'RE NOBODY TIL SOMEBODY LOVES YOU

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD

LUCK BE A LADY

COME ON DOWN!!!!...FOR THE FIRST TIME !!!! - THE NEW PRICE IS RIGHT - CBS-TV - CIRCA SEPTEMBER 4,1972

2010-06-26T14:22:00.008-04:00

( the First Bullseye Game from a 1972 episode)

The four people called to the stage of THE NEW PRICE IS RIGHT for the September 4th 1972 debut episode, truly were, as avuncular announcer Johnny Olson used to intone, THE FIRST FOUR CONTESTANTS FOR THE NEW PRICE IS RIGHT!!!!!

Watch the vintage clip, posted below,showcasing the CBS daytime debut of THE NEW PRICE IS RIGHT and while it's virtually identical in format, faces and fun, it's not the show you know.

This version is low voltage by comparison to the mega-watt energy viewers have come to expect from the studio audience, the contestants,and the game, itself.

No surprise there, because the hundreds of people assembled in Studio 33 at CBS's sprawling, Television City complex in Hollywood to enjoy the show, had no expectation of what was to come. They could only offer polite applause in anticipation of the program unfolding before their eyes. A huge difference from the high decible, excitement demonstrated by today's audience members.

They knew and liked affable host,Bob Barker, from his years of helming the riotous TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES on NBC-TV and in syndication. They knew the original, more sedate version of THE PRICE IS RIGHT, which had been mounted as a price tag-oriented , panel show, hosted by the genial Bill Cullen on the NBC & ABC Television networks.

The vibrant game show,and media phenomenon, that we know as THE PRICE IS RIGHT would evolve over many years of production, promotion and publicity. The tone of the beloved show is still engaging and enthusiastic , even as viewers observed the transition from the polished professionalism of Bob Barker to the warmth and wit of Drew Carey.

Here from the Antdude YOU TUBE site , is the debut of THE NEW PRICE IS RIGHT STARRING BOB BARKER. Enjoy!!!!!

And as a bonus, from the GSN93 YOU TUBE site, here is Bob Barker's 1956 debut as host of NBC-TV'S TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES. Ralph Edwards, originator of the show, introduces Bob to NBC's daytime audience.Bob replaced previous host, Jack Bailey, who moved on to great success as emcee of ABC-TV's QUEEN FOR A DAY. Bob looked smooth from the start.ENJOY!!!!!

FRANK & DINAH'S DAZZLING DUET - THE DINAH SHORE CHEVY SHOW - NBC-TV - CIRCA 12/09/62

2010-06-19T22:49:00.012-04:00

Nothing could be finer than Frank swingin' with Miss Dinah... in living color.

There is little for KINESCOPE HD to offer as narrative or context for the superlative, mischievous, vibrant performance that two legends of American popular music, Sinatra and Shore, presented to viewers of THE DINAH SHORE CHEVY SHOW on Sunday evening, December 9, 1962.

Ms. Shore's 60 minute, musical/variety/comedy series, sponsored by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors, was lavishly mounted, technically innovative, highly rated and award winning. It was a wholesome,welcome,family viewing experience for over a decade on the NBC Television Network.

Austere in staging, yet sophisticated in execution, the brassy duet is, in my humble opinion, an archetypal variety show segment from the immediate, post-Eisenhower-era.A time when television's primetime, network, tv schedules were replete with studio-based music and comedy

Here, from the DONGEHRINGER YOU TUBE site, are Dinah Shore and Frank Sinatra, singing and swinging on a Sunday night for Chevrolet.Enjoy!!!!! :)

MONOCHROME MEDIA MILESTONE - 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF NBC TELEVISION - WNBT-TV - CIRCA APRIL 30, 1949

2010-06-13T23:04:00.012-04:00

Most of us who care about media think of 1949 as the dawn of American commercial television broadcasting. In the immediate, post World War II era, people living in major cities. modest towns and sprawling suburbs were, largely, video virgins.Yet, with only a few hours of programming available each day, our national love affair with the amazing, magic box in the living room was heating-up.

