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    Friday, November 6th, 2009

    WX2BS Schedule, Week of August 20th, 1939


    Here’s the schedule for NBC’s experimental station W2XBS in New York City for the week starting Sunday, August 20th, 1939, straight from television listings printed in The New York Times. There were several feature films, including The Marines Are Coming from 1934 and Abraham Lincoln from 1930. According to the IMDb, the movie shown on Friday, August 25th (A Man and His Wife) was a French film called Un homme et sa femme. Interestingly, it was released only five months earlier on March 27th.

    Then, on Saturday, August 26th, the very first major league baseball games were broadcast when the Brooklyn Dodgers faced the Cincinnati Reds in a doubleheader at Ebbets Field. An article in The New York Times reviewed the game the following day:

    It was not the first time baseball was televised by the NBC. Last May at Baker Field a game between Columbia and Princeton was caught by the cameras. However, to those who, over the television receivers, saw last May’s contest as well as those yesterday, it was apparent that considerable progress has been made in the technical requirements and apparatus for this sort of outdoor pick-up, where the action is fast. At times it was possible to catch a fleeting glimpse of the ball as it sped from the pitcher’s hand toward home plate. [6]

    Read more about the May 1939 baseball game here.

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    Thursday, November 5th, 2009

    Show Spotlight – “PBL”


    PBL, produced by the Public Broadcasting Laboratory and funded by the Ford Foundation, was the first regularly scheduled educational television program, airing on National Educational Television (NET) stations across the country. It premiered on Sunday, November 5th, 1967 running from 8:30-11PM (stations likely could offer it at different times if necessary). Although the Laboratory had hoped a total of 119 stations would air the program it was only seen on 89. The state educational networks in South Carolina and Georgia refused to air the debut of PBL due to its controversial content [1].

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    Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

    Bookshelf: V #3


    V #3 – “Encounter”
    First Published in April 1985
    Published by DC Comics Inc.

    With ABC’s remake of V drawing 14.3 million viewers (and earning a 5.2 Nielsen rating in the coveted Adults 18-49 demographic) I decided to review another issue of DC’s comic book adaptation of NBC’s 1984-1985 version. Issue #3 came out in April of 1985 and, once again, the cover artwork had absolutely nothing to do with the story. But that’s not uncommon with comic books. At the end of issue #2 (which I reviewed in August), Mike Donovan, Juliet Parrish and another resistance member, Hart, had been imprisoned by a town working with the Visitors and things didn’t look too good.

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    Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

    DVD On-Demand or Internet Streaming the Answer for Obscure Television?


    All of the obscure television programs I’ve written about here at Television Obscurities have their fans ready and willing to purchase DVD sets. But the likelihood of any of them coming to DVD is slim. There is simply not enough widespread consumer demand. However, the recent introduction of so-called “manufacture-on-demand” DVDs offers, at least in theory, a way for some of these shows to find their way to DVD. Warner Brothers has released the first pilot telefilm to NBC’s Man from Atlantis on DVD as well as two of Gene Rodddenberry’s unsold 1970s pilot telefilms through the Warner Archive website. I think it is safe to say none of these would have seen the light of day through the traditional DVD route.

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    DVD Tuesday: Here’s Lucy, Mission: Impossible


    The first Tuesday of November sees several season collections released for fans of classic television. You can pick up Here’s Lucy: Season Two from MPI Home Video. Included are all 24 episodes from the 1969-1970 season. Bonus features, according to MPI’s website, include new introductions from Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr., a featurette titled “Here’s Lucy on Location,” production files, CBS network promotional spots and syndication promotional spots, and a “lost interview” with Carol Burnett. The episodes are said to be uncut and digitally remastered.

    Also out today, from Paramount Home Video, is Mission: Impossible – The Final TV Season. It includes all 22 episodes from the 1972-1973 season. There are no extras that I am aware of. Available from Universal Home Video is The Rockford Files: Movie Collection, Vol. 1, a 2-disc collection with four telefilms originally broadcast between 1994 and 1996, more than a decade after the series went off the air.

    Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is releasing both seasons of Zorro in exclusive “Disney Treasures” tins. All 82 episodes have been remastered and are hosted by Leonard Maltin. Walt Disney Treasures: Zorro - The Complete First Season also includes a two-part special titled “Zorro: El Bandido” (originally broadcast in 1960); Walt Disney Treasures: Zorro - The Complete Second Season has two one-hour specials: “Zorro: The Postponed Wedding” and “Zorro: Auld Acquaintance” (both originally broadcast in 1961).

    Finally, Shout! Factory releases Merry Sitcom! Christmas Classics from TV’s Golden Age, with seven Christmas episodes of classic television sitcoms, including Window On Main Street, That Girl, The Donna Reed Show and McHale’s Navy.

    Monday, November 2nd, 2009

    Q & A: Run, Joe, Run


    I get a lot of e-mails from people asking me about television shows, made-for-TV movies or miniseries they remember from years or decades past. I try to answer each question as best I can. Every now and then I like to dig through my inbox and pull out a few choice e-mails to answer here at Television Obscurities for everyone to read. Keep reading for today’s questions and answers.

    I’m looking for an old TV program. It’s called Run, Joe, Run about a German Shepard and an Army man who are partners.

    lisa

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    Sunday, November 1st, 2009

    Nielsen Bottom 15 for the First Two Weeks of the 1965-1966 Season


    For the most part when newspapers or magazines reported the Nielsen ratings in decades past only the Top Twenty or Top Forty programs were listed. Whether this was due to restrictions enforced by Nielsen (these days the company is very protective of its data) or an editorial decision is beside the point. What is important is that on October 12th, 1965 The New York Times reported both the Top Forty and the Bottom 15 programs for the first two weeks of the 1965-1966 season. The period in question ran from Monday, September 13th through Sunday, September 26th. All the way at the bottom with a 4.8 Nielsen rating was CBS Reports. Topping the chart was NBC’s Bonanza with a 31.1 rating.

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    Saturday, October 31st, 2009

    1960s Twister Commercial


    I don’t know exactly when this commercial was broadcast but Twister was first released by Milton Bradley in 1966. It’s unfortunate that the commercial is in black and white given that the game involves so many colors.

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