WHEN TELEVISION WAS RADIO-ACTIVE - THE BREAKFAST CLUB ON TV - THE DuMONT NETWORK - CIRCA 5/12/48

There were only a few scant years between the dawn of televsion and having television shows at dawn.

But, in 1948, a daring, multi-media  experiment yielded an historic first, when television brought breakfast-time radio from the kitchen into the liivng room.

Morning radio shows that launched the day for listeners with a familiy of players behind the mic, offering entertainment,news and weather were a broadcast mainstay in the 1930,40's and 50's.

One of the most popular  programs was THE BREAKFAST CLUB WITH DON MCNEILL, originating from Chicago and beamed LIVE, each weekday at 8AM, on ,first, the NBC BLUE NETWORK, which later became the ABC RADIO NETWORK and subsequently on ABC's AMERICAN ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK,to millions of American homes.

In big cities and small towns, the happy mix of upbeat banter ,popular music and homespun humor was a welcome addition to the breakfast menu.

The richly mounted, wake-up call premiered on NBC BLUE in June 23, 1933 and ran contiuously , with McNeil hosting, through December 27, 1968.

But, four years before Televisionary Sylvester "Pat" Weaver devised and debuted TODAY on NBC-TV, on May 5th 1948, an experimental "simulcast," co-produced by ABC RADIO and the struggling DuMONT TELEVISION NETWORK, put Don McNeil's LIVE show on TV and Radio.

The show was being produced on location in Philadelphia because, both, the 1948 Republican and Democratic National Conventions were being held in America's cradle of liberty.

Here, from the JASON 1920 YOU TUBE SITE is a rare kinescope of that historic broadcast.

Enjoy!!!

A 60'S VISION FOR YOUR HOME OF THE FUTURE - THE 21ST CENTURY - CBS-TV - CIRCA MARCH 12,1967

Imagine looking back in time to see the future that awaits you.

This is not a mind-bending treatise positing some manner of chronological chaos theory.

It is a prescient prognostication in a segment from the 1967, CBS NEWS, documentary series, entitled THE 21st  CENTURY and hosted by the venerable anchorman, Walter Cronkite.

Watch this clip and compare the projected technology depicted with the computer you use for work or play in your own home, to the HDTV,big screen television you watch or the digital,climate controls that provide heat or air conditioning.

While the technology shown may be primitive, the  1960's vision for the home of the 2000's  is close to accurate.

Here from the Brian Ahier YOU TUBE site, is an excerpt from THE 21st CENTURY.

Enjoy!!!

NOT EVERY PRODUCT FROM KRAFT IS CHEESY -KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATER - NBC-TV - CIRCA 4/2/64

KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATER on NBC-TV, from 1963-1965 was an archetypal production of ,what was then , Hollywood's largest television assembly line, UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS.

It was a weekly, hour-long, dramatic anthology that was pre-empted once a month for PERRY COMO'S KRAFT MUSIC HALL, but the series fulfilled a more important role for, both, the studio and the network , acting as an incubator in which to cultivate pilots for potential new series.

Not many made it past  their initial airing.

Of the 59 episodes which were produced, in the end, only one episode spawned a series on the NBC schedule, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE with Ben Gazzarra.

Like so many efforts of an eclectic nature, some editions of the show offered engrossing television, while some were simply, passable, prime-time fare.

One outing that distinguished itself, was the April 2, 1964 episode, entitled ONCE UPON A SAVAGE NIGHT.

Designed to be a pilot for a police drama, it was a taut, vibrant , life and death, race against the clock set in Chicago.

Unlike so many of the stories produced for the show, this episode was shot on location in the Windy City.

Like so many editions of KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATER, it was crafted by talented people as the genesis of their careers, who would go on to fame in feature films.

The series theme was composed by a young staffer in  the studios music department named John Williams. He would , years later, find his success scoring a movie set in a galaxy far, far away from UNIVERSAL CITY.

The surprise is that the director was ROBERT ALTMAN!! Yes , that Robert Altman, who like Steven Spielberg was learning his craft directing, weekly episodic television on the stages of  the UNIVERSAL LOT.

You'll also see future sitcom superstar, Ted Knight, in a serious role.

And grab a pencil, as KRAFT spokesman , and legendary NBC announcer , Ed Herlihy, offers some tasty recipes!!!

Here, from the GR160289 is KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATER'S production of ONCE UPON A SAVAGE NIGHT.

Enjoy!!!!

PRIMETIME HERO ON HORSEBACK - TALES OF WELLS FARGO - NBC-TV - CIRCA 1957 TO 1962

In the 1950's , Westerns had the drop on television, pardner!!

On the three major networks, Cowboys rode the  21- inch range,  the law of that land was enforced by a solitary, stoic hero with a Colt .45 loaded with blanks and the Old West was only as big as the Universal back lot.

One of the most popular shows of TV's halcyon Era was NBC-TV's TALES OF WELLS FARGO.

Westerns may have resonated with the post-war audience and their baby-boomer children because it depicted  a weekly morality play in glorious monochrome.

A battle between good and evil unfolding against the rustic canvas of  the American Prairie.

Starring the courtly Dale Robertson,and sponsored by such iconic brands as Pall Mall Cigarettes and GM's Buick Motorcar Division, this two-fisted adventure portrayed the daring cases of Jim Hardie, an agent of the Wells Fargo Company.

