REACHING FOR THE STARS - THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF JOHN GLENN'S FLIGHT INTO ORBIT - NASA FILMS - CIRCA FEBRUARY 20, 1962

In the sixth decade of what came to be known as The American Century, adolescent Baby Boomers dreamed of colonizing distant planets, while the disicplined members of the Greatest Generation did the heavy lifting required for human beings to escape the bonds of Earth's atmosphere.

At the NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, insightful scientists and industrious technicians were building the groundbreaking flight systems that would allow American Astronauts to take the first halting steps in a fabled journey to the Moon.

On February 20, 1962, the whole world was watching, as Marine war hero, John H. Glenn, rode in a confining Project Mercury space capsule, atop an Atlas Missle, into low Earth orbit and into the history books.

It was a global media event, as Television and Radio networks around the planet carried the LIVE images and sounds of Glenn's oddessey in space.

Here, from the USNATIONALARCHIVES YOU TUBE site, is a film produced by NASA , introduced by President John F. Kennedy and narrated by DRAGNET'S Jack Webb, chronicling an amazing chapter in American history,entitled THE JOHN GLENN STORY.Enjoy!!!!

THE MADE FOR TV PRESIDENT - ELECTION NIGHT COVERAGE - NBC NEWS - CIRCA NOV.8, 1960

If you ever have wondered how the ballot you cast,behind the curtain of a voting booth in your hometown, winds up as one digit among millions on a television network's, election night,graphic display, I suggest that you click on the video posted below.While it details the process of gathering election night data circa 1960, the premise has not changed , even if the protocols have evolved for news in the digital age.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I posted that video, from MSNBC, as a way to help bring the conventions of election coverage into sharp, if monochromatic, focus.

The 1960 race for the Presidency of the United States was a Templar of the challenges we faced as America entered a new and hopeful decade, that was viewed my most to be filled with promise and fraught with problems.

Two young candidates , Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard M. Nixon, representing almost diametrically opposed visions for this country's future, would engage in ground-breaking debates. These contentious confrontations were not distinguished by the eloquence of the exchange or the substance of the ideas advances, but because it all unfolded on LIVE television for the first time in history.

On election night, two accomplished and aggressive, television news divisions faced-off in a high voltage, high intensity battle for the hearts and minds of American TV viewers.

It took until the morning of Wednesday, November 9th to determine that John Kennedy , son of an affluent Massachusetts family and war hero, would serve as the 35th President of the United States.We now know that his time in office, referred to by many as Camelot,would end in the angry retort of gunfire on a November day in Dallas, Texas, 3 years later.

NBC NEWS won a mandate from the television audience on election night, as well. A virtual, ratings landslide set the course for NBC NEWS to dominate political coverage for years to come.


Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, NBC's weeknight anchor team, head the election night team. Supported by the latest television technology that NBC's parent company, RCA could supply and an incredible team of correspondents, producers and technicians, NBC's smart, engaging and literate coverage stands as the model for election night production to this day.

From the DAVIDVONPIEN1 YOU TUBE site, enjoy NBC NEWS coverage of Election Night 1960!!

PEACE, LOVE & SOUL - WHEN AMERICA RODE THE SOUL TRAIN - SYNDICATION - CIRCA 1973

Don Cornelius was an entertainer and entrepreneur, who took millions of television viewers on the "Hippest Trip in America" each weekend, aboard the SOUL TRAIN.

He created and hosted a vibrant, exuberant show that introduced some of the greatest performers in R&B to a loyal and diverse audience from its inception in 1971 until he retired in 2007.



Yesterday,at age 75, in poor health, he killed himself. His final years were marked by an ugly divorce and charges of domestic violence.

It's sadly ironic that a man who did so much to bring so many people together in happy celebration of music, fashion and culture would end his life in a lonely,violent act.

The syndicated show that he launched on a Chicago, UHF station changed careers, lives, style and attitudes among all of us who made sure we were in front of a TV set when the SOUL TRAIN came roaring into our homes.

We hope that Don Cornelius will rest in peace, love and soul.

Here , from THE SOUL TRAIN YOU TUBE CHANNEL, is a montage of the teens, the talent, the music and the fashion that made SOUL TRAIN an American institution

HEAVYWEIGHT COMEDY WITH A LIGHT TOUCH - THE BOB & RAY SHOW - NBC-TV - CIRCA 1952

In the wacky and wondrous minds of consummate comedians Bob Elliot & Ray Goulding, early television programming may have benefited from the services of a referee.

The premise of this hilarious sketch from their sweet but sardonic, NBC television series is so focused and funny, that no more exposition is required.

Here from the KATHERINE'SDADDY1 YOU TUBE site is a rare clip of two, talented men who proved that three chimes mean good times every time the red light went on.

Enjoy this brief but brilliant episode of THE BOB & RAY SHOW.

THE ABC'S OF SPACE COVERAGE - SPECIAL REPORT ON PROJECT GEMINI LAUNCH - ABC-TV - CIRCA JULY 17, 1966

LIVE television and the American, manned space flight program were, truly, a marriage made in the heavens.

