tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51944062025116807612024-02-20T20:06:49.234-06:00TFTP: Television from the PastTelevision... Old television... Sometimes really old television... From the past.Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.comBlogger234125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-82911565195766132542018-06-18T06:30:00.000-05:002018-06-18T06:30:04.165-05:00TFTP Goes on Summer Vacation! <br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Cnchea6LHN0" width="560"></iframe>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'Ranger232'</b><br />
<b>Length - 1:27</b><br />
<br />
Television from the Past is going on summer vacation!<br />
<br />
There will be no posts between today and July 3. On July 3 and July 4, we will have some special posts commemorating Independence Day, featuring 4th of July festivities that have aired on TV in the past. Regular posting will resume on Monday, July 9.<br />
<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-40043216292606362032018-06-15T12:00:00.000-05:002018-06-15T12:00:11.340-05:00TFTP Signs-Off for the Week: Sign-Offs Through the Years - 1993 (WKFT/Fayetteville, NC)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ExGdqSGaupg" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'SignOffsGuy'</b><br />
<b>Length - 6:47</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Each Friday afternoon, TFTP signs-off for the week with a classic station sign-off sequence for your enjoyment and to bid farewell until Monday...</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b><b><i>And throughout 2018, we are featuring "Sign-Offs Through the Years", as we go year-by-year with each successive week.</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>As we reach 1993 in Sign-Offs Through the Years, we have this clip that is a combination sign-off/sign-on from Fayetteville, North Carolina, station WKFT (now WUVC). The sequence begins with a couple of well-known North Carolina references--the end of a spot for the National Hollering Contest in Spivey Corners, followed by a promo for a baseball game by the Durham Bulls, made famous in the movie "Bull Durham". Next comes the ownership/technical voiceover, on graphics displaying some of the information being conveyed in the voiceover, and the national anthem film.<br />
<br />
After some color bars and tone (and presumably an edit cutting out at least a few hours of time), an ownership/technical voiceover for the sign-on comes on, which is basically the same as the sign-off voiceover with a couple of details changed reflecting the start of a broadcast day.<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-284307836769440662018-06-14T06:30:00.000-05:002018-06-14T06:30:07.805-05:00TFTP On This Day: NBA Finals, Game 6, Celtics vs. Lakers from CBS (Jun. 14, 1987)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/V-nkgQpw8KA" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'Christopher Banez Lim'</b><br />
<b>Length - 1:44:00</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>It Was 31 Years Ago Today</i></b>: The basketball rivalry between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics is legendary, and no period of that rivalry is more storied than the string of mid-1980s NBA Finals match-ups between the two teams. This 1987 Finals was the third time in four years that they'd met to battle for the NBA championship; with Boston winning in 1984 and LA in 1985, this was the rubber match for the Larry Bird-led Celtics and the Kareem-and-Magic-led Lakers. In this final game of the series, originally aired on this day 31 years ago on June 14, 1987, LA took home the trophy.<br />
<br />
Above is the game in its entirety (minus commercial breaks). The Celtics took control early, with a five-point lead of 56-51 at halftime. But the Lakers caught up in the first moments of the second half and never relinquished the lead for the rest of the game. By the end of the game, LA was dominating, and the final score was 106-93. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the scoring for the Lakers with 32 points, but Magic Johnson ended up getting the series MVP award. Magic and Larry Bird had been personal rivals ever since they faced each other in the NCAA championship in their final year of college in 1979 (Johnson for Michigan State, Bird for Indiana State). Just like in that NCAA championship eight years before, Magic again defeated Bird.Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-59977068127198274042018-06-13T12:00:00.000-05:002018-06-13T12:00:13.792-05:00TFTP Will Return After These Messages: Commercial Block from 1965<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TzvgOCxB3QU" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user '31Mike'</b><br />
<b>Length - 4:58</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Every Wednesday, TFTP takes a break from regular programming to bring you a selection of classic commercials. We will return after these messages...</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
