TV had come through the war years with eight stations broadcasting programmes in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Schenectady as of V-J Day.
August 1945 saw the FCC lift freezes that stopped stations from being built and re-jig frequencies (and would do that some more). TV set manufacturers were gearing up for production again; a demonstration of one small set attracted two thousand people to a store window.
Our look at television for that month shows how a few of the stations covered the Japanese surrender, and featured special programmes about the atomic bomb. The Philadelphia station was about to resume live shows. Two stations had arranged for special school broadcasts. On the flip side, a division of RKO that hoped to become a TV programme producer quickly saw the idea die.
The NBC station continued with live baseball games and boxing matches. The Chicago station was plagued again by free talent bailing when they found paid work in radio. And the Don Lee station in Los Angeles featured a drama that co-starred Shirley Mitchell, who appeared on “I Love Lucy,” “Petticoat Junction” and a bushel of other shows in the ‘50s and ‘60s. It also mounted a sitcom that gave Verna Felton her only starring role along with a cast of top radio comic actors, including Walter Tetley.
Wednesday, August 1
WABD Channel 4
8:00 “Ike on Sports.”
8:30 Motion picture.
9:00 “Author! Author!”
9:30 Motion picture.
10:00 One-act Comedy: “Supressed Desires.”
WNBT Channel 1
7:00-8:30: Children’s Program. Film: “Arizona Gang Busters” with Tim McCoy (PRC, 1940).
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News and analysis with Tom O’Connor.
8:10 “The Doctor Looks.” Dr. Don W. Gudakuinet, guest.
8:25 Film: “Awl Message.”
8:40 O.W.I. announcement.
8:45 Hal Sherman, comedy.
WABD Channel 4
8:00 “Magazine of the Air.”
8:30 Motion picture.
9:15 “Thanks For Looking” with Patricia Murray and John Reed King.
9:30 Selected films.
10:00 “Thrills and Chills” with Doug Allan.
CBS
Reviewed Thursday (2), 8-9 p.m. Style—News, film, comedy. Sustaining over WCBW, New York.
Leo Hurwitz-directed, Gilbert Seldes-produced, Hal Sherman show, while a praiseworthy attempt to break the rigid molds into which the music ban has cast television, failed to register as much of anything because of below-par direction and some very hammy camera work. Placed in an effective night club net, Sherman did a few of his familiar routines, drew a few chuckles but lost 75 per cent of the effectiveness of his comic dancing because of directing and Ike handling by Al Keiban and Ralph Warren.
Particularly bad were the long shots, most of which allowed far too much head room and cut off the educated Sherman feet. Panning the camera down would bring in too much floor but bringing the camera in and then tilting it would have turned the trick. Most of the close-ups of the dancing were good, but on several occasions the Ike was panned to the top of the comic's body to catch some band or face motion but got there too late. And in the interim another eccentric leg motion was lost. In chatter sequences the director many times called for head close-ups just in time to get a nice clear shot of the back of Sherman's neck. The effect of a final dance routine was dissipated by a great many cuts from one camera to another. The switches meant nothing and lost for the audience the fun of Sherman's "music reading" bit.
Obviously, the fault lies with inadequate rehearsal, but even unrehearsed shows have been good, provided the director and his cameramen are on their toes. A 15-minute program with Victor Borge some months back is a good example.
News with Tom O'Conner and a film rounded out the hour. Marty Schrader. (Billboard, Aug. 11)
Balaban & Katz
Reviewed Thursday (2), 7:30 to 8:15 p.m. Style—News and variety. Sustaining on WBKB, Chicago.
Tonight's program at WBKB was little more than a waste of time, effort and the power used to transmit a picture to the television set owners of the city. Of the 45 minutes, only 15 minutes—the time it took Jenya to give one of her excellent piano recitals—was worth more than fleeting attention.
To back up Jenya's masterful playing of the classics and popular music, direction and camera work was above average. There were some good slow-dissolve shots, and for a change, direction smart enough to include some impressive and attention holding close-ups of the pianist's hands reflected in the mirror in front of the keyboard. If Jenya were always backed up by good camera work, lighting and direction, her programs could be built into sock television material worth sponsorship by any cities advertiser.
Leyah'a dance interpretation of "girl meets boy" wasn't as good as some of the movie shorts made In the infant days of the flickers. With dance pantomime and rhyming lines, she tried to tell the story of the experiences of a gal who meets a boy in the park. Musical background was of the corny type, such as While Strolling Thru the Park One Day. Leyah didn't even bother to keep her dancing confined to the space in front of the panoramic photograph background, and often off-stage shots of a wooden background were telecast. In summary, Oh, brother!
Don Faust's news shows continue to be little more than the reading of copy and map talks. His commentary is good for radio but certainly nothing unusual enough to be called worthy television fare. Cy Wagner. (Billboard, Aug. 11)
Possible uses of television as a teaching aid in the city schools will be explored jointly this fall by the Board of Education and the National Broadcasting Company. Soon after the reopening of schools in September, the board announced yesterday, a special weekly television program will be broadcast for study by selected classes from junior high schools. The broadcasts will originate from the National Broadcasting Company’s television station WNBT. Subject matter of the first programs will be drawn from the field of science and the initial broadcast will deal with the development of television and its effects on modern life.
According to John F. Royal, NBC vice-president in charge of television, “every effort will be made to seek the distinctive contribution that television can make as a new and different medium and to avoid the mere repetition of the types of education that are achieved through the media of films and radio.” An attempt will be made to reproduce some of the notable scientific experiments of history so that students may see as well as hear about them. Leading scientists will be invited to take part in selecting material suitable for the program, Mr. Royal said.
In the absence of television receivers in city schools, groups of fifty junior high school students at a time will be taken to NBC television viewing rooms on the sixth and ninth floors of the R. C. A. Building where, with their teachers, they will see the broadcasts.
After the broadcasts the reactions of the teachers and pupils will be studied to determine what changes must be made in the programs to make them more effective educationally. The students who will participate in the first experimental programs will be thirteen to fifteen years old and will be drawn from the seventh, eighth and ninth grades.
In later programs an attempt will be made to utilize television for instruction in the social sciences and the arts and languages. Scripts for the first broadcasts will be prepared during the next few weeks. (Herald Tribune, Aug. 2)
Friday, August 3
WNBT Channel 1
8:00 “The World in Your Home.”
8:21 Short subject.
8:30 Boxing at Madison Square Garden.
10:00 Feature bout: Willie Joyce vs. Tippy Larkin.
Saturday, August 4
WNBT Channel 1
8:40-10:30 Baseball: Giants vs. Phillies at the Polo Grounds.
NEW YORK, Aug. 4.—Bulova Watch Company, biggest buyers of radio time signals and sponsors of station breaks on NBC television for over a year, this week became the first client to sign on Columbia's tele station, WCBW, with four 20-second spots a week.
Bulova will use films and emphasize style of its watches rather than accuracy pitch. (Billboard, Aug 11)
Sunday, August 5
WNBT Channel 1
8:00 Telenewsreel.
