The Photo And The COLOR Video…’Hallmark Hall Of Fame’
Ultra Rare! The Photo And The COLOR Video…’Hallmark Hall Of Fame’
On October 18, 1964, Hallmark’s production of the popular Broadway musical “The Fantasticks” came to television. At the link above, the video is cued to start at the head of this scene in the photo that shows John Davidson speaking to his father, who is played by Bert Lahr.
This was done live to tape at NBC Brooklyn. Although videotape could be edited then, it was still done manually by splicing so the prefered method was still to go live in the east and tape for the west, just like in the kinescope days.
‘The Hallmark Hall of Fame’ debuted on Christmas Eve 1951, with the world premiere of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” on NBC TV. Until 1955, the production schedule was near frantic with an average of 40 new presentations a year. In 1954, the show began color broadcasts and in 1956, it went to a bi monthly format with six or seven shows a year.
The Hallmark anthology series was one of the highest rated and most awarded in television history. For nearly three decades the series was broadcast by NBC, but the network cancelled it in late 1978 due to declining ratings. Since then, the series has been televised by CBS from 1979 to 1989, then on ABC from 1989 to 1995, then CBS again from 1995 until 2011, when that network cancelled the series due to low ratings. As of 2014, the series has earned 80 Emmys, 9 Golden Globes, 11 Peabody Awards and many others.
Thanks to Paul Duca for finding the video. Enjoy and share!
– Bobby Ellerbee
I know this is a little bit off subject but I have just found almost the complete run of Hollywood Palace on YT. Most are in great shape. with commercials.
My father was a makeup artist in the NBC department and then took over as head of the department when Dick Smith left. He worked on both “Amahl” and “The Fantastiks.” These photos are amazing to me!!
In the original 1960 off-Broadway cast of The Fantasticks was Law & Order’s Jerry Orbach. On left in this photo. https://a9b435ad70-custmedia.vresp.com/961c146d77/Original%20Cast%20of%20The%20Fantasticks%20The%20Duel%201960.jpg
Now, Hallmark has a crummy cable channel. Nothing like the information mentioned above..
A complete list of HHoF episodes is available here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hallmark_Hall_of_Fame_episodes
For the very first time in my life, after years in TV, I now realize they have videotape that early in TV history. I always thought it came along in the early sixties. So glad to know this. (Splicing had to be one rough chore.)
The Hallmark Hall of Fame is now aired several times each year on ABC-TV. The most recent episode aired on April 20, 2014.
HHoF also had a brief stint on PBS sometime in the 80s (with “Hallmark” omitted from the title due to PBS requirements, but with Hallmark noted as supporter).