Today is the fifth annual Lost TV Day here at Television Obscurities. If you’re wondering why I chose July 1st to commemorate lost and missing television programs, the reason is simple. The very first authorized television commercials in the United States aired July 1st, 1941 on WNBT in New York City.
My plan was to share a variety of audio recordings of potentially lost television programs as well as a new “Lost” TV Case Study. However, a plan is only useful if there is time to carry it out. Sadly, I did not have enough time. What little time I’ve had over the past few months to devote to Television Obscurities has gone to fixing the audio and video files that haven’t been working since at least January, a project that is still underway.
(So far this year I’ve digitized more than 73 hours of television audio from 1/4 inch reel to reel audio tapes I acquired last year. That’s on top of the more than 52 hours of audio I digitized last year. It’s a staggering amount of audio and I’ve only gone through a tiny portion of it so far.)
I do have one audio recording ready to share today, an excerpt from an episode of ABC’s All My Children from October or November 1970. Look for that later this morning. Otherwise, this year’s Lost TV Day is a “best of” looking back at some highlights from the Television Obscurities archives.
Some of My Favorites
I’ve written many posts and articles about lost or missing television programs. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Rod Serling’s 1st Produced TV Script Not Lost
- Surviving Kyle MacDonnell Programs
- 8mm Home Movies and Lost TV
- A Forgotten Milestone: Television and Pearl Harbor
- A Lost Episode of Hawaii Five-O?
Tales of Lost TV
I haven’t published a Tales of Lost TV column in years but I’ve covered some interesting television programs. Here’s a selection:
- Tales of Lost TV: The Secret Weapon of 117 (Stage 7)
- Tales of Lost TV: The Last War (1946)
- Tales of Lost TV: Opening of the 1939 New York World’s Fair
- Tales of Lost TV: The Patty Duke Show and the Kennedy Assassination (1963)
- Tales of Lost TV: Vaughn Meader on The Joey Bishop Show (1963)
- Tales of Lost TV: The Girl in the Bathing Suit
- Tales of Lost TV: NBC’s 1968 On-Air Star Trek Announcement
- Tales of Lost TV: Folksay (1944)
- Tales of Lost TV: The Esther Williams Aqua Spectacle
- Tales of Lost TV: The Las Vegas Show (1967)
“Lost” TV Case Studies
These three case studies are examples of how difficult it is to research the status of television programs. How do you prove something doesn’t exist?
- “Lost” TV Case Study: Thursday, January 12, 1961 (ABC)
- “Lost” TV Case Study: Tuesday, October 20, 1964 (CBS)
- “Lost” TV Case Study: Saturday, April 16th, 1966 (NBC)
Local TV News Audio Recordings
Thanks to the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, nearly every network evening newscast dating back to August 1968 survives. Local news is another matter and over the years I’ve shared a handful of audio recordings of local TV newscasts and a local news magazine.
- Audio Vault: WWJ-TV News Excerpt (11/16/1968)
- Audio Vault: WISH-TV The Big News Final (9/25/1972)
- Audio Vault: WISH-TV 30 Minutes (9/26/1972)
Hopefully, later this month I’ll be able to share some of the audio recordings I wanted to share today. But you might have to wait until next year for another “Lost” TV Case Study.