In 1949,at NBC's Rockefeller Plaza headquarters ,in New York City, Milton Berle held sway with America's favorite, primetime comedy hour, TEXACO STAR THEATER in studio 6B. In cavernous Studio 8H, KRAFT THEATER was presenting some of the nascent medium's earliest,and most sophisticated, "LIVE" drama.

But, at 8pm ET on April 30th, 1949, in the confines of the network's first TV stage, Studio 3H,the venerable Ben Grauer hosted a program produced by the network's flagship, local station, WNBT-TV. This early B&W special celebrated the 10th anniversary of NBC's entrance into television.

RCA's vibrant, video experiment had begun with a LIVE broadcast , on then Experimental Station W2XBS, from the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, NY. RCA's patriarch, David Sarnoff, welcomed a handful of viewers to witness the modern miracle of television.

Regularly scheduled broadcasts continued until World War II erupted, when the federal government conscribed the materials used to make broadcast equipment and home receivers for the war effort.

After the end of the war, television exploded as a window on the world for the baby-boom generation and beyond.

The three vintage clips, posted below, from the MUSICOM67 YOU TUBE site, comprise the energetic, if primitive, special program from 1949. Enjoy!!!!!

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

VIEWERS APPLAUD CAESAR'S PROGRESS - VIDEO VIRTUOUSO SPOOFS JAZZ MUSICIANS - NBC-TV - CIRCA 1957

2010-06-05T21:50:00.005-04:00

Sid Caesar was a video visionary and a pretend polyglot.As a linguistic acrobat,he could double-talk in almost any ersatz dialect of any known language. He proved it, repeatedly in military camp shows, in Borscht-belt hotel ballrooms, on the Broadway stage, and on the hundreds of times he stood before NBC television cameras starring in his two landmark comedy/variety series,YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS(1950-1954) and CAESAR'S HOUR (1954-1957).

Both series were imbued with Caesar's comic sensibilities and propelled by the erudite observations of a legendary, writing team that included Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart and Mel Brooks.Any member of that comic crew could have served as the laugh-maker laureate of the United States.

The incomparable Caesar, his protean writers, plus versatile, vibrant performers Carl Reiner, Howard Morris and Imogene Coca brought stylish satire to Saturday night,at a time when television comedy was largely a reflection of vaudevillian values.

Their work was multi-dimensional in it's comedic context.Sophisticated sketches about foreign films, suburban sprawl and the ancient battle of the sexes brought a post-modern perspective to post WWII America.

A gifted musician, Caesar explored the emergence of Jazz and Be-Bop from smokey , urban nightclubs and spartan, campus coffee houses into mainstream media and onto the global stage. Caesar and his team created the character of Progress Hornsby,a jazz master and a hapless hipster who blew a hot sax, but whose thinking process was a bit lax.

Here , from the MONKEY PEAS YOU TUBE site,is an excerpt of a sketch from CAESAR'S HOUR, featuring Sid Caesar as Progress Hornsby and Carl Reiner as an Edward R. Murrow "knock-off" interviewing the sultan of sax.Enjoy!!!!!

MURROW , HIGH AND LOW - PERSON TO PERSON WITH MARILYN MONROE - CBS-TV - CIRCA APRIL 8, 1955

2010-05-29T22:02:00.011-04:00

If there was one of those pesky S.A.T. questions about the giants of American Media, it might read like this:

1. Edward R. Murrow was to electronic journalism as _____ _____ was to nuclear physics?
a. Albert Einstein
b. Enrico Fermi
c. Niels Bohr
d. All Of The Above

Of course, the answer is "D."

Like scientific trailblazers Einstein, Fermi and Bohr, the man born Roscoe Egbert Murrow on April 25, 1908, was a true innovator, who pioneered new paths to better serve society, even when those roads were fraught with potential danger.

Murrow revolutionized radio news coverage as he brought home the terrifying sounds of the German Blitzkrieg , when CBS Radio dispatched him to cover World War II in Europe. Night after night, he stood, alone, on the roofs of London and , in the most eloquent marriage of narrative and natural sound, Murrow chronicled the Nazi terror that rained from darkened skies , while detailing the courage of the British people, who refused be dominated or defeated.

