October 25, 1982…’Newhart’ Debuts On CBS
You are in for a big surprise as you watch this! It’s the ‘Newhart’ pilot and was the first episode to air…it’s shot on videotape! I think the switch to film came after the first season. This may have been shot with the CBS spec Hitachi cameras at Studio City. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee
Who Knew? NASA Got An Emmy For It’s Pictures From The Moon! 45 years ago today, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. They also sent back live television pictures and Mr. Aldrin became the first lunar cameraman. Five years ago, the TV Academy presented NASA with an […]
Historically Speaking… This is a very interesting history of the way television shows were broadcast and recorded first to Kinescopes and later to videotape and how they were edited. Did you know ‘Laugh In’ episodes took over 50 hours to edit? This take us all the way up to Avid systems. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIVYeyWHajE Trace the history […]
The Pride Of NBC Burbank…Studio 1 Here’s a look at this gigantic studio from around 1955. Studio 1 is 42′ feet high, 119′ long and 89′ wide with 10,591 square feet of floor space. Studio 3 next door is almost the same size but is one foot shorter coming in at 118′ in length. Studios […]
ESPN 3D Sideline Cart, View A This is a modified Chapman Olympian base with 2 camera platforms. The lower one for the ‘human’ operator is a swivel turret that can go up about 20 feet. On the rear is an extendable boom arm that can go up another 20 feet above the operator when fully […]
“Newhart” was done entirely on tape for its first season, switching to film for its second season in the fall of 83. I like the filmed episodes better…..they have a homey look to them compared to the first season episodes.
I recall too that the switch to film came with the second season.
Bob!
The look of the video episodes is not very good. I don’t think the lighting designed helped. The set was two stories (which they never seemed to use more than once or twice) so maybe grid height had something to do with the poor look. Other taped shows looked better.
No matter what we all think……one thing about “Newhart” is clear…..the best TV series finale ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l84cBsVtK4
I’ll drink to that!
Amazing, the videotape image somehow changes your perception, more like a live theater play. Does this phenomena have a name?
I loved it when shows actually had an opening and finished up with the credits before the story line. Now some stick the opening after the first commercial. Nothing to say “get ready…here I come”.
Certainly shows the limited quality of font generators in that day.
The dream begins…If you saw the last episode, you know what I mean