Most of the commercials in this block from 1965 are video-taped ads that are from local markets in Florida, many (maybe all of them) from a commercial break or breaks during local news. A taped ad for Kentucky Fried Chicken, with an in-studio pitchman, leads off the block. Next is an ad (that suffers from some technical issues) for Rambler autos and local Florida Rambler auto dealers, and this is followed by a real-estate ad for the Sun City development in the Tampa area. A filmed ad for Doublemint gum precedes an NBC network program promo for an airing of the movie "The Rainmaker". Ads for Kentucky Fried Chicken (with voiceover about the local news sponsorship) and Zest soap close out the block.<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-10761875425813745772018-06-12T06:30:00.000-05:002018-06-12T06:30:00.143-05:00TFTP Game Shows: "Here Come the Mother-in-Laws" from ABC (1967)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/kGDR64piiIo" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'Wink Martindale'</b><br />
<b>Length - 4:58</b><br />
<br />
This set of excerpts of "Here Come the Mother-in-Laws" is from the pilot episode for a game show that in its brief 1967-1968 run was known as "How's Your Mother-in-Law?" "Here Come the Mother-in-Laws"/"How's Your Mother-in-Law?" is notable in that it is an early hosting gig for game show icon Wink Martindale. The program was part of a trend in the late-1960s towards more raucous game shows, a trend better exemplified by the shows that were actually successful, such as "Hollywood Squares" and "The Newlywed Game".<br />
<br />
It's no coincidence that "Here Come the Mother-in-Laws"/"How's Your Mother-in-Law?" was created and produced by Chuck Barris, the mastermind behind "The Newlywed Game", "The Dating Game", and, later, "The Gong Show". Barris' MO was to create a game premise and gameplay that facilitated this kind of raucousness. The quick failure of this program was an exception to Barris' general success in a late-1960s and 1970s culture much more permissive than in the years immediately preceding.<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-31033222957462774602018-06-11T06:30:00.000-05:002018-06-11T06:30:10.925-05:00TFTP's Monochrome Monday: "Your Show of Shows" from NBC (early-1950s)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/c5KKAdFnOwQ" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'Shawm Kreitzman'</b><br />
<b>Length - 12:45</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>TFTP's Monochrome Monday brings you a classic black & white TV program or clip every Monday morning to kick off the week....</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
"Your Show of Shows" was one of the most celebrated comedy programs of the early-TV era. Airing on NBC from 1950-1954, it starred Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, was produced by Max Liebman, and served as a training ground for performing arts talent such as Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, and Neil Simon. It was one of the first comedy sketch programs, and as such it laid the ground for later shows like "Laugh-In" and "Saturday Night Live". Because it was the early-1950s, "Your Show of Shows" was a live program, and Coca and others associated with it have discussed how this was a vital ingredient in the show's comedy mix.<br />
<br />
The clip above is a sketch about a husband and wife's bickering about the husband forgetting about the wife's birthday (Caesar and Coca often portrayed married couples). The sketch displays the duo's skill at executing a scene that has looping emotional arcs as the two characters spiral back and forth among being angry, put-upon, wounded, resentful, and tender as they trade places several times in terms of which is the victim and which is the perpetrator.Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-67147540939188499682018-06-08T12:00:00.000-05:002018-06-08T12:00:00.928-05:00TFTP Signs-Off for the Week: Sign-Offs Through the Years - 1992 (KAPP/Yakima, WA)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2wARKs2Yy_U" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'VHSgoodiesWA3'</b><br />
<b>Length - 8:26</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Each Friday afternoon, TFTP signs-off for the week with a classic station sign-off sequence for your enjoyment and to bid farewell until Monday...</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b><b><i>And throughout 2018, we are featuring "Sign-Offs Through the Years", as we go year-by-year with each successive week.</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
This sign-off from 1992 and Yakima, Washington, ABC affiliate KAPP begins with a local ad for Barrett-Martin Chiropractic ("Get Going Again") and the last moments of an episode of "The Rush Limbaugh Show". Additional ads (compiled from a series of commercial breaks) appear for National Review magazine, local car dealership Valley Toyota, Walt Disney's World on Ice, and Pay Less Drug Stores. Then there's an ownership/technical voiceover on a series of images from around KAPP's technical facilities (satellite earth stations, transmitter towers, and the like). The sequence closes with a national anthem-like film, but with an instrumental rendition of "America the Beautiful" as the music.Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-23740470816912084332018-06-07T06:30:00.000-05:002018-06-07T06:30:00.212-05:00TFTP On This Day: "Night Flight" from USA Network (Jun. 7, 1985)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/FsmtE7b_du0" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'pannoni4'</b><br />
