TV History

TeleTales #42…One Of The First Television Commercials Somehow looking forward to new commercials has become a part of the Super Bowl madness we experience each year, but I seriously doubt that the people that made the very first TV spots would believe us if we could tell them. Below is a shot from inside…

KTLA and Klaus Landsberg were not the only ones innovating in Los Angeles in the 1930s. There was also Don Lee who’s station W6XAO (now KCBS) is credited with airing the first movie and the first news film on television. This short video covers the whole story very well. Here is an interesting pictorial…

February 2, 1950…”What’s My Line” Debuts on CBS On this day in 1950, WML began a 17 year run which reportedly makes it the longest running prime time network game show ever. Produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, the show was initially called “Occupation Unknown” but the day before air, the name was…

February 2, 1973…”Midnight Special” Debuts On NBC Helen Ready was the first host, but instead of playing that clip, I wanted to share this one…I was there for this. My best friend wrote this song, formed the band and played the drums; his name was Robert Nix, but I called him Robotussen. He called…

Super Bowl…The Magic Of Half Time! Amazing Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNRm7OwXpGo Two videos here…below, rare shots of the stage being set up for Madonna in 2012, and above is the performance. Amazingly, they have only 6 minutes to set up and 6 to tear down these incredibly complex stages. I hear there are 600 on the…

February 1, 1954…”The Secret Storm” Debuts On CBS At the time this episode aired, the show was about a year into production and holding its ground from 4:15 – 4:30 weekdays, even though it was up against “American Bandstand”. The show originated from CBS Studio 65, The Hi Brown Theater at 221 West 26…

February 1, 1982…”Late Night” With David Letterman Debuts, NBC Two videos for you to mark the 33rd Anniversary, first here are two rare promos that ran the weekend before the show debuted on a Monday night. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIUPlDEFgfw The second video below is from the second night on the air and Dave starts the show…

TeleTales #41…But Where Are Our Pants? Thanks top Bettina Levesque for this picture of her behind the camera at the Metro Media Square Studios where the last two seasons of “Three’s A Crowd” were shot in ’84 and ’85. The camera is an RCA TK45. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee Source

Our New Camera Collecting Friend In Germany…Liam O’Hainnin We met just this morning and Liam has some very nice Fernseh cameras, including the very camera that shot President Kennedy’s famous speech in Berlin. Donka Shane Liam! Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-L7uw8YodI This is a report on Liam O’Hainnin, an Irish man with a…

Super Bowl Prep…Chapman’s Two Headed Monster In Action! Here’s a short but sweet clip of the unusual dual platform Chapman sideline cart on the field with comment from NBC cameraman Mark Lynch and driver Rob Lombardi. Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=906828359370124&set=vb.112955302090771&type=2&theaterHow’d you like to ride on one of these at the Super Bowl?…

Building The Sets For “Saturday Night Live”…A Visit To Brooklyn This a good story on how, where and when the sets for SNL are built each week, BUT…make sure to click on the slide show button at the bottom of the page to see the 16 pictures. The work they do on such short…

Super Bowl VII…Christina Skaggs…Up, Up And Away For CBS You may remember Christina best from her days behind the camera on “The Match Game”. As one of the few women in television at this level, she got some interesting assignments outside the studio too. Here she is in 1973 ready to get the aerial…

Ultra Rare! Meet Television’s Top Late Night Directors! Thanks to Vinnie Favale, here is a one of a kind photo. From left to right is “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” director Dave Diomedi, “The Colbert Report” director Jim Hoskinson, “Late Night With David Letterman” director Jerry Foley and “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart”…

Super Bowl…More Two Headed Monster and NEP’s New Trucks Here are a couple of new photos of Chapman’s dual cam platform in use at this year’s Sugar Bowl. There will be two of these on the sidelines this Sunday…one on each side of the field. At the story linked here, you’ll get the latest…

Happy 64th Birthday…NBC Studio 8H On January 30, 1951,Studio 8H was dedicated as a television studio. On November 7, 1933, 8H was the home of the first NBC Radio broadcast from the new 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters and was then known as the Auditorium Studio. As early as April 19, 1944, television had occasionally…

TeleTales #39…Four Camera Bowl Game, NBC 1960 It may not have been much of a surprise in yesterday’s post that ABC only used four cameras for a college football game in 1949, but in 1960…guess what…it was still four cameras. This was the 1960 Senior Bowl, hosted by Red Grange and Lindsey Nelson from…

TeleTales #38…Watch For These At The Super Bowl This is probably the most unique camera platform ever. I think this configuration debuted about five years ago when ESPN asked Chapman for something different for sideline coverage. According the NBC’s camera chats, there will be two of these on the sidelines this Sunday for the…