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.

Tuesday, August 22nd, 1939 [1]
12-1:00PM – Student Discussion of the European Situation; Films; Georgina Dieter, Singer; News.
8:30-9:00PM – Film, “The Marines are Coming,” with William Haines and Conrad Nagel.

Wednesday, August 23rd, 1939 [2]
12-1:00PM – Film: Army War Games, Plattsburg; George Ross, Broadway Columnist; News.

Thursday, August 24th, 1939 [3]
12-1:00PM – “Facts and Fancies,” Alice Maslin; News.
8:30-9:30PM – Film, “Abraham Lincoln,” Walter Huston.

Friday, August 25th, 1939 [4]
12-1:00PM – Madge Tucker’s Radio Children; Films; “Oddities in Hatwear,” Frances Hidden; News.
4-5:00PM – Air Corps Manoeuvres at Mitchel Field, N.Y.
8:30-9:30PM – Film, “A Man and His Wife,” with Harry Baur.

Saturday, August 26th, 1939 [5]
1:30-5:15PM – Baseball: Dodgers-Cincinnati at Ebbets Field.

Works Cited:

Related posts:

1. WX2BS Schedule, Week of August 13th, 1939
2. WX2BS Schedule, Week of August 6th, 1939
3. WX2BS Schedule, Week of May 14th, 1939

For the opening segment, the Laboratory decided to focus on the issue of race, specifically “the failure of communication between the races” [2]. The broadcast included coverage of mayoral campaigns in several cities (Cleveland and Boston among them), a meeting between “black nationalists and liberal whites” and a stating of Douglas Turner Ward’s “Day of Absence,” a play in which a small town in the South must deal with the disappearance of its African Americans [3]. According to Broadcasting, “it was played by Negro actors in white-face as a double-edged device reversing minstrel-show stereotypes” [4].

Advertisement for the Premiere of PBL – November 5th, 1967
Copyright © The New York Times, 1967 [1]

In addition to the South Carolina and Georgia stations, the episode was also not carried by the Alabama and Vermont educational networks, but no details were provided; station KETS(TV) in Little Rock, Arkansas could not afford to open on Sunday in order to broadcast the episode; WFSU-TV in Tallahassee, Florida had planned to pick up the episode from one of the Georgia stations; KFME-TV in Fargo, North Dakota had a mechanical failure; and WVIZ-TV in Cleveland was covering a mayoral election and pre-empted the episode [6].

Critics were almost universal in their praise. The Boston Globe’s Percy Shain declared “Sunday was the night television grew up,” Hal Humphrey of The Los Angeles Times simply noted that “TV isn’t likely to be the same again,” Dwight Newton of the San Francisco Examiner wrote that “it was a heady, meaty, auspicious start,” the Washington Post’s Lawrence Laurent called it “a rare, absorbing evening and a brilliant start for a new force in television” and John Voorhees of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer explained that “its most startling aspect was that it had time to make its points without the incessant interruptions that plague commercial TV” [7].

Even negative comments were wrapped in positive: Ben Gross of the New York Daily News, for example, wrote that the premiere was “uneven, with many rough spots; but the basic idea of PBL is one of great promise and deserves enthusiastic encouragement” [8]. Television Magazine called the 1.5 rating the episode drew in New York City “a disappointing, if not disastrous, opening night” because the city “has got to be a bellwether town for educational television” [9]. The Laboratory spent some $250,000 (out of its two-year, $10 million grant from Ford) on advertising [10].

Here’s how a full-page newspaper advertisement for the premiere of PBL explained the show’s mission:

PBL’s goal is to demonstrate every Sunday night just how inventive, provocative and important Public Television can be. It will offer two hours (or maybe more) of incisive reporting, examinations of the arts and sciences, live dramas, strong opinion and probing comment. It will venture into subjects commercial television has not touched. It will be completely free of commercial interruptions and advertiser influence.

PBL will use television as it’s never been used before to deepen understanding and to offer new perspectives on the issues and events of our time. It will call upon the best minds in the academic world and public life, top dramatic talent and proven broadcast journalists headed by PBL Chief Correspondent Edward P. Morgan. [11]

Some of the subjects covered by PBL included automobile insurance, the Catholic Church, television political campaigning, genetics, utility companies, Martin Luther King, Jr., the influence of television commercials on children, economics and more.

The November 12th episode of PBL — focusing on the legality of the Vietnam War — was carried by 108 stations, with both the Georgia and South Carolina educational networks opting to air the second installment; station KYVE-TV in Yakimia Washington also aired the second episode after being unable to afford the $39 it would have cost to open a week earlier [12]. Vermont and Alabama still could not afford to air the series. PBL ran for 26 weeks during its first season; most episodes were two hours long.

When the series returned on Sunday, December 1st, 1968 it ran just 90 minutes; its second season consisted of 22 episodes and four specials [13]. PBL was not renewed following the conclusion of its initial two-year grant. Instead, the Ford Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting joined forces for two hours of Sunday night programming consisting of The Forsythe Saga (the BBC adaptation of John Galsworthy’s novel) from 9-10PM and The Advocates (a public affairs program) [14]. In addition to the 26 episodes of The Forsythe Saga, plays from Channel 13’s New York Television Theater would be presented in order to fill 39 weeks [15].

