TV History

Follow Up #2…The Jerry Lewis – Bing Crosby Feud Yesterday, I posted video of Jerry taking over the camera at the 1952 Olympic Telethon hosted by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. I mentioned that Crosby was avoiding Lewis because he was afraid Jerry would dislodge his hair piece. Little did I know that that…

‘I Love Lucy’ 3 Headed Monster…Came From ‘Truth Or Consequences’ In researching the story I posted just before this on the first television game show with a live audience to be shot on film, I came across this interesting fact. The excerpted paragraph below is from ‘I Love Lucy’ editor Dann Cahn on the…

Historic Revelation! Ralph Edwards Sets The Record Straight! Two days ago, I posted an article from 1950 that claimed ‘You Bet Your Life’ was the first game show to be filmed before a live studio audience. Some had suggested here that ‘Truth Or Consequences’ was the first. I’ve done more research and it seems…

Speaking Of Telethons…Here Are Photos From The First Ever After posting the Martin & Lewis video from the 1952 Olympic Telethon, it occurred to me that it’s been a few years since we’ve seen these rare pictures from the first telethon in May of 1949. Milton Berle hosted the 16 hour event on NBC…

More Classic Camera Fun…Jerry Lewis Takes Over…1952 When Jerry walks toward the camera and looks in the lens, you just know something else is about to happen…and it does, just a few seconds later when he takes over the RCA TK30. This is from the same theater that NBC used for the Hollywood broadcasts…

Why This Is An Interesting Photo For Camera Buffs… Over the past few weeks, I’ve posted some photos taken by television veteran Peter Katz. This is Peter behind an RCA TK30 at The Hudson Theater in New York which was home to ‘Tonight’ and ‘The Kate Smith Show’. There are three things that stick…

Unknown Production History Of ‘You Bet Your Life’… Did you know this was the first television show to be filmed before a live audience? Me either till I read pages 31 and 32 of this August 1952, Television Magazine story. It’s written by Isidore Lindenbaum who owned Film Craft Productions, the studio that filmed…

October 5, 1950…’You Bet Your Life’ Debuts On NBC + Special Insights We’re a day late with this, but it was on purpose as this pilot was directed by none other than Ralph Levy, who we just met in the article before this. This the unaired pilot to the show that was kinescoped around…

Director Ralph Levy…A CBS Superstar You may not know the name, but you know his work. Among other things, Ralph Levy directed the ‘I Love Lucy’ pilot, ‘The Jack Benny Show’, ‘Burns And Allen’ and as we just learned in today’s first article, ‘The Ed Wynn Show’. A few months back, I posted a…

Just For Fun…You’ll Be Surprised To See Who This Lady Is This was a special edition of ‘I’ve Got A Secret’ from 1958 that featured family members of famous stars. You will be shocked and wildly surprised by who the lady is. The video is cued to start at the head of her segment,…

October 5, 1947…First Televised Presidential White House Address On this day in 1947, President Harry S. Truman delivered the first televised presidential address from the White House. As far as we know, this was the first White House pool feed and was handled by NBC. Television was still in its infancy and there were…

The Perils Of Covering Live Sports…A Knockout Blow Many will tell you soccer is a kinder and gentler game than American football, but not for this cameraman. These low angle sideline cameras give viewers a great look at the action, but this is not the first time these run ins have happened. Enjoy and…

EOAG Exclusive Photos…’The Doctors’, NBC Studio 3B Thanks to Bob Batsche, we have these these two color photos that he took on the set in 3B, and thanks to Chuck Snitchler, we have a shot of the slate from the first color episode which would air December 4, 1967, but was taped almost a…

October 4, 1976…Barbara Walters Co Anchors ABC Evening News 38 years ago today, Walters became the first female anchor for a US network evening news program. On her move from NBC’s ‘Today’ show, she was teamed with ABC anchorman Harry Reasoner and the sparks immediately started to fly! This short clip goes directly to…

Exclusive New Photos From NBC Brooklyn…4 of 4 Thanks to Peter Katz, here is another of four photos taken on the set of ‘Amahl And The Night Visitors’ at NBC Brooklyn. This was first performed on December 24, 1951 in Studio 8H where it was broadcast live as the debut production of the ‘Hallmark…

October 4, 1954 – ‘December Bride’ Debuted On CBS Spring Byington starred not only in the television version, but in the CBS Radio version as well which began in 1952 with a cast of stars that included Hal March and Doris Singleton as her daughter and husband, and Hans Conrad as neighbor Pete Potter.…

Just For Fun…1944 RCA Television Milestone Ad I thought you may find this interesting. The cameras in the photo are the pre war Orthicon cameras and this was most likely taken at Madison Square Gardens where RCA sponsored and broadcast several events for servicemen. The USO shows that RCA cosponsored were broadcast for wounded…

An Exclusive Eyewitness Account…Billy Crystal & The Debut Of SNL Last week, with the debut of the 40th season of ‘Saturday Night Live’, we looked at the history of the show’s missed start date and the first episode. As you know, Billy Crystal was scheduled to appear, but he didn’t. You are about to…