Manual Graphics…1952 Election Coverage At ABC

This is a far cry from where we are now, but this is the way it was done back when television was just taking baby steps. The ABC stagehand in the large photo is one of several men behind the big totals board. Each plastic ring has 0 through 9 on it and with the latest vote tabulations called out to them, these men moved the numbers on the board. On this night, Walter Winchell was the network’s television and radio anchor. These photos are more than likely from ABC Studio TV 1. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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New Richard Wirth Article…The SMPTE Time Code

This is a perfect detailed follow up to the Smith Block and video editing stories I posted. Here’s the story of how the time code came to be and, having been around for almost half a century, how it has withstood the test of time.

Some of the most interesting parts of this are the rare videos he found while doing the research – like the CMX600 promotional film that gives a detailed demonstration of the first nonlinear editor in detail by taking you through the editing of a musical piece. Thanks to our friend Richard Wirth for composing this very interesting article. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

SMPTE Time Code – Virtually Unchanged After Almost 50 Years

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The End…Universal Stage 28 Demolished, September 22, 2014

The Joni Mitchell lyric, “they tore down paradise to put up a parking lot” comes to mind now. As I understand it, the space where Stage 28 was will now be used as part of the Universal Theme Park expansion. Although this was built in 1925, there are six older stages here…Stages 3 & 4 and 5 & 6 and 16 & 17 were built in 1916.

To end on a high note, click the link to see The Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1996 video that shows one of the few times the 1938 vintage under-the-floor water tank has been used. Gone but not forgotten! Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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Follow Up…Last Look At Universal Stage 28, The “Phantom Studio”

Only a month ago, the sound stage where ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ was shot, was torn down. That was Universal Studio’s Stage 28. In this post, I am including two videos that give us a last look at the original 1925 set before it was carefully removed and packed away for display at a later date.

The embedded video is :49 seconds and was taken by a Universal employee on the sly. The second video is at this link and is a longer look with 2 minutes of photos of the set and some interesting history from the presenter who is the niece of the man who ran Universal and built Stage 28…Carl Laemmle.

In 1924 Universal’s president, Carl Laemmle, commissioned the construction of a set of the Paris Opera House for the movie. Because it would have to support hundreds of extras, the set became the first to be created with steel girders set in concrete. For this reason it was not dismantled until this year. Stage 28 still contained portions of the opera house set and was the world’s oldest surviving structure built specifically for a movie. The studio was used in hundreds of movies and TV series and I’ll give you the incredible list of what famous movies were shot here and many more photos in today’s next post. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDDzG2G3ExM

As an employee, and thanks to a kind security guard, I was able to film this footage of the oldest sound stage in the world. Stage 28 at Universal Studios, H…

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Best Photos Ever Of The Original NBC Color Mobile Units…

Thanks to Nicolas Auger, here is a great color photo of the first color mobile units ever. This picture was taken in Greenfield Village, Michigan near The Henry Ford Museum October 25, 1955 and NBC was there to shoot some of the museum’s activities for insert into ‘Today’ and ‘Home’, which is quite reminiscent of the 1954 Color Caravan tour.

The camera outside the school is shooting ‘Howdy Doody’ which was live from the Scottish Settlement School that day and was the third live colorcast from here. They were comparing 1855 to 1955.

The third vehicle is what I believe to be a black and white utility bus that came along with cable and scaffolding for this outdoor shoot of a recreated village from early American history. Images courtesy of The Henry Ford Museum Collection. Enjoy and share!

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To Sports Fans, This Set Should Look Familiar…CBS Studio 43

On Saturdays and Sundays during football season, this is ground zero for the CBS Television Network’s sports coverage. I make that distinction because next door, in Studio 44 is the CBS Sports Network cable channel’s headquarters set. This set in use year round for all sports, but I seem to see it more in the fall.

I took this back in June at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York and just to be clear, this is the NY Studio 43 as there is a Studio 43 at Television City too. Edited and corrected now. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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Meet The Cameramen Of ‘CBS Sunday Morning’

From left to right are Kevin Cavallini, Allen Brown and John Curtin shown here with the show’s great host, Charles Osgood. Every Sunday morning for 35 years, since day one in 1979, Allen Brown has been there and has been with CBS for 40 years.