<b>Length - 14:51</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>It Was 33 Years Ago Today</i></b>: "Night Flight" was a freeform program that aired on USA Network during weekend late nights in the early- to mid-1980s. Although mainly continuous music videos a la MTV, "Night Flight" also contained segments devoted to cult movies, alternative culture, and exploitation fare. The program format and scheduling was flexible, and "Night Flight" typically aired for anywhere from just a few to several hours on Friday and Saturday nights starting at around 10 pm and running sometimes until 4 or 5 am the following morning.<br />
<br />
The set of clips above is from the fourth anniversary program for "Night Flight", which aired 33 years ago today on June 7, 1985. As a special edition, this night's program probably contained more older and vintage material than usual, but "Night Flight" nearly always had at least a helping of older black and white imagery. The set of excerpts above includes parts of performances by Ike and Tina Turner, the Doors, the Who, Cream, John Lennon, and the Kinks, as well as by jazz legends Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Lionel Hampton. (The typical "Night Flight" program had a high degree of current music videos, which are completely absent in this set of clips.)<br />
<br />
A number of commercials appear here also, including as-seen-on-TV fare like Art Instruction Schools, Trim Trak exercise equipment, and an oldies music-compilation called "Cruisin'". There are some great USA Network interstitial materials, too: a program promo for USA airings of the late-1960s program "Room 222"; several "Night Flight" bumpers; and a promo for the network's inimitable late-movie host "Commander USA".<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-22013578632290873232018-06-06T12:00:00.000-05:002018-06-06T12:00:09.673-05:00TFTP Will Return After These Messages: Toy Ads from 1970s<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/7YxrYe03O3A" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/coTA9xDnZxI" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'tvdays' (both)</b><br />
<b>Length - 0:58 (top), 0:29 (bottom)</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Every Wednesday, TFTP takes a break from regular programming to bring you a selection of classic commercials. We will return after these messages...</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
Here are a couple of toy commercials from the 1970s--one for a product that is still around after all these decades and one for a toy fad that didn't outlast the Seventies. The Easy-Bake Oven has got to be one of the biggest success stories in the history of toys--launched in the early-1960s and still available in stores today (now with an accompanying app, of course). The top commercial above is a fairly mundane one with images of a young girl mixing batter and putting pans in and out of the Easy-Bake Oven. Evel Knievel was a daredevil who was huge in the 1970s, as he mounted more and more elaborate stunts on his motorcycle; the motorcycle toy advertised in the bottom commercial is just one of a number of Evel Knievel toys that were available at the time (with the Evel figure that rides the bike, as you might expect, sold separately).<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-90211665151094741132018-06-05T21:00:00.000-05:002018-06-05T21:00:04.633-05:00TFTP Late Night: "The Tonight Show" from NBC (Apr. 22, 1964)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/6lNZyiau_30" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'Jake Ehrlich'</b><br />
<b>Length - 27:06</b><br />
<br />
Existing footage from the first decade of Johnny Carson's tenure on "The Tonight Show" (from his start in late-1962 until the show moved from New York to Los Angeles in 1972) is very scarce now, due to the fact that NBC at the time routinely erased the recordings. So being able to see an excerpt as long as this one, especially in color (even if the color is compromised technically), is pretty rare.<br />
<br />
The guest in this extended clip is attorney and author Jake Ehrlich Sr., who at the time of this 1964 episode had just come out with a legal book titled "A Reasonable Doubt". Johnny and Mr. Ehrlich engage in an extensive back and forth--with Ehrlich carrying the bulk of the conversation--about a variety of legal topics, with an emphasis on the Fifth Amendment. In the mid-1960s, "The Tonight Show" was still 90 minutes in length and the last segments of an episode were often taken up by an extended chat with an author; it's hard to imagine a late-night talk show these days doing so.<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-3440992204331218412018-06-04T06:30:00.000-05:002018-06-04T06:30:09.403-05:00TFTP's Monochrome Monday: "The Arthur Murray Show" from DuMont (Oct. 22, 1950)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/ArthurMurrayShowoct.221950" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to Internet Archive by user 'zigoto'</b><br />
<b>Length - 29:26</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>TFTP's Monochrome Monday brings you a classic black & white TV program or clip every Monday morning to kick off the week....</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
