One Of My Favorites

Here’s a bank of RCA TK11s at Television City going through the registration process. They are probably am out of range grey scale chart. No, there are not 10 lenses per camera…only four, but there are six small “face lights” on the front of each unit. Even with the best overhead lighting, there are always shadows and to help eliminate the chin, nose and eye shadows, these custom light racks were installed to help brush them out on close up and medium shots. Unlike their brethren in NY, who opted for the cue card/gaffer tape viewfinder hoods, the west coast cameras at CBS and NBC had custom viewfinder hoods built in their own shops. Go figure.

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In The Beginning…CBS STUDIO CITY

Below left is the original property as it looked in 1926 as the Mack Sennett Studios. On the left, a rendering of how it looks now and at the link, a guided tour via an animated map. Here’s the history. http://www.cbssc.com/map.htm

The year was 1926 and plans for a new city in the San Fernando Valley were being developed. It began with the purchase of a 50 acre lettuce ranch at the corner of Colfax Avenue and Ventura Boulevard, along with a 300 acre ranch located at Laurel Canyon. During this time, “King of Comedy” Mack Sennett, known for his two-reelers and the Keystone Kops, was looking for a new studio location. A deal was struck and in 1928 Mack Sennett Studios opened and the surrounding area became known as Studio City. At this time the Studio consisted of one office building, a projection room/film editing building, a film library, a two-story dressing room building attached to a large sound stage, a wardrobe building, garage, and a stage with an inground swimming pool. With the advent of sound in 1929, Sennett was the first producer to use RCA equipment, with which he produced a bunch of singing short subject films with a young unknown named Bing Crosby.

In 1933 the Great Depression forced Sennett into bankruptcy and the Studio became an independent production facility. Mascot Pictures, under the direction of Nat Levine, became one of the principle tenants and for the next two years the Studio was known as Mascot Studios. Mascot produced the Saturday matinee serial which always ended with the heroine left tied to the railroad tracks as a speeding train came hurtling toward, interrupted by “continued next week.”

In 1935 Mascot Pictures, Monogram Pictures and Consolidated Film Industries joined with several other independent producers and became known as Republic Studios. By then there were six sound stages and several more support buildings. Republic produced over fifty features a year which starred, among others, legends Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck. With the advent of television in the early 1950’s, Republic entered a new medium and produced a number of series. By this time there were twenty-three sound stages and the largest scoring studio in the world.

In 1963 the CBS Television Network entered into an agreement with Republic Studios whereby CBS became the major lessee and the facility was renamed CBS Studio Center. By 1967 CBS decided to purchase the studio and long range improvement plans began. The lot continued to grow and throughout the 60’s and 70’s such television classics as Gunsmoke, Big Valley, Gilligan’s Island, Get Smart, My Three Sons, Bob Newhart, and Mary Tyler Moore were produced at the Studio.

In July of 1982 CBS and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation formed a joint venture which included ownership and operation of CBS Studio Center, and for the first time in almost twenty years a new name appeared on the sign above the main gate, CBS/Fox Studios. Then in 1984 Fox sold its interest in the Studio to MTM Enterprises and the facility became CBS/MTM Studios. Shows produced on the lot during the 80’s included Roseanne, Different World, Thirtysomething, St. Elsewhere, Newhart, Hill Street Blues and Falcon Crest.

CBS acquired MTM’s interest in the Studio in 1992 and once again the CBS Studio Center sign appeared at the gate. Seinfeld, Grace Under Fire, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Cybill, and Caroline in the City are just a few of the shows which called CBS Studio Center home during the 90’s. Features such as Father of the Bride 2, Dr. Doolittle, and I Love Trouble were also filmed on the Studio lot.

Some of the more recent hit shows produced on the lot of CBS Studio Center are, CSI:NY, The Defenders, The Talk, Hot in Cleveland, According to Jim, Will & Grace, Big Brother and That 70’s Show.

Today the Studio continues to flourish and grow. CBS Studio Center is now home to a brand new Broadcast Center which houses CBS2 and KCAL9.

