# Live television in the 1950s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107 "2015-08-27T21:31:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/1 "2015-08-27T21:31:34Z")
Yesterday I was talking to a coworker about the _Ed Sullivan Show_. I told him I’d heard that in the early '50s, when the show was still called _Toast of the Town_, they didn’t have videotape, so they had to perform each show twice. They’d do a live performance for the eastern U.S., then bring in a new audience two hours later and do another performance for the western half. He didn’t believe me and asked me for a cite. Of course, I respect his position. But I only know the story from hearing some old-timers reminiscing on talk shows years ago. I’ve been Googling like mad, but I can’t find any evidence. Can anyone help me find a cite for this practice – assuming I didn’t just dream I heard it in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/2 "2015-08-27T21:53:20Z")
AFAIK, radio shows did exactly this. But I don’t think television shows did. Instead they used [kinescope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinescope), which was a sophisticated way of pointing a camera at a television monitor and filming what it showed. > [@](#): > > Eastman Television Recording Camera > > In September 1947, Eastman Kodak introduced the Eastman Television Recording Camera, in cooperation with DuMont Laboratories, Inc. and NBC, for recording images from a television screen under the trademark “Kinephoto”. Prior to the introduction of videotape in 1956, kinescopes were the only way to record television broadcasts, or to distribute network television programs that were broadcast live from New York or other originating cities, to stations not connected to the network, or to stations that wished to show a program at a different time than the network broadcast. Although the quality was less than desirable, television programs of all types from prestigious dramas to regular news shows were handled in this manner. > > NBC, CBS, and DuMont set up their main kinescope recording facilities in New York City, while ABC chose Chicago. By 1951, NBC and CBS were each shipping out some 1,000 16mm kinescope prints each week to their affiliates across the United States, and by 1955 that number had increased to 2,500 per week for CBS.[9] By 1954 the television industry’s film consumption surpassed that of all of the Hollywood studios combined.[10][11] > > “Hot kinescope” > > After the network of coaxial cable and microwave relays carrying programs to the West Coast was completed in September 1951,[12] CBS and NBC instituted a “hot kinescope” process in 1952, where shows being performed in New York were transmitted west, filmed on two kinescope machines in 35 mm negative and 16 mm reversal film (the latter for backup protection) in Los Angeles, rushed to film processing, and then transmitted from Los Angeles three hours later for broadcast in the Pacific Time Zone.[13][14] Kinescope therefore preceded Toast of the Town. But it wouldn’t matter, because doing a second show for the west coast was impossible. No nationwide television network existed until well into the 1950s. The networks slowly expanded the cable and microwave connections along the East and West Coasts and finally met in the middle, like the transcontinental railroad. I can’t seem to find the exact date, so someone will soon come along with it, I hope. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/3 "2015-08-27T22:00:16Z")
TV shows weren’t seen outside of the broadcast area until cables were set up for remote transmission except by shipping Kinescope film to the remote locations. So when the cables were laid and the Sullivan show was shown in other time zones there was no need to repeat the performances, the Kinescopes would have been used. That doesn’t mean they didn’t do it, but there was no need. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/4 "2015-08-27T22:10:11Z")
Here’s the story I heard: The show was being broadcast live to the east coast, in front of a live studio audience. Singer Jack Jones had just performed, and Ed came out to talk to him. Ed asked, “Wasn’t your father Allan Jones?” Jack replied, “He still is,” and the audience howled. After the show, Ed told Jack that he liked the reaction to his ad lib, and they agreed to leave it in for the second performance for the west coast. During the second show, with a different studio audience, Ed came out after Jack’s song and asked, “Jack, is your father still alive?” Jack answered, “Uhh… yes.” Ed reportedly never understood why one audience thought it was so funny and the other one didn’t. I’ve searched for this story online, and gotten a few hits. One of them is a YouTube video of David Letterman telling Alan King the story and getting it completely fouled up. The others say that the first performance was a dress rehearsal – but a full dress rehearsal in front of a studio audience doesn’t sound likely to me. Was that a common practice? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/5 "2015-08-27T22:41:08Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > I’ve searched for this story online, and gotten a few hits. One of them is a YouTube video of David Letterman telling Alan King the story and getting it completely fouled up. The others say that the first performance was a dress rehearsal – but a full dress rehearsal in front of a studio audience doesn’t sound likely to me. Was that a common practice? Having Google search for “Ed Sullivan” and “full dress rehearsal” returns some books saying he’d have one for a studio audience between three & 7 hours before broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/6 "2015-08-27T22:43:09Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Having Google search for “Ed Sullivan” and “full dress rehearsal” returns some books saying it was common for him to have one between three & 7 hours before broadcast. Thanks! Then it was either my memory, or the memory of whomever it was that told the story on TV, that got messed up. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/7 "2015-08-27T23:13:25Z")
There were some shows that that did a second performance for the West Coast, but they were mainly news broadcasts. One problem with the story is that Jack Jones was born in 1938. IMDB shows his first TV performance in 1957 and Wiki says he signed a recording contract in 1959. By that time videotape was used for big-time shows like Ed Sullivan. The “happened during dress rehearsal” story makes the most sense. Remember, Saturday Nigtht Live still has a[dress rehearsal in front of a live audience](http://www.nbc.com/tickets-and-nbc-studio-tour#snl). It’s also possible that there wasn’t a studio audience at all; rather, it might have been the crew who broke up. Live TV shows of the 1950’s had a LOT of people working on them. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/8 "2015-08-28T01:53:09Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > But it wouldn’t matter, because doing a second show for the west coast was impossible. No nationwide television network existed until well into the 1950s. The networks slowly expanded the cable and microwave connections along the East and West Coasts and finally met in the middle, like the transcontinental railroad. I can’t seem to find the exact date, so someone will soon come along with it, I hope. [September 4, 1951.](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-truman-makes-first-transcontinental-television-broadcast) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/9 "2015-08-28T02:51:18Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > [September 4, 1951.](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-truman-makes-first-transcontinental-television-broadcast) Thanks, I saw that but it was a one-time event. Just because it was possible to do once doesn’t necessarily mean that the four networks could immediately make the switch and stop sending kinescopes. It might have been immediate (or very soon) or it might have taken time, but I couldn’t find confirmation either way. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/10 "2015-08-28T13:01:14Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > AFAIK, radio shows did exactly this. But I don’t think television shows did. > > . Interestingly, I was just reading about this. re-creating radio shows for the West Coast audience was standard prac tice, until Bing Crosby changed all that by tape-recording his shows for later rebroadcast. Crosby was a fan of new technology, and had invested in microphones and recording equipment, becoming an innovator in good fidelity recording. He even switched broadcasters from NBC to ABC because ABC was more receptive to his idea of recording and rebroadcasting. > [@](#): > > Crosby’s radio career took a significant turn in 1945, when he clashed with NBC over his insistence that he be allowed to pre-record his radio shows.[49] (The live production of radio shows was also reinforced by the musicians’ union and ASCAP, which wanted to ensure continued work for their members.) In On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio, historian John Dunning wrote about German engineers having developed a tape recorder with a near-professional broadcast quality standard: > [Crosby saw] an enormous advantage in prerecording his radio shows. The scheduling could now be done at the star’s convenience. He could do four shows a week, if he chose, and then take a month off. But the networks and sponsors were adamantly opposed. The public wouldn’t stand for ‘canned’ radio, the networks argued. There was something magic for listeners in the fact that what they were hearing was being performed and heard everywhere, at that precise instant. Some of the best moments in comedy came when a line was blown and the star had to rely on wit to rescue a bad situation. Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Phil Harris, and also Crosby were masters at this, and the networks weren’t about to give it up easily. > > Crosby’s insistence eventually factored into the further development of magnetic tape sound recording and the radio industry’s widespread adoption of it.