8:10 Feature film.
9:15 Short subject.
8:00 Film: “Wings of Democracy.”
8:15 Feature Film: “The Invisible Killer” with Grace Bradley and Roland Drew (PRC, 1939).
9:20 Televues: On the Trail.
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News with Dwight Cooke.
8:10 Film.
8:15-9:30 Amateur Boxing Bouts.
Don Lee’s television outlet here, W6XAO, puts on its most ambitious program Monday night [6] when Verna Felton, Arthur Q. Bryan, Walter Tetley, Jane Morgan, Earle Ross, Joe Granby, Selma Stern and Eddie Marr do a 30-minute show adapted from AM. Peggy Weber and Mal Boyd did the script and Jack Stewart handles the production titled “Oh, Miss Tubbs.” Mal Boyd quipped on the side, “Say the total Hooperating on the show will be over 331.” Hooper, we are sure, won’t give a hoop. (Hollywood Reporter, Aug. 2)
FOUR classes of television stations are proposed in tentative allocations adopted by FCC-industry joint engineering committee and submitted to Commission for formal approval. Channel 1 reserved for small communities; Channels 2-13 available for all station classes. FM standards adopted by engineers also submitted to FCC; subcommittee on fax standards named.
The TV plan provides for assignment of channels for 400 television stations in Class A, B and C to 125 of the 140 metropolitan districts of the U. S. Several hundred Class D stations will be available to serve the remaining 15 metropolitan districts and other areas. Under the proposed allocation New York and Chicago each will get seven channels—2,4,5,7,9,11,13 for Class A stations. Los Angeles will be assigned the same channels for seven Class C stations. Channels 3,6,8 and 10 will be assigned to Philadelphia for Class A stations and Detroit will get the same channels plus Channel 12, also for Class A stations. San Francisco-Oakland area will use Channels 2,4,5,7,9,11 for Class C stations. (Broadcasting, Aug. 6)
Tuesday, August 7
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News with Dwight Cooke.
8:15 James Lawrence Fly, others, discussing new C. B. S.-Encyclopaedia Britannica television series.
8:20 The World We Live In: “Hunger Takes No Holiday.”
8:50 Motion picture.
9:00-9:30 “The Missus Goes A-Shopping” with John Reed King.
CBS
Reviewed Tuesday (7), 8-10 p.m. Style—News, interview, documentary, film, audience participation. Sustaining over WCBW, New York.
It would be an understatement to say that WCBW's Hunger Takes No Holiday, first of a new series in co-operation with Encyclopaedia Britannic films, was an accomplished technical performance by director Tony Miner, cameramen Martin Steinberg and Al Kleban, and set designer James McNaughton. On the other hand. it would be an overstatement to say that Hunger Takes No Holiday was great entertainment.
Rudy Bretz and Edward Stashed turned in an engrossing script which would have been perfect for radio. In television, however, it became static in several spots and talky most of the way thru. Greater emphasis on film (which incidentally was beautifully integrated) might have eliminated some of the dull spots. Greater use of the visually interesting sets could have made a good script a better one. The concept of famine as a tall, thin man in a black cape, was an amateurish touch which detracted from the professional skill with which Director Miner handled his show, Certainly non-commercial, Hunger Takes No Holiday, was nonetheless a good piece of educational work.
Program itself dealt with the problems of the administration of a conquered German town and the battle which the military has to supply the population with food. Using that simple story as a base, the history of man's struggle for food was developed as a major theme, ending with the strides humanity has made In the invention of mechanical agricultural equipment. Entire presentation could have been improved reducing its length, by eliminating some of the dragging spots. Interesting performances were turned in by Calvin Thomas, Lee Kresel, Kip Good, Leo Hass, Hal Michael and Emil Harris. As Hunger, Kendall Bryson seemed a bit too much the hoss-opera villain.
Good as Hunger Takes No Holiday happened to be, its edge was dulled by an interminable discussion among James Lawrence Fly, Dr. V. C. Arnspeiger and Prof. Lennox Gray on the significance of education by television. It was a feature that was best left in the files to gather dust. Certainly it has no place before the television camera.
News, a film, and the Missus Goes A-Shopping rounded out the evening. Marty Schrader. (Billboard, Aug. 18)
"THE WORLD WE LIVE IN"
With Kendall Bryson, Lee Kresel, Calvin Thomas, Thomas Nello, Alfred Linder, Harold Dyrenforth, Kip Good, Leo Haas, Hal Michael, Emil Harris
Writers: Ed Stasheff and Rudy Brelz
Producer-Director: Worthington Miner
Scenic Designer: James McNaughton
30 Mins.; Tuesdays, 8:15 p.m.
Sustaining
WCBW-CBS, N. Y.
At the disposal of the program's producers are vast resources of material: "Hunger and History," "Six Thousand Years of Bread," "UNRRA Pamphlet No. 1," "Hill's Pamphlet On World Food Problems," volume "EXTR to GAMB" of the 1945 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica and a 16 mm. film titled "Wheat." The aforementioned, it would seem, should provide enough information for an imaginative dramatist who was out to do a story based on the premise that "Hunger Takes No Holiday," the title of this particular episode.
For the dramatized portion of the program, the scene opened up with a partially-destroyed museum interior closely resembling the opening scene of the stage version of "A Bell For Adano," except for a few extra symbolic pieces of statuary, which the audience was to learn later were the dubious keys to the problems that beset both the writers and the AMG. It was almost halfway through the play that these turned out to be replicas of the various tools used by man to cultivate the earth down the centuries for fruition. All this was devised through the allegorical presence of famine played with persevering arrogance by Kendall Bryson, who in his long, flowing black cape, resembled the cartoon of Batman more than the symbol of hunger. And from the moment he entered the scene, the air became fused with a good deal of standard dates and data about the great periods of famine down the centuries. The various countries devastated by famine were represented by heavily costumed actors who carried on like life-size puppets. With the aid of animated film, "the finale described how the machine age of the past, century and a half has conquered the food problems, etc., much to the dismay of Mr. Hunger.
Had there been more than just the garrulous arguments between the AMG rep and Mr. Hunger, the program might have accomplished what the producers want—to inspire televiewers to do something about the problems televised during this series. Static expostulations can't be counted on to inspire audience participation.
Three spokesmen in the fields of communication and education prefaced the program. Ex-FCC Chairman James Lawrence Fly reiterated the need for an international communicative system for planting and nourishing the seeds of democracy throughout the world. Dr. V. C. Arnspiger of Encyclopaedia Britannica Films and Professor Lennox Gray of Columbia University also visualize the utilization of communicative media for mass education.
