Screen Gems reruns questions

[cd637299]

It my only be me, but:

(1) When a Screen Gems-produced series had the copyright date in the opening sequence, did they always keep that same year on it, no matter when the episode was made (or at least until the producers decided to change the opening)? That's what I always see in the reruns....maybe it was different during the actual run of the show, although I doubt it. I think "Jeannie" had the 1966 date on it until 1970....no sense changing the animation.

(2) It seems that whenever I see a rerun of "The Monkees," they always use the Season 2 opening. Have they used that for all rerun episodes? (Also season 2 opening showed a 1966 date, despite it being 1967-68!)

(3) Except for the B&W season 1 of "Hazel," the copyright date sure is blurred on the color ones! Is it just that they don't have a better print out there?

Inquiring minds.

cd

 

[Bob1370]

cd637299 asks, "When a Screen Gems-produced series had the copyright date in the opening sequence, did they always keep that same year on it, no matter when the episode was made (or at least until the producers decided to change the opening)? That's what I always see in the reruns....maybe it was different during the actual run of the show, although I doubt it. I think "Jeannie" had the 1966 date on it until 1970....no sense changing the animation."

Observation is correct, but there's a reason....a number of these Columbia Pictures TV division shows, including Jeannie, the Flintstones, and Bewitched (and maybe the Monkees too) aired first-run with intros that included billboards for the original first run sponsors. Those would almost never work out in second-run syndication. Some of those opens depicted either cigarettes (a no-no on post-1970 airing) or, on Bewitched, the current year's Chevy (clearly way out of date the moment the first-run season is over). So a generic open was needed for the resale, and if they just re-used a single title sequence at the start of every syndicated episode, that made economic sense...

 

[cd637299]

Yeah I meant to mention about the sponsor tags, but this procedure seemed only exclusive to Screen Gems shows.....

I know that the "Hazel" openings (the color ones) have the audio cut short...I know it's to mute the "brought to you by...." line.

cd

 

[Ultimajock]

cd637299 asks, "When a Screen Gems-produced series had the copyright date in the opening sequence, did they always keep that same year on it, no matter when the episode was made (or at least until the producers decided to change the opening)? That's what I always see in the reruns....maybe it was different during the actual run of the show, although I doubt it. I think "Jeannie" had the 1966 date on it until 1970....no sense changing the animation."

Observation is correct, but there's a reason....a number of these Columbia Pictures TV division shows, including Jeannie, the Flintstones, and Bewitched (and maybe the Monkees too) aired first-run with intros that included billboards for the original first run sponsors.

...the first season title sequence of The Monkees had no sponsor tie; The Monkees singing the Kellogg's jingle was a separate clip, and IIRC the cereal company only sponsored the show every other week (I believe there were cosmetics and deodorant sponsors the other weeks). I think the second season titles were used because it was a much more brightly-edited sequence, using shots from the first season's episodes. On the second season DVD set, however, Peter Tork erroneously claims that the second season end credits music, "For Pete's Sake" (from the Headquarters album), was also put on the first season's episodes in syndication; it wasn't...

 

[azumanga]

I think Screen Gems used the same opening on most color episodes of the series they syndicate for consistency purposes -- when "The Partridge Family" was on ABC, the first season had "When We're Singing", with other seasons having "C'mon Get Happy", but when it came to syndication, all episodes used "C'mon Get Happy", even as part of the first season's opening.

 

[cd637299]

I think Screen Gems used the same opening on most color episodes of the series they syndicate for consistency purposes -- when "The Partridge Family" was on ABC, the first season had "When We're Singing", with other seasons having "C'mon Get Happy", but when it came to syndication, all episodes used "C'mon Get Happy", even as part of the first season's opening.

I don't think so; the smallest kid (Chris?) was replaced after Season 1. Of course "Happy" could hve been dubbed over, but I am sure I heard "Singing" in reruns.

cd

 

[Markieo]

I think Screen Gems used the same opening on most color episodes of the series they syndicate for consistency purposes -- when "The Partridge Family" was on ABC, the first season had "When We're Singing", with other seasons having "C'mon Get Happy", but when it came to syndication, all episodes used "C'mon Get Happy", even as part of the first season's opening.