Although not widely remembered today, Arthur Murray was a huge cultural presence from the 1930s through the 1950s due to his franchised chain of dance studios and then his television programs. By the end of the 1930s, Arthur Murray Studios had begun to establish a presence in most major American cities, and it's safe to say that by the time his TV program started in 1950, around the time of the above episode, that "Arthur Murray" had become synonymous with dance instruction in the U.S.<br />
<br />
Murray's TV show aired for a decade between 1950 and 1960, at different times on all four networks and at different lengths ranging from 15 minutes to 60 minutes. For almost all of its run the show was called "The Arthur Murray Party", except for the year-and-a-half that it was on the DuMont network, when it was simply called "The Arthur Murray Show".<br />
<br />
In the clip above, which is the second half of an hour-long episode from October of 1950, from during the show's DuMont run, we see host Kathryn Murray, Arthur Murray's wife and business partner, vivaciously usher guests and dancing couples in and out of the spotlight. (Curiously, Arthur Murray himself does not appear in this half-episode; it's not clear whether or not he appeared regularly.) Actors Reginald Gardiner and Beatrice Lillie guest star on this episode and both appear in comedy bits (Lillie alongside a very young Carl Reiner).<br />
<br />
The entire program comes off more or less like an infomercial for Arthur Murray Dance Studios, as the chain of studios and the lessons available therein is mentioned several times throughout. This includes one segment with a dancing couple who had had just two Arthur Murray Studio dance lessons!<br />
<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-47476799647971116822018-06-01T12:00:00.000-05:002018-06-01T12:00:08.272-05:00TFTP Signs-Off for the Week: Sign-Offs Through the Years - 1991 (WENH/Durham, NH)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/03weGBKlYho" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'MSTS1'</b><br />
<b>Length - 8:52</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Each Friday afternoon, TFTP signs-off for the week with a classic station sign-off sequence for your enjoyment and to bid farewell until Monday...</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b><b><i>And throughout 2018, we are featuring "Sign-Offs Through the Years", as we go year-by-year with each successive week.</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
This 1991 sign-off is from New Hampshire public TV station WENH, which was and is the flagship in the New Hampshire public television state network. It begins with the last couple of minutes of that night's episode of "The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour", which was and is the flagship news program for PBS (now under the name PBS NewsHour). A program promo for "The American Experience" precedes a "Star Hustler" segment with Jack Horkheimer, which is followed by a promo for an airing of the classic Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life". A voiceover promoting upcoming programming comes next, after which is an ownership/technical voiceover that, curiously, includes a slide with a graph of the different revenue sources that WENH relies on as a public TV station.Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-79762005039907516782018-05-31T06:30:00.000-05:002018-05-31T06:30:01.025-05:00TFTP On This Day: "Password Plus" with David Letterman from NBC (May 31, 1979)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/A0m9GIYzLFg" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'The Fun & Games Channel'</b><br />
<b>Length - 24:05</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>It Was 39 Years Ago Today</i></b>: "Password Plus" was the second revival of the game show "Password"; the original had run on CBS from 1961-1967 and another run of the original game had appeared on ABC from 1971-1975. In this new revival, which aired on NBC from 1979-1982 and like all versions up to this point was hosted by Allen Ludden, the "plus" took the form of an extra element in which the individual passwords accumulated to become clues to an overall word or phrase that had to be guessed.<br />
<br />
The episode above, which aired 39 years ago today on May 31, 1979, features David Letterman and Marion Ross of "Happy Days" as the celebrity contestants. (This copy of the episode is from a much later rerun on Game Show Network, and thus has packaging and interstitial elements from that broadcast.) Letterman, a few years prior to the launch of his "Late Night" program--and thus at a point in his career where he was having to do game-show guest appearances--is his regular grumpy and irascible self, but still engaging in the game at hand. Contestant Sally cruises through two "Alphabetics" bonus games (one with Letterman and one with Ross) to become the winningest "Password Plus" contestant ever to that point (five months into the show's run).Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-57942857485236290492018-05-30T12:00:00.000-05:002018-05-30T12:00:08.198-05:00TFTP Will Return After These Messages: Three Commercials from 1955<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/1955CommercialForPalmoliveSoap" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/DeSoto5" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/1955CommercialForOldGoldFilterCigarettes" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to Internet Archive by user 'HappySwordsman' (top), 'Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid' (middle), 'HappySwordsman' (bottom)</b><br />
