GOLDEN GIRL IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF TV - THE BETTY WHITE SHOW - NBC-TV - CIRCA DECEMBER 1954

In the Fall of 1954, a multi-talented broadcaster, who would ,decades later,become America's most beloved Golden Girl, was already a major player in what we look back upon nostalgically, as televsion's Golden Age. The Betty White Show on NBC-TV starred the versatile actress,host and singer in a daily 30 minute talk show , accompanied by musical conductor Frank DeVol. The breezy, informal offering was produced LIVE in living monochrome at the NBC Studios in Burbank. Her producer was Don Fedderson, who brought American television viewers a wide range of cathrode ray tube confections, ranging from MY THREE SONS to FAMILY AFFAIR and THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW. By 1954, Ms. White was a video veteran, having hosted one of the first,LIVE, unrehearsed and unstructured shows on Los Angeles Television. In this rare episode, from the FOXEEMA YOU TUBE site, the affable Ms. White sings, talks, leads to commercials and introduces a canine cameo by one of early, network television's most beloved stars.ENJOY!!!!!

WOODY ALLEN PLAYS AT PARR - THE KING OF NEW YORK COMEDY DOES STAND-UP - NBC-TV - CIRCA DEC. 14, 1962

Almost a decade before Woody Allen became American cinema's king of New York, he was a clown prince on network television, doing stand-up on every major , prime time variety show and late night talk show.

In the years prior to finding his voice as an auteur,Allen cultivated his hip, comic persona as the embodiment of New York neurosis.

While he learned to deftly weave ironic, if understated, tales of Manhattan in vivid, silver nitrate, he was pumping out punchlines in Living Color on NBC.

Below is a rare clip showing one of King's earliest appearances on NBC-TV's prime time JACK PAAR SHOW from the STANDAPARTCOMEDY YOU TUBE site.Enjoy!!!!

PLAYBOY IN THE DARK AGES OF TELEVISION - PLAYBOY'S PENTHOUSE - SYNDICATION - CIRCA 1959

In 1959, when television was starting to emerge from the dark ages, Playboy Magazine's founder and publisher, Hugh M. Hefner, inadvertently turned his burgeoning empire into a vertically integrated, multi-media company.

Hefner, who was urbane, erudite, and a shameless self-promoter, realized that the best way to bring new readers to the pages of his controversial men's mag was to create a video version of his publication and the lifestyle it espoused.



But, with the magazine's nude images of voluptuous women ,provocative social commentary and literature for adults only, it was unlikely that a local television station would put its reputation or F.C.C. license on the line to carry a show, rooted in the glossy publication, that was fraught potential community problems.

Hefner was undeterred and assembled a team of television pros to create PLAYBOY'S PENTHOUSE, a syndicated talk/variety show that was taped at the ABC television station in Chicago.

The free-wheeling , star-studded show was the living embodiment of the Playboy Philosophy and offered late night viewers a glittering glimpse into a sophisticated, world of hipsters where politics,promiscuity and performance were mixed to create a potent,cultural cocktail in living black and white.

Here from the DJJULIA YOU TUBE SITE is the opening segment from the debut of PLAYBOY'S PENTHOUSE.Enjoy!!!

DANNY MAKES ROOM FOR JACK - THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW ( MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY ) / CBS TV / CIRCA 11/17/58

In the late 1950's ,Danny Thomas, celebrated night club performer,virtuoso story-teller,protean TV producer, and selfless philanthropist, was America's favorite family man and network television's King of Situation Comedy.

Thomas, who was born Amos Jacobs in Deerfield,MI,faced and overcame two great challenges in Prime Time Television History: His Emmy-winning series, MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY, was one of the very first hit shows on the struggling ABC-TV network, running from 1953 to 1957.

Next,when the show ,rechristened as THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW, defected to CBS-TV in 1958, it moved into the time slot vacated by mega-hit,I LOVE LUCY, and continued to dominate the CBS Monday schedule.

The series was a Monday night tradition until Thomas took it off the air in the 1964 television season.Along the way it spawned many, enduring sitcom spinoffs, including THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, GOMER PYLE U.S.M.C., THE JOEY BISHOP SHOW & THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW.

With visionary producing partner,Sheldon Leonard, Thomas was one of network television's most prolific producers of the 1960's.Their company, T&L PRODUCTIONS, helmed Bill Cosby & Robert Culp's landmark, NBC-TV, action series I SPY.

THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW was a comic confection that was alternately sweet and tart, but which always offered a moral lesson born of good natured tumult. It is , in my humble opinion, the true progenitor of THE COSBY SHOW.

Here, from FOXEEMA YOU TUBE site, is a classic 1958 episode, with CBS superstar Jack Benny guest starring.Enjoy!!!

SIXTIES TEEN IDOL PASSES AWAY - THE DEATH OF DAVY JONES - CIRCA FEBRUARY 29, 2012

For every American teenager of the swinging sixties,who fancied him or herself to be a Daydream Believer, this day offered a sobering reminder of Baby Boomer mortality.

It was a bitter moment of realization that evoked sweet memories of a mod youth in a kinetic time.

Davy Jones, the true, teen heartthrob of THE MONKEES, NBC-TV's genetically engineered response to the Beatles, died , suddenly, at age 66 today.

It's hard for millennial's to understand our generation's fascination with a group that was originally derided as The Pre-Fab Four, because they were cast by Screen Gems Studios and The Peacock Network to star in a television series that would capture the energy of youth and to record music that others wrote.

But, I suspect that anyone who loves Justin Bieber can understand why Baby Boomers had a special appreciation for the diminutive , British export , who was the object of Marcia Brady's affection.


He traded a career as a jockey for the showbiz rat race. He was appearing on Broadway in OLIVER , when the cast was invited to perform on CBS's ED SULLIVAN SHOW, the same night that the Beatles made their American, TV debut. It is written that what he saw on the stage of the Sullivan Theater changed his mind and his career path.

We're all glad it did.

He will be missed. Davy R.I.P.

Here, from the LOOMYAIRE YOU TUBE site is a rare clip of the Black & White audition film for the cast of THE MONKEES.

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!!