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July 24, 2022 5:53 pm  #1


This Amazing TV History Collection Is Out Of (Web) Site!

I stumbled upon this absolutely insane site that traces the history of TV in the U.S. in a way I've never seen before. It was started by an old DJ who was fascinated by early television cameras and technology, and has amassed some of the earliest and never-before-seen TV images ever put together. 

Among the items on display: the very first ever TV test done by NBC from 1936, the first colour TV experiment from CBS back in 1954, the first ever Today Show opening from Jan. 1952, and a Howdy Doody kinescope from 1948 that's so old, it has an entirely different puppet than the one most Baby Boomers grew up seeing, (A dispute between the designer of the marionette and the network led to him taking the first Howdy with him, while the network frantically designed a new model, the one which we all know. You can see a still below.)

And that's just the first page!

It's not for everybody, because a lot of it gets into the technical issues of what kind of cameras they were using and other ephemera and some of the sound is a bit too low for my liking. But there's so much to see I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get through it all. 

Very amazing stuff if you're into this, but beware - this is definitely one you'll go down a rabbit hole and may not surface for weeks!

The Eyes Of A Generation...Television's Living History Home Page

The Eyes Of A Generation's Viewseum

 

July 26, 2022 12:07 am  #2


Re: This Amazing TV History Collection Is Out Of (Web) Site!

As noted, there is so much to see on this site I'm not sure what to look at first. But there's one video that was absolutely fascinating. I'm not a huge fan of The Price Is Right, the longest running game show in TV history. But there's a one hour special I'd never seen before that's posted to the site, that shows you everything that goes on backstage and behind the scenes as the show is in production.

It's a literal peek behind the curtain, where you see the director, the control room, the camera people, how they prep the contestants during the commercial breaks, the cue card holder, and the guys who open those big doors to reveal the prizes. There's also a scene involving how they pick who gets called to "Come On Down!" It's an entire show in itself and something you never see on screen. 

I think my favourite, though, is the woman who sits in the control room and tells the director "he won" or "she won" before the big price reveal is made so they know which person to isolate on camera. 

One other fascinating revelation - if you've ever seen this show, when they come back from each break, the audience is screaming hysterically. There's a guy who whips them up before they come out of black, but there's one other way they get their cooperation. When the show ends, one of them who didn't get in the game is called up on stage and automatically given some cash and prizes for their cooperation. But no one knows who until that day's taping is over. Why may explain the faux enthusiasm. 

And the non-winners, the people who never get out of contestants' row? They're given $300 in cash for their trouble just for being part of the program and standing/sitting there for the better part of an hour. 
 
Anyway, if you've ever been curious how a show like this gets put together, this special answers most of those questions. It's an absolutely gripping hour that explains something I honestly never thought about before.
 
Behind The Scenes At…’The Price Is Right’ 2013

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