TeleTales # 51…NEW, ULTRA RARE! “Texaco Star Theater”
TeleTales # 51…NEW, ULTRA RARE! “Texaco Star Theater”
This is just amazing! I have studied this very closely and believe this to be, if not the debut show, at least a photo taken in the first month of “The Texaco Star Theater” starring Milton Berle. This is the ONLY behind the scenes photo I have every seen of this show in production.
This was taken in NBC Studio 6B that was converted from radio to television on June 8, 1948, just in time for the debut of Berle’s show. I have several pictures of this studio in late ’48 in which the camera platforms have back rails, but notice there are none here yet which makes them brand new and this is possibly their first use.
Also notice the title card on the right side of the stage. As you can see at the start of this earliest video of the show, it is the same.
At the time this was taken, only NBC Studios 3H and 8G had their own cameras. Television was being done in what were then radio studios 3A, 3B, 6A and 6B with several in house mobile units with three cameras each. The Camera Control Units were on wheels and were placed in the sound locks of the studio.
When I mention the dates the studios were converted from radio to television, that means the date that these studios finally got their own control rooms. Even before the June 8, 1948 debut of 6B, some television was done here with the mobile units, which was also the case for 3A, 3B and 6A. In September of 1949, these mobile units would also finally enter Studio 8H for the television debut of “The Voice Of Firestone”. Many thanks to Mike Clark for sharing this, AND some great pictures yet to be posted! Enjoy and SHARE! -Bobby Ellerbee
I have December 9, 1949 Texaco Star Theater, with a slate to prove it on the front end of a cassette.
If I’m not mistaken, Berle was one of a number of comics who took turns hosting this show during the summer of 1948 before becoming permanent host in the fall. I believe Peter Donald and Henny Youngman were two others.
Beautiful! There is another photograph which I have. I’ll find it and post it. Amazing what could be done in Studio 6B!
That’s a great shot. Here’s what the studio looks like now:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dennisdegan/14583583658/
Studio 6B was also famous for the Tonight Show with Jack Paar and with Johnny Carson when he was in NY.
What a fantastic picture. It really gives you an idea of things were done back then. You can almost feel the excitement of waiting to go on the air.
Thanks for sharing this! I’m dying to see more from the early Berle Texaco run. That period when “real network TV” started fascinates me. I keep reading that no Texaco Star kinescopes exist from ’48, though the audio discs are at the LOC. I wonder if Berle’s estate has any locked away.