The brevity that went into the three authorities' introductory comments should have gone into the script penned by Ed Stasheff and Rudy Bretz. Worthington Miner did as much with direction as the actionless script allowed. Calvin Thomas portrayed the AMG's Major Carmody in a colorless fashion. Kendall Bryson allegorized hunger melodramatically. National sequences of Paul Belanger were effective, and others' in the cast were adequate. James McNaughton's scene of the partially demolished museum had an air of authenticity about it, although there were too many gray tones in it for clarity in some of the shots. (Variety, Aug. 15)
WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (U.P.)—The Federal Communications Commission stated today that its “freeze” policy for the construction of new radio stations will be lifted in sixty days. The War Production Board has indicated that materials will become available within the next few months for the use of broadcast applicants, the FCC said. This applies to all types of stations, including standard, television and frequency modulation, the commission added.
It is expected that construction started during the latter part of this year can be completed “without unreasonable difficulty,” the commission declared.
Resumption of normal licensing practices will begin after a sixty-day period during which applications now pending may be brought up to date. New applications will be received in order to “prevent any inequity” to persons who did not file applications during the freeze period.
Wednesday, August 8
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 Unscheduled program, the first on the station since Pearl Harbor Day.
WABD Channel 4
8:00 Motion Picture.
8:30 “The Magic Carpet.”
8:45 Film Program.
9:00 “Author! Author!” Emily Hahn and Dr. Liang Tsai-Ping, guests.
10:00-10:30 Dance program.
CBS
Reviewed Wednesday (8), 8-9 p.m. Style—Documentary sustaining over WRGB [sic], New York.
Even the programing was terrific—in its duplication. First Dwight Cook said it, then Capt. Sergei Kornikoff (the Russian "expert") said it and finally Maj. George Fielding Eliot did a reprise on what the other two said.
Motion picture clips (from Frank Capra's OWI film on Russia) were good when they were tele-clear. However, there were many shots which involved montages and superimposition of titles upon moving scenes that were just blurs.
The one part of the program that presented real video possibilities was the Russkya Troika, three typical Russ singers. This, too, was by-passed with one close-up for the entire scanning.
Interviews, film clips, news shots with maps, etc., and some singing add up to nothing unless there is a masterhand somewhere molding it into an air-pic. There was no molding on this seg.
Still the immediacy overcame all the production negatives. It was a thrilling hour in spite of them all. Joe Koehler. (Billboard, Aug. 18)
Television Productions, Inc.
Reviewed Wednesday (8), 8:30-9:30 p.m. Style—News, fashion show, vaude acts. Sustaining on W6XYZ, Hollywood.
Tonight's videocast presented a well-balanced entertainment dish for home viewers, with Klaus Landsberg's Fashion Guide the feature of the evening.
Fashion part of the tele slyer was prepared under the supervision of Edith Head, a Paramount designer, with Miss Head taking part. Styler was presented in skit with Paramount Pictures' starlets Kay Scott and Gloria Saunders taking roles, and Dick Lane emseeing.
Gals supposedly have chance to take In an exclusive night spot but haven't the proper clothes for the occasion. Miss Head steps in and shows the mitten a few helpful tips about style. Fact that Fashion Guide was presented as skit made it more interesting than usual method of parading girls and telling do's and don'ts about fern attire. Eye-easy starlets made program acceptable to male viewers, too.
Paramount News was timely, presenting picturized versions of Russia's declaration of war on Japan a few hours after news broke. Smooth job in writing narration of Paramount News was done by Gordon Wright, with Heatherington coming thru in top form as narrator. News commentary was handled in easy-going manner by Jack Latham, who brought viewers up to date by pointing out atomic bombing areas on the map.
Vaude phase of videocast included tap routine by Pat Sullivan, impersonations by Kay Medford, aero dance by Isabel Brown, Latin American songs by Tomasita, with Rookie Lewis in comedy act. Dick Lane was emcee. Vaude went thru smoothly, with video honors going to Landsberg for dissolves. In dance numbers images from two cameras were blended giving startling duo impression. Lee Zhito. (Billboard, Aug. 18)
New York.—WOR has resumed production of its television program via WRGB in Schenectady on Wednesday night from 8:30 to 9 p.m. with the 13-week series titled “The Better Half.”
Beginning Sept. 12, the station will devote seven programs, four titled “Brown Street Theatre” and three titled “The Sealed Book,” under the production helm of Bob Emery. These two series are adaptations of dramas which have been heard on WOR. (Hollywood Reporter, Aug. 7)
A FABULOUS plan wherein radio and aviation would join hands to saturate the nation with primary radio service via a system of very high frequency" relays (from plane to plane), which would carry television, FM, facsimile and even business radio transmissions, is about to be unfolded. Westinghouse, pioneer in radio, and Glenn L. Martin Co., in the forefront of aeronautics manufacturing and research, are the joint inventors and developers. ...
The country would be staked off into perhaps a score of geographical segments. Planes "anchored" to a prescribed course and equipped with appropriate television, FM and other transmitters and relays would "circle" the course transmitting and relaying. They would fly at 30,000 feet. Each plane might cover a radius of about 300 miles, with the coverage "interlaced" with the adjacent areas. (Broadcasting, Aug. 8)
Thursday, August 9
WNBT Channel 1
7:00-8:30: Children’s Program. Film: “Man’s Best Friend”; also short subjects.
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News with Tom O’Connor.
8:10 Film and OWI short.
8:30 “Opinions on Trial.”
WABD Channel 4
8:00 “Magazine of the Air.”
8:30 Motion picture.
9:15 “Thanks For Looking” with Patricia Murray and John Reed King.
9:45 Selected films.
Friday, August 10
WNBT Channel 1
8:00 “The World in Your Home.”
8:21 Short subject.
8:30 Boxing at Madison Square Garden.
10:00 Feature Bout: Jake LaMotta vs. Jose Basora.
Balaban & Katz
Reviewed Friday (10), 7:30 to 9 p.m. Style—News, drama, education, music. Sustaining and commercial on WBKB, Chicago.
Again WBKB has proved the theory that it won't cost a prohibitive price for commercial sponsorship to put on a live television program now or in the future. Vehicle WBKB used to prove theory tonight was a video adaptation of Anton Chekhov's Marriage Proposal, standard Little Theater fare.
A half-hour adaptation of the famed Chekhov play was prepared, directed and produced by Beulah Zachary of WBKB.
Simplicity of the program, combined with dramatic entertainment impact to what made it good video-and potentially cheap-video. As is the policy for all WBKB shows the actors received no folding money for their effort. (More later about the acting ability on the show.) Taking into consideration the payment of royalty for rights to play. renting of costumes, and cost of preparing scenery and settings, the show cost the station about $50. If you add to this a pro-rated per show cost of actors for rehearsal and show time in the future, cheapness of this type of show for future commercial sponsorship can be seen.
Show used a cast of three and one set. Total rehearsal time was about two hours before the cameras and about six hours of line rehearsal before that.
