last public television color shows

[chris12]

I was wondering what some of the latest shows on PBS/NET to go to color were. Since it was public television for many shows it took a few years longer than commercial television to go to color. The first year of Mr. Rogers in 1968 was in black and white before going to color in 1969 and I read somewhere that julia Child's show didn't go to color until about 1971.

 

[mleach]

I have seen local TV listings for various PBS stations as late as 1976 that still showed some shows in B/W but I don't know if they were films from the 60s or then new stuff such as "Learning to play the piano".

There was a kids game show that Harrisonburg, VA's WVPT aired in 1980 called "Contact" ( Not 3-2-1 Contact ) and for some reason I remember seeing that show in B/W on a color set.

On a similar note, the very last TV show to air in B/W in all of TV ( commerical, non-commercial and cable ) may very well be the Rev. Donald Scruggs Guilding Light show which was seen on WINC cable ( Winchester, VA TV Cable ) channel 6 . I believe as late as 1989 ( yes 1989 ) was still in B/W despite the fact that everything else produced there had already switched to color many years before. Another show "Martha Hege", a 1985 clip of that program done by the same people is
available on You Tube, in color though.

From what I understand the reason behind this one show being in B/W is due to the host wanted that way and the only reason the show went color was that Adelphia took over the cable system.

Scruggs' show I think went off TV in 1995 or 1996. The man himself died not long afterward well into his 80s I believe.

 

[Stanislav]

On a similar note, the very last TV show to air in B/W in all of TV ( commerical, non-commercial and cable ) may very well be the Rev. Donald Scruggs Guilding Light show which was seen on WINC cable ( Winchester, VA TV Cable ) channel 6.

With that title, I'm surprised the CBS folks didn't send him a C&D letter for using that title. :-\

 

[ercjncpr]

On a similar note, the very last TV show to air in B/W in all of TV ( commerical, non-commercial and cable ) may very well be the Rev. Donald Scruggs Guilding Light show which was seen on WINC cable ( Winchester, VA TV Cable ) channel 6.

With that title, I'm surprised the CBS folks didn't send him a C&D letter for using that title. :-\

Or that the producers of the real Guiding Light, Proctor and Gamble, did not sue either

 

[mleach]

On a similar note, the very last TV show to air in B/W in all of TV ( commerical, non-commercial and cable ) may very well be the Rev. Donald Scruggs Guilding Light show which was seen on WINC cable ( Winchester, VA TV Cable ) channel 6.

With that title, I'm surprised the CBS folks didn't send him a C&D letter for using that title. :-\

Or that the producers of the real Guiding Light, Proctor and Gamble, did not sue either

I guess CBS and/or Proctor & Gamble could have sued but then again this was a religious show on a then-small cable channel. Actually the pastor's church I believe was called "Guiding Light Gospel Church".

Over the years I have heard it is actually tough to sue a church/pastor. Then again it might be easy if you are CBS ( though the PR from it may be a problem ).

I know a few years back a good friend of mine who is a dj at a local local rock station tried to sue a local baptist church for slander/ defamation of character when one of their pastors made a comment to his flock that my friend was a homosexual and how he was using his show to recruit the young into become gay. The pastor never met him but after hearing his show one day in a local convience store, he assumed by hearing his voice that he was gay. Even though my friend had a cassette copy of the sermon, no lawyer in his town wanted to even touch his case. Neither did his employer. All of them pretty much pointed out he would lose more than gain if he went ahead and sued.