<b>Length - 0:59 (top), 1:22 (middle), 1:31 (bottom)</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Every Wednesday, TFTP takes a break from regular programming to bring you a selection of classic commercials. We will return after these messages...</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
Here's a group of three commercials from the year 1955, a period when commercials were still fairly lengthy (the three here range from a minute to a minute-and-a-half in duration) and programs were generally sponsored by a single product (which is what allowed for the greater length).<br />
<br />
The first commercial above is for Palmolive soap, and it utilizes a tactic that is still familiar to us today: demonstrating how using anything other than the product being advertised will produce an inferior result. The second commercial, for DeSoto/Plymouth autos, uses a mix of animated and live-action footage to help sell cars; animation was everywhere in ads of the Fifties, and it is put to effective use here. The third and final commercial is for Old Gold Filter Kings cigarettes, and it offers a lengthy testimonial to the use of filters (which were then still a novelty) using a fairly hackneyed marriage metaphor.<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-73485495375954390832018-05-29T06:30:00.000-05:002018-05-29T06:30:11.695-05:00TFTP Kids: "The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show" from CBS (1974)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/JqCKVpIZxC4" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user '70's Kids'</b><br />
<b>Length - 28:10</b><br />
<br />
"The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show" is one of the more interesting shows--at least visually--from the 1970s live-action kids' show trend. The Hudson Brothers were a family musical act (those were also very popular in the Seventies) that had been around for about a decade by 1974, and the Brothers (Bill, Brett, and Mark) were just coming off of a prime-time summer variety show (those were also very popular in the Seventies). The summer show, titled simply "The Hudson Brothers Show", had aired in July and August, and just a week after its end, on September 7, 1974, "The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show" premiered on Saturday mornings (running until the following August).<br />
<br />
Like many shows of the genre, the "razzle dazzle" consisted of brightly colored, somewhat psychedelic sets and costumes, a madcap sensibility to the songs and sketches, and a supporting cast of comical entertainers. The episode above includes several musical numbers, one with a troupe of acrobats jumping and flipping around using props such as a bathtub and a barber's chair. A couple of non-musical comedy sketches appear as well, one with a child network vice-president and another with a bear-costumed private-eye ("Sam Bear", a take-off of Sam Spade with noirish office complete with ceiling fan and blond moll).<br />
<br />
There are commercials (most of them for toys of the 1970s) included in the commercial breaks in this copy of the episode, but they appear not to be original to the broadcast and inserted after the fact.Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-36857993237423834582018-05-28T06:30:00.000-05:002018-05-28T06:30:08.372-05:00TFTP's Monochrome Monday (Special On This Day Edition): "What's My Line? at 25" from ABC (May 28, 1975)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/h6kpcFBrNyI" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'What's My Line?'</b><br />
<b>Length - 1:26:57</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>TFTP's Monochrome Monday brings you a classic black & white TV program or clip every Monday morning to kick off the week....</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<i>We bring you this special edition of Monochrome Monday with a program that was partly in color, but was celebrating a show that was in classic black & white for the almost all of its 17 year run: "What's My Line?"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b><i>It Was 43 Years Ago Today</i></b>: "What's My Line?" stands among the most important shows ever in the game show genre--the program, which aired on CBS from 1950-1967 and then in syndication until 1975, helped establish the popularity and venerability of the TV game show. Right as "WML" was going off the air in 1975, this program, "What's My Line? at 25"--originally airing 43 years ago today on May 28, 1975--appeared as a retrospective of its quarter-century history.<br />
<br />
Airing as an installment of the ABC late-night umbrella series "Wide World of Entertainment" (after CBS passed on the special), "What's My Line? at 25" features the three individuals most responsible for the show's success: producer Mark Goodson, host John Charles Daly, and panelist Arlene Francis. Goodson, Daly, and Francis moderate the special by sharing some of their memories but also by introducing dozens of clips from over the years.<br />
<br />