That's exactly where the story took millions of fascinated viewers, here and around the globe.

While American Astronauts and Soviet Cosmonauts explored the frontiers of space, broadcast journalists challenged the new frontier of LIVE, wall-to-wall,space coverage with the added advantage of COLOR television technology.

In 1966, NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was conducting Project Gemini, the second phase in the mythic journey to set foot on the moon.

Starting in 1961, Project Mercury put pioneers like Alan Shepard and John Glenn into space and into orbit for the first time.

In the late 1960's. Project Apollo would propel men like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to touch the surface of the Moon, for the first time in human history.

Project Gemini was the initiative that launched two men into space inside a single capsule to test the systems and cultivate the skills needed to leave Earth's orbit and reach for the stars.

(YOUNG & COLLINS)

On a warm summer day in July of 1966, NASA would , first, launch a satellite atop an Atlas-Agena rocket into orbit.100 minutes later Gemini 10, with astronauts John Young and Michael Collins ( who, 3 years later, went to lunar orbit in Apollo 11 ) aboard, roared aloft, atop a Minuteman ballistic missile.

Once in orbit, they would target the satellite and dock with it, high above the Earth.Perfecting the rendezvous maneuver at high velocity in space, was imperative for the Project Apollo lunar landing system to work. Astronaut Young also made a daring Space Walk or EVA ( extra vehicular activity).

In 1966,ABC-TV was a network that appealed to the very young viewers with shows like BATMAN, SHINDIG! and THE FLINTSTONES.But,its news division, which would become the gold standard for network news coverage in the 1990's under the iconic Roone Arledge, was under-funded and under-watched.

It's an age old formula in television,and you don't need to understand complex,orbital mechanics to do the math:
limited resources = low ratings + low revenues.




Even with an honorable news product , plus talented ,versatile,young correspondents like Peter Jennings, Steve Bell and Ted Koppel and the added expertise of space specialist, reporter Jules Bergman, ABC could command respect, but not an audience.

They simply could not compete with CBS's Walter Cronkite or NBC's Chet Huntley & David Brinkley. Nor could ABC overcome the fact that their rival networks had more affiliated stations to deliver their coverage to many more loyal, news viewers.

Here from the efan 2011 YOU TUBE SITE , is a short clip from an ABC NEWS SPECIAL REPORT on the launch of the Atlas Agena rocket and the Gemini 10 spacecraft. Enjoy!!

EYE ON THE SKY - RARE SPECIAL REPORT ON LAUNCH OF SOVIET SATELLITE - CBS NEWS - CIRCA 10/6/57

There was a day in the Fall of 1957 when America looked to the heavens and CBS News turned its Eye to the skies, as the Soviet Union made history, high above the earth.

This nation's Cold War adversary pulled off a cosmic coup, by launching the very first artificial, Earth satellite into orbit on October 4, 1957.

But, it was the sound of the tiny spacecraft that unnerved people all over the planet.

Emitting a rhythmic, high-pitched radio signal, about the size of a basketball and circling the globe about every 90 minutes, silvery SPUTNIK 1 fascinated and frightened average Americans.


It provoked the White House, the Pentagon and the Scientific community into reflexive and responsive action.The U.S.A.'s struggling Ballistic Missile Program was quickly reorganized and infused with new resources.

At the CBS Broadcast Center on New York City's West 57th Street, the network's respected news division also explored new frontiers in television journalism.

A team was assigned to produce a CBS NEWS SPECIAL REPORT that would provide clarity and context to a story that truly was way over our heads.

It aired, LIVE on the Tiffany Network, two days after the historic launch on October 6, 1957.

Here,from the MR.DANBEAUMONT YOU TUBE site, is CBS Anchorman Douglas Edwards with SPUTNIK 1 : A CBS NEWS SPECIAL REPORT.
Enjoy!!!

OUR WISHES FOR A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON AND A HAPPY, HEALTHY 2012

(PHOTO BY OUR TV PAL,BRAD NAU)

To all of you who have been so kind as to visit KINESCOPE HD, we offer our best wishes for the Holidays and for the New Year ahead!

Thanks for your time, your interest and your commitment to classic television.

It is appreciated!!!

Our Holiday gift to you is a musical masterpiece that spans the decades from 1986 to 2010 and crosses network lines from NBC to CBS.

Here are two video versions of a virtuoso performance from 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, the incomparable Darlene Love, singing her 1963 hit, CHRISTMAS BABY.

It has been a Letterman tradition since she first performed the seasonal, fan favorite on NBC-TV'S LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN IN 1986. She reprised her rocking rendition for th 25th time on CBS-TV'S LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN on Friday , December 23, 2011.

We hope she's there to do it LIVE for another millennium or two!!!

First, from the BERNDIGGITYDOG YOU TUBE site, we have the "economy-sized" version from 1986 and then from BOYIN747 YOU TUBE site,the sprawling, brassy 2010 edition.

Have a wonderful Holiday, and Happy New Year and Enjoy!!!!!

1986


2010