Three actors, who did an excellent job of portraying typical Chekhov Russian characters, were Howard Hoffman as Stepan; Marji Doctoroff as Natalia, and Joe Wilson as Ivan. Hoffman, as Stepan, the father of Natalia, who eventually becomes engaged to Ivan after many emotional pitfalls have been circumvented. did a top job. He proved he could be a leading character actor in future television productions. Miss Doctoroff and Wilson, gave Hoffman a stiff fight for laurels, as well as proving that video dramatic production can be cheap and still good. WBKB Illustrated how television can be a powerful educational force. To do this the station with the co-operation of the Admiral Radio Corporation presented Wagner Schlessinger, head of Chicago's Adler Planetarium. In a discussion of various celestial bodies, Schlessinger used some excellent photographs and drawings to illustrate his discussion and it was while he was doing this that television educational potentiality was graphically brought out.
Rounding out the program was a news commentary by Gil Hix and the singing of Dale Cronin. Both needed better production. Cy Wagner. (Billboard, Aug. 18)
Saturday, August 11
WNBT Channel 1
8:40-10:30 Baseball: Giants vs. Cardinals at the Polo Grounds.
Sunday, August 12
WNBT Channel 1
8:00 Telenewsreel.
8:10 “Adventures in Natural History—Monsters of the Deep.”
8:30 Feature film.
9:15 Short subject.
8:00 Film: “Wings of Democracy.”
8:15 Feature Film: “Prison Train” with Fred Keating, Glenda Winters and Nestor Paiva (Equity, 1938).
9:20 Televues: Wrestling Thrills.
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News with Dwight Cooke.
8:10 Film.
8:15-9:30 Amateur Boxing Bouts.
SUPER SUDS ON TV: Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Co., Jersey City, will sponsor a Tuesday evening dramatic variety program for Super Suds on WABD, DuMont television station in New York, starting in September. Series will be produced by Wm. Esty & Co., New York, agency for Super Suds. (Broadcasting, Aug. 13)
PHILCO Corp.'s television station, WPTZ Philadelphia, plans to use live programs in the fall, leading off with telecasts of the home games of the U. of Pennsylvania. Games will be sponsored by Atlantic Refining Co.
"We are throwing the doors open to agencies," said Paul Knight, Philco station manager. "We were on the air for 20 to 25 hours before the war and we plan to resume regular telecasting this fall."
Philco will relay football game telecasts to WNBT New York, NBC outlet, Mr. Knight said, if the necessary equipment can be obtained. WPTZ equipment will gradually be replaced, he said. The station expects a fall personnel increase of from 15 to 20 persons, he explained. WPTZ is currently relaying film programs from 8 to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays through facilities of WNBT, Mr. Knight said. (Broadcasting, Aug. 13)
STAMPEDE to start television service in the Nation's capital got under way last week when NBC and Bamberger Broadcasting Co. (WOR) obtained approval of the Board of Zoning Adjustment of the District of Columbia to use sites acquired in residential areas for erection of towers and transmitter buildings. Regulations permitting video antennas in such areas had previously been adopted in Washington.
Final approval of the height of towers to be allowed was withheld pending receipt of data required by the Board to reconcile differences in elevations at two locations. NBC plans to erect a 360 ft. antenna on a 200 ft. elevation at the Wardman Park Hotel while Bamberger seeks to install a 300 ft. tower on a 400 ft. site at a point three miles farther from downtown Washington. (Broadcasting, Aug. 13)
Tuesday, August 14
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News with Dwight Cooke.
8:15 Film.
9:00-9:30 “There Ought to Be a Law,” high school students discuss.
(The above programming was cancelled. See below).
CBS' tele station WCBW telecast its Victory program last night (Tues.), projecting films taken of arrival of the Charles M. Muir, the first transport ship from the Pacific. Highlight of the program, however, was the graphic presentation of the "Story of Radar," released for the first time by the joint board of Scientific Information Policy for Office of Scientific Research and Development and the War and Navy Departments. Popular Science mag provided all the material for the telecast. Remainder of program included news films, bulletins, documentary films, interviews, etc.
ABC's video has set a specialty, "Headlines on Parade," for telecast over WRGB, Friday night [17]. Documentary program will highlight the events beginning with V-E Day right on through to the V-J Day announcement by President Truman. Harvey Marlowe will produce.
NBC television station, WNBT, as well as Dumont, GE and video stations in Philadelphia, Chicago and on the Coast were also standing by with special V-J plans. (Variety, Aug. 15)
Radar
Reviewed Sunday (12), 8:15 p.m. and Tuesday (14), 8:30 p.m. Style—Documentary. Sustaining over WNBT (NBC) and WCBW (CBS), New York.
Radar became officially something that everyone could talk about Wednesday (15). The Billboard reported on it in last week's issue (18), with NBC jumping the gun three days and CBS one, on a video presentation of the "new" science. Giving immediacy to the subject, which it should have, was snafued by both networks. NBC presented it as a discourse which had a chase-'em-away-from-the-receiver quality. CBS, having its animated diagram and map device, was able to make the idea of radar far more understandable, however, because they brought in the editor of Popular Science as an interview subject. It also failed, however, to make radar the war-winning device which it is. James Peck, the ed in question, wasn't bad, but an interview on the pic-air is just so much wasted footage.
If they (CBS) could have taken some of Peck's facts, such as "no more Titanic or Empire State disasters" and indicated thru moom pic and superimposed diagrams (which can be done) of what happened and how radar could have prevented it, then this electronic device could have meant something to everyone viewing the telecast.
As it was both shows put radar on the shelves of the television audiences' mind. Joe Koehler. (Billboard, Aug. 25)
V-J Day
Reviewed Tuesday (14) thruout day and evening. Style—News, special events, documentary and pix. Sustaining and commercial over WNBT (NBC) and WCBW (CBS). New York.
Technically Tuesday, the 14th wasn't V-J Day, but the video outlets of the senior networks treated it as such with their presentations and as such it must be considered. NBC being the only network with remote cameras at the moment, tried to do an "on the scene" job of New York's Times Square. Altho they returned to "the heart of Manhattan" time and time again, they produced only a feeling that crowds at this stage of video are nothing more than designless versions of Captain Eddy's (B & K) kaleidoscope and only a fraction as interesting. There was an immediacy, but like the announcers handling the mikes, it repeated itself, again and again and again. For a network presentation it might have had a sock but New York seeing itself is no thrill to New York. It proved, as has been proven before, that video ties itself up in knots when it tries an off-the-cuff job. The trouble is, as news cameramen have uncovered time and time again, special events shots have to be staged to have impact. A cameraman and an announcer aren't enough on a video remote assignment, a director and producer are essential as well, or else nothing happens.
Studio interviews weren't much better, with the edge going to CBS, which dragged in more interesting presonalities [sic] and used Frances Woodward, the telegenic young lady at WCBW, to throw the questions. Miss Woodward has been good in the past, when she's handed a rehearsed situation. Here she was stiff as a poker. Several times the camera held her after she had finished with the questions, with neither the camera nor Miss Woodward knowing what to do about the matter.