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A Pioneer In Every Way…Ernie Kovacs

Below is a screen shot from one of his last appearances before his death in a car crash in January of 1962. Beginning in April ’61, Kovacs hosted regular specials on ABC which were considered his best works ever and won an Emmy for his innovative special effects using electronic cameras and video tape. Kovacs got his television start in in 1951 at Philadelphia’s WPTZ (now KYW) and with that two hour morning show (7-9 AM), proved that viewers would indeed watch a show at that hour…a point well taken by NBC’s Pat Weaver who created ‘The Today Show’ a year later. Kovacs was one of only six shows to run on all four networks. At Dumont, he did a late night talk show. At NBC he did several shows including a weekly prime time half hour, a daily late morning show and filled in as a summer replacement for Caesar’s Hour. At CBS, he did two years of mornings at 8:30 -9 and later did six months of a weekly primetime show there. There were times when he was on two networks at once, but back then, so were others like actress Fay Emerson. FYI, the other five shows that aired on all four networks were ‘The Original Amateur Hour’, ‘Pantomime Quiz’, ‘Down You Go’, ‘The Arthur Murray Party’, and’ Tom Corbett, Space Cadet’. The camera is an RCA TK10 with a Zoomar lens painted in ABC’s classic red and white. The lead weights on the pan handle are to balance off the Zoomar.

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You Mean Mayberry Isn’t In North Carolina?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but here’s an aerial shot from 1963.

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WHDH Boston, The Big Move

Below left is Keith Jordine of WHDH and on the right is RCA tech John Cimba making ready for the debut of their new color facilities in 1960. The videotape recorder is the RCA TRT 1B, which occupied five rack panels plus one more for color. Thanks to Maureen Carney for the photo.

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‘The Dick Cavett Show’

That had been the title of several shows hosted by Cavett on several networks, but his longest run and best known version was the late night show that ran against Johnny Carson from December of ’69 till January ’75. That show was done in New York from ABC TV 15 which is shown here. I think TV 15 was the only ABC stage in NY with GE color cameras. In a strange quirk, the show he replaced, ‘The Joey Bishop Show’ was done at the only place in Los Angeles that ABC used GE cameras at 1313 Vine Street. I don’t think the man in the red tie is Cavett, but it may be.

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Take Your Best Shot

In this photo, the RCA TK10 has a wide angle opening shot of the man’s desk top and will probably tilt up to show his face. The “taking lens” is the lens in front of the IO tube which on the TK10 and TK30 was the top center position. In this photo, the camera is shooting with a 50mm lens. The middle right lens is a 90mm, at the bottom an 8 1/2 inch, and middle left is the 135mm. The longest lens must always be mounted 180 degrees away from the shortest lens (on the other side of the center nut). If not, the shorter lens will “see” the longer lens.

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‘The Big Party’, CBS Studio 33, October 8, 1959

https://archive.org/details/TheBigParty1959
At the link is the entire 90 minute show which was the debut of this monthly program sponsored by Revlon. This still shows the half ramp installed for the Houston Fearless crane. When Television City opened, 31 and 33 had permanent camera ramps all the way from the stage to the control rooms. A few years later, the ramps were removed and more seats were installed, but now the stages had a removable “half” ramp and could be used as needed. Although there were only six episodes of ‘The Big Party’, they were packed with stars…this debut show is hosted by Rock Hudson and has over a dozen guests like Sammy Davis, Tallulah Bankhead, Ester Williams and more.

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The Business End Of An RCA Camera

From 1946 till around 1966, most cameras around the world were four lens turrets. The most common array of lenses was the 8 1/2 inch, 135mm, 90mm and 50mm. The turret was first used on the RCA TK30s and TK10s. The last RCA with a turret was the TK60. Below is a look at the range of field these lenses offered. A the networks, on large productions, different cameras may have used different lenses for new perspectives. Lens changes during a live show was not unheard of, but was not par for the course.

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