I don't think so; the smallest kid (Chris?) was replaced after Season 1. Of course "Happy" could hve been dubbed over, but I am sure I heard "Singing" in reruns.

cd

When DFS syndicated PF in the 1980's, "C'mon Get Happy" was plastered over "When We're Singing" on season 1 episodes, including the pilot!

 

[azumanga]

I think Screen Gems used the same opening on most color episodes of the series they syndicate for consistency purposes -- when "The Partridge Family" was on ABC, the first season had "When We're Singing", with other seasons having "C'mon Get Happy", but when it came to syndication, all episodes used "C'mon Get Happy", even as part of the first season's opening.

I don't think so; the smallest kid (Chris?) was replaced after Season 1. Of course "Happy" could hve been dubbed over, but I am sure I heard "Singing" in reruns.

cd

When DFS syndicated PF in the 1980's, "C'mon Get Happy" was plastered over "When We're Singing" on season 1 episodes, including the pilot!

I agree -- the syndicated version of the first season episodes had the first season intro with Jeremy Gelbwaks, and was used in syndication for as long as I can remember (even when Columbia Pictures TV themselves syndicated them), just with "C'mon Get Happy" instead of "When We're Singin'".

 

[Markieo]

cd637299 asks, "When a Screen Gems-produced series had the copyright date in the opening sequence, did they always keep that same year on it, no matter when the episode was made (or at least until the producers decided to change the opening)? That's what I always see in the reruns....maybe it was different during the actual run of the show, although I doubt it. I think "Jeannie" had the 1966 date on it until 1970....no sense changing the animation."

Observation is correct, but there's a reason....a number of these Columbia Pictures TV division shows, including Jeannie, the Flintstones, and Bewitched (and maybe the Monkees too) aired first-run with intros that included billboards for the original first run sponsors. Those would almost never work out in second-run syndication. Some of those opens depicted either cigarettes (a no-no on post-1970 airing) or, on Bewitched, the current year's Chevy (clearly way out of date the moment the first-run season is over). So a generic open was needed for the resale, and if they just re-used a single title sequence at the start of every syndicated episode, that made economic sense...

Here's some more SG observations:

When "Hazel" first went into syndication, the NBC era color episodes (1962-65) had a hybrid opening combined from several seasons, editing out the Ford cars in the opening credits, and using the 1965-66 CBS era theme song!

As for "The Flintstones", they used the "Meet The Flintstones" theme for all 6 seasons. It wasn't until the 1990's when Cartoon Network brought back the original "Rise and Shine" credits used in the first 2 seasons.

When WPIX-11 aired "Jeannie" in 1970, the original season 2 opening sequence was aired with the accompanying music. All other stations repeats used the season 3-5 music. The way you could tell was the original season 2 opening does not have "Created by Sidney Sheldon", unlike seasons 1, 3, 4 and 5. Maybe they used 35 MM prints?

The color & B&W episodes of 'Bewitched" from the Dick York era all had a (C) 1966 date on the episodes, and using the 1964 arrangement of the theme song!

And as for "The Partridge Family" I remember when WNEW-5 aired it starting in 1975, and "When We're Singing" was definitely heard on Season 1 shows. Although 1 episode, "A Partridge By Any Other Name", was never shown. (The episode where Danny thinks he's adopted). I did not see that episode again until Nicjk at Nite replayed it in the 90's!

Mark Q¿Q

 

[azumanga]

When WPIX-11 aired "Jeannie" in 1970, the original season 2 opening sequence was aired with the accompanying music. All other stations repeats used the season 3-5 music. The way you could tell was the original season 2 opening does not have "Created by Sidney Sheldon", unlike seasons 1, 3, 4 and 5. Maybe they used 35 MM prints?

WPIX was notorious for using 35mm prints of TV programming and movies, wherever possible, instead of 16mm prints that every other station, including the O&Os, used.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

WPIX was notorious for using 35mm prints of TV programming and movies, wherever possible, instead of 16mm prints
that every other station, including the O&Os, used.

But why would you describe it as "notorious," since 35mm is better than 16mm?

As I recall from visits to the NYC area, the O&Os, as well as at least some of the indies,
generally aired syndicated reruns off of 35mm.

