Another Rarity: TK60s At NBC Burbank
On September 27, 2013
- TV History
Another Rarity: TK60s At NBC Burbank
Compared to others, these cameras had a short life in Burbank. The earliest they could have been bought was late 1962 and with NBC taking the lead to go all color in 1965, they would have been obsolete and sold off. This shot is from a Bob Hope special taping sometime between 1963 and 1965 in Studio 2. Since Hope produced his own shows, he did them in b/w to save money until the 1965 color mandate at NBC. As I understand it, Studios 1 and 3 were color and Studios 2 and 4 were black and white. I don’t recall ever seeing a TK60 at NBC New York, do you?
From 1963-65 these specials aired monthly as part of the BOB HOPE PRESENTS THE CHRYSLER THEATER anthology show. Were those other installments (generally produced by MCA/Universal) in color?
Mike…..don’t have much….some were lost…a couple of others were formally posted. ……
This photo was in studio 1….I remember because I took the shot. ALSO….studio’s 2 and 4 were color.I was there when the Dinah Shore Chevy Show was taped in 4 with TK 41s……..
I think we’ve seen this photo here before. I remember that the NBC ‘Snake” logo looked photographically added (“PhotoShopped”) onto the side of the camera. Also, I thought Hope did his shows in Studio 1 since he needed the audience seating that studio already included. I think there’s another photo taken at the same time as this one which proved this was in Studio 1.
I’m surprised anyone bothered with TK60’s with color on the horizon. Why replace a B&W I/O camera with another B&W I/O camera? NBC being part of RCA might explain the TK60’s in Burbank, just like RCA unloaded TK47’s there when GE took over and RCA was folded as a broadcast equipment manufacturer. Ironically, ABC seemed more into TK60’s than NBC. KGO-TV had TK60’s before they inherited the GE color plumbicon cameras from ABC’s Joey Bishop show in Hollywood.
I remember local stations making the transition to color sometimes had different rate cards for B&W and color commercial production. But I’m surprised Hope wanted to go B&W this late in the game.