Both networks used motion pix, but at times forced viewers away from their sets, since immediacy was the tune of the day and long pic sessions weren't the answer. NBC had the more trying assignment, keeping going all day long, while CBS simply took over at 8:15 p.m.
(CBS's atomic bomb presentation broadcast during this day is reviewed along with NBC's in another review on this Page).
CBS's news handling with its animated maps and diagrams were its usual plus video stuff. Nothing unfortunately touched the super job they did on the United Nations' Conference some time ago.
NBC, in spite of everything, kept things alive with fluttering flags as the background for news reports, with moom pix and the remote Times Square pickup. Show-wise it may have smelled but it opened vistas of what could have been and will be, when on-the-scene producers are developed.
CBS in its short two hours did okay, too. Final segment, a piece of On a Note of Triumph (reviewed individually on this page) proved what can be done with Corwin visually.
Video didn't lick its problem today. It did, however, lay them bare for all to see. Joe Koehler. (Billboard, Aug. 25)
"On a Note of Triumph"
Reviewed Tuesday (14), 9:30-10 p.m. Style—Documentary. Sustaining over WCBS (CBS), New York.
With the noise of the crowds in the street playing on a note of high hilarity. it, without being heavy-handed, played upon a note of the future. It proved that a message can be socked home without chasing viewers away from the kinescope.
Check as swell performers, Brad Townes as the soldier; John McKee as the old man; Gordon Heath as the colored boy; Kim Spalding as the young man; Elizabeth Malone, as the old lady, and Mary Stuart McDonald, as the young girl. Double check Miss McDonald as a girl who can be everything a man expects of a girl, without waving era around (which would have been a negative in this case). She not only knows how to rend lines but can make poetry something to which even the men at the machines will want to listen.
Credit Ben Finer with proving that he knows artistry when he meets with it. Also Paul Belanger for a top drawer assist in working with Ralph Warren and Martin Steinberg on the cameras.
On a Note of Triumph was the right note on which to conclude a day of victory. Joe Koehler. (Billboard, Aug 23)
Two experiments were made possible last week when NBC televisers went to work as special eventers covering the V-J beldam [sic] in Times Sq. on Tuesday night (14). Crews sent out by NBC's television station WNBT worked from the marquee of the Hotel Astor, and station was on the air with the street scenes for a total of 111 minutes—which is a record in itself for this kind of coverage.
One of the experiments was with distance lighting. The NBC crews used mobile equipment for both indoor and outdoor lighting, getting some fine effects thereby.
Another and more unusual departure was having the announcer doing the commentary talk from a spot beside the screen, where he could'' see what was actually being shown. The NBC crews figured correctly that if the announcer worked close to the camera, he would not know exactly what was being televised, especially in the case of closeups.
But seeing where the camera was focused, from his place next to the screen, he was able to describe the scenes more accurately and with split-time synchronization. (Variety, Aug 22)
Wednesday, August 15
WABD Channel 4
8:00 “Ike on Sports.”
8:30 Film.
9:00 Variety
9:30 Motion picture.
10:00-10:30 “Author! Author!” James Powell, guest.
Television setup of ABC (Blue) is going through revamping stages, with programming aspects and personnel alike to be affected for the department's fall activities. Paul Mowrey, tele manager, is looking for experienced men who will design and supervise all programs, hitherto left to the tele station's personnel.
New program series are skedded to bow in over three stations around October: Schenectady's WRGB, DuMont's WABD and Balaban & Katz' WBKB in Chicago. Two program series are set for WABD, for telecasting on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with one series apiece on other stations, days undetermined.
Until now, ABC's tele dept. has provided most of the talent, of course, for their own shows, but have had to do a lot of yessing to station's supervisors who were touchy about dividing responsibilities. New appointments have not been confirmed yet, but it looks like Bob Emery in the executive producership. (Variety, Aug. 15)
WNBT Channel 1
7:00-8:30: Children’s Program. Film: “Call of the Prairie” with William Boyd (Paramount, 1936); also short subjects.
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News with Tom O’Connor.
8:10 Film and OWI short.
8:30 “The Doctor Looks.”
8:45 Danny Grayson, comedy.
WABD Channel 4
8:00 “Chills and Thrills” with Doug Allan.
8:30 Motion picture.
9:00 “Thanks For Looking” with Patricia Murray and John Reed King.
9:30 Selected films.
A voluntary program and engineering staff consisting of 28 members will operate Station W2XJT, the experimental television station at 148-18 Jamaica Ave., Jamaica, it has been announced by William B. Still, owner.
The 28 men and women have been chosen for their experience and abilities in fields allied to television. The formation of this group marks the first attempt to train people in television technique outside of the staff activities of the nine stations now operating in toe country. (Brooklyn Eagle, Aug. 16)
Friday, August 17
WNBT Channel 1
8:00 “The World in Your Home.”
8:30 Boxing at Madison Square Garden. Tony Janiero vs. Johnny Greco.
Balaban & Katz
Reviewed Friday (17), 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Style—Variety, news. Sustaining on WBKB, Chicago.
Tonight Professor Backwards, who is being sold by NBC for a possible radio show to the fall, proved that as well as having radio potentiality he also has something for television. Backwards (Kimmy Edmondson) was the featured act on tonight's program, and with his gags and his uncanny ability to spell and pronounce backwards any name given him, he made good video program fare.
Backwards' act has everything required for video—plenty of action, sock lines and a forceful personality—but as long as he is handled the way WBKB handled him tonight, he could not be sold for a commercial video program. Some of the fault of production was due to studio limitations. For example, an audience of only about 10 were in the studio. Small audiences can't be helped because of the size of the WBKB studio, but weakness of response was the result and professor Backwards' gags didn't get the sock reaction they need to give sparkle to the show. Lighting, especially when Professor Backwards was playing the piano, also was bad. So was the camera which had backwards and the audience out of focus at times.
Station didn't do much to liven up the show with good production and background settings. All it had was an ordinary backdrop, a blackboard and the piano. Schoolroom netting or some other type of production assist should have been used.
Rounding out tonight's program were the piano playing of Jenya and a newscast by Don Ward. Cy Wagner. (Billboard, Aug. 25)
Saturday, August 18
WNBT Channel 1
2:25-5:30 Baseball: Giants vs. Pirates at the Polo Grounds.
Sunday, August 19
WNBT Channel 1
8:00 Telenewsreel.
8:10 Feature film.
WNBT Channel 1
8:00 Film: “Wings of Democracy.”
8:15 Feature Film: “The Ware Case” with Clive Brook (Ealing, 1938).
9:20 Televues: Stephen Foster.
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News with Dwight Cooke.
8:10 Film.
8:15-9:30 Amateur Boxing Bouts.
Don Lee
Reviewed Monday (20), 8:30 to 10 p.m. Style—Dramatic, films. Sustaining on W6XAO, Hollywood.
Home viewers found tonight's video-cast over W6XAO entertaining, but heavy on film and light on live action. Only flesh part of show was a 30-minute skit sandwiched in between two films at start, and two at close of the program. Weakness was not too much canned video fare but too little live action which throws show off balance.
