September 12, 1954…’Lassie’ Debuts On CBS

The video clips here are part one and two of the first ever episode of ‘Lassie’ which debuted Sunday, September 12, 1954, at 7:00 p.m. EST…a time slot the show would call home on CBS for the next seventeen years.

Between 1943 and 1951, Lassie, was the inspiration for seven MGM feature films. With completion of the seventh film in 1951, the studio planned no further films for the Lassie character or Pal, the dog actor who portrayed the fictional canine. In lieu of $40,000 back pay owed him by MGM, Pal’s owner and trainer Rudd Weatherwax took all rights to the Lassie trademark and name, and hit the road with Pal to perform at fairs, rodeos, and other venues.

Needing material for the relatively new medium of television, producer Robert Maxwell sold Weatherwax on the concept of a Lassie television series with a boy and his dog theme. The two men developed a scenario about a struggling war widow, her young son, and her father-in-law set on a weather-beaten American farm.

Two pilots were filmed with the first telling the story of the bond forged between boy and dog, and the second filmed to give potential sponsors and network buyers an idea of a typical episode. After viewing the pilots, CBS put the show on its fall 1954 schedule.

Campbell’s Soup Company signed on early as the show’s sole sponsor and remained so for the show’s entire run. Enjoy and share!
-Bobby Ellerbee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf49nG11S2M Part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXquPCNsPzM Part 1

Lassie – Episode 1 – “Inheritance” – Part 1 – (Originally broadcast 09/12/1954)

Part 1 of 2. The complete first Lassie TV episode. In this episode Jeff Miller inherits a young collie named Lassie after the death of her owner, an old neig…

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Rare! ‘Lucky Partners’…NBC Studio 8H, 1958

If you blinked, you missed this short lived daytime game show. It debuted June 30, 1958 and by August 22, it was gone and these few photos are all that remain. The host was Carl Cardell.

I want to ask a question…does anyone know if the cameraman standing on the McAlister Crab Dolly is Fred Himelfarb? I have never seen a photo of him and would love to know what he looked like. Fred was NBC’s camera guru and was the man who kept the improvements on the TK41 coming. These are beautiful shots of 8H in action and thanks to our friend John Schipp for sharing them. Enjoy and share! – Bobby Ellerbee

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A Rare Look At NBC Studio 8H…1954

‘Saturday Night Live’ fans and staff will get a kick out of this too as this will look quite familiar. The opens with the studio doors of 8H bursting open and the singing cast making it’s way to the 8th floor elevators to welcome the show’s star, Dorothy Collins, back from maternity leave.

If you look closely, you can see the art deco page desk behind them just as they come out. I’ll post a photo of me at that desk in the comments section to refresh your memory. They have cleverly hidden the lights behind flats in the hallway scene.

Notice that when they come back into the studio, they go into the same kind of tunnel we see now on SNL, but it’s not the same.

The SNL “temporary” bleachers on the 9th floor are supported by scaffolding on the studio floor, and were not installed till 1975. At this time, I think the seating in 8H was all pull out bleacher seating, much like you see in high school gyms. I think what they are running through is a curtained pathway between two bleacher sections. This space would have to always be clear as this is how equipment and staff moved in and out of the studio.

By the way, Studio 8H did not go color until June 24, 1963. The color photographs I have posted showing Dorothy Collins with NBC TK41s were taken at Brooklyn II where the show moved in 1957.

See any familiar faces? I see Snooky Lanson, Russell Arms and a few more. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPzhhzkaT24&feature=youtu.be

Dorothy Collins is welcomed back to the Your Hit Parade show by the entire cast of the program. Dorothy took a leave of absence to have her first child and P…

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A Classic Candid And What It Tells Us…

This is NBC cameraman George Kiyak goofing with the photographer in a photo shared by his son, Mark, but let’s look closer…there is something to learn here.

Notice the turret handle is at a 45 degree angle and not at it’s usual 90 degree taking position. What George has done is a “quick cap”… he has partially racked the turret between lenses to save the expensive Image Orthicon tube in this RCA TK30.

The pedestal is a Houston Fearless TD 1. George is sitting on the up/down crank wheel and these were geared to really move when you cranked them. The pedal under the crank wheel is called a trolley pedal. When you step on the TD 1 trolley pedal, it pushes down a castor wheel which allows you to move the base of the pedestal to another angle. Today, that is accomplished with Steer 1.

The castor wheel was used before there was a “Steer 1/Steer 3” option, which first appeared on the next generations of pedestals, the TD 3 counterbalanced pedestals.

