A Whole Vault of Shows Not Being Aired

[Corky Marlowe]

Now I remember what CBS's lead story was the day Elvis died...It was on the scandal involving the then-White House budget director, Bert Lance.

 

[TexasTom]

Regarding the public domain issue, are any (or all) of the series in PD? If so, CBS has been doing a good job keeping the series under wraps, as boots can't be found anywhere.

When this thread first popped up, it made me curious to see what could be found of the old "Amos & Andy" TV series -- so I checked availability of this show through one of the online file sharing services. I turned up quite a few episodes, so apparently copies of these episodes have gotten out. I've also occasionally seen old 16 mm film prints of "Amos & Andy" episodes offered up for auction on E-Bay.

Since this program is apparently in the public domain, I'll also note that the downloads from a file sharing service should be perfectly legal. So if you're curious...

 

[firepoint525]

One of the NBC cable stations (MSNBC-?) has featured taped news coverage of events on the date they took place. For example, last September 11, that outlet had tapes from NBC's coverage of six years before timed right up to the minute beginning shortly before 9 A.M. right after the first tower was struck past when both towers had fallen.

A&E (I think it was) did something similar to that on November 22, 1988, the 25th anniversary of the JFK assassination. They started their programming at 12:30 that afternoon, just like the networks did on the afternoon that Kennedy was shot. Since I was born the following week (November 29, 1963), this was the closest I have ever come to reliving JFK's assassination as it happened. (I can't remember what network they carried that afternoon, but I think it was NBC.)

 

[Ultimajock]

One of the NBC cable stations (MSNBC-?) has featured taped news coverage of events on the date they took place. For example, last September 11, that outlet had tapes from NBC's coverage of six years before timed right up to the minute beginning shortly before 9 A.M. right after the first tower was struck past when both towers had fallen.

A&E (I think it was) did something similar to that on November 22, 1988, the 25th anniversary of the JFK assassination. They started their programming at 12:30 that afternoon, just like the networks did on the afternoon that Kennedy was shot. Since I was born the following week (November 29, 1963), this was the closest I have ever come to reliving JFK's assassination as it happened. (I can't remember what network they carried that afternoon, but I think it was NBC.)

...it *was* NBC. Only time I've ever seen the work of Bill Ryan, who I later found out was then the local anchor for WNBC-TV and the occasional anchor for that five-minute noontime blurb NBC used to have. He handled it better than Huntley did in the early hours...

 

[firepoint525]

I think the reason why I had trouble remembering which network's footage they used that afternoon was because not long after that, less than a year, maybe, I got to see a documentary of CBS' footage of the JFK assassination. I remember all the footage leading up to 1:38 p.m., the moment Walter Cronkite looked up at the clock and took off his glasses, and said (paraphrasing here), "the flash, from Dallas, apparently official, President Kennedy died at 2:00 p.m. eastern time, 1:00 central time, some 38 minutes ago," and then wiping his eyes. Before that, he had kept saying that he had unconfirmed reports that Kennedy "might" have died, and things like that. Apparently, this particular moment I just described is when it became official for everyone living at that time that President Kennedy had died. I have since seen that footage (just the part I described here) many, many times on TV.

I thought the footage I saw on A&E was NBC because I thought I remembered seeing Huntley and Brinkley on it. I don't remember much about Huntley (I'm too young!), but I saw David Brinkley on TV many times over the years. I was struck by how primitive the footage and coverage was. Of course, I saw the CBS footage in a documentary discussion in a college class the next summer, so this was of particular interest to me.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

It must be remembered the equipment used at the time of the JFK assasination was very primitive when compared to now. For example, you see no one on camera during the early CBS-TV coverage because it took a number of minutes to warm up the TV cameras on that day. As you might understand, there was no real satellite ability except in long distance relays from Europe to the U.S. and then for the short time that the satellite itself was in the right position (which is how, I believe, the statement from Pope Paul VI on JFK's passing was obtained). For the best coverage then, events had to be known in advance, such as a manned space launch, a political convention, a sports event, etc.

 

[bk77]

I would like to see what ABC's coverage of the JFK assasination was like. Seems only NBC and CBS's version gets shown.