Train robberies, stage coach chases, barroom brawls and  romance with mysterious beauties were the stuff that propelled TALES OF WELLS FARGO to the top of the ratings.

As LIVING COLOR became more important to NBC and it's parent, COLOR-TV manufacturer, RCA, TALES OF WELLS FARGO expanded to an hour-long COLORCAST for it's final seasons.

Robertson became one of television's most bankable stars and never strayed far from the Western genre, going on to play the lead in ABC-TV'S THE IRON HORSE (1966-67).

Here, from the THE VIDEO PRISMS YOU TUBE SITE, is the December 2, 1961  episode of TALES OF WELLS FARGO, IN LIVING COLOR.

ENJOY!!!!

A LITTLE MORNING MUSIC - JAZZ ON THE TODAY SHOW - NBC-TV - CIRCA JUNE 22 ,1956

In the mid-1950's, when NBC-TV's TODAY was only a two hour show, produced in silvery monochrome,and musical concerts were performed in the claustrophobic, art-deco confines of ROCKEFELLER CENTER'S FLORIDA SHOWCASE, video visionary Dave Garroway and his production team welcomed a truly eclectic array of guest performers, every morning.

Following the mandate of media mastermind and NBC scion, Sylvester L. "Pat" Weaver,  TODAY not only brought immediacy to morning news coverage, but it gave America a crystalline window into the richly textured landscape of  arts and culture.

On June 22, 1956, Garroway welcomed Jazz Pianist Nellie Lutcher and her combo to TODAY, with a clever and expressive introduction.

Watch the classic clip, posted below and you'll  see the engaged, entertained on-lookers peering through NBC-TV's glass and brass window on the world.

From the MUSICOM67 YOU TUBE site, THIS IS TODAY, ON NBC.

Enjoy!!!

HOLIDAY LOVE- LETTERMAN'S ANNUAL GIFT TO VIEWERS - CBS-TV - CIRCA DEC. 21,2012

                

In the Yuletide landscape of network television, one of the truly anticipated, Holiday traditions is the incomparable Darlene Love's annual performance of CHRISTMAS ( BABY, PLEASE COME HOME) on CBS-TV's LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN.

It is one of most vibrant and electrifying moments of video that you can enjoy, all year long.

Love  has performed the Christmas standard on the Letterman show since 1986, when he was hostingLATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN on NBC. When a writers strike prevented her from performing on the show in 2007, an earlier version was aired.

                        (Darlene Love at Ed Sullivan Theater-2012)

The  emotionally charged  song was written in 1963 by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector ( who is a whole other, less sentimental story, all onto himself). Love's vivid and intense rendition was released as part of a compilation album of Holiday tunes.

It has been part of the soundtrack of the Christmas season in America , ever since.

Here, from the 525WIREMAN YOU TUBE site, under the meticulous musical direction of  Paul Shaffer. is Darlene Love's 2012 , LIVE performance of CHRISTMAS ( BABY, PLEASE COME HOME).

Enjoy and Happy Holidays from KINESCOPEHD!!!







CHRISTMAS BONUS!!!!!!

Here from the CHRISTMASjoy365 YOU TUBE site is Darlene Love's first performance of CHRISTMAS (BABY,PLEASE COME HOME) on NBC's LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN in 1986. ENJOY!!!!

ARRESTING TELEVISION / DRAGNET DEBUTS / NBC-TV / CIRCA DEC. 16, 1951

It was hazy and monochromatic with heavy static at the dawn of network television.

Television.

It was new , dangerous , addictive and available to the public at only a few places in 1951.

The demand outweighed the supply.

The price was off the charts.

Watch once and you never want to see the end of the broadcast day.

When a video viewer wanted a heavy dose of dramatized police procedure, they called Sgt.Joe Friday.

Friday was working the Prime Time Watch at NBC in Los Angeles.

He carried a badge.

With apologies to, and admiration for, pioneering video visionary and one of the original TV hyphenates, actor-director-producer-writer Jack Webb, we pay tribute to NBC's DRAGNET.

It was, by all accounts, television's first , hit crime drama.

DRAGNET was high caliber TV , in every sense of the term.

One of many successful series that transitioned from radio to television, the story telling was fast paced with clipped dialog. With images framed in tight close-up to compensate for the small screens of early,home receivers, it was photographed in a documentary style, that evoked film noir cinema.

Jack Webb's world weary Detective Friday was a heroic everyman who lived with his Mother. The laconic bachelor confronted the daily tedium of police administrative protocol, that was, once in every episode, punctuated by staccato bursts of danger.

In the pilot outing, Barton Yarborough ( who passed away early in the run of the series ) played Friday's partner, Sgt.Ben Romero, and TV icon Raymond Burr portrayed the LA Police Department's, real-life Chief of Detectives, Thad Brown.

DRAGNET  would run until 1959 and Webb would successfully revive the taught, but sometimes preachy, drama in LIVING COLOR for a second series on NBC-TV from 1966 to 1970, with the versatile, veteran character actor Harry Morgan as Friday's eccentric partner, Bill Gannon.

Here, from the PUBLICDOMAIN101 YOU TUBE site,  is the debut episode of DRAGNET, entitled THE HUMAN BOMB.

Enjoy!!!