 

[ajc_trw]

WPIX was notorious for using 35mm prints of TV programming and movies, wherever possible, instead of 16mm prints
that every other station, including the O&Os, used.

But why would you describe it as "notorious," since 35mm is better than 16mm?

As I recall from visits to the NYC area, the O&Os, as well as at least some of the indies,
generally aired syndicated reruns off of 35mm.

Agreed. I remember around 1980 watching Star Trek off PIX from an aerial in Haddonfield NJ. The one thing I remember is the picture was so clean (compared to the 16mm print on WKBS 48) I could see the light reflect off Spock's hair. And the sound was much better.

When I moved to Huntington Beach CA in 1981 KTLA was showing 35mm prints of ST-TOS, but the picture was a little softer.

 

[wbhist]

As I recall from visits to the NYC area, the O&Os, as well as at least some of the indies,
generally aired syndicated reruns off of 35mm.

Actually, WPIX was, I.I.N.M., the only NYC station, indie or otherwise (not counting the three networks), to air reruns of filmed syndicated shows and feature movies via 35mm film. Quite a few have noted how, in the 1970's, WPIX's Honeymooners reruns looked better than the I Love Lucy repeats on WNEW-TV (which were 16mm, of course); not to mention their reruns of shows like Gilligan's Island and The Twilight Zone looking and sounding much better than when they aired off 16mm prints on the previous station that aired them in syndication, WOR-TV.

One special case has to be WNBC-TV, with their late 1970's/early '80's reruns of the Mary Tyler Moore show. They, like most stations, ran 16mm prints - only they also transferred them to videotape, and thus showed each episode via videotapes of their 16mm film copies. And one commenter noted how WNBC's presentations were the "tapiest" of the NYC stations, with one kind of image "softness" (the videotape technology of the time) piled on top of another (the 16mm film quality).

 

[Ultimajock]

Actually, WPIX was, I.I.N.M., the only NYC station, indie or otherwise (not counting the three networks), to air reruns of filmed syndicated shows and feature movies via 35mm film. Quite a few have noted how, in the 1970's, WPIX's Honeymooners reruns looked better than the I Love Lucy repeats on WNEW-TV (which were 16mm, of course); not to mention their reruns of shows like Gilligan's Island and The Twilight Zone looking and sounding much better than when they aired off 16mm prints on the previous station that aired them in syndication, WOR-TV.

...when they ran the six second-season Twilight Zone episodes that were originally produced on videotape rather than film, did WPIX use a videotape source or the 16mm syndication kinescope?...

 

[wbhist]

Actually, WPIX was, I.I.N.M., the only NYC station, indie or otherwise (not counting the three networks), to air reruns of filmed syndicated shows and feature movies via 35mm film. Quite a few have noted how, in the 1970's, WPIX's Honeymooners reruns looked better than the I Love Lucy repeats on WNEW-TV (which were 16mm, of course); not to mention their reruns of shows like Gilligan's Island and The Twilight Zone looking and sounding much better than when they aired off 16mm prints on the previous station that aired them in syndication, WOR-TV.

...when they ran the six second-season Twilight Zone episodes that were originally produced on videotape rather than film, did WPIX use a videotape source or the 16mm syndication kinescope?...

From what I could tell, they ran the filmed kinescope versions of those six episodes; I don't think I ever saw 'em in videotape form on Ch. 11, unless they got video copies of those and the other episodes by the late '80's or so. (And I.I.N.M., the six shows in question had been transferred from the videotape master to film for when it aired on CBS originally.)

 

[Braves2005]

For many years I never knew for certain which year's of episodes of Bewitched was which on account that they always used the "MCMLXIV" for all of the black and white episodes, "MCMLXVI" for all of the Dick York color episodes and the "MCMLXIX" for the Dick Sargent episodes. I knew all for certain about the Dick Sargent episodes being from 1969 to 1972 but the Dick York episodes were harder to know about since I didn't really know until years about which season they were.

And I believe that the opening of Hazel in syndication (the color episodes especially) originally was a mish-mash of other openings from previous seasons. The black and white episodes were the only ones that didn't change (the one where Hazel is baking cookies and everyone joins her in the kitchen) and the final season where Hazel hands out raincoats to Steve, Barbara, Harold and Susie to no avail. I didn't know until years later about the other openings which are as follows.