Several years ago a friend of mine was watching some local station's 50th anniversary and of course they brought up JFK but oddly they showed clips of Walter Cronkite announcing Kennedy's death even though that station was an ABC affiliate then ( in 63 ) and they are still ABC today.

Almost as if ABC didn't cover the event at all.

 

[firepoint525]

The JFK assassination indirectly affected the Beatles finally breaking through in the U.S. On the morning of November 22, 1963, the CBS morning show (whatever it was called at the time) aired a segment featuring footage of the Beatles. They were planning to air it again that evening, but were of course preempted by JFK assassination coverage. When they finally got around to showing it on their evening newscast on December 10th, a 15-year-old girl in Washington, DC, saw it, and called radio station WWDC and asked them something along the lines of, "why can't we get music like that here?" (She evidently liked what she saw!) The DJ there got a British (Parlophone) copy of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from a British flight attendant, and started playing it on his show. He made copies for DJ friends of his in Chicago and St. Louis. From there, it caught on and went nationwide. Capitol records actually considered a cease-and-desist order against playing the song in the U.S. because it hadn't been "officially" released yet. Instead, they increased the production run, and advance-released it as a single in the U.S. I believe the girl in Washington, DC, who got all this started eventually got to meet the Beatles. This is all in one of Bruce Spizer's books.

Radio stations aren't anywhere near that responsive to listener requests now! :

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

I would like to see what ABC's coverage of the JFK assasination was like. Seems only NBC and CBS's version gets shown.

Several years ago a friend of mine was watching some local station's 50th anniversary and of course they brought up JFK but oddly they showed clips of Walter Cronkite announcing Kennedy's death even though that station was an ABC affiliate then ( in 63 ) and they are still ABC today.

Almost as if ABC didn't cover the event at all.

ABC-TV was a distant third in ratings and news coverage at that time. About one year or so afterward, TV Guide had a feature article on what was seen that weekend. Of course there was Walter Cronkete, and Huntley & Brinkley. They should a single newsman on ABC-Tv and I can't recall the name although his first-name may have been "Ron". I just can't remember.

At this time (1963), ABC-TV lacked affiliates on VHF channels. Many times, they would be on a UHF station in a city if at all. Many television sets did not have UHF capabilities then and those that did may not have had the proper antenna for a good picture. In some cities, the same channel would show both ABC and NBC shows and, as NBC had the popular programs, it was the network shown most of the time.

 

[azumanga]

ABC-TV was a distant third in ratings and news coverage at that time. About one year or so afterward, TV Guide had a feature article on what was seen that weekend. Of course there was Walter Cronkete, and Huntley & Brinkley. They should a single newsman on ABC-Tv and I can't recall the name although his first-name may have been "Ron". I just can't remember.

His name was Ron Cochran, who was anchor for ABC's evening newscasts at the time.

 

[mleach]

The JFK assassination indirectly affected the Beatles finally breaking through in the U.S. On the morning of November 22, 1963, the CBS morning show (whatever it was called at the time) aired a segment featuring footage of the Beatles. They were planning to air it again that evening, but were of course preempted by JFK assassination coverage. When they finally got around to showing it on their evening newscast on December 10th, a 15-year-old girl in Washington, DC, saw it, and called radio station WWDC and asked them something along the lines of, "why can't we get music like that here?" (She evidently liked what she saw!) The DJ there got a British (Parlophone) copy of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from a British flight attendant, and started playing it on his show. He made copies for DJ friends of his in Chicago and St. Louis. From there, it caught on and went nationwide. Capitol records actually considered a cease-and-desist order against playing the song in the U.S. because it hadn't been "officially" released yet. Instead, they increased the production run, and advance-released it as a single in the U.S. I believe the girl in Washington, DC, who got all this started eventually got to meet the Beatles. This is all in one of Bruce Spizer's books.