Skit called Dream was specially written for tonight's telecast by Mal Boyd, Republic Pictures' radio director. Story treated oldie of out-scooped girl reporter who makes the grade in her dreams by meeting the right people. Idea gives chance to introduce Yvonne King (King Sisters) Jimmy Starr (film columnist) and Al Jarvis (of Make Believe Ballroom disk airer) to tele viewers. They take part in skit as celebs gal meets in her dream. Shirley Mitchell (Alice Darling on Fibber and Molly air show) takes video in her stride as gal scribe.
Skit would prove okay tele fare had there been other flesh acts, but with the whole show hinging on it, Dream falls thru as a sleeper. With the new medium giving actor a chance to work on audience's eyes and ears, heavier drama or something that packs more punch appears more in line with viewers' demands. As it was, dramatic sketch lost pace despite Producer Jack Stewart's efforts.
Harry R. Lubcke, tele director, did smooth video work, with film editor Marjorie Campbell keeping canned fare moving so that no time was lost. Lee Zhito. (Billboard, Sept. 1)
NEW YORK, Aug. 20.—One of the first programs in New York designed to train television program personnel in actual studio operation will get under way shortly at Bill Still's Jamaica. L. I., N. Y., experimental station, W2XJT. A two-and-a-half-month course of training to a group of 25 selected volunteers will first deal with theory and later with regular studio work. Courses are being inaugurated at the station to build its own program staff and to train workers for other jobs.
Lenore Berse, former assistant in Macy's tele department and now program manager of W2XJT, is heading the group, which will put in 10 hours each week to learn production technique. Group, according to Miss Besse, will for the most part train itself. Most of the people taking the course have had previous experience in the field. Ralph Alswang, legit scenic designer, will act as director and Miriam Tulin, drama professor from Yale, will assist him.
After a series of lectures and demonstrations in tele theory, including talks by professional directors and critics, the students will learn the essentials of studio operation, from lights and cameras up. All classes will be held in the evening. (Billboard, Aug. 25)
ULTRA-HIGH frequency television transmitter which Federal Telephone & Radio Corp. is constructing for CBS will be installed in December in observation area of 71st floor of Chrsyler Tower, New York. Peter C. Goldmark, CBS director of engineering research and development, said Friday new transmitter will broadcast high- definition color pictures on 485 mc. Coaxial cable carrying signal will connect transmitter to CBS video labs at 485 Madison Ave., a dozen blocks away, via CBS television studios in Grand Central Terminal across the street from the transmitter. Special antenna developed by CBS will be installed. (Broadcasting, Aug. 20)
HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 20.—Tele trailers plugging Paramount Pictures are being readied by Klaus Landsberg here for videocasting over W6XYZ, Television Productions, Inc.
According to Landsberg, plugs will not be entirely canned but will include p. a.'s of stars and directors and will be along behind-the-scenes line. Trailers will probably be aired within a month, when the next Paramount pic is released.
Paramount's first use of tele to plug its productions was to promote Miracle of Morgan's Creek. Trailer proved so successful then that studio is expected to make regular use of medium for pic plugs. (Billboard, Aug. 25)
NEW YORK, Aug. 20.—NBC's local video station, WNBT, is now mixing its test patterns with a coming attractions pitch. Test patterns are variated with teasers for the evening programs, both silent and sound. (Billboard, Aug. 25)
Tuesday, August 21
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News with Dwight Cooke.
8:15 Danny Drayson, comedian.
8:30 Films.
9:00-9:30 “The Missus Goes A-Shopping” with John Reed King.
Balaban & Katz
Reviewed Tuesday (21), 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Style—News, variety. Sustaining on WBKB, Chicago.
As has happened many times before at WBKB, the show originally skedded was not presented because actors and actresses can't be working for nix at WBKB. Because at the last minute members of the cast of X Marks the Spot, begged off so that they could do some paid radio work, X, one of WBKB's best programs, was canceled, and resulting quick substitution was a hodgepodge unworthy of even one quick glance by the video audience.
Substitutions for X Marks the Spot, were an impressionistic dance by Lee Lindsay who tried to depict the thoughts and emotions of a sailor on leave, and a so-called comedy sketch by Pat Buttram, net radio comedian, titled How To Tell a Joke. Both, because last-minute skedding gave them little time for preparation, were plenty poor. It's unfortunate that a name comedian like Buttram has to jeopardize his reputation with a television program that never should have been scanned.
Also on the program, and equally as bad, were a newscast by Joe Wilson, and Lee Phillips's Magical Mysteries. The entire show, primarily because of necessity for last-minute preparations, was sans unusual video production techniques. Cy Wagner. (Billboard, Sept. 1)
Wednesday, August 22
WABD Channel 4
8:00 Motion picture.
8:30 “The Magic Carpet.”
8:45 Motion picture.
9:00 “At Ease,” variety program.
9:30 Motion picture.
10:00 “Author! Author!”
Thursday, August 23
WNBT Channel 1
7:00-8:30: Children’s Program. Films: Teletruth, Quiz and Feature Picture.
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News with Tom O’Connor.
8:10 Film.
8:30 “Experiment in the Desert: Atomic Bomb” with Dr. Gerald Wendt.
8:45 Danny Grayson, comedy.
WABD Channel 4
8:00 Drama: “Talk About Murder.”
8:30 Motion picture.
9:00 “Thanks For Looking” with Patricia Murray and John Reed King.
9:30 Selected films.
CBS
Reviewed Thursday (23), 8-9 p.m. Style—News, film, drama, interview. Sustaining over WCBW, New York.
The drama implicit in the atomic bomb makes the subject a natural for any medium. It is fairly safe to predict that the next six months will bring the public enough packaged fact and fantasy about the atom to kill it as dead as The Hut-Sut Song. First such drama outside radio was Columbia television's Experiment in the Desert, a re-enactment of the events leading up to the first atomic explosion in New Mexico two months ago. Experiment in the Desert had a subject that was packed with drama. It could have had the tension of The Petri-field Forest and the appeal to the imagination of the atomic bomb. Unfortunately bad acting and spotty writing made it a run-of-the-mine production, interesting but hardly gripping. Show moved at a pedestrian pace, never, despite obvious tricks, building real tension or a satisfactory climax.
One way of achieving the effect would have been to use the old Eisenstein trick, the one where the viewer is given rapid-fire flashes of the tense faces of the characters. Another way might have been to focus on a clock in silence in the closing seconds. And that leads to another basic fault. Best impact is always achieved by never giving everything, by leaving the audience wanting more. Whole thing would have had a greater impact if there had been no attempt to show the explosion, particularly since the special effects repertoire of television isn't equal to the average tenement fire, much less the most destructive explosion in man's history. Experiment in the Desert should have ended one-tenth of a second before it's [sic] H hour.