Celebrated in the special are the panelists who guessed contestants' jobs (including Fred Allen, Steve Allen, Woody Allen, and others not named Allen, such as Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf, and Francis herself); the many celebrity "mystery guests" and some of the shenanigans (such as fake voices) they used to trick the panel; some of the more interesting "lines" (or occupations) guessed by the panel; and a look back at the hairstyles worn on the show by Arlene Francis.<br />
<br />
TFTP has featured "What's My Line?" a few times in the past, including <a href="https://televisionfromthepast.blogspot.com/2014/06/tftp-game-shows-whats-my-line-debut.html" target="_blank">the premiere episode from 1950</a> (which was also the premiere post for TFTP back in 2014), <a href="https://televisionfromthepast.blogspot.com/2014/07/tftp-will-be-back-after-this-message.html" target="_blank">a commercial for longtime "WML" sponsor Remington-Rand</a> (introduced by Daly), and early panelist Fred Allen's <a href="https://televisionfromthepast.blogspot.com/2016/05/tftp-game-shows-whats-my-line-w-debut.html" target="_blank">first appearance</a> (with Buffalo Bob Smith and Howdy Doody as mystery guests!).<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-38479858866050509732018-05-25T12:00:00.000-05:002018-05-25T12:00:07.486-05:00TFTP Signs-Off for the Week: Sign-Offs Through the Years - 1990 (WLBT/Jackson, MS)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/yX5_KoFDssA" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'jacky9br'</b><br />
<b>Length - 8:29</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Each Friday afternoon, TFTP signs-off for the week with a classic station sign-off sequence for your enjoyment and to bid farewell until Monday...</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b><b><i>And throughout 2018, we are featuring "Sign-Offs Through the Years", as we go year-by-year with each successive week.</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
As we enter the 1990s in "Sign-Offs Through the Years", here is is a somewhat longer sign-off sequence from Jackson, Mississippi, NBC affiliate WLBT. It begins with a few promos: for "Saturday Night Live" (which was in its 15th anniversary season) featuring guest host Rob Lowe and Dana Carvey in full church-lady dress; for the NBC Sports presentation of The Players Championship golf tourney; and for local WLBT 3 News. These are followed by two PSAs, for a women's shelter called New Life for Women and for the Special Olympics.<br />
<br />
A "Sanford & Son" promo slide precedes a very strange ownership/technical voiceover. After a title card with a personal dedication for the sign-off (something mischievous master control operators would sometimes slip in), a segment begins playing with special effects and the title "Purple Haze" with audio of the band Winger doing a cover of the Jimi Hendrix song of the same name. Midway through this clip, a brief ownership/technical voiceover is heard.<br />
<br />
The sequence is capped off by a very nice national anthem film that features local/regional images of Mississippi, including several shots of a rainbow-striped hot air balloon with the name of the state emblazoned on it.<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-66433848680062796732018-05-24T06:30:00.000-05:002018-05-24T06:30:02.165-05:00TFTP On This Day: "Marty" on "Philco-Goodyear Playhouse" from NBC (May 24, 1953)<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://archive.org/embed/PhilcoPlayhouseMarty1953" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="640"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to Internet Archive by user 'zigoto'</b><br />
<b>Length - 50:54</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>It Was 65 Years Ago Today</i></b>: "Marty" is one of the most-celebrated programs of the live-drama era of early television (sometimes referred to as the "Golden Age" of TV). In the mid-1950s, for a period of approximately five years, before filmed TV programs made largely in Hollywood had taken over network TV schedules, live dramatic TV plays, presented anthology-style from New York, were a celebrated mainstay of American television. And this period was kicked off by "Marty", which originally aired 65 years ago today, on May 24, 1953.<br />
<br />
"Marty" aired on the "Philco-Goodyear Playhouse", one of many live anthology shows on the networks throughout the Fifties. It was written by Paddy Chayefsky, who would go on to a celebrated TV and film writing career, directed by Delbert Mann, and produced by Fred Coe, one of the leaders of the live TV drama movement. Marty is played by Rod Steiger, who also would go on to a celebrated career, and the woman Marty meets (referred to only as "the Girl") is played by Nancy Marchand.<br />
<br />
Marty is a bachelor who lives with his mother, works as a butcher, and has begun to settle for a life of loneliness as he approaches middle age. He is convinced that women are uninterested in him and that he is (as he calls himself) a "fat, ugly little man". This changes when he meets the Girl at a "lonely hearts" dance hall, and by the end of the hour-long drama they seem to have a glimmer of a chance at a happy relationship together.<br />
<br />
