TV History

December 27, 1947…”Howdy Doody” Debuts EXCLUSIVE VIDEO Thanks to Burt Dubrow, America’s top Howdy expert, WE ARE ABOUT TO SEE SOMETHING MOST HAVE NEVER SEEN…THE ORIGIANL HOWDY PUPPET ON ONE OF THE EARLIEST SHOWS RECORDED! This kinescope is only 21 minutes long, and most likely was done as a test of the new kinescope…

The First Kinescope Images…”Colored Television”, 1933 Earlier this week, I posted a story on RCA/NBC’s first TV transmissions from the new Empire State Building tower, and mentioned an interesting side story was to come later…here it is. RCA/NBC’s 85th floor transmitters in the Empire State Building began experimental television transmissions from there on December…

A Merry Christmas Wish To You From Eyes Of A Generation! From myself, and my first comedic heros Moses Harry Horwitz, Louis Feinberg and Jerome Lester Horwitz…no matter the holiday you celebrate, may it be filled with joy! -Bobby Ellerbee Source

December 24, 1934 …The First Traditional Christmas Special Debuts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gDeZ4vuBCc From 1934 till 1953, Lionel Barrymore played the role of Ebeneezer Scrooge on the annual holiday broadcast of “A Christmas Carol” on CBS Radio. When what became a tradition started, it was a huge event as this was the movie star’s first ever radio…

December 24, 1948…Perry Como & NBC Studio 6A Debut Together Como had been the Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening host of “The Chesterfield Supper Club” on NBC Radio since December of 1945. On Christmas Eve of 1948, the radio show was simulcast from NBC Studio 6A where his radio show had always come from,…

December 24,1951…Behind The Scenes Inside NBC Studio 8H 1st “Hallmark Hall Of Fame”…1st “Amahl And The Night Visitors” This story has two parts. Below the 3 photos of the RCA TK41s shooting this production at NBC Brooklyn, is an interesting first hand account from a TV magazine writer who was there, pointing out the…

Best Choreography In Live Television…”SNL” Stage Hands & Crew Quick take down of the cold open set with countdown from the control room…will they make it? Click to see! I’ve seen this in person from the floor seats and it is amazing. Nothing like it anywhere. NBC Studio 8H…home of the PROS! -Bobby Ellerbee…

December 23, 1947…The Transistor Is Born At Bell Labs, BUT… Why did it take so long to come to television? In this story, I’ll answer that with a surprising bit of information I recently found, and also give credit where credit is due. In the top part (above the line) I’ll talk about the…

December 22, 1931…First Empire State Broadcast & TV Test History Update On this day in 1931, NBC made it’s first experimental television broadcast from the new Empire State Building transmitter. Since the story of RCA’s early television transmission test sites is a bit muddled, I am taking this opportunity to clarify a few things…

December 22, 1963…The Judy Garland Christmas Special Our friend George Sunga was the production supervisor on Judy’s series. This show was shot with the new Marconi Mark IV black and white cameras in Television City’s Studio 43. The video and audio is exceptional…state of the art for 1963. This also includes the original commercials.…

Memory Lane…Inside MTV Studios During Their First Month On Air I’ve never seen much behind the scenes footage of the MTV production crew in action, but from an August 1981 “PM Magazine” episode, here is a good look. I thought you may enjoy it too. Thanks to ABC’s Howie Zeidman for making this available.…

December 20,1938…Vladimir Zworykin Patented The Iconoscope Although there was controversy over a lot of patents and inventions in electronic television between Philo Farnsworth and Zworykin and RCA, there is no contention over the development of the Iconoscope. While working as an engineer at Westinghouse in 1923, Zworykin had presented his idea to the company,…

December 19, 1958…’The Chipmunk Song’ Tops The Record Charts Did you know that David Seville was the stage name for Ross Bagdasarian? Bagdasarian was both creator and voice of The Chipmunks. The year before he had a hit with ‘The Witch Doctor’. The tape machine Bagdasarian used to record his novelties was the variable…

December 18, 1956…’To Tell The Truth’ Debuts On CBS…Rare Pilot Episode AMAZING! Here is the pilot for the show and you won’t believe the host and panel! The host was Mike Wallace. On the panel…Dick Van Dyke, John Cameron Swayze, Polly Bergen and actress Hildy Park. The show, which debuted 60 years ago today,…

SPECIAL 3 DAY BIRTH OF COLOR EVENT: DAY 1, PART 1 Today is the eve of the 63rd anniversary of commercial color broadcasting in America. Over these next 3 days, Eyes Of A Generation will tell the most complete story of the development of RCA’s Compatible Color System, ever presented on the internet. Pass…

SPECIAL 3 DAY BIRTH OF COLOR EVENT: DAY 1, PART 2 Today is the eve of the 63rd anniversary of commercial color broadcasting in America. Over these next 3 days, Eyes Of A Generation will tell the most complete story of the development of RCA’s Compatible Color System, ever presented on the internet. Pass…

SPECIAL 3 DAY BIRTH OF COLOR EVENT: DAY 2, PART 4 Today is the 63rd anniversary of commercial color broadcasting in America. Over the weekend, Eyes Of A Generation will continue to tell the most complete story of the development of RCA’s Compatible Color System, ever presented on the internet. Pass the word! More…

SPECIAL 3 DAY BIRTH OF COLOR EVENT: DAY 2, PART 5 Today is the 63rd anniversary of commercial color broadcasting in America. Over the weekend, Eyes Of A Generation will continue to tell the most complete story of the development of RCA’s Compatible Color System, ever presented on the internet. Pass the word! More…

SPECIAL 3 DAY BIRTH OF COLOR EVENT: DAY 2, PART 6 Today is the 63rd anniversary of commercial color broadcasting in America. Over the weekend, Eyes Of A Generation will continue to tell the most complete story of the development of RCA’s Compatible Color System, ever presented on the internet. Pass the word! More…