Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Way, way back when


Shortly after my 2nd birthday, NBC, whose compatible color system gave them a big lead in the early decades of commercial television, broadcast ("in living color", as they liked to put it) The Kraft Music Hall, starring Milton Berle.  

Only recently, a Berle family member provided it to UCLA's Film and Television Archive, where it became the oldest known color videotape in existence.  Until then, An Evening With Fred Astaire, from later in October 1958, held that title.   EDIT:  Network color videotape, I should emphasize.  Or maybe, full-color videotape.  Neither of which applied to the dedication of color studios at WRC, Washington DC in May 1958.  

The Astaire show was rightfully viewed as an event and worth keeping.  The Berle show, not so much.  But it's color videotape from 65 years ago, plus it contains a brief clip from Bill Cullen's The Price is Right, so it's catnip to me.  

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