Later today, I will be talking with not only Allen, but NBC veteran Frank Gaeta as well. I can’t wait to hear some of the stories about their years behind the camera and the shows they’ve done.

Also included here are some shots from yesterday’s show with a few more of the people that work in Studio 45 on Sunday mornings.
Thanks to our friend Craig Wilson for the always stellar photos. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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On A Related Note…1954; The Year In Color At NBC

Just a month before NBC Brooklyn Studio I went live in September of 1954, the NBC Color Caravan wrapped up a three month sojourn through the midwest and mid Atlantic states, but that was just a small part of a year brimming with color at NBC and RCA. Here are the highlights of that industrious year.

January 1, 1954: ‘The Tournament of Roses Parade’, from Pasadena was telecast in color by twenty-one stations of NBC’s first coast-to-coast color network. This colorcast also marked the first use of NBC’s new mobile color TV unit and the first West-to-East transcontinental transmission of color television.

February 16, 1954: NBC transmitted the first newscast in color… ‘The Camel News Caravan’, including the first integration of 16-mm color film into a live program.

March 4, 1954: The first shipment of RCA TK40s, and associated studio equipment was made from RCA’s plant in Camden, N.J. This was after two years of testing of the TK40 prototypes at NBC’s Colonial Theater.

March 19, 1954: The first colorcast of a boxing match from Madison Square Garden, was presented by NBC and was their first color sports event.

March 25, 1954: Production of RCA’s first commercial color TV sets, the CT 100s, equipped with a 15-inch picture tube began at Bloomington, Indiana.

June 25, 1954: NBC made the first network transmission of 35-mm color film, on ‘The Mrs. USA’ program.

July 8 – Aug. 19: NBC aired the first network color series, ‘The Marriage’, a situation comedy with Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn.

July 15, 1954: RCA announced development of a new and improved 21-inch color kinescope with a picture area of 255 square inches.

September 12, 1954: NBC presented the first of its 90 minute color spectacular, ‘Satins and Spurs’. The program also inaugurated NBC’s new Brooklyn Studio I.

September 15, 1954: RCA demonstrated its new 21-inch color picture tube and a simplified color TV receiver.

Oct. 14 – Dec. 30: ‘The Ford Theatre’ was the first network sponsored TV color film series to be presented on a regular basis.

November 28,1954: First two-hour color production of a Shakespeare play, “Macbeth” on ‘Hallmark Hall of Fame’.

December 1, 1954: RCA began commercial production of color TV sets with a new 21-inch picture tube.

Presented with thanks to Ed Reitan and Novia.net for the detials and all his many contributions to the perservation of television history and his archival efforts, which are many. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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Ultra Rare! Network Telop Cards…Cica 1955

From the Gady Reinhold Collection, here are nine opaque cards used in the Gray Telop machines of the day. How many times in the 50s did you see this iconic CBS cloud logo between shows? Until I heard of the telop machines, I always thought is was a slide. It later was, but for many years it was an opaque card…this card. Quite a piece of history.

‘The Secret Storm’, ‘Guiding Light’ and ‘Love Of Life’ cards were used as rejoinders, and all the others including the NBC card are all promo cards used in stop set billboards.

These were about the height of a postcard, but not as wide and are now quite rare. Thanks to our friend Gady for saving these for future generations to see. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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Before Character Generation, There Was This…Then Came Vidifont

The first electronic graphics machine used in US television production was the CBS Vidifont system. As told by the man that developed it, Stanley Baron, here is the story of how it came to be.
https://ethw.org/First-Hand:Inventing_the_Vidifont:_the_first_electronics_graphics_machine_used_in_television_production

Before 1968, television graphics were either movable letters on a slot board like this, text on a slide, or white letters on a black flip card, or rolling credit drum that were superimposed over live shots. I thought Chyron was the first with this, but as it turns out, it was CBS Labs that lead the way. It’s an interesting story so enjoy and share. -Bobby Ellerbee

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