Hollywood Palace

[old_tv_nut]

Over the weekend I watched a DVD I recorded from PBS during some former pledge drive of "Christmas at the Hollywood Palace". The Hollywood Palace variety show ran from 1964 to 1970. I was wondering if anyone knows what cameras they used over the years? Did ABC start with TK-41s and move to Plumbicons during this time?

[Dave A]

With help from Ed Reitan's spectacular color television site you can see the early start at the Palace;

ABC Color Studios
Hollywood Palace (1965)
Hollywood, Vine St. North of Hollywood Blvd.
TK-41C (4), initially, no film or slide capability.
ABC's first Live Color Studio was in the Hollywood Palace Theater, starting in 1965. Remote Trucks were situated in the parking lot North of the studio. Cables were run into the theater to four TK-41C cameras for the production of the "Hollywood Palace", "Lawrence Welk", and later "King Sisters" shows. The mobile color trucks were leased from MGM, New York. There were no facilities for slide or motion picture film. After the first year using controls in the truck, a control room was constructed inside the theater. [6]
Initial ABC colorcasts had started three years earlier from film, starting with a cartoon show, "The Jetsons", on September 23, 1962. Only a single RCA TK-26 Film Chain at Prospect, Hollywood was used to transmit these shows to network for 2 years . ABC Engineering, New York , did not believe in vectorscopes, so none were provided by ABC to Hollywood.

You can see a complete network studio history here at Ed's website;

http://www.novia.net/~ereitan/studios.html

[bgadow]

Somewhere I have a tape of a special that ABC (I guess) aired in the 90s all about the show, mostly vintage clips. Enjoyable to watch-interesting to know the background. When I watch it again it will be in a different light.

[cbenham]

Originally Posted by Dave A

ABC Engineering, New York , did not believe in vectorscopes, so none were provided by ABC to Hollywood.

I wonder if that explains the attached test pattern?

[W.B.]

Originally Posted by cbenham

I wonder if that explains the attached test pattern?

That color test pattern dated to the early 1980's, and was one of two typesetting variations with this design used by WABC-TV. The other had no 'circle 7', but had a simple number 7 burned in, superimposed over the black dot in the center greyscale bullseye. It also had "American Broadcasting Companies, Inc." on the bottom part, from left to right, even superimposed over the lower wedge.

[Steve D.]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

Over the weekend I watched a DVD I recorded from PBS during some former pledge drive of "Christmas at the Hollywood Palace". The Hollywood Palace variety show ran from 1964 to 1970. I was wondering if anyone knows what cameras they used over the years? Did ABC start with TK-41s and move to Plumbicons during this time?

Wayne,

I also have that PBS tape of the various H.P. Xmas shows. Mine has episodes with both Bing Crosby and Perry Como hosting. Fun watching Bing's "2nd" family of kids growing up season to season.

-Steve D.

[2DualsNotEnough]

I actually saw several concerts at the Hollywood palace when it was turned into a concert venue club in the early 80s.I saw one of the last shows by the Bus Boys,and one of my all time favorite shows,T-Bone Burnett and Richard Thompson.
Jimmy

[dtuomi]

I knew a guy who worked the Hollywood Palace. When I knew him he was an engineer, but back then he was just Utility. He said the worse thing about working the place was that it had really long runs for all its cabling. So, if you had a set of mics for a band playing, you could expect those lines to run many hundreds of feet before even meeting up with a connection. So both video and audio from the Palace tended to be more noisy than was normal, even for that time period.

David

[sampson159]

youtube has some great hollywood palace videos.the dean martin introducing the rolling stones is classic.the look on his face as he asks the audience "werent they great?"funny ,funny.groucho and his daughter melinda is good too.loved the show!

[W.B.]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

Did ABC start with TK-41s and move to Plumbicons during this time?

For its first two seasons (the second half of the 1963-64 season and all of 1964-65), The Hollywood Palace was B&W, and very likely used RCA TK-60 cameras which ABC acquired c.1963. Then when the show went color in 1965, TK-41C's were indeed used at the outset. PC-60/70 class cameras from Norelco were first seen on the show around 1966, and up to the end of its run in 1970.

[classicradios]

...

[John Hafer]

Referring back to the second post on this thread regarding Ed Reitan's site, I have a question: He states ABC only had a single RCA TK-26 film chain in CA back in 1962 for 2 years. I lived out east in Syracuse back then. How did ABC show the Jetsons and Flintstones in color from their New York broadcast center? When did ABC increase their color film equipment in NY for their 1963 -1964 season when they added showing Wagon Train, The Greatest Show on Earth and the Sunday Hollywood Special movies in color?

[W.B.]

Originally Posted by John Hafer

Referring back to the second post on this thread regarding Ed Reitan's site, I have a question: He states ABC only had a single RCA TK-26 film chain in CA back in 1962 for 2 years. I lived out east in Syracuse back then. How did ABC show the Jetsons and Flintstones in color from their New York broadcast center? When did ABC increase their color film equipment in NY for their 1963 -1964 season when they added showing Wagon Train, The Greatest Show on Earth and the Sunday Hollywood Special movies in color?

One can only presume ABC in Hollywood shipped videotape dubs of such color presentations to New York for transmission. Or else went microwave. Or high-grade telco.

I think it was indeed around the 1963-64 period that ABC New York acquired color film chains - I've seen ads to the effect that the New York facilities had General Electric PE-24 chains. Certainly in the 1964-65 season, WABC-TV in New York began showing feature films in color, on their late-night Best of Broadway movie umbrella - and began to give rival WCBS-TV's The Late Show a run for its money, to the point that starting in mid-1965 WCBS itself began showing color films in color (mirroring the CBS network's own commitment to color starting in the 1965-66 season).

While ABC's Sunday movies began in spring 1962 as Hollywood Special, it was around the fall of 1962 that it first bore The Sunday Night Movie title which would also be applied when it was more successfully brought back in 1964 (then modified in 1967 to The ABC Sunday Night Movie).

[Steve Hoffman]

Originally Posted by John Hafer

Referring back to the second post on this thread regarding Ed Reitan's site, I have a question: He states ABC only had a single RCA TK-26 film chain in CA back in 1962 for 2 years. I lived out east in Syracuse back then. How did ABC show the Jetsons and Flintstones in color from their New York broadcast center? When did ABC increase their color film equipment in NY for their 1963 -1964 season when they added showing Wagon Train, The Greatest Show on Earth and the Sunday Hollywood Special movies in color?

Yikes, The Greatest Show On Earth. Was that with Jack Palance? What about Destry? Same time? Was that ABC as well? 90 minutes, right?

Wow.

Haven't thought of these shows since I was a kid...

[Steve D.]

Originally Posted by Steve Hoffman

Yikes, The Greatest Show On Earth. Was that with Jack Palance? What about Destry? Same time? Was that ABC as well? 90 minutes, right?

Wow.

Haven't thought of these shows since I was a kid...

Hey Steve,

That was Jack Palance as tough circus boss "Johnny Slate" on ABC's '63-'64 "Greatest Show on Earth." I remember watching it in color. Might have been ABC's first dramatic show in color. I don't remember "Destry" which was also on ABC. Looking it up, it was a one hour show on Fri. Starred John Gavin. Ran for one season in 1964. Probably in b&w.

-Steve D.