The team of facile, erudite journalists that he collected during the war, later known as Murrow's Boys, set the standard for insightful reporting of global issues that hit home for every American.

Murrow made the transition to the infant medium of television with panache and perspective, by launching television's first, news journal, SEE IT NOW on CBS-TV. Using primitive, LIVE, video technology to show his audience the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, simultaneously, Murrow and his team offered viewers an image that had never been seen in human history.

His meticulous reportage on the dangers of Senator Joseph McCarty's capricous and vitriloic attacks, recklessly accusing innocent people of being communist agents, all but sealed the fate of the junior senator from Wisconsin.

It was Murrow, who, in 1958, warned television professionals and the audience they were supposed to serve, that unless the young medium was focused on, and committed to, a more noble purpose in the public interest,the most powerful communications tool mankind had ever developed would be little more than "wires and lights in a box."

It did not endear him to the CBS executives who championed his career and signed his paychecks, but Murrow believed that truth and context were due to any citizen who received their news on radio or television.

So, why was this paragon of journalistic integrity and scion of public service broadcasting spending Friday nights in a CBS-TV studio, asking Liberace what he wanted in a wife, listening to Dick Clark wax philosophical about the hot hits he was spinning on American Bandstand, or asking Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall about their group of Hollywood chums called "the Holmby Hills rat pack?"

Murrow was hosting a show that he hoped would revive the art of American conversation, in spite of television.

The LIVE, B&W program was called PERSON TO PERSON and it was a staple of the CBS-TV , prime time schedule from October 1953 until 1961. Murrow launched the show and stayed with it until 1959, when one of Murrow's Boys, the urbane and elegant Charles Collingswood, assumed hosting duties.

It was an instant hit which brought with it the technological challenges of doing remote broadcasts from across the country before fiber optic lines or satellites made it pretty easy for television signals to traverse the continent. The CBS crews worked media miracles, jury-rigging microwave transmission paths, as they deployed miles of cable and trudged heavy camera equipment into Hollywood mansions and Manhattan penthouses.

Yet, some derided the series as too gossipy, too tabloid, too intimate and , above all, beneath the dignity of it's respected and venerable host. Read enough about PERSON TO PERSON and you'll discover that there was much speculation centering on Murrow's motivation in hosting the show. Some said that Murrow may have done the show to fortify an anaemic salary package from the Tiffany Network's news division.

Critics and colleagues spoke volumes on the nature of the show itself, and how it reflected on Murrow's professional stature and on his formidable body of work. Some referring to his work on SEE IT NOW as "high-Murrow" and his efforts on PERSON TO PERSON as "low-Murrow."

It can't be denied that Murrow wasn't always comfortable sitting in front of a giant, electronic window, peering into the homes and into the private lives of celebrities. In light of our current obsession with the famous and near-famous, the whole debate over Murrow's participation in PERSON TO PERSON, and if the show was worthy of the host, is almost quaint.

Here from the MARILYNFAN YOU TUBE site, is a 1955 interview with the vivacious and tormented Marilyn Monroe, from PERSON TO PERSON with Edward R. Murrow. Enjoy!!!!!

CBS GOES BACK TO THE BEACH & BACK TO THE FUTURE - THE NEW HAWAII-FIVE-O IS PICKED-UP FOR FALL 2010 - CIRCA MAY 20,2010

2010-05-20T22:27:00.014-04:00

HAWAII FIVE-O was a classic American crime drama and a complex, morality play, all set in a tropical paradise, where the sun and the guns blazed.

The high voltage saga of an elite, crime fighting unit of the Hawaii State Police was a top 20 rated, fan favorite , running on CBS-TV from 1968 until 1980.

Shot on location across the fiftieth state, with interiors filmed in a warehouse that was converted into a sound stage , the show starred the intense and emphatic Jack Lord,as the stoic head of FIVE-O, Steve McGarrett.

