TV History

‘Jeopardy!’ A Fred Westbrook Photo This is ‘Jeopardy!’ from NBC Studio 6A with host Art Fleming talking to the audience in a pre show warm up round. The cameras are RCA TK44s and on the right is the show’s credit roll box. A popular staple of late night comedy shows was always the bit…

I Couldn’t Resist… After looking at hundreds of shots, I’ve come to the conclusion that at least half the visual magic on ‘I Love Lucy’ is in the faces of the characters. It seems about a quarter of the fun is in big pay off ‘reveal’ shots like this, and the final quarter is…

‘The Price Is Right’ A Fred Westbrook Photo This is a rare photo taken during the early days of this show that originated from NBC’s Colonial Theater and Ziegfeld Theater. Notice that the cameras are RCA TK40s, not TK41s (no vents on the viewfinder). I think the first couple of years were from The…

‘I’ve Got A Secret’: A Fred Westbrook Photo In 1964, Gary Moore left the show (details below in the Show History post) and was replaced by Steve Allen. This photo is thought to be of the last episode on April 3, 1967 and was taken at the shows final home, CBS Studio 50 also…

‘Cash And Carry’, A Fred Westbrook Photo This is network television’s first game show, and the world’s first TV game show host, Dennis James. ‘Cash And Carry’ originated from DuMont’s New York studio, then located inside Wanamaker’s Department Store. The show aired at 9PM on Thursday nights and was the only show on the…

MUST READ! The Fred Westbrook Game Show Photo Archives Starting now, Eyes Of A Generation will be posting some of the best and most rare game show photos ever seen, and it’s all thanks to Fred Westbrook. Below, you see Fred and one of his many famous clients, Adam West, but Fred is best…

Crane Day At “The Tropicana” This is a rare sight! Here, on the ‘I Love Lucy’ set, a huge stage crane is getting a special shot at Ricky’s club. Usually, there are three dolly mounted Mitchell cameras on the set, but occasionally Karl Freund (DOP) and Jess Oppenheimer (Producer) would bring in a big…

Guess Who Often Topped Ed Sullivan & Steve Allen On Sundays? When ‘Maverick’ debuted in September of 1957 on ABC against these two ratings giants, the show often beat out ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ and ‘The Steve Allen Show’. James Garner was Brett Maverick, the shows one and only star, BUT…a few episodes into…

CBS Studio 60, 1947 Broadway Today, The Julliard School stands here, and it’s really quite fitting that such a renowned school should occupy the space once filled my a movie palace and a network television studio. Lowe’s Lincoln Square Theater was built here in the early 1930s and by 1951 CBS had bought it.…

This Could Have Been Lucy & Ethyl When ‘I Love Lucy’ was being cast, Lucile Ball wanted her old friend Barbra Pepper (seen here with Lucy) to play the part of Ethyl Mertz. The two had a long history together, as Pepper had been one of the Goldwyn Girls who came to Hollywood with…

CBS Studio 52: 254 West 54th Street As you may know, this became the famous Studio 54 nightclub in 1977, but it was built in 1924. It started as the Gallo Theater and by 1940 had become the New Yorker Theater. It sat empty for three years till CBS bought it in 1943 as…

‘Wagon Train’, NBC 1957-1962: ABC 1962-1965 The Indians and outlaws along the way were nothing compared to the difficulties behind the scenes. Series star Ward Bond and co star Robert Horton did not get along well on the set but they finally settled their differences two days before Bond died in the forth season.…

CBS Color At Television City & The Bob Crosby Show (1953-57) In the mid to late 50’s and even in the early 60s, there seems to be no particular rhyme or reason as to when CBS shows from Television City would be done in color,as none were colorcast on a regular basis, but once…

Must See! Behind The Scenes…Fox Sports NFL Coverage Thanks to Dave Perrussel and Dennis Martin for the link. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im1KLxrl6ss An exclusive, all access look at the people, technology, and highly organized chaos that results in the NFL’s most advanced game broadcast. Source

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your day, but take a close look at that turkey…it may be an old friend. All my best to you and your family. Bobby Ellerbee Happy Thanksgiving from Nathan Love & NBC. Client: NBC Artworks Animation Studio: Nathan Love Director: Nathan Love Creative Director: Joe Burrascano Art Dir… Source

Macy’s Parade Television History Below is a shot from 1954 showing NBC’s new Chime logo on a TK30. If you look closely at the viewfinder, you will see that the WNBT call letters have been removed and as of yet have not been replaced with the new (October 18, 1954) WRCA call letters. More…

Ultra Rare! Mary Tyler Moore Show It’s amazing how much this shot looks like others from ‘I Love Lucy’ and even ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’…from the typical three camera setup to the rail on the audience bleachers. The show was done at CBS Studio City on Radford Avenue in Los Angeles and from…

Can You Spot The Impostors? These TK41 cameras prop really got around. Here they are on the set of a ‘Dragnet’ episode. I’m think MGM owned them and I’m pretty sure these are the same two that were used in “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying” in 1967. If the pedestals had…

“Cleopatra”, 1963’s Top Movie Here is a RARE, home movie look at the grand entrance to Rome scene. This scene took 3 days to shoot and had to be redone several months later because the light was going fast when the first takes were done. The Kennedy’s viewed this film at the White House…