In 1994, PBS donated its archives to the Library of Congress. Here’s a press release announcing the donation. Included was PBL. According to a reference librarian I contacted, there are 53 episodes of PBL, most of which are on 2″ videotape, as well as microfiche documents containing “episode summaries, interoffice memos, technical evaluations and some newspaper clippings– a great resource for understanding the production of the series.”

Works Cited:

Image Credits:

Related posts:

1. Show Spotlight: T.H.E. Cat
2. Show Spotlight: “To Rome with Love”
3. Show Spotlight: “The John Forsythe Show”

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.

Perhaps not surprisingly, things turned out considerably better in issue #3. Willie and another resistance member, with the help of young Billy, were able to free the others. They were soon attacked by Visitors and Boyce (the other resistance member) was killed. After splitting up, Juliet and Hart were captured by the Visitor leader. Billy, hiding in a building, tried to free them but was killed shortly thereafter. Juliet and Hart were taken aboard the Visitor ship.

An enraged Mike burst into Billy’s funeral and berated the townspeople for working with the Visitors. He begged them to help bring down the Visitor ship but to no avail. So, he and Willie went out to get the job done themselves. The two taped grenades to the top of the geysers above which the ship was floating and when the geysers went off the grenades were thrown into the air. The resulting explosion successfully knocked the ship out of the air.

V #3 Cover – Copyright DC Comics Inc.

In a shocking turn of events an armed crowd of townspeople suddenly arrive on the scene and the battle is joined. Juliet and Hart, after escaping from a holding cell on the ship, meet up with Mike and Willie and the four run for it. The ship explodes and the Visitor leader escapes. Unfortunately, he’ll have to meet with an angry Diana. Mike, Juliet and the others take their leave of the town, which is firmly on the side of the resistance, secure in the knowledge that Billy’s death meant something.

The issue ends with a Visitor named Lorne pulling up outside Nathan Bates’ office in a cart said to be carrying Ham Tyler and Chris Farber. But Bates is in for a surprise: Ham and Chris are forcing Lorne to bring them close enough to Bates to kill him.

Related posts:

1. Bookshelf: V #2
2. Bookshelf: Man from Atlantis #1
3. Bookshelf: V #1

How many people would happily pay to get even a few episodes of The New People, The Young Rebels, SEARCH or It’s a Man’s World through a manufacture-on-demand program like the Warner Archive? I know I would, even if the price was a little extravagant. There are some drawbacks to manufacture-on-demand; the discs are DVD-Rs, the quality of the transfers may not be all that great, and there likely won’t be fancy cover art. But if these shows are never going to be available in any other way and a small but vocal group of fans will pay a premium it might just be an avenue that should be explored.

Another avenue is Internet streaming. Based solely on my own experience, the 2006-2007 television season was when the networks began offering unaired episodes of cancelled programs online for fans to watch for free with the occasional advertisement. Today, of course, you can watch new episodes of just about every current television show online, both broadcast and cable. And you can even watch all 31 episodes of My Mother, The Car at Hulu.com. When I wrote about the unexpected availability of the Jerry Van Dyke sitcom in August I opined that in lieu of an actual DVD release, putting episodes online — even if they include advertisements — is at the very least a step in the right direction.

Of course, viewers outside the United States cannot use Hulu.com and that can be frustrating. But then again, there are some shows that have been released in other regions but not in the United States. DVD sets of The Bionic Woman, for example, is available in Region Two (the United Kingdom and Germany, to be specific) but not in the States. Thanks to Hulu, fans can watch all fourteen episodes from the first season.

Is it possible that My Mother, The Car will eventually be released in DVD? Certainly. But like The New People it is incredibly unlikely. For those who don’t mind watching television on their computer the episodes are available right now. And I would even be willing to pay to watch The New People online, although of course I would prefer a DVD set. What if the episodes were available for download through iTunes or Amazon.com? That would be even better.

(As an aside, the Museum of Broadcast Communications has digitized some 7,000 hours of radio and television programs and makes them available, for free, to anyone willing to register. And there are some relatively obscure titles included. You can watch the premiere episode of ABC’s Breakfast Club With Don McNeill from 1948 or an episode of Panhandle Pete and Jennifer thought to be from 1949.

The main sticking point for both manufacture-on-demand and Internet streaming is, of course, the cost of digitizing episodes with legal considerations running a close second. I don’t know the finances involved or how many lawyers it would take to clear any copyright concerns. But if My Mother, The Car can be made available at Hulu.com and two of Gene Roddenberry’s unsold 1970s pilot telefilms at Warner Archives via manufacture-on-demand, there may be hope for dozens of other somewhat obscure television shows.

