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September 25, 1964…Last Black & White Bob Hope Special Airs

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Eyes Of A Generation.com

September 25, 1964…Last Black & White Bob Hope Special Airs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkntHZ91WJI
At the link above is a Hope special from September 25, 1964. Although it was shot in black and white, it looks spectacular! This was done in Studio 1 at NBC Burbank, which had RCA TK41 color cameras, but they were pushed off to the side during this shoot.

Hope was the producer too, and to save money, he opted for B&W for as long has he could, but NBC finally put their foot down, and after this, he went to color.

Below are some rare photos of the TK60s in Studio 1. This camera used the new 4.5 inch Image Orthicon tube. The TK60 actually debuted in 1960 as the TK12, but had a few issues. By ’63, RCA had fixed the problems and re-released it as the TK60. By this time though, color was making great headway and broadcasters were reluctant to buy monochrome cameras, but many did.

It was an excellent camera and it’s only rival was the Marconi Mark IV which used the same tube. By the way, Milton Berle, Phyllis Diller, Dean Martin, and Jack Benny are Bob’s guests on the special which is quite good. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee



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10 responses to “September 25, 1964…Last Black & White Bob Hope Special Airs”

  1. Barry Grauman

    Bob continued to tape his monthly specials in black and white until December 1965, when NBC- who was billing itself as “The Full Color Network” {almost all of their regular programming was transmitted in color, beginning that fall}, INSISTED that Bob “cough up” the extra money for color production…and he did.

  2. David Dimit

    Hope was a notorious cheapskate and a cutthroat real estate tycoon

  3. Tim Stepich

    What was the last B&W show to come out of Burbank?

  4. John Roger Bolin

    Looks like they were still using ped’s form the early 50’s.

  5. John Mainelli

    Never saw B&W look so good. Great copy!

  6. Jeff Martin

    This really was the ultimate for live b/w–those cameras and the Marconis. Image quality amazing. To my eyes, though, all the b/w Bob Hope specials looked incredibly cheap, not just because they were b/w, but the tacky sets and performers in front of curtains…but hey, who am I to judge; it was his money and people tuned in. Interesting to compare them with the b/w CBS variety shows from the same era that used the Marconi cameras–Judy Garland, Danny Kaye–they enforced the “white-on-white” design aesthetic (white sets, white costumes)–which looked “classy” and took advantage of what the Marconi cameras could do. Unfortunately, the Marconi image was so sharp that every time they cut into a closeup of Judy Garland…oh dear…

  7. David Breneman

    Arthur Schneider’s famous “jump cut” editing on the monologue.

  8. Steve Dichter

    Quite a relief for those camera operators after pushing around the TK-41’s.

  9. Alan Kline

    Never realized that NBC bought TK-60’s for any studio, much less Burbank. Also interesting that while 2 of the cameras have the “snake” logo, the others don’t…

  10. Lawrence Manross

    Definitely smaller cameras than those 2-man tanks they used in the beginning. Let’s hear it for technology!

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