1961 NBC "Tinted" Color Programming?

[oldtvman]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

I should have posted more info, but I couldn't get the quote box to work on the little old Asus eee 700 that I was using at the time. Craig Adams went on to list specific programs that were "tinted"


He indicated that the '61-'62 Wed night NBC "color" schedule was as follows:


This seems to me to be pretty specific information from a reliable historian, indicating that the Wed night NBC "full color" lineup was not quite as advertised.

jr

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050073/ Here is the scoop in wagon train.

[Steve D.]

As mentioned, the word "tinted" was a catchy way for color TV related articles to discribe color TV shows in the 50's & early 60's. Many instances of NBC having special "color nights" or several one off color episodes of certain programs for a "color week." This as a promotional tie-in with RCA, which owned the NBC Network and provided RCA major advertising for their color sets in newpaper & magazine ads both for the network and RCA dealers.
The Antenna TV channel aired the 1962 Hazel one off color episode not long ago and I did record it to DVD. It was a pristine color print.

-Steve D.

[Leslie]

I have this episode on the first season Hazel DVD and it looks fantastic. I always wondered how this episode got made in color and was not either the pilot or season finale of this series. Hazel was filmed entirely in color from the second season on. I believe that "tinted" was a common slang expression of the day to refer to anything broadcast in color.

[Leslie]

Originally Posted by David Roper

This. The color filming and broadcast of only certain episodes of otherwise black & white series goes way back to the fifties, particularly by NBC. Likewise there are examples of the odder practice of black & white broadcast of color film in the color TV era by color-indifferent CBS. My Friend Flicka was filmed in color, yet broadcast in black & white in 1956-57. It wasn't until the following that season NBC broadcast the reruns in color.

As far as what happened in 1961-62, maybe the 'executive decision' to halt any more one-off color broadcasts of black & white shows was so sweeping that it ended up including reruns of episodes already filmed.

The Lucy Show began color filming with it's second season (1963-64), but continued to be shown by CBS in black-and-white until the fall of 1965. This due to CBS's resistance to color, which would benefit rival network NBC. The DVDs of The Lucy Show's early color episodes have been fully restored and look spectacular in color.

[Steve D.]

Originally Posted by Leslie

I have this episode on the first season Hazel DVD and it looks fantastic. I always wondered how this episode got made in color and was not either the pilot or season finale of this series. Hazel was filmed entirely in color from the second season on. I believe that "tinted" was a common slang expression of the day to refer to anything broadcast in color.

Leslie,

As I mentioned in my post and David Roper went on to explain, this was done to promote the sale of color tv's to the public. NBC generally taking the lead in this. In the peticular "Hazel" season one color episode you cite. Maid Hazel's employer offers to replace Hazel's old B&W TV w/another new low cost B&W. At the TV store Hazel spots a color set and offers to split the cost with her employer George Baxter. The deal is done and Hazel has a color set in her room. A constant stream of neighbors & friends invade the Baxter household to watch color TV. In this instance, the NBC show "Perry Como" which was broadcast in color each week. And so the plot goes on. In the end George Baxter also buys a new color console for the living room. A perfect script for promoting color TV in a one off color episode of the 1962 season. I also have the box set of the entire "Hazel" series that includes this color episode. The show is from
a beautiful color print transfer and looks stunning
compared to the B&W episodes aired that season.

-Steve D.

[holmesuser01]

Originally Posted by Steve D.

Leslie,

As I mentioned in my post and David Roper went on to explain, this was done to promote the sale of color tv's to the public. NBC generally taking the lead in this. In the peticular "Hazel" season one color episode you cite. Maid Hazel's employer offers to replace Hazel's old B&W TV w/another new low cost B&W. At the TV store Hazel spots a color set and offers to split the cost with her employer George Baxter. The deal is done and Hazel has a color set in her room. A constant stream of neighbors & friends invade the Baxter household to watch color TV. In this instance, the NBC show "Perry Como" which was broadcast in color each week. And so the plot goes on. In the end George Baxter also buys a new color console for the living room. A perfect script for promoting color TV in a one off color episode of the 1962 season. I also have the box set of the entire "Hazel" series that includes this color episode. The show is from
a beautiful color print transfer and looks stunning
compared to the B&W episodes aired that season.

-Steve D.

So the B/W shows from season 1 dont look so good? I remember being told by Columbia Pictures TV that their 16mm B/W's were printed from a well-worn printing negative even back in the 1970's.

I hope they went back to the original show titles for the DVD release. The syndication titles were Hazel getting out of the car with groceries, Don DeFore laughing at something, with his wife coming out and laughing, only to find little Harold up in the tree throwing confetti, and then Hazel goes in the house.... The Ford titles were better, and I had the Galaxie kiddy car that Harold had, too!!

[Jeffhs]

And what about Ted Turner's attempts at "colorizing" b&w television shows? That stunt goes back to the '80s, IIRC. I don't know how many programs were actually colorized before Turner stopped (or was ordered by the production companies and/or networks to stop) the experiment. However, I do know some purists were all but furious over Turner's colorizing of classic b&w TV programs. Thankfully, the experiment ended, again IIRC, by the end of the decade.

[holmesuser01]

Ted could color anything he wanted to. He OWNED the shows and movies. He still controls these shows, and movies.

I still prefer B/W originals over colorized stuff. I still see Gilligans Island colorized episodes... A TV station I worked for back in the day refused to run the B/W Gilligans, along with the B/W Jeannie shows, and Bewitched. Stupid idea, if you ask me.

[etype2]

My parents did not own a color TV. My first color set was purchased out of high school in fall of 1965, coinciding with the 65/66 season when the three networks went 100% color in prime time. I do remember seeing some very early episodes of "Superman" in the faux color.

[Tom S]

I just watched the Hazel episode that she bought the new Color Tv. Also a later one where the Tv was acting up for George and it was his Heating pad. Nice shots of the set and also I never seen a tech quite like the one that was performing service on the set.

[Steve Hoffman]

Someone post a link to the HAZEL color episode.

Or, use mine!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKyfA...eature=related

[holmesuser01]

I didnt watch the whole show, but I did watch thru the opening titles. My 16mm print uses the awful generic syndication title.

The color is lovely, like my print was when I got it many moons ago...

Screen Gems (aka Columbia Pictures Television) did some beautiful photography in its day. They won emmy awards for their production work.

[Steve Hoffman]

But that script, geez. A few lines were flubbed as well. Interesting. The last time I saw a HAZEL episode with Whitney Blake I was 8.

[holmesuser01]

I havent seen Hazel on TV since 1981... Thats when the station I worked for stopped running it. We had a library of brand new prints. Beautiful and in great condition, except for the B/W episodes, some of which looked like they were dupes.

[Steve Hoffman]

I had forgotten how cute Whitney Blake was. She looked so old to me when I was a kid. Now she looks so young on HAZEL. Her daughter of course is Meredith Baxter.