but just how much color programming was there in the 50s?

Having spent hundreds of dolars on a color set in the 1950s what did you get to see in color?

Was much sport or live material shown in color or just a few specials and movies?

Mostly, I think it was specials & the odd sporting event. The only program I remember being in color was "The Amazing Adventures of Superman" from '57-'58. And it was syndicated. Another was Walt Disney's "Wonderful World of Color", which came on Sunday nights on NBC (Owned by RCA, guess what they hawked a LOT of?) Color was EXPENSIVE, & it was basically not til 1964-65 that enuff sets had been sold-critical mass, if you will-to justify much color programming. And what color programming there was,was basically only on NBC, ABC couldn't afford it, & CBS didn't want to help their nemisis, Sarnoff. It took a brave (and wealthy) soul to go out on a limb & buy one of those early color sets,'cause there wasn't a whole lot to "show off" on it to yr neighbors. And of course there were no such things as VCRs or DVDs then, so you were stuck w/the networks...-Sandy G.

Sandy, by this do you mean it wasn't a Network show?
Is that why it looks so cheap? :D

Eric


Originally posted by Sandy G
The only program I remember being in color was "The Amazing Adventures of Superman" from '57-'58. And it was syndicated.

this is sort of what I expected ....in a way a bit like HDTV now...

(and I am sick of hearing how HDTV is such a radical idea ....it has always been possible to broadcast in HD ...just the bandwidth required was a bit unpractical until digital transmission ...)

by the time we got colour TV here in the 70s ....when overnight everything was in colour.

Eric-Yep. They REALLY made "Superman" on the extreme end of cheap. At least that's the impression I got a few yrs ago when I saw an interview w/Jack Larson-"Jimmy Olsen". Apparently it was an indie company that made it. It's amazing they did it in color. -Sandy G.

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There were a at least a couple of other non-network syndicated shows shot but not aired in color in the 50's.

"Science Fiction Theatre'

"Cisco Kid"

Both of these shows have since been shown in color at various times.

At the network level, they would charge a premium for a color presentation. Not all ad agencies believed it was cost effective to either advertise in color or sponsor a color program at those prices. Everything was measured in "cost-per-thousand" viewers.

And there was also the visionary local stations that did buy a color camera or two for local productions. I think Oklahoma City may have been first right after the introduction of the TK-40.

Yes it is! wonder why they did?

I like the show, the cheapness just gives it some charm.

I love the "Special" effect of him flying, the rear projection film was obviously made by having the cameraman stand in one spot and spinning around while pointing the camera at the sky and moving it up and down :D



Originally posted by Sandy G
It's amazing they did it in color. -Sandy G.

They were quite possibly as cheap as Jack Webb was.That big wing-lapelled, bouble-breasted suit Clark Kent wore was kinda outta date by the late '50s. And the cars-they were always "late-model" Nashes or Ramblers-the production company couldn't afford Fords or GM cars, let alone new ones. All this came to a screeching halt when George Reeves died/killed himself/was murdered in '59. Jack Webb's parsimony was almost as legendary as his drinking. Harry Morgan complained bitterly to let his character have a new suit, but he never got it all thru Dragnet's 1967-70 run.Jack did,however, let Harry put patches on the elbows of the jacket when they became threadbare. Jack was the producer/owner/star/director/chief cook & bottle washer on Dragnet,and frequently cast his friends on the show so's he wouldn't have to pay 'em as much as "real" actors. That's one of the things that gave "Dragnet" its signature"dead-pan" look. Jack's next show, "Adam-12" was almost as bare-bones as "Dragnet" was. -Sandy G.

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Yeah !! One I remember was Vic Perrin, who was primarily a voice actor-he did the "Control Voice" on "The Outer Limits". Vic usually played a drunk businessman. Or somebody who was just a tad shady. I remember he had longish hair & big, bushy sideburns-a sure sign of trouble in the late '60s, especially for someone who was supposed to be "Old Enuff to Know Better". You could excuse kids for long hair, but all the good, solid citizens of Los Angeles, California were supposed to have"regulation" brush-cuts like ol' Jack did...HehHehHeh...-Sandy G.

Don't forget that on occasion a commercial that was in COLOR would come on, I would yell at my parents come look at the color picture, that was also handy when friends or neighbors came over to see a color tv and all that was in color was the "snow" on unused channels. They would get to see a real 60 second color picture

Richard, as well as the commerials did they broadcast color test patterns?

and dare I ask what sort of TV it was ...

I think that watching color pictures on TV was something magic.
When I was a child I had a color tv (in the '80's in Romania that was something), but after that I lived with a b & w set (when I went to my relatives I watched color tv).
I wonder if the guys that manufactured and the ones who designed those sets thinked, that after 50 years the people will still be mad after those sets?

Hi CEE BEE, Sorry about the late reply but as I remember it the stations would sign off with the Star Spangled Banner and the announcer would say something like This concludes WTVJs broadcast day, WTVJ is authorized to transmit with a video power ofXXXX and an aural power of XXXX. Then they would either go off the air, (snow) or put up a test pattern in black & white at first then in later years in color. When we got our color set in 1960 I was 6 years old and it was an Admiral with a black painted metal cabinet and the chassis mounted verticaly on the right side as you face the set. I inherited this set in 1970 and even though it was too big for my room I made it fit and it kept working until 1974 when we bought a new house and if i gave it away my parents would buy me a more modern (smaller) color tv. I gave to a friend and it was still working until we lost touch in 1978. Now of course I wish I kept it.
Richard.

I remember when colour arrived here ..it was such a shock to see that color test pattern ...lol ....:) ....it seemed so exciting to see colour ...but I imagine it would have been the same in the 1930s London when TV first flickered into life in a real way with their 405 line standard!