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Soaps going "live" on short notice?

S

Stanislav

Most of us have seen "Tootsie," and the very funny scene in which the soap is forced to go on the air live due to damage to a master tape, and Michael/Dorothy decides to use the occasion to reveal himself as a man.

My question is: does anyone know of this sort of thing actually happening? That is, a soap having to go live at the last minute because of a tape problem? Or is it just an urban legend of sorts?

I can imagine it happening maybe in the early days of tape, when equipment was expensive, scarce, and sometimes balky (and quality control standards for the tape itself were still a little shaky), but given the income these shows generate, I imagine they eventually started making backups upon backups of each episode's master, just in case. Anyone ever hear or read of a "Tootsie" like "emergency" live broadcast?
 
"Search for Tomorrow" went live once in 1983 after moving over to NBC from CBS. The issue was a "lost" tape. I think NBC was accused of lying about the status of the tape in order to create some buzz and ratings for the failing show.
 
SteveRichards said:
"Search for Tomorrow" went live once in 1983 after moving over to NBC from CBS. The issue was a "lost" tape. I think NBC was accused of lying about the status of the tape in order to create some buzz and ratings for the failing show.
Click to expand...

Interesting timing. Considering that "Tootsie" was released right at the end of 1982 (Xmas week), and the SFT "lost tape" incident (actually "tapes" -- they claimed both the master AND the backup were lost) was early August 1983, it's not a stretch to think that the movie scene inspired the stunt. ;)
 
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