TV LAND: "I LOVE LUCY" INTROS AND OUTROS

[fred flintstone]

The most bizarre one though was one (without Lucy or Desi) that claimed PM's were recommended by ear, nose, and throat specialists. It reminds me of an ad I heard on a recording of Abbott and Costello doing Who's on First where the ads bragged that more doctors smoked Camels!

Camel used to go to medical conventions and give out free samples (heck, everybody was giving out free samples at those things - still are). In addition to little hotties with free packs of camels, they'd sent out hotties with clip boards, supposedly doing a "survey," to ask docs what they were smoking. Guess which brand came out on top in the "poll."

It was common practice for cast members (in and out of character) to do commercials for the sponsor's product (this was when shows had sponsors rather than spot advertisers). Ernie Bilko/Phil Silvers pitching Camels sort of fit. But even then, it was a bit shocking to see Rob and Laura Petrie smoking and talking about Newports. I couldn't see Rob and Laura smoking - and if they did, it wouldn't be Newport.

IMHO: The hottest commercial of all time was Julie London on the Staten Island Ferry on a foggy night (city lights in the background) wearing a trench coat (and nothing else, I always imagined) singing the Marlboro commercial (pre-Magnificent Seven theme). The way she sang "filter, flavor, flip-top box" (especially "flip-top box") was pure sex.

 

[bpatrick]

Re Abbott and Costello: Camel sponsored them
on radio, so if you heard a tape of a complete
broadcast, you got the Camel commercial.

And aside to fredflintstone, the character for
whom you take your moniker is, as we all know,
the least likeliest person to be hawking cigarettes,
but we all know that in the early seasons of The
Flintstones he and Barney Rubble could be seen
touting Winstons.

One other thing about cigarette ads: a lawyer
in Nebraska got GSN to stop running most of its
black-and-white '50s-era game shows because
of the presence of cigarette logos on some of
the sets (Winston on I've Got A Secret, Marlboro
on To Tell The Truth, Old Gold on Two For The
Money with Herb Shriner giving cartons of same to
the contestants).

 

[anotherguyTN]

Speaking of the Flintstones cigarette ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjxVBUSkrr0

 

[Tim L]

The most bizarre one though was one (without Lucy or Desi) that claimed PM's were recommended by ear, nose, and throat specialists. It reminds me of an ad I heard on a recording of Abbott and Costello doing Who's on First where the ads bragged that more doctors smoked Camels!

Camel used to go to medical conventions and give out free samples (heck, everybody was giving out free samples at those things - still are). In addition to little hotties with free packs of camels, they'd sent out hotties with clip boards, supposedly doing a "survey," to ask docs what they were smoking. Guess which brand came out on top in the "poll."

It was common practice for cast members (in and out of character) to do commercials for the sponsor's product (this was when shows had sponsors rather than spot advertisers). Ernie Bilko/Phil Silvers pitching Camels sort of fit. But even then, it was a bit shocking to see Rob and Laura Petrie smoking and talking about Newports. I couldn't see Rob and Laura smoking - and if they did, it wouldn't be Newport.

IMHO: The hottest commercial of all time was Julie London on the Staten Island Ferry on a foggy night (city lights in the background) wearing a trench coat (and nothing else, I always imagined) singing the Marlboro commercial (pre-Magnificent Seven theme). The way she sang "filter, flavor, flip-top box" (especially "flip-top box") was pure sex.

On the MPI Video DVDS of the Beverly Hillbillies (The Official ones) from Producer Paul Henning's estate,One of the extras was a boatload of commercials for Winston with Jed and Granny, Miss Jane and Mr. Drysdale Hawking the Product..They also were sponsored by Kelloggs Cereals. The opening billboards were also included in the episodes..

Quick note:The MPI sets for Hillbillies (27 episodes) and the first 21 Episodes of Petticoat Junction are among the bettter values for DVD sets.Lots of extras..The PJ set has commentary from Linda Kaye Henning before each show..

 

[bk77]

The most bizarre one though was one (without Lucy or Desi) that claimed PM's were recommended by ear, nose, and throat specialists. It reminds me of an ad I heard on a recording of Abbott and Costello doing Who's on First where the ads bragged that more doctors smoked Camels!

It was common practice for cast members (in and out of character) to do commercials for the sponsor's product (this was when shows had sponsors rather than spot advertisers). Ernie Bilko/Phil Silvers pitching Camels sort of fit. But even then, it was a bit shocking to see Rob and Laura Petrie smoking and talking about Newports. I couldn't see Rob and Laura smoking - and if they did, it wouldn't be Newport.

actually it was KENT cigarettes that sponsored DVD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fhqox0aaPE

however I did find this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6ypuQO941A

Beaver's teacher Miss Landers puffing Newports.

 

[Braves2005]

Bewitched was sponsored by Chevrolet and Clairol Hair Products. In the 2 disc Classic Commercials DVD,they showed a 1970 showing of the Bewitched In Color credits and then they showed Elizabeth Montgomery touting electric hair rollers where it heats up right in the tray. The Chevrolet commercials are not on there but I have seen it on a Bewitched website and they show the cartoon of Samantha flying around on the broom and then the Chevrolet logo pops up.

Hazel was sponsored by Ford Motor Company. From the 2nd season on,they showed different credits. In the 2nd season,Hazel passes out groceries to Dorothy,George,and Harold. In between,they showed the opening where Hazel is sitting on top of the car and all of the kids and George and Dorothy are cheering her on and Harold is throwing confetti in the tree. In the 3rd season,Hazel gets in the car and everyone buckles up their seat belts. I may have these seasons mixed up. In the 4th season(the last where Don DeFore and Whitney Blake were in the cast),Hazel is looking for the keys and they show George looking through his pockets looking for the keys,and Dorothy going through her purse looking for the keys,and Harold has them in his toy car that looked exactly like a Mustang. George even drove a Mustang during the 4th season,while Hazel had her own car as well,and quite possibly Dorothy had a car too. I have a tape of a Christmas show from 1964,and the sponsor says "HAZEL,sponsored by Ford"

My Three Sons,the ABC black and white episodes especially,were sponsored by Chevrolet because during the closing credits they showed Chevrolet cars and pickups. Later on,after the show moved to CBS,the show was sponsored by Ponitac because Steve is driving a Ponitac car in those episodes.

 

[ixnay]

On "The FBI", sponsored by Ford, the agents all drove Ford vehicles, and the closing credits said, "Vehicles provided by Ford Motor Company". I can still recall the original sticker price of a Pinto: $1919.

One episode of "The Flintstones" parodied the sponsor-plug-woven-into-the-story-line concept. The foursome are driving somewhere and Betty(?) says "Let's find a nice, clean gas station and get some nice, clean gas." And they pull into a Nice-Clean service station, apparently the brand of preference in Bedrock.

ixnay

 

[fred flintstone]

Back then, the news people plugged cigs, too.

Mike Wallace was the voice of Parliament cigarettes (in addition to hosting a rigged quiz show).
Edward R. Murrow did not do pitches, put smoked the sponsor's product (Pall Mall) on camera and flashed the pack, although it was not his regular brand.
Walter Cronkite did the pitches, but got into a tiff with the ad agency because he insisted on saying "Winston tastes good AS a cigarette show" (which was grammatically correct).