There were several things that made "Marty" so groundbreaking in 1953. One was simply the raw acting talent of Rod Steiger; he would go on to lend that talent to such landmark films as "On the Waterfront" (1954), "The Pawnbroker" (1964), and "In the Heat of the Night" (1967), and to become a leading practitioner of "the Method". Another was Chayefsky's writing that dramatized mundane yet inherently dramatic events in the lives of regular people; the play was lauded for the way that it utilized dialogue that seemed like everyday conversation. The story of "Marty" was celebrated by 1950s culture, and it became an Oscar-winning story when adapted to film in 1955.<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-81350351300552402252018-05-23T12:00:00.000-05:002018-05-23T12:00:06.723-05:00TFTP Will Return After These Messages: Mountain Dew Commercials from the 1980s<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/MykxDozZF4c" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'haikarate4'</b><br />
<b>Length - 2:29</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Every Wednesday, TFTP takes a break from regular programming to bring you a selection of classic commercials. We will return after these messages...</i></b><br />
<br />
Awhile back TFTP featured <a href="https://televisionfromthepast.blogspot.com/2018/02/tftp-will-return-after-these-messages_28.html" target="_blank">the evolution of Mountain Dew ads</a> from the 1960s through the 1980s. Here are some more Dew commercials from the 1980s, after the beverage's outdoor, extreme sports image had been mostly established.<br />
<br />
The first ad features teenagers cliff-jumping into a river, to the jingle refrain (and slogan) "Give me a Dew!" Ad #2 shows teens in a contest of pushing each other off of a log across a river to the same refrain. The third commercial, with more of a country music tone, shows a somewhat older (but still youthful) crowd engaged in off-road monster truck races, with the jingle and slogan "Dew It Country Cool!" (Someone still ends up getting pushed into the water by the time it's done.) Ad #4 uses the same slogan and jingle, this time with cardboard boat races. The final Mountain Dew ad in this block is another with the "Dew It Country Cool!" jingle/slogan, and here the kids are waterskiing--behind a horse running along the shore!Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-18794178633227203972018-05-22T06:30:00.000-05:002018-05-22T06:30:09.875-05:00TFTP Cable: Miscellaneous Clips from The Weather Channel (1990)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/opheuAvOMZ0" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'Bryan Farr'</b><br />
<b>Length - 7:56</b><br />
<br />
This set of clips from The Weather Channel from 1990 is mostly a series of title graphic sequences showing what the introductory titles to different kinds of segments looked like. Segment titles include "Local Weather", "Weather & You", "Pacific Regional Forecast", "Special Presentation", "Today's Forecast", and "International Weather".<br />
<br />
Because of the then-current build-up in advance of the 1991 Gulf War, presumably for the benefit of the families of service members, there is also a title graphic for a segment called "Mideast Weather" (in a suitably Arabic-looking font).<br />
<br />
In addition, there are some more prosaic graphics (just plain white text on a blue background) of local weather reports and a somewhat choppy sequence near the end of various Weather Channel personalities in the opening seconds of weather reports. Much of the material in this set of clips, including the local weather report mentioned above, comes from the cable system in Elmira, New York, from Thursday, October 11, 1990.Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-16204451581694514062018-05-21T06:30:00.000-05:002018-05-21T06:30:03.014-05:00TFTP's Monochrome Monday: "The Big Record" from CBS (May 14, 1958)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/KevO04XhgsY" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'MattTheSaiyan'</b><br />
<b>Length - 29:01</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>TFTP's Monochrome Monday brings you a classic black & white TV program or clip every Monday morning to kick off the week....</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>"The Big Record" was a musical variety show that aired on CBS for about a year in 1957 and 1958. Singer Patti Page hosted what started as an hour-long series but was cut back to a half-hour midway through its run. There were some similarities to a show like "Your Hit Parade" in that currently-popular songs were featured, although "The Big Record" had no countdown.<br />
<br />
The episode above, from May 1958, features singer Bill Hayes, singer Helen Forest, Harry James and his orchestra, and a female singing group called the Deftones, the winners of a high school talent competition. Page sings several numbers, the Deftones make their TV debut, Hayes belts out a song in a sailor's suit, and James and his orchestra provide a few tunes, to one of which Forest adds the vocals. A couple of filmed commercials for sponsor Oldsmobile also appear, introduced by Page.<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-75399952273427765602018-05-18T12:00:00.000-05:002018-05-18T12:00:13.714-05:00TFTP Signs-Off for the Week: Sign-Offs Through the Years - 1989 (KOMO/Seattle)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/fZYalQJz9rw" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'robatsea2009'</b><br />