Related posts:

1. First Man from Atlantis Telefilm Available on DVD
2. My Mother, the Car Available for Free at Hulu
3. AMC Streaming Full Episodes of The Prisoner

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.

Related posts:

1. DVD Tuesday – Here’s Lucy, The Untouchables, Wanted: Dead or Alive
2. DVD Tuesday: The Donna Reed Show, The Lucy Show
3. DVD Tuesday: Star Trek on Blu-ray, Mission Impossible

Run, Joe, Run (not to be confused with Run, Buddy, Run) was a live-action Saturday-morning kid’s show that aired on NBC from 1974 to 1976. Thirteen episodes were produced over the course of two seasons and, as was common with such shows, rerun constantly. Joe was German shepherd with the K-9 Corps who was accused of attacking his trainer. He escaped before he could be euthanized and thus the military placed a $200 bounty on his head.

Each week Joe helped someone in trouble even as his trainer and friend Sergeant Will Corey (played by Arch Whiting) chased after him, knowing that Joe had been falsely accused. Over the course of the first season the two came close to meeting but never did. When the second season premiered, Sgt. Corey had been recalled to his unit and Joe settled down with a new partner in the form of hiker Josh McCoy (played by Chad States).

Here’s how Bill D’Angelo explained the show’s conception to The Los Angeles Times in July of 1974:

Richard Landau brought this idea to me about four years ago when I was producing Love: American Style. Ok, it’s The Fugitive, it’s Run for your Life. But they were “Les Miserables.” The part Whiting plays, the trainer, I think of as Ahab in “Moby Dick.” Joe is his white whale. Not that he wants to kill him or lock him up. The dog just doesn’t understand…

We tried for years to sell this as a prime-time show but no network was interested. Last winter, Joe Teritoro, head of children’s programs at NBC, asked if I’d do it as a kid show. I’d never done a kid show, but this was a chance to open my own shop: D’Angelo Productions. So here we are. [1]

Joe was played by D’Angelo’s own dog, Heinrich (whose mother was owned by William Self of 20th Century-Fox); Heinrich’s stunt double was another German shepherd named Gus [2]. Run, Joe, Run premiered on Saturday, September 7th, 1974. In May of 1975, Cecil Smith praised the series, noting that “in writing, acting and production, it is the equal of almost any of the nighttime adventure shows” [3]. It was last seen on September 4th, 1976.

Works Cited:

Related posts:

1. Hooper Rating for June 1948 Joe Louis-Jersey Joe Walcott Fight
2. Status Guide – “Joe and Mabel”
3. New Article: “Joe and Mabel”

One reason for the poor performance of these shows was their time slot. Killer competition on the other two networks would result in low ratings regardless of quality. ABC’s The Donna Reed Show, for example, was up against Gilligan’s Island (14, 22.3) on CBS and Daniel Boone (37th, 19.3) on NBC. The combined rating for the three programs was a 52.5, meaning more than half of all television households in the country were watching the networks (the share of the audience, or the number of televisions in use at the time, was likely close to 90%).

Here’s the complete list of the Bottom 15 programs. New shows are marked:

Works Cited:

Related posts:

1. Top 20 Shows with Teens for the 1964-1965 Season
2. Nielsen Top Ten, November 7th, 1966 – November 20th, 1966
3. Nielsen Top Ten, September 12th – 25th, 1966

1960s Twister Commercial

Related posts:

1. Clue Board Game Commercial
2. Solarquest Board Game Commercial
3. Incomplete McLean Stevenson Commercial

Sunday, August 13th, 1939
2:30-5:30PM – Finals of Eastern grass court tennis championships, at Rye, N.Y.

Tuesday, August 15th, 1939
12-1:00PM – Earl Wild, pianist; films; Alice Cornett, singer, and news.
4-5:00PM – Parade and pageant of Volunteer Fire Departments, at World’s Fair.
8:30-9:30PM – Film, “Death Goes North.”

Wednesday, August 16th, 1939
12-1:00PM – Discussion on “How to Exercise the Baby;” films; George Ross, Broadway columnist; shoe styles; and news.

Thursday, August 17th, 1939
12-1:00PM – Fashion show; films; “Facts and Fancies,” Alice Maslin, and news.
8:30-9:30PM – Film, “Three of a Kind,” with Evelyn Knapp.

Friday, August 18th, 1939
12-1:00PM – “Designing of Stage Sets,” Victor D’Amico of Museum of Modern Art; films: “Total Eclipse,” a Negro comedian, and news.
4-5:00PM – Water Ballet, at Manhattan Beach.
8:30-9:30PM – Film, “Grand Illusion.”

Saturday, August 19th, 1939
4-5:00PM – Pick up from World’s Fair (tentative).

Related posts:

1. WX2BS Schedule, Week of August 6th, 1939
2. WX2BS Schedule, Week of June 18th, 1939
3. WX2BS Schedule, Week of May 7th, 1939

Related posts:

1. New Article: “The Interns”
2. New Exhibit: ABC Promotional Artwork, 1971-1975
3. New Article – “Meet Millie”