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    Archive for February 2009


    Status Guide

    Status Guide - "Joe and Mabel"

    A total of thirteen episodes of Joe and Mabel were broadcast by CBS during the summer of 1956. An additional six episodes, produced during the summer of 1955, were scrapped in the fall of that year when production was halted and then restarted. What became of those six episodes is unknown. Whether they were truly scrapped and destroyed seems possible but unlikely. As for the thirteen episodes that aired, none of them are held at any of the four big archives. Could they be gathering dust in a vault somewhere? I can only hope.

    Episode titles are taken with many thanks from The Classic TV Archive's guide for the series.

    Season One: 1956
    Ep. # Episode Title Airdate Status
    N/A Scrapped Episode #1 N/A
    N/A Scrapped Episode #2 N/A
    N/A Scrapped Episode #3 N/A
    N/A Scrapped Episode #4 N/A
    N/A Scrapped Episode #5 N/A
    N/A Scrapped Episode #6 N/A
    1 "Joe's Bankbook" 05/26/1956
    2 "Mabel's Cousin" 06/03/1956
    3 "The Lineup" 06/10/1956
    4 "Florida" 06/17/1956
    5 "The Old Masterpiece" 06/24/1956
    6 "The Lady Psychiatrist" 06/31/1956
    7 "Joe, the Actor" 08/07/1956
    8 "Joe's Phobia" 08/14/1956
    9 "Mabel the Model" 08/28/1956
    10 "Mabel's Voice" 09/04/1956
    11 "Joe's Night Off" 09/11/1956
    12 "Mabel's Legacy" 09/19/1956
    13 "The Broken Engagement" 09/25/1956
    Site Related

    New Article: "Joe and Mabel"

    I learned about this sitcom while doing a little background research for Cary O'Dell's article on Meet Millie. I was especially interested to learn that CBS actually threw out six completed episodes and started fresh after pulling the show from its schedule only days before it was set to premiere. Take a look at Joe and Mabel:

    This sitcom, based on a radio show of the same name, aired for thirteen episodes during the summer of 1956 on CBS. Larry Blyden and Nita Talbot starred. But there's more to this show than just a short run. It was supposed to premiere in September of 1955 but was pulled at the last minute. A half-dozen completed episodes were thrown out and a new producer was brought in. It almost got on the air in January of 1956 and again in March of 1956. But it wasn't until June of 1956 that it finally made the CBS schedule.

    I couldn't find any record of the aired episodes of Joe and Mabel at any of the "big four" archives (the Library of Congress, UCLA's Film & Television Archive, the Museum of Broadcast Communications and the Paley Center for Media). So imagine how hard it will be to find the six scrapped episodes.

    Editorial

    Copyright, Public Domain and Pistols 'n' Petticoats

    I have always found copyright law pertaining to the public domain in the United States somewhat baffling. Public domain refers to works that are no longer protected by copyright and are thus considered part of the "public domain." There are countless examples of television shows with all or some episodes in the public domain. These can be found on relatively cheap DVD sets from companies like Passport Entertainment, Timeless Media Group or Mill Creek Entertainment.

    Episodes of many classic shows, like Bonanza, The Andy Griffith Show and The Beverly Hillbillies, are public domain due to negligence. Their copyright status was never renewed. According to Cornell University's Copyright Information Center, works (or television episodes) originally published (or broadcast) between 1923 and 1963 with a copyright notice are in the public domain only if the copyright was not renewed. If it was, those episodes are under copyright for 95 years after they were first broadcast. In the unlikely event that they were broadcast without a copyright notice, they are also in the public domain.

    Works published between 1964 and 1977 with a notice are copyrighted for 95 years after their publication date. So imagine how confused I was when I was researching Pistols 'n' Petticoats yesterday and discovered that several episodes were released on DVD by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment in 2005 as part of TV Classic Westerns Volume 6 (alongside episodes of Frontier Doctor). Pistols 'n' Petticoats was originally broadcast by CBS during the 1966-1967 season.

    Unless Pistols 'n' Petticoats was broadcast without a copyright notice -- and I find it incredibly hard to believe that it was -- it shouldn't be in the public domain. That's my understanding, at least. Frontier Doctor, on the other hand, was syndicated during the 1958-1959 season and thus could easily be in the public domain if its copyright wasn't renewed. Of course, it's possible I'm missing an important element in this equation and Pistols 'n' Petticoats is in the public domain. I don't know. I'm not a lawyer.

    Public domain is a good thing. Without it, many shows from the 1950s would never be released on DVD. I just wish it was clearer. As for Pistols 'n' Petticoats, the really strange thing is that the episodes released on DVD are in black and white despite the fact that the show was broadcast in color. Could the color episodes have been copyrighted while the black and white episodes aren't? Or are the only available prints in black and white? Several people have asked me to write about Pistols 'n' Petticoats and I'd like to do just that. But without any color footage to present, I'm not sure I could do the show justice.

    If anyone has access to color episodes of Pistols 'n' Petticoats, please let me know. Supposedly, several episodes were edited into a movie called The Far Out West. Perhaps copies of that are floating around. Or, maybe the 1966 CBS Fall Preview includes color footage of Pistols 'n' Petticoats. In any case, I don't have access to any episodes of the series, including the black and white ones on DVD. But a lot of people seem to be interested in the show.

    Historical TV Ratings

    New York City Hooper Ratings for Election Night 1948

    According to C.E. Hooper, Inc. on November 2nd, 1948 -- Election Night -- 74.1% of television households in New York City were watching election coverage between 9PM and 11PM on one of five stations [1]. Here are the specifics:

    Station Rating
    WNBT: 32.3
    WJZ: 15.0
    WABD: 13.6
    WCBS: 8.2
    WPIX: 5.0

    Before reporting Hooper's ratings for radio and television, The New York Times noted "Should anyone still believe in polls," referring to the now infamous upset that saw incumbent Harry S. Truman defeat heavily favored Thomas E. Dewey.

    Sources:
    1 "Radio and Television." New York Times. 4 Nov. 1948: 58.

    Status Guide

    Status Guide - "Coronet Blue"

    Episodes of this short-lived drama are all over the place. UCLA's Film & Television Archive has two, The Paley Center for Media has six and the Library of Congress has all thirteen, including the final two unaired episodes. Most, if not all, of the episodes are also circulating among private collectors, but none have ever been released commercially and it seems highly unlikely that any ever will.

    The six episodes at the Paley Center for Media can be viewed by the general public.

    Season One: 1967
    Ep. # Episode Title Airdate Status
    1 "A Time to Be Born" 05/29/1967 LoC, Paley
    2 "The Assassins" 06/12/1967 LoC
    3 "The Rebels" 06/19/1967 LoC, Paley
    4 "A Dozen Demons" 07/03/1967 LoC, Paley
    5 "Faces" 07/10/1967 LoC
    6 "Man Running" 07/17/1967 LoC, Paley
    7 "A Charade for Murder" 07/24/1967 LoC
    8 "Saturday" 07/31/1967 LoC
    9 "The Presence of Evil" 08/07/1967 LoC, Paley
    10 "Six Months to Mars" 08/14/1967 LoC, UCLA
    11 "The Flip Side of Timmy Devon" 09/04/1967 LoC, Paley, UCLA
    12 "Where You From and What You Done?" N/A LoC
    13 "Tomoyo" N/A LoC
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