The Steer 1 option allows you to steer like a tricycle with one wheel steering and the other two following, while Steer 3 is the, all wheels in the same direction, “crab” steering.

On the left side of the ped base is a cable grip which was usually a matter of preference…some liked them, some didn’t. On the very first TV pedestals which were built in the mid 30s, the cable came out of the bottom of the Iconoscope cameras and went down through the support column, exiting at the base of the column on a spring loaded arm on the right side of the camera. Believe it or not, those peds were electric and a small motor under the skirt moved the camera up and down. They too had trolley pedals.

Including George, everything here were the real workhouses of early television. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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Hey CBS…Buck Rogers Wants His Truck Back!

In August of 1951, this one of a kind creation was the latest and greatest thing in mobile radio units. For the time, this was actually quite a feat of engineering design with all that molded plexiglass.

This CBS unit is shown here in Central Park and could broadcast on the go from up to 35 miles out. I think the truck is either French or English. Anyone know more? Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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Speaking Of ‘Gunsmoke’…How About Some Great Outtakes?

Long before blooper shows came to television, this reel was put together by CBS for one of their fall season kick off meetings for their affiliates in the early ’60s.

It’s hosted by James Arness and features a lot of gags from his show, but we’ll also see Red Skelton with the pooping cow, Rod Serling, Richard Boone, Jackie Cooper and many more stars and extras blowing lines and goofing. The cussing is mostly in the last 30 seconds which has a few very interesting surprises! Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulfIZA3KBEk

http://www.TVDAYS.com HOME VIDEO COLLECTION http://www.seagate.com Ira H. Gallen Video Resources 220 West 71st Street NYC 10023 (212) 724 – 7055 http://www.T…

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More CGI Magic…’Boardwalk Empire’

As promised, here is more on the amazing ability editors now have with Computer Generated Imagery. Period shows like HBO’s ‘Boardwalk Empire’ have to take a great deal of care to keep the 1920s look intact and free from modern skylines and backgrounds, but that’s only half of the challenge. The other half is turning the clock back by recreating historic landscapes and even period appropriate ships. Take a look and marvel as the impossible becomes possible before your very eyes. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eay7YRgYQgQ

This is CGI at it’s best for TV

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The Old Shoe…Seth Meyers Desk Platform

Last week, ‘Late Night With Seth Meyers’ debuted their new set, but in case you never saw this up close, here is the old desk platform.

Around Studio 8G, this was called “the shoe” because it kind of looks like one and works like one. The “heal” is where the mechanics are located…the electric motor and axis that moves the desk set in and out of the stage floor. Since the host is the soul of the show, it’s only fitting that the desk was on the “sole” of the shoe. Now you know. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

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September 9, 1926…NBC Was Incorporated By RCA

The incorporation process was the first step on a very long and profitable road for the nation’s first broadcasting network which came to life on November 15, 1926, with a gala four-hour radio program originating from the ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Here is some of NBC’s early history which includes the Red and Blue Networks and their sale. Enjoy and share!
-Bobby Ellerbee

NBC was the joint effort of three pioneers in mass communications: Radio Corporation of America, American Telephone and Telegraph and Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Two early radio stations in Newark, New Jersey, and New York City—WJZ, founded by Westinghouse in 1921, and WEAF, founded by the American Telephone & Telegraph Company in 1923—had earlier been acquired by RCA and, after NBC was created, became the centres of NBC’s two semi-independent networks, the Blue Network, based on WJZ, and the Red Network, based on WEAF, each with its respective links to stations in other cities.

The formation of NBC was orchestrated by David Sarnoff, the general manager of RCA, which became the network’s sole owner in 1930.

The National Broadcasting Company was the first permanent, full-service radio network in the U.S. RCA’s goal in forming NBC was to be able to provide a large number of quality radio programs so that, as one of its newspaper ads said, “every event of national importance may be broadcast widely throughout the United States.”

NBC’s first radio broadcast, on November 15, 1926, was a four-and-a-half hour presentation of the leading musical and comedy talent of the day. It was broadcast from New York over a network of 25 stations, as far west as Kansas City; close to half of the country’s five million radio homes tuned in. The first coast-to-coast broadcast soon followed, on New Year’s Day, 1927, when NBC covered the annual Rose Bowl football game in California.

The demand for a network service among local stations was mounting so rapidly that less than two months after its first national broadcast, NBC split its programming into two separate networks, called the “red” and the “blue” networks, to give listeners a choice of different program formats.

