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    Archive for October 2012

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    Historical TV Schedules

    W2XBS Schedule, June 1941

    Posted Wednesday, October 31st, 2012 at 12:00PM
    1 Comment

    Here are the television listings for NBC's experimental station W2XBS in New York City, published in The New York Times during June 1941. This was the last month in which the station was experimental. Commercial broadcasting began on July 1st and with it the station became WNBT. Although there's no way of knowing based on listings alone, I would imagine there was some sort of promotional effort on the part of the station regarding the switch to commercial broadcasting.

    Monday, June 2nd, 1941 [1]
    8-9PM - Test Pattern
    9PM - Amateur Boxing Bouts at Jamaica Arena

    Wednesday, June 4th, 1941 [2]
    1-2:15PM - Test Pattern
    2:15PM - Racing: Belmont Park

    Saturday, June 7th, 1941 [3]
    1-2PM - Test Pattern
    2PM - ICAAAA Track and Field Meet, Randall's Island

    Monday, June 9th, 1941 [4]
    2PM - Racing at Aqueduct
    8-9PM - Test Pattern.

    Wednesday, June 11th, 1941 [5]
    7:45-8:45PM - Test Pattern
    8:45PM - Baseball: Dodgers vs. Pirates, Ebbets Field

    Monday, June 16th, 1941 [6]
    8-9PM - Test Pattern
    9PM - Boxing: Jamaica Arena

    Thursday, June 19th, 1941 [7]
    2:30-3:30PM - Test Pattern
    3:30-4:30PM - Swimming Demonstration, Astoria Pool.

    Saturday, June 21st, 1941 [8]
    1-2:15PM - Test Pattern
    2:15PM - Racing; Aqueduct Track

    Monday, June 30th, 1941 [9]
    8-9PM - Test Pattern
    9-11:30PM - Amateur Boxing Bouts at Jamaica Arena

    Works Cited:
    1 "Radio Today." New York Times. 2 June 1941: 32.
    2 "Radio Today." New York Times. 4 June 1941: 44.
    3 "Radio Today." New York Times. 7 June 1941: C30.
    4 "Radio Today." New York Times. 9 June 1941: 36.
    5 "Radio Today." New York Times. 11 June 1941: 42.
    6 "Radio Today." New York Times. 16 June 1941: 30.
    7 "Radio Today." New York Times. 19 June 1941: 44.
    8 "Radio Today." New York Times. 21 June 1941: 30.
    9 "Radio Today." New York Times. 30 June 1941: 32.

    DVD Tuesday

    DVD Tuesday: All in the Family, The Dean Martin Show

    Posted Tuesday, October 30th, 2012 at 12:00PM
    No Comments

    Every Tuesday I take a look at obscure and/or classic television programs, specials, miniseries or made-for-TV movies being released on DVD or Blu-ray. For the record I consider anything broadcast prior to 1980 to be classic or else there wouldn't be much to discuss. The releases referred to in these posts are encoded for Region 1 use in the United States and Canada.

    Today's Releases

    The big release today is Shout! Factory's All in the Family - The Complete Series, a massive 28-disc set containing all 201 episodes of the famous CBS sitcom, which ran for nine seasons between 1971 and 1979. It took a long time to get to the complete series stage. Season One was released on DVD way back in March 2002; Season Nine came out in May 2011. As has been the case with numerous shows, this new set contains bonus features that were not available on the individual season releases. You can read the full press release at TVShowsOnDVD.com but the big ticket bonus features are the two unaired pilot episodes for the series ("Justice For All" and "Those Were the Days"). Recall that these were included in the 2009 Norman Lear TV Collection boxed set so they aren't exclusive to the complete series set. Still, for those who already own all nine seasons of All in the Family on DVD and just want to see the unsold pilots, there's no easy (and cheap) way to do so. Exclusive to this set are the pilot episodes for three spin-offs: Gloria, Archie Bunker's Place (which was more of a continuation than a spin-off) and 704 Hauser.

    Also out today, from Time Life, is The Dean Martin Variety Show: Dean's Ultimate Collection, which collects three previously released sets and adds some additional episodes and a 1968 Christmas special (which itself will be getting an individual release in a few weeks). See this post at the The Golddiggers Super Site for more information. MPI Home Video is releasing the third and final season of My Favorite Martian today, with all 32 episodes from the 1965-1966 season. A list of bonus features can be found at TVShowsOnDVD.com. Finally, Paramount Home Video is releasing the fifth and final season of The Streets of San Francisco, which ran for 24 episodes during the 1976-1977 season. It is being released in two half-season volumes, which can be purchased individually or packaged together.

    Reviews

    All in the Family - The Complete Series: Pop Culture Beast, DVD Talk

    News

    Classic Media will be released The Jackson 5ive - The Completed Animated Series on DVD and Blu-ray on January 15th, 2013 (http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Jackson-5ive-The-Complete-Animated-Series/17658). Yes, most reports are calling it "completed" rather than "complete."

    Inception Media will release The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp - Season 2 on DVD on March 12th, 2013 (TVShowsOnDVD.com).

    Historical TV Ratings

    Nielsen Top Ten, November 13th, 1955 - November 26th, 1955

    Posted Monday, October 29th, 2012 at 12:00PM
    1 Comment

    Here are the top ten programs for the two-week period covering Sunday, November 13th through Saturday, November 26th, 1955. The first table lists the top ten by households and the second by rating. Note that scripted, weekly series hold three of the top spots on both lists, with I Love Lucy and December Bride appearing on both with Dragnet appearing on the households list and Private Secretary on the rating list. Private Secretary and The Jack Benny Show alternated the 7:30-8PM time slot on CBS; during this two-week period Private Secretary aired on Sunday, November 13th and The Jack Benny Show on Sunday, November 20th. That makes this list a perfect example of the problem inherent averaging two week's worth of ratings information. It is possible, for example, that one of the two episodes of I Love Lucy actually rated higher than $64,000 Question during this two-week period. But because ratings for series that aired episodes during both weeks are averaged together, if the other episode was low-rated it would drag down the average.