Season 2: Hazel is sitting on top of the car and George, Dorothy and Harold are cheering her on for winning a football game.

Season 3: Hazel hands out bags of groceries to George, Dorothy and Harold and everyone is walking to the house.

Probably from Season 3: Hazel is in her car and she, George, Dorothy and Harold buckle up their seat belts and they are driving away.

Season 4: The Mustang opening: Hazel is looking for the keys and George and Dorothy can't find them but Harold has them in his mini-Mustang car and Hazel unlocks the car door.

The only other Screen Gems show that had different openings was "The Farmer's Daughter" and thus far TFD, Hazel and The Monkees are the only Screen Gems shows that I know about which changed from year to year.

 

[Markieo]

For many years I never knew for certain which year's of episodes of Bewitched was which on account that they always used the "MCMLXIV" for all of the black and white episodes, "MCMLXVI" for all of the Dick York color episodes and the "MCMLXIX" for the Dick Sargent episodes. I knew all for certain about the Dick Sargent episodes being from 1969 to 1972 but the Dick York episodes were harder to know about since I didn't really know until years about which season they were.

And I believe that the opening of Hazel in syndication (the color episodes especially) originally was a mish-mash of other openings from previous seasons. The black and white episodes were the only ones that didn't change (the one where Hazel is baking cookies and everyone joins her in the kitchen) and the final season where Hazel hands out raincoats to Steve, Barbara, Harold and Susie to no avail. I didn't know until years later about the other openings which are as follows.

Season 2: Hazel is sitting on top of the car and George, Dorothy and Harold are cheering her on for winning a football game.

Season 3: Hazel hands out bags of groceries to George, Dorothy and Harold and everyone is walking to the house.

Probably from Season 3: Hazel is in her car and she, George, Dorothy and Harold buckle up their seat belts and they are driving away.

Season 4: The Mustang opening: Hazel is looking for the keys and George and Dorothy can't find them but Harold has them in his mini-Mustang car and Hazel unlocks the car door.

The only other Screen Gems show that had different openings was "The Farmer's Daughter" and thus far TFD, Hazel and The Monkees are the only Screen Gems shows that I know about which changed from year to year.

There was another opening for season 1 of "Hazel", Where the family comes out of the station wagon, and Hazel gives George a hug.

And there was another season 5 opening where the family is seen on telephones.

 

[cd637299]

I've been viewing different "Hazel" openings on YouTube, and now I'm more confused than ever!

I just saw the alternate 1961 B&W opening....also I saw one with a 3rd different theme.

Now....tell me if I am dreaming here....is there/was there a "generic" opening used for syndie 1962-65 episodes (maybe the "mish-mash" mentioned earlier) where Hazel gets the groceries, Mr. & Mrs. B simply wave at her (not willing to get any grocery bags), and Bobby throwing leaves at her? (Also I now assume that the music was for the 65-66 season only.) Am I right?

Man!

cd

 

[Wright County Guy]

I've been viewing different "Hazel" openings on YouTube, and now I'm more confused than ever!

I just saw the alternate 1961 B&W opening....also I saw one with a 3rd different theme.

Now....tell me if I am dreaming here....is there/was there a "generic" opening used for syndie 1962-65 episodes (maybe the "mish-mash" mentioned earlier) where Hazel gets the groceries, Mr. & Mrs. B simply wave at her (not willing to get any grocery bags), and Bobby throwing leaves at her? (Also I now assume that the music was for the 65-66 season only.) Am I right?

Man!

cd

I have the same (vague) memory from when the show ran on CBN.

 

[Markieo]

I've been viewing different "Hazel" openings on YouTube, and now I'm more confused than ever!

I just saw the alternate 1961 B&W opening....also I saw one with a 3rd different theme.

Now....tell me if I am dreaming here....is there/was there a "generic" opening used for syndie 1962-65 episodes (maybe the "mish-mash" mentioned earlier) where Hazel gets the groceries, Mr. & Mrs. B simply wave at her (not willing to get any grocery bags), and Bobby throwing leaves at her? (Also I now assume that the music was for the 65-66 season only.) Am I right?

Man!

cd

I have the same (vague) memory from when the show ran on CBN.

That's exactly right!