TV History

The Whole Story Of Disney On Television… On September 24, 1961, “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World Of Color” debuted on NBC. To mark the occasion, of the anniversary, here is that first color broadcast, and the whole story of Disney on TV, which starts at ABC. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee ____________________________________________________ Walt Disney was…

September 23, 1962…”The Jetsons” Debuts As First Color For ABC This video clip is quite good, as Bill Hanna and Joseph Barbera reminisce about the show. Here’s a little known fact…although this was ABC’s first color broadcast, the network’s facilities did not include any color equipment anywhere, and only a few of their affiliates…

September 23, 1961…”NBC Saturday Night At The Movies” Debuts “How To Marry A Millionare” was the first movie to air, and with this debut, came a new problem…how to show widescreen movies on TV! Thus was born, Pan and Scan. DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW PAN/SCAN WAS DONE? Since many of these “new to TV”…

A Tour Of The Eyes Of A Generation Camera Museum…Ellerbee Camera Collection…An Exclusive New Tour Video Here is a tour of my museum quality collection of television cameras. This is the 16 that I have on display in the house, but there are 85 more in the garage and we get a glimpse of…

September 21, 1963…”The Jerry Lewis Show” Debuts On ABC This is a strange tale, but you’ll love the video of Jerry riding the crane and singing. You would have thought that one of the worlds top comedians would have been a natural hit, but the show only ran 13 weeks. ABC originally had high…

September 21, 1948…Berle Becomes “Texaco Star Theater” Host This is an ultra rare photo of NBC’s newly converted Studio 6B, where “Texaco Start Theater” is about to go on the air. Berle hosted the debut show June 8, 1948, but over the summer, Henny Youngman, Morey Amsterdam, George Price, Jack Carter and Peter Donald…

September 21’s Moments In TV History…Many Major TV Debuts 1948 – Milton Berle debuted as the permanent host of “The Texaco Star Theater” on NBC. 1957 – The first episode of “Perry Mason” aired on CBS. 1968 – The television show “Adam-12” debuted on NBC. 1970 – “NFL Monday Night Football” made its debut…

September 20, 1962…”The Jack Paar Show” Debuts On NBC When Jack Paar left the ‘Tonight’ show in the summer of 1962, he took a few months off, but returned to NBC in primetime with a weekly Friday night show. Jack’s new show debuted on September 20, 1962, about two weeks before Carson’s “Tonight” debut.…

September 20, 1952…”The Jackie Gleason Show” Debuts On CBS In July of 1950, Jackie Gleason took over as host of Dumont’s “Cavalcade Of Stars”. The original hosts had been Jack Carter, then Jerry Lester, who was followed by Morey Amsterdam. By the middle of ’51, Gleason and his writing staff developed an idea for…

September 19, 1970…”The Mary Tyler Moore Show” Debuts In the first video below, Mary Tyler Moore discusses the problems with the pilot, and there were many…it was the lowest scoring pilot ever tested at CBS. Below that is the first ever episode, but when you watch it, the story just doesn’t seem dated does…

September 19, 1952…This Was The News Of The Day On NBC Here is a time capsule…a look at the news on this day in 1952. This is the full 15 minute broadcast of “The Camel News Caravan” live from Studio C of NBC’s Uptown Studios at 105 East 106th Street. A location NBC leased…

September 19, 1960…The “Tonight” Show Goes Color The “Tonight” Show is a creation of the late Pat Weaver, and has been on the air since 1954. It is the longest currently-running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after “Meet the Press” and “Today”. When the…

September 18, 1927…The CBS Radio Network Debuted, In the photo above is CBS News Studio 9 with Murrow in suit and the short man in the background is news director Paul White. On the right, Douglas Edwards looking at wire copy. Below is Studio 9 with Robert Trout looking to news director Paul White…

  Source 🏈 The Day Television Met College Football—And Changed Forever On September 17, 1960, a seismic shift occurred in the world of sports broadcasting. The Georgia Bulldogs, led by the dynamic quarterback Fran Tarkenton, faced off against Coach Bear Bryant’s formidable Alabama Crimson Tide at Legion Field in Birmingham. But this wasn’t just…

September 16, 1949…ABC’s KECA TV In Los Angeles Signs On On May 7, 1949, Billboard revealed that ABC would spend $2.5 million to convert the old Vitagraph/Warner East Annex in Hollywood into The Prospect Studios, and construct a transmitter on Mount Wilson in anticipation of the launch of KECA-TV, which went on the air…

September 16, 1965…”The Dean Martin Show” Debuts On NBC This video goes to the heart of why the show was such a big success. It was as spontanious as a taped, network variety show could be, thanks to the unique relationship that Dean and director Greg Garrison had. The great open secret of The…

Great Interview…Director, Don Roy King, “Saturday Night Live” In case you missed this link in the comments section of the SNL story earlier this week, here is a rare treat. In this half hour interview, Don Roy King gives us an incredibly detailed and interesting description of how the show is done, the weekly…

September 15, 1938…NBC Debuts TV’s First Live Remote Show On December 12, 1937, the world’s first electronic television remote units were delivered by RCA to NBC in New York City. The dual vehicle system, consisting two, 26 foot buses included one for production and one for transmission. The production bus provided two portable single-lens…

A little further down are links to 3 great time lapse videos that show you how “active” Studio 8H is during each episode of “Saturday Night Live”, but we will start with a rare look at a stage map for the show. If you have wondered how Studio 8H is arranged for the hive…