Of course, it would be impossible to see a Columbia show without being forced to look at one of those interviews. It would be pleasant if CBS directors would learn that a chat between some learned character and an interviewer contributes little and detracts a great deal from their programs. Thursday's interview, between commentator Dwight Cooke and Dr. Gerald Wendt, science advisor to Time, Life and Fortune, had the added irritation of spoiling what might have been a gripping, clever opening. Following the station break, the camera scanned a painting of the bomb, suspended from a steel tower against a brooding, portentous background of sky and desert. Music that accompanied it set the stage for a fanfare and a lap dissolved title card. Instead the announcer's voice came in and introduced Cooke and Wendt. What a letdown.
Technically, Belanger and cameramen Howard Hayes and Al Kleban did a good if hardly spectacular job on the play. The interview was another matter. Bad lighting threw Cooke into a shadow every time he sat back and still photos and diagrams were televised in the wrong order. If a spot had been thrown on Cooke from his right the lighting would have improved. A little more attention to detail would have cured the other fault. Better still, throw out the damn interview.
News and one of those films filled out the rest of the hour. Marty Schrader. (Billboard, Sept. 1)
"EXPERIMENT IN THE DESERT"
With Mitchell, John McKee, Richard Bowler, William Hollenbeck, Geo. Randall, Albert Bergh, John Day, John Graham, Henry Barnard, Bart Doyle, Ted Field, Lee Wallace, Allan Chester, Leo Haas, Lester Lonergan, Jr., Dwight Cooke
Writers: Paul Bellinger, Edward Stasheff
Directors: Lucille Hudiberg, Paul Belanger
Producer: Gilbert Seldes
30 Mins.; Thurs., 8:30 p.m.
Sustaining
WCBW-CBS, N. Y.
The experimenting staff of WCBW did a pretty good job of "re-creating the feelings and moods" of the historical moments prior to and including the successful denouement of the invention 120 miles southeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico, after considering the facts that television's current productional facilities still leave producers and writers a little frustrated, and that the War Dept. prevented them from going into any important amount of detail concerning the comprisal of the atomic bomb. The bomb went off without a hitch here on July 16, and the tense reactions of those present, as the minutes melted into seconds, were quite interesting to behold under the scripting of Paul Belanger and Edward Stasheff.
Granted, the writers really did nothing more than play on the time element, using a technique much older than the television medium; everybody knew what was going to happen—despite all this, program was laden with suspense. Largely due, of course, to the stunning reality of the atomic bomb itself.
Action of the play took place, for the most part, inside the scientists' observation post. While the camera angles gave the impression of generous space, several of the actors gave just the opposite impression. Directors Belanger and Lucille Hudiberg provided some of the performers with the business of taking off and putting on their coats, which was not only superfluous but detracted from other performers engaged in dialog of a serious nature. Generally speaking, performances were adequate. Outstanding job was the casting. Many of the actors closely resembled the personalities they were depicting.
Opening and closing portions of the program were devoted to discussions, in layman language, of the bomb's future potentialities. Photograph stills were projected to amplify explanations. (Variety, Aug. 29)
Friday, August 24
WNBT Channel 1
8:00 “The World in Your Home.”
8:21 Short subjects.
8:30 Boxing at Madison Square Garden.
10:00 Feature Bout: Freddie Cochrane vs. Rocky Graziano.
Television Productions, Inc.
Reviewed Friday (24), 8:30-9:30 p.m. Style—News, interview, comics, wrestling. Sustaining on W6XYZ, Hollywood.
Viewers who got a look-see at tonight's W6XYZ telecast eyed a fast- moving program that was tops in news and good as entertainment, with the video at an unusually high level. Feature spot went to an interview with a local U. S. Employment Service official treating post-war reconversion. With war's end bringing plant cutbacks and unemployment, topic was timely and of interest to all. Graph was worked out to illustrate interview, which helped get the point across and showed tele's possibilities in handling like subjects. Vertical columns in graph consisted of wooden blocks, each one proportionately cut to represent different groups of workers in local industries. Blocks were painted black, white, striped, etc., so that separate units showed up clearly. Block columns were set against a graduated chart.
As interview proceeded, blocks were moved around from one column to another showing how workers can shift from war production to peacetime industries. Gimmick kept interest alive by giving visual impact to otherwise dry statistics. Dick Lane's informal manner in carrying on interview kept the question-answer routine moving.
Paramount News (slides) was up-to-date, showing inside Japan as the G.I.’s will find it. Also treated De Gaulle's visit to the U. S. Keith Heatherington did the voicing. Telecomics (NEA strips) moved along at a good pace, with narration and dramatization of balloons showing steady improvement. Kinks have been ironed out, so that music and voice cues in with movement of strips.
Grunt-groan fans found tonight's wrestling matches bang-up entertainment. Matches were Lou Newman vs. Baron von Dackenhausen, and Rube Wright vs. Wee Willie Davis. Good camera work and smooth video on the part of Klaus Landsberg kept viewers on edge thruout the wrestle scanning. Lee Zhito. (Billboard, Sept. 8)
Saturday, August 25
WNBT Channel 1
2:25-5:30 Baseball: Yankees vs. Senators at Yankee Stadium.
Sunday, August 26
WNBT Channel 1
8:00 Telenewsreel.
8:10 Feature presentation: “Comedians,” a musical play based on “Pagliacci.”
Comedians
Reviewed Sunday (26), 8:15 to 8:55 p.m. Style—Opera. Sustaining over WNBT (NBC), New York.
Back to the wedding. The idea of wedding Italian opera (the singing) to an English script is slightly screwy. First it made the crowd noisy in English and then in Italian . . . the same crowd, too. Then it put an almost unbeatable acting problem on the cast . . . synchronizing facial movements with recorded words. At times they were all out of sync but no one could have kept it up for the entire production. The English script was corny, some of the dialog being out of the Poor Nell school. Unfortunately it came over that way. More than likely the reason for using actors and recorded music can be traced to the AFM-Petrillo ban on music in television. It, this device of wedding foreign singing to an English script, gets by the ban, but why do it at all. Television can do without opera a few more months.
Settings as usual were well done by Robert Wade, with N. Ray Kelly riding herd on the job. Nell (Columbine) was as dainty as a truck horse pulling a heavy load. It is okay to use a heavy handed fern in a part like this when she has to sing, but when she only has to act . . . ouch. The rest of the cast can be spared the aches of reading of their impossible performances here.
If this had been done at WABD or even at WRGB, where amateurs are frequently employed for video jobs, this could have been excused. NBC should have continued doing experiments on closed circuits. Joe Koehler. (Billboard, Sept. 1)
"COMEDIANS"
With William Horne, Marjorie Hess, Val Patacchi, Lyle Boettger, others
Producer-Adapter: Dr. Herbert Graf
40 Mins., Sun. (26), 8:15 p. m.
Sustaining
WNBT-NBC, N. Y.