By 1941, these two networks blanketed the country; there were 103 blue subscribing stations, 76 red, and 64 supplementary stations using NBC programs. The blue network provided mostly cultural offerings: music, drama, and commentary. The red featured comedy and similar types of entertainment. There were regular radio programs for children, and soap operas and religious programs. When the Federal Communications Commission declared in 1941 that no organization could own more than one network, NBC sold the blue complex, which became the American Broadcasting Company.

From the first coast-to-coast broadcast of the Rose Bowl in 1927, sporting events were a radio mainstay. That same year, the red and blue networks tied in with a number of independent stations to broadcast the second Tunney-Dempsey fight from Soldier Field in Chicago. Two years later NBC broadcast the Kentucky Derby. During the 1920s and 1930s, the network featured the World Series many times. It also covered major football games, golf tournaments, and the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1932.

NBC’s first special-events broadcast was Charles A. Lindbergh’s arrival in Washington on June 11, 1927 after his historic trans-Atlantic flight. In 1928, the network began coverage of national political events, covering the Republican and Democratic national conventions in 1928; the inaugurations of presidents Herbert Hoover in 1929 and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933; the opening of the 73rd Congress on March 9, 1933; and Roosevelt’s first “Fireside Chat” on March 12 of that year. “NBC News” was officially created in 1933.

The first international NBC broadcast was also in 1928, when the network carried a pick-up of President Calvin Coolidge opening a Pan-American conference in Havana.

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Speaking Of ‘Star Trek’….

On this 48th anniversary of the series debut, here’s an idea of just how wildly popular the show was. Mad Magazine did a parody!

Our friend Dick DeBartolo wrote “Star Blecch” for Mad’s December ’67 issue and here is Shatner and Nimoy reading it on location. Dick’s story was beautifully illustrated by Mort Drucker, and at the link below is a colorized version for you to share and enjoy! – Bobby Ellerbee
http://startrekanimated.com/mad_01.html

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MIND BLOWING! Prepare To Be Astonished!

The question is, can you believe your eyes? After seeing this…you may wonder if you ever can again! Especially at the movies.

The computer generated visual effects in this clip from ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ are simply stunning. See for yourself! Tomorrow, more stunning CGI effects but for now, enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pocfRVAH9yU

A look at some of the more challenging shots Brainstorm Digital put together from Martin Scorsese’s new film The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCap…

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NBC Television Logos…1926 – 2000

As part of today’s 57th Anniversary of the NBC Peacock logo, I thought I’d add this montage. Someone did a good job with this, which is actually pretty accurate and inclusive…especially the first three minutes or so. I always thought the Snake logo was the best. What’s your favorite? Enjoy and share! – Bobby Ellerbee

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

HOPE YOU LIKE IT!!! List: 1920s Radio on USA – 1926 1930s 2nd logo – 1931 Man plays chimes – 1933 1940s Microphone WNBT – 1944 Curtain with text – 1949 1950s…

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September 7, 1956…NBC Debuts The Animated Peacock

57 years ago today, this animated film clip rolled at NBC for the first time at the start of ‘Your Hit Parade’ which at the time, was originating live and in living color from NBC Studio 8H. The voice belongs to legendary NBC announcer Ben Grauer. The animation was done by Electra Film Labs in New York City. The man who designed the peacock is John J. Graham.

There will be much more on this in the next post or two, but I wanted you to see this in the clear. Below in the comments section is the original peacock slide that debuted in July of 1956…fourteen months before this historic bird came to life. Enjoy and share! – Bobby Ellerbee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug9ndBnWi9A

www.technologynewstimeline.com In 1957, NBC used this to indicate that the following program would be in color. It was the true beginning of the color-TV era.

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Barbra Streisand’s Network Television Debut…April 5, 1961

Filling in for the vacationing Jack Paar, Orson Bean hosts ‘Tonight’ and introduces the world to Barbara. The actual video will start about a minute into this, but the visuals leading up to it are interesting photos and newspaper clips about the rise of this budding singer.

After her performance, she’ll join (on the couch) Phyllis Diller, Gore Vidal and Hugh Down’s (Paar’s announcer and sidekick) and with Orson behind the desk Albert Dekker. Naturally here singing is flawless but she’s quite funny and at ease in the interview too. Enjoy and share! – Bobby Ellerbee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DXvLD-pxms&list=PL0DA39002B63082AB

Barbra Streisand performing “A Sleepin’ Bee” on the Jack Paar Show in 1961.

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