    ## Program Net Homes
    1. $64,000 Question CBS 14,963,000
    2. I Love Lucy CBS 14,292,000
    3. Jack Benny Show CBS 12,883,000
    4. Disneyland ABC 12,414,000
    5. General Electric Theatre CBS 11,810,000
    6. You Bet Your Life NBC 11,306,000
    7. December Bride CBS 11,072,000
    8. Ed Sullivan Show CBS 11,038,000
    9. I've Got a Secret CBS 10,971,000
    10. Dragnet NBC 10,770,000

    ## Program Net Rating (%)
    1. $64,000 Question CBS 46.7
    2. I Love Lucy CBS 44.4
    3. Jack Benny Show CBS 40.9
    4. Disneyland ABC 38.5
    5. General Electric Theatre CBS 37.1
    6. Ed Sullivan Show CBS 34.7
    I've Got a Secret CBS 34.7
    8. You Be Your Life NBC 34.6
    9. December Bride CBS 34.5
    10. Private Secretary CBS 33.1

    Note: Prior to July 1960, Nielsen ratings were not based on the total number of television households in the United States. From 1950 to 1953, ratings were a percentage of households in cities/markets in which the program was broadcast. From 1953 to 1960, ratings were a percentage of households capable of viewing a program.

    Source:

    "Latest Ratings: Nielsen." Broadcasting*Telecasting. 12 Dec. 1955: Page 40.

    New Obscurities

    Most Recent Unsold Pilots?

    Posted Friday, October 26th, 2012 at 7:22PM
    2 Comments

    Tonight at 8PM NBC will broadcast the first and only episode of Mockingbird Lane, a series it decided not to pick up. That means this is a case of an unsold pilot actually shown on television. When I wrote about NBC's decision to show the pilot earlier this month I noted that the most recent example of an unsold pilot showing up on television was probably FOX's Virtuality, which aired as a two-hour telefilm on Friday, June 26th, 2009. After doing additional research, not only do I still think that's true but remarkably, before Virtuality you might have to go all the way back to 2001 to find the previous unsold pilot that was broadcast. On Sunday, April 1st, 2001 NBC broadcast the two-hour pilot of Semper Fi, a series the network had passed on for the 2000-2001 season. The pilot, from DreamWorks Television, was executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Jim Uhl. It starred Scott Bairstow, Steve Burton, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Alex Burns, Bianca Kajlich, Michael Peña and Tammy Townsend.

    I haven't been able to uncover any other actual unsold pilots. There have been a number of backdoor pilots, either standalone made-for-TV movies or special episodes of existing shows, that didn't lead to a weekly series. Some of these were covered in a July 2010 post. Some might argue that Mockingbird Lane isn't quite an unsold pilot because, should the unthinkable happen and viewers watch in shocking numbers, NBC could change its mind and order the pilot to series. I believe that same argument was raised back in 2009 when Virtuality was broadcast and it didn't pan out.

    So, aside from Semper Fi 2001, Virtuality in 2009 and now Mockingbird Lane in 2012, have there been any legitimately unsold pilots broadcast on network television in the past 10-15 years?

    Historical TV Schedules

    W2XBS Schedule, May 1941

    Posted Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 at 12:00PM
    No Comments

    Here are the television listings for NBC's experimental station W2XBS in New York City, published in The New York Times during May 1941. The somewhat regular Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule introduced the previous month was not as evident this month. Aside from test patterns, the only programs on the air were sporting events.

    Friday, May 2nd, 1941 [1]
    7:30 - Test Pattern
    8:30PM - Wrestling Bouts at Jamaica Arena

    Tuesday, May 6th, 1941 [2]
    7:30 - Test Pattern
    8:30PM - Soccer Games at Madison Square Garden

    Thursday, May 8th, 1941 [3]
    3PM - Test Pattern
    2:55PM - Baseball: Dodgers-St. Louis, at Ebbets Field

    Monday, May 19th, 1941 [4]
    8-9PM - Test Pattern
    9-Amateur Boxing Bouts at Jamaica Arena

    Wednesday, May 21st, 1941 [5]
    1:15-2:15PM - Test Pattern
    2:15PM - Racing; Belmont Park

    Saturday, May 24th, 1941 [6]
    8-9PM - Test Pattern
    9PM - Amateur Boxing Bouts at Jamaica Arena

    Monday, May 26th, 1941 [7]
    7:30PM - Test Pattern
    8:30PM - Wrestling Bouts at Jamaica Arena

    Wednesday, May 28th, 1941 [8]
    1-2:15PM - Test Pattern
    2:15PM - Racing: Belmont Park

    Saturday, May 31st, 1941 [9]
    1-2PM - Test Pattern
    2PM - ICAAAA Track and Field Meet, Randall's Island

    Works Cited:
    1 "Radio Today." New York Times. 2 May 1941: 42.
    2 "Radio Today." New York Times. 6 May 1941: 42.
    3 "Radio Today." New York Times. 8 May 1941: 44.
    4 "Radio Today." New York Times. 19 May 1941: 32.
    5 "Radio Today." New York Times. 21 May 1941: 44.
    6 "Radio Today." New York Times. 24 May 1941: 32.
    7 "Radio Today." New York Times. 26 May 1941: 36.
    8 "Radio Today." New York Times. 28 May 1941: 50.
    9 "Radio Today." New York Times. 31 May 1941: 50.

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