Billed as grand opera, modernized and presented in English, Dr. Herbert Graf's television version of "Pagliacci" failed in an uphill trek to overcome handicap of no live music imposed by James C. Petrillo on tele. However, for those who like Leoncavallo's opera, the music was brought to them via television in an up-to-date form.
Recordings of Beniamino Gigli and other w.k. La Scala operatic stars were synchronized with the acting as a gimmick to get around Petrillo's ban. In order to present the show so that music lovers could get something out of it, Graf could not have arias translated into English as he usually does. Result was about 10 minutes of modern dialog, with rest of show in Italian. Graf feels that non-singers cannot give out with proper operatic impressionism, hence his use of singers, although their own voices are not actually heard. This fact boded ill for the more modern aspects of the play-with-in-a-play, since opera singers tend towards overacting with accent on hand wringing.
"Comedians," first of the post-summer-hiatus live NBC tele shows, follows a list of other famous operas which Graf has adapted into English for presentation over WNBT. Further development may yet be necessary before these efforts at modernizing opera will catch on, but as a rung in the pioneer's ladder, "Comedians" is a worthy effort. (Billboard, Aug. 29)
WNBT Channel 1
8:00 Film: “Wings of Democracy.”
8:15 Feature Film: “Orders From Tokyo” with Danielle Darrieux (French, 1938).
9:20 Televues: Underwater Champions.
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News with Dwight Cooke.
8:10 Film.
8:15-9:30 Amateur Boxing Bouts.
NEW YORK, Aug. 27.—First showing of home video sets in this area (delivery in 90 days) was pulled off last Thursday (23), with plenty fanfare and crowds of more than 2,000 people, by Hearn's Department Store, down 14th Street way. Set made by indie org, View-Tone, was nothing to write home about. It had a direct viewing tube 4 1/2 inches; set in a table model cabinet of about two feet high and was priced at $100. Pic wasn't bad when the size of the tube was considered and pitch of manufacturers was that set was for the small home and not intended for an auditorium showing.
Remarkable about the pitch was the fact that hundreds of viewers came down with $100 in their jeans ready and willing to pay for the set in cash then and there—altho no orders were taken. (Billboard, Sept. 1). ...
Tuesday, August 28
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News with Dwight Cooke.
8:15 Bert Easley (The Tipsy Trickster), comedian.
8:30 Films.
9:00-9:30 “The Missus Goes A-Shopping” with John Reed King.
The Chicago public school system will use television as an integral part of its education program for the first time this fall. Starting about Sept. 17, the radio council of the board of education, in cooperation with television station WBKB, will present weekly telecasts. If the experimental programs prove successful the project will be expanded, George Jennings, director, said yesterday.
The first programs will be picked up on specially developed television receivers to be installed in the Goudy Elementary school and in one other school, yet to be selected.
A different subject will be covered each week. Experts in nature study, aviation, commercial art, wood working, home economics, zoology and botany will be heard and seen illustrating their subjects. (Chicago Tribune, Aug 28)
Washington.—With the announcement over the weekend that television and FM channels had been assigned, two motion picture companies, Paramount and 20th-Fox, moved in to file applications with the FCC for commercial television licenses.
Paramount, through a subsidiary company (New England Theatres, Inc., of Boston) asked for operation on channel 4, with the station located in Boston. The application for 20th-Fox was filed by the Fox West Coast Theatres and seeks to operate in Hollywood on channel 5 or any other channel between 48 and 100 MC. (Hollywood Reporter, Aug. 28).
Wednesday, August 29
WABD Channel 4
8:00 “Ike on Sports” with Tom and Bill Slater.
8:30 Motion picture.
9:00 “At Ease,” variety show.
9:30 Motion picture.
10:00 “Author! Author!”
Thursday, August 30
WNBT Channel 1
7:00-8:30: Children’s Program. Films: Teletruth, Quiz and Feature Picture.
WCBW Channel 2
8:00 News with Tom O’Connor.
8:10 Film.
8:30 “There Ought to Be a Law,” high school student discussion.
WABD Channel 4
8:00 “Thrills and Chills” with Doug Allan.
8:30 Motion picture.
9:00 “Thanks For Looking” with Patricia Murray and John Reed King.
9:30 Selected films.
Friday, August 31
WNBT Channel 1
8:00 “The World in Your Home.”
8:21 Short subjects.
8:30 Boxing at Madison Square Garden.
10:00 Feature Bout: Artie Levine vs. Sunny Horn.
Balaban & Katz
Reviewed Friday (31), 7:30 to 8:15 p.m. Style—News, variety. Sustaining on WBKB, Chicago.
The program was not elaborate nor expensive to produce, but still it comprised well-balanced entertainment of sufficient variety and content to make any video set owner believe he spent his money wisely when he plunked down dough for his receiver.
One of the easiest portions of the program to produce was the puppet act presented by Fernando and Fair. All the station production staff had to do was bring a couple of cameras up close to the puppet stage, and from there on in there was nothing to worry about. Act consisted of routines Fernando and Fair have presented at night spots here, such as the Blackhawk Restaurant.
Inexpensive, simple production with plenty of entertainment was also the keynote of an impressionistic dance, In a Persian Market, done excellently by Loretto Pagels. Miss Pagels, who knows from experience that the routine most likely to find a set spot in television until there is plenty of commercial return in the medium, is the simple and the inexpensive, worked out with the production and art staffs at the station, a dance requiring only one backdrop and few camera changes. Altho Miss Pagels carried much of the weight of this portion of the program with her dancing, no small credit should go to Marilyn Rosenberg and Rae Stewart who designed and painted the setting.
If this reviewer hadn't known in advance that the set consisted of nothing but a couple of side pillars and a scene painted on brown wrapping paper, he would have sworn that expensive wood props were especially constructed for the dance. By expert shading and use of contrasting paint colors, gals were able to have their wrapping paper background look like three-dimensional wood and metal fences, sidewalk and building props.
For additional variety tonight there was the singing of Vicki Mills and a news commentary by Gil Hix. Miss Mills has a good voice and does her best to put over her songs with gestures, but she should learn to confine her actions to a small space so that the camera handlers won't have the trouble following her that they did tonight.
Hix's news work consisted of an informative, penetrating discussion of the Japanese, the last of four on this subject WBKB has presented this week. As usual Hix proved he is better than the rest of the commentators used by WBKB. The other newsmen featured on this Japan series, which was written by Gladys Lundberg, merely read their scripts. Hix, however, expended a little more effort, that little bit that often is responsible for the difference between the good and the average, memorized his script and presented it in such a way it seemed as if he were delivering an ad-lib commentary. Cy Wagner. (Billboard, Sept. 8)
New York.—RKO Television Corp. will discontinue live-talent program production, it was confirmed yesterday. As a result, Thomas H. Hutchinson, director of production and ve[t]eran producer of live shows, is leaving the film company’s video subsidiary.
Whether or not the television outfit is absorbed by the parent company, video activities will center on production of commercial film shorts, which are understood to be suitable for both industrial and video use. (Hollywood Reporter, Aug. 31)