[50][51][52] He used his clout, both professional and financial, to innovate new methods of reproducing audio of his performances. But NBC (and competitor CBS) were also insistent, refusing to air prerecorded radio programs. Crosby walked away from the network and stayed off the air for seven months, creating a legal battle with Kraft, his sponsor, that was settled out of court. Crosby returned to the air for the last 13 weeks of the 1945–1946 season. > > The Mutual network, on the other hand, had pre-recorded some of its programs as early as the 1938 run of The Shadow with Orson Welles. And the new ABC network, which had been formed out of the sale of the old NBC Blue Network in 1943 following a federal anti-trust action, was willing to join Mutual in breaking the tradition. ABC offered Crosby $30,000 per week to produce a recorded show every Wednesday that would be sponsored by Philco. He would also get an additional $40,000 from 400 independent stations for the rights to broadcast the 30-minute show, which was sent to them every Monday on three 16-inch lacquer/aluminum discs that played ten minutes per side at 33⅓ rpm. > > Crosby wanted to change to recorded production for several reasons. The legend that has been most often told is that it would give him more time for his golf game. And he did record his first Philco program in August 1947 so he could enter the Jasper National Park Invitational Golf Tournament in September, just when the new radio season was to start. But golf was not the most important reason. > > Though Crosby did want more time to tend to his other business and leisure activities, he also sought better quality through recording, including being able to eliminate mistakes and control the timing of his show performances. Because his own Bing Crosby Enterprises produced the show, he could purchase the latest and best sound equipment and arrange the microphones his way; the logistics of microphone placement had long been a hotly debated issue in every recording studio since the beginning of the electrical era. No longer would he have to wear the hated toupee on his head previously required by CBS and NBC for his live audience shows (he preferred a hat). He could also record short promotions for his latest investment, the world’s first frozen orange juice, sold under the brand name Minute Maid. This investment allowed Crosby to make more money by finding a loophole whereby the IRS couldn’t tax him at a 77% rate.[53] > **[Bing Crosby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bing_Crosby)** > > Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, actor, television producer, television and radio personality, and businessman. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. Crosby was a leader in record sales, network radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1926 to 1977. He was one of the first global cultural icons. Crosby made over 70 feature films and recorded more th Cr... ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/11 "2015-08-28T22:38:39Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Remember, Saturday Nigtht Live still has a[dress rehearsal in front of a live audience](http://www.nbc.com/tickets-and-nbc-studio-tour#snl) And sometimes, when something goes terribly wrong with the live version, they will actually substitute the dress rehearsal version of a sketch when the show is broadcast (non-live) for the west coast. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/12 "2015-08-29T08:22:54Z")
A dress rehearsal in front of a live audience is handy for a live sketch comedy show like SNL. It allows the director to measure not only the time of a sketch but the time of audience reaction (laughter) also. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/13 "2015-08-29T19:27:16Z")
In England, most drama and light entertainment continued to be performed live through the 1950s, with filmed inserts where necessary to enable sequences that couldn’t be done in the studio, and give the cast time to change their costumes and get over to the next set. The _Quatermass_ sci-fi serials were all performed live, and simultaneously telerecorded [kinescope] for reruns and overseas sales. Only the first two episodes of the first _Quatermass_ still survive - apparently the technical quality of the recording process was judged to be so poor that no further money should be spent trying to record it (and in episode 2 an insect can be seen crawling on the monitor used in the telerecording process, no doubt attracted by the glow). The quality of telerecordings was noticeably lower, so tended to be avoided. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/live-television-in-the-1950s/729107/14 "2015-08-30T02:19:07Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Having Google search for “Ed Sullivan” and “full dress rehearsal” returns some books saying he’d have one for a studio audience between three & 7 hours before broadcast. Yup. I have a magazine article from 1971 (when Sullivan’s show was cancelled) where longtime stage manager Eddie Brinkmann notes the dress rehearsal was done around one o’clock. It wasn’t meant for broadcast at all, but more to troubleshoot any problems in the show. The reason Sullivan had a full audience for a rehearsal is because he felt audience reaction was the best way to figure out what was working and what wasn’t.