<b>Length - 4:15</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Each Friday afternoon, TFTP signs-off for the week with a classic station sign-off sequence for your enjoyment and to bid farewell until Monday...</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b><b><i>And throughout 2018, we are featuring "Sign-Offs Through the Years", as we go year-by-year with each successive week.</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
Our 1989 sign-off is from Seattle station KOMO. It begins with a brief religious segment called "A Note of Faith", which unlike most such segments is merely a slide with voiceover. This is followed by a station editorial about children's TV viewing habits. Next comes the ownership/technical voiceover on a still of the KOMO-TV logo (they were them, to paraphrase KOMO's slogan). As a border station with a sizable Canadian audience (and similarly to other stations in the same circumstances), KOMO played "O Canada" (the Canadian national anthem) in addition to "The Star-Spangled Banner", and those two songs close out the sign-off sequence.<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-28568256156883214932018-05-17T21:00:00.000-05:002018-05-17T21:00:05.618-05:00TFTP Late Night: Early Clips from "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" from NBC (1962/1964)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/tsEGC_8e8Uc" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/iEXQfKkn9BI" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'Sir Raymond Bell' (top), 'Johnny Carson' (bottom)</b><br />
<b>Length - 0:34 (top), 1:11 (bottom)</b><br />
<br />
As part of TFTP's continuing series of posts on the history and evolution of "The Tonight Show" (see <a href="https://televisionfromthepast.blogspot.com/2018/02/tftp-late-night-tonight-show-w-steve.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://televisionfromthepast.blogspot.com/2018/03/tftps-monochrome-march-on-this-day_29.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://televisionfromthepast.blogspot.com/2018/03/tftps-monochrome-march-tonight-show-w.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="https://televisionfromthepast.blogspot.com/2018/04/tftp-late-night-tonight-show-starring.html" target="_blank">here</a>), these two clips feature moments from the first couple of years of Johnny Carson's tenure as the show's host. There is very little footage that remains from these years, as NBC destroyed copies of pretty much all of the episodes from Carson's first decade as host.<br />
<br />
The first (very brief) clip above is from a little over three months into Carson's stint, in about late-December of 1962, and relates to Johnny's best moments to that point as "Tonight Show" host. The second clip (from the official Carson Productions archive) is from a 1964 episode in which Zsa Zsa Gabor rips Johnny's pants off in a sketch that has Carson doing a now-questionable impression of a Charlie Chan-like character (with a joke about Zsa Zsa from a much later episode thrown in at the end).<br />
<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-53808886299829127262018-05-16T12:00:00.000-05:002018-05-16T12:00:07.810-05:00TFTP Will Return After These Messages: Commercial Block from NBC (Sep. 22, 1967)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/iSCSQsyR7Kw" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'Gray Flannel Videos'</b><br />
<b>Length - 3:05</b><br />
<br />
<b><i>Every Wednesday, TFTP takes a break from regular programming to bring you a selection of classic commercials. We will return after these messages...</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
This block of commercials that aired on September 22, 1967, on NBC includes ads for Aerowax floor wax; Aero Shave shaving cream; Campbell's Chicken with Rice Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, and Chicken & Stars Soup (with some ultra-Sixties animation); Sta-Puf fabric softener ("The Wrinkle Reducer"); and Sta-Flo Spray Starch. (Spelling "stay" without the "y" was very popular in the '60s.) At the very end, for just a couple of seconds, is the "snake" logo used by NBC throughout the 1960s--complete with the NBC chimes.Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5194406202511680761.post-87263184844875881092018-05-15T06:30:00.000-05:002018-05-15T06:30:09.062-05:00TFTP Game Shows: "Queen for a Day" from NBC (c. 1960)<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/mK4x15eER8I" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
<b>Posted to YouTube by user 'NewQueenForADay'</b><br />
<b>Length - 8:50</b><br />
<br />
"Queen for a Day" is a legendary program (airing from 1956-1964, and on radio before that) that seems of questionable taste to us now today. Four female housewife contestants each told the story of their circumstances, which were sometimes of impoverishment or affliction. Then audience response, measured by an applause meter, selected one of them as "Queen for a Day" (with accompanying prize package, of course).<br />
<br />
Host Jack Bailey interviewed the women with a tone that was charmingly folksy but paternalistic and often patronizing. The set of clips above is from an episode with a circus theme, and the irony of the show's tendency to regularly have a circus atmosphere seems lost on those involved. The winner here gets a watch, a new washing machine and oven range, a record player, and a Spiegel catalog gift certificate.<br />
<br />Chris the MediaLoggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04975714109446049049noreply@blogger.com0