He was paired with the affable James McArthur in the supporting role of Danny " Danno" Williams, McGarrett's second in command.

Lord's lacquered hair was impervious to the trade winds that breezed across the islands, but the catch phrase he used when the criminal of the week was captured at the end of so many episodes blew-up, big time:

BOOK 'EM, DANNO!!!!!

Today, CBS-TV announced that a contemporary vision of HAWAII FIVE-O was coming to the Tiffany Network, this fall, airing Monday night's at 10PM EDT, with CSI:MIAMI moving to a Sunday ,10pm EDT, time slot.

The previews indicate that the classic, high-octane, DNA of the series that creator/ executive producer Leonard Freeman devised in the late 1960's will be restored , but super-charged with a dose of 21st century, CSI adrenaline.

The updated, FIVE-O team is an elite task force fighting crime and terrorism on the Elysian islands of America's Pacific playground.

THREE RIVERS refugee,Alex O'Laughlin, is a casually attired McGarrett (2nd from right, above), with OCEAN'S ELEVEN co-star, Scott Caan (wearing a tie)cast as an ironic Danno Williams.Sleek and sylphen Grace Park,from BATTLESTAR GALACTICA,(far right)essays the role of Kono (once a lumbering , Hawaiian Hoss, played by Zulu), as a police siren with martial arts moves. Finding his way from LOST, Daniel Dae Kim (2nd from left)plays Chin Ho Kelly as a scientific slueth who helps FIVE-O crack, complex crime-solving clues.

The show will again be based on the island of Oahu, which the original McGarrett often referred to as " this rock."

There is , as always in television, history to this decison.

CBS-TV invested in an abortive pilot for a revival of the cops in paradise premise for the 1997 Prime Time season. The production team was impressive and included super-producer Stephen J. Cannell.But, the program didn't make the network's Fall schedule.KINESCOPE HD isn't sure that version, which starred Gary Busey, ever aired.

We posted the opening titles for that pilot on our site just a few weeks back. The sequence is an excellent attempt at updating a timeless classic.

We hope the scripts are as solid and engaging as the original show's were during the network run , and surviving through decades in syndication.We also hope that the new production team has the same offbeat sense of casting which used to result in a diverse collection of guest stars,who brought distinctive performances to even standard plot lines. We know the location shooting will sumptuous,all the better for producing the new effort in HD.

But, you know the question you really want answered.

Yes, Morton Steven's original ,pulsating, chart-topping, theme music will be re-orchestrated and re-issued to open and close the updated HAWAII FIVE-O.

It is hard to think of a title sequence that could replace the original vision , executed by the multi-talented director, Reza S. Badiyi. So that sequence is gently updated with a contemporary graphic treatment.

Here , from the CBS YOU TUBE SITE, is a clip with the new title sequence for the 2010version of HAWAII FIVE-O Enjoy!!!!!

Of course - Here , from the BFELTEN YOU TUBE site, is an early 1970's version of the original.Enjoy!!!!!!

Yeah- You need to see the 1997 version, too, from the VIDEOHOLIC90sA YOU TUBE site. Enjoy!!!!!

GENIUS IN B&W - ERNIE KOVACS SHOOTS DOWN TV WESTERNS - ABC-TV - CIRCA 1961

2010-05-16T23:26:00.004-04:00

In one of his innovative ABC-TV specials, and speaking from the recesses of a darkened control room, video visionary and satirist superlative, Ernie Kovacs, took laser-accurate aim on the the dearth of westerns that flooded network television as America entered the space-age.

Kovacs, who was candid in his comic commentary,shot holes in the sometimes simplistic, sometimes saccharine tales of the old west that popped up in prime time.When every cathode ray cowboy had a "gimmick" that ranged from hidden derringers to sawed-off shotguns, and wore everything from buckskin chaps to bowler hats, Kovacs gunned down the genre and blasted the network executives,who then, as now,copied every successful horse opera on the air in hopes of a hit.

Here, from the ROLKO52 YOU TUBE site, is a fast and funny clip of Ernie Kovacs showdown at the sixties corral. Enjoy!!!!!