Radio stations aren't anywhere near that responsive to listener requests now! :

I remember reading about this. However WWDC was NOT the first radio station in the US to play the Beatles. That honor actually belongs to WEPM-AM 1340 in Martinsburg, West Virginia which pre-dated WWDC by a month or two. Les Goliday who was the owner of WEPM at the time as well as an anouncer played a Beatles tune on his show one night ( I think it was "Love Me Do" but not sure ). Oddly WEPM was at the time a country music radio station ( Patsy Cline worked there prior to her hitting it big ) and Goliday loved rock and roll as much as Mitch Miller did at the time. Why on earth did he play a Beatles tune? As a joke, to give his listeners a sample of "trashy music from Europe". Only about a minute of the Beatles tune was played before Goliday went on the air and said "..thats it folks..I HAVE HAD ENOUGH"..and he broke that record on the air. A month or so later WWDC played the Beatles but at least they were serious about it and did not treat the song and the group as some kind of joke so as result WWDC gets the credit and rightfully so for their connection to the Beatles while the WEPM conection well for good reason is often overlooked.

The Martinsburg WV Journal did a story about all of this when they ran a series of articles on WEPM's 50th back in the 90s.

As for Les Goliday, still alive and kicking at age 94 and he still hates the Beatles.

 

[cheapman]

Getting back to the day Elvis died. I remember something that was in very bad taste. The National Enquirer was running a spot that week that featured an Elvis-lookalike stuffing his face with massive amounts of food. The spot continued to run all week even after the news that Elvis had died. I remember thinking why didn't the spot get pulled? Sad.

 

[glc]

In the last year or so, NBC/Universal has launched two new channels, "Sleuth" and "Chiller", which run detective/mystery and horror/suspense movies and shows, respectively. The channels are carried on DirectTV - not sure where else.

As far I know, and what makes them really interesting, is that the program schedules are made up of only stuff from the NBC/MCA/Universal vaults like "Magnum", "Rockford Files", "Homicide" and "Miami Vice".

Makes me wonder if that's what the future holds in store....

 

[firepoint525]

The JFK assassination indirectly affected the Beatles finally breaking through in the U.S. On the morning of November 22, 1963, the CBS morning show (whatever it was called at the time) aired a segment featuring footage of the Beatles. They were planning to air it again that evening, but were of course preempted by JFK assassination coverage. When they finally got around to showing it on their evening newscast on December 10th, a 15-year-old girl in Washington, DC, saw it, and called radio station WWDC and asked them something along the lines of, "why can't we get music like that here?" (She evidently liked what she saw!) The DJ there got a British (Parlophone) copy of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from a British flight attendant, and started playing it on his show. He made copies for DJ friends of his in Chicago and St. Louis. From there, it caught on and went nationwide. Capitol records actually considered a cease-and-desist order against playing the song in the U.S. because it hadn't been "officially" released yet. Instead, they increased the production run, and advance-released it as a single in the U.S. I believe the girl in Washington, DC, who got all this started eventually got to meet the Beatles. This is all in one of Bruce Spizer's books.

Radio stations aren't anywhere near that responsive to listener requests now! :

I remember reading about this. However WWDC was NOT the first radio station in the US to play the Beatles. That honor actually belongs to WEPM-AM 1340 in Martinsburg, West Virginia which pre-dated WWDC by a month or two. Les Goliday who was the owner of WEPM at the time as well as an anouncer played a Beatles tune on his show one night ( I think it was "Love Me Do" but not sure ). Oddly WEPM was at the time a country music radio station ( Patsy Cline worked there prior to her hitting it big ) and Goliday loved rock and roll as much as Mitch Miller did at the time. Why on earth did he play a Beatles tune? As a joke, to give his listeners a sample of "trashy music from Europe". Only about a minute of the Beatles tune was played before Goliday went on the air and said "..thats it folks..I HAVE HAD ENOUGH"..and he broke that record on the air. A month or so later WWDC played the Beatles but at least they were serious about it and did not treat the song and the group as some kind of joke so as result WWDC gets the credit and rightfully so for their connection to the Beatles while the WEPM conection well for good reason is often overlooked.

The Martinsburg WV Journal did a story about all of this when they ran a series of articles on WEPM's 50th back in the 90s.

As for Les Goliday, still alive and kicking at age 94 and he still hates the Beatles.

KRLA had "From Me to You" as high as #31 on their survey sometime in the summer of 1963. (It would be interesting if anyone could find a copy of that survey and post a link to it.) This was while it "bubbled under" at #116 on the national Billboard survey.

My source for this information is the Billboard Book of #1 Hits.

WWDC still gets the credit for actually "discovering" the Beatles, and helping them to go nationwide here in the states.

 

[Ultimajock]

WWDC was NOT the first radio station in the US to play the Beatles. That honor actually belongs to WEPM-AM 1340 in Martinsburg, West Virginia which pre-dated WWDC by a month or two.

...no it doesn't. The first U.S. airplay for a Beatles side was around February 7, 1963, when Vee-Jay Records released "Please Please Me" on this side of the Atlantic. Vee-Jay was based in Chicago, and they got a copy of it to Dick Biondi, then of WLS, who liked what he heard and played the record on the 8th or 9th (Dick doesn't recall exactly which night -- hey, the guy's 75 years old, let's see *y'all* recite the details of what you did exactly 45 years ago! Heh heh). It made the Top 30 of the WLS Silver Dollar Survey in a few weeks' time...

 

[bk77]

The station who played the Beatles first? Who knows !! There were so many top 40 radio stations around the country back in 63 and many of them the dj picked the music and of course no one knew in 63 how big the Beatles would become. Could have been WLS, maybe KRLA or perhaps even some little station in North Dakota that spinned the Beatles first.

Heck even the Beatles first appearance on American TV has been debated. Some say it was CBS on a morning newscasts, others say Jack Parr, then several years back Baltimore's WJZ made some claim that the Beatles stopped by their station to say hi to Buddy Deane though I don't recall Deane ever making that claim.
I think he would have remembered.

Another band whose "first time on TV" is debated is ABBA. Dick Clark has always claimed that their first time on American TV was American Bandstand while I have read in the past it was actually Saturday Night Live.
I am pretty sure New York City's WNEW channel 5 may have won that contest since they brought in ABBA to sing ( well lip sync ) to some kids on Bob McAllister's show several months, could have been a year before ABBA did AB.

 

[jwgreek8606]

What really pisses me off is that NBC owns the episodes of the Jack Narz and Alex Trebek episodes of Concentration. And, they won't let GSN air them! I mean come the hell on NBC! If you are not using them! let GSN air them for cryin' out loud!

 

[ixnay]

What really pisses me off is that NBC owns the episodes of the Jack Narz and Alex Trebek episodes of Concentration. And, they won't let GSN air them! I mean come the hell on NBC! If you are not using them! let GSN air them for cryin' out loud!

I'd love to see the Jack Narz or even the Hugh Downs Concentration eps once again, just to see those big mechanical number cubes rotate upon selection to reveal the prizes/"Forfeit 1 Gift"/"Take 1 Gift"/"Wild Card".

ixnay
(proud possessor, around age 6 [1967] of the Milton Bradley home versions of both Concentration and Jeopardy!)

 

[RadioMan203]

It kills me to see (or not see) these shows airing while just collecting dust and probably just deteriorating on a shelf until they will technically be unplayable anyways!

Not quite classic tv, I remember "E" airing the NBC-owned Letterman show, which was great for all the times I missed it. I'd also love to see all the old game shows that NBC is letting sit and rot on the shelf as well.

As far as Sleuth goes, they will play an occasional Dragnet (color NBC version with Webb and Morgan). It kills me that Universal released 4 seasons of Emergency! (another great show from the times) but only one season of Dragnet or Adam 12. OK guys, if you're not going to release them to DVD at least play them on TV! Gawd, you guys could put TVLand (or is that TVBland?) to shame with all the content you have locked up. You might as well do something with it while there's people interested in watching it, because if you wait too long nobody's going to care.

Hello? NBC/Universal? Are you there?

 

[Braves2005]

Here are some shows that I would like to see (some that I never seen before and some that have been on TV Land but I don't have that channel at all)

December Bride
Amos and Andy (yes, they are not allowed to show them thanks to the NAACP and CBS Films, but I would like to see it as I have never seen a full episode)
The Millionaire
Highway Patrol
Julia
Nanny and the Professor
Get Christie Love
Movin' On
The Practice (no, not the ABC lawyer series, but the 1976-1977 NBC comedy starring Danny Thomas)
C.P.O Sharkey
Operation Petticoat
To Rome With Love
Governor and J.J
Girl With Something Extra

among many others...

Also, it wouldn't hurt to air reruns of Dennis The Menace (Jay North sitcom) or better still have them out on DVD. I guess it has something to do with Jay North, although TV Land has shown its first season back in 2003.