US Postal Service salutes 20 TV shows of the 1950s

[easttxtv]

According to this news release
http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2009/pr09_070.htm

20 shows will be commemorated starting today in a set of stamps called 'Early TV Memories'. Each show is presented as if they were on an old TV set; there is a pic of all 20 together on a sheet, and each individually shown close-up with background info. The 20 shows are

Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
The Dinah Shore Show
Dragnet
The Ed Sullivan Show
The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show
Hopalong Cassidy
The Honeymooners
Howdy Doody
I Love Lucy
Kukla, Fran and Ollie
Lassie
The Lone Ranger
Perry Mason
The Phil Silvers Show
The Red Skelton Show
Texaco Star Theater
The Tonight Show
The Twilight Zone
You Bet Your Life

 

[landtuna]

Reading a list like that makes me very sad at the state of TV today. Those were truly great shows - almost without exception.

 

[radioman148]

All of them winners.

 

[mleach]

All of them winners.

Except for I Love Lucy. Kinda surprised American Bandstand didn't make the list. But then again it could had been a Dick Clark issue.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Kinda surprised American Bandstand didn't make the list. But then again it could had been a Dick Clark issue.

The newspaper article I read about it indicated that you can't be on a stamp unless you're dead. Not sure if that's true, but Dick is still with us, and I didn't see anyone on the list who hasn't gone to that boob tube in the sky...

 

[trusty]

The newspaper article I read about it indicated that you can't be on a stamp unless you're dead.

The exception is, of course, The Simpsons stamp collection.

 

[radioman148]

All of them winners.

Except for I Love Lucy. Kinda surprised American Bandstand didn't make the list. But then again it could had been a Dick Clark issue.

I'm surprised that "The Adventures of Superman" didn't make it.

 

[wbhist]

The exception is, of course, The Simpsons stamp collection.

I.M.H.O., the problem with that set is that The Simpsons is still around. Now I'd've had more respect if they had a Scooby-Doo set of stamps . . .

 

[mleach]

All of them winners.

Except for I Love Lucy. Kinda surprised American Bandstand didn't make the list. But then again it could had been a Dick Clark issue.

I'm surprised that "The Adventures of Superman" didn't make it.

Me too !! I am very surprised about Superman. With "I Love Lucy" I have to wonder if there was some deal between the USPS and "Desilu TOO' ( a.k.a. Lucie Arnaz ) to have "I Love Lucy" being featured on a stamp since Lucie owns the images of not only Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz but also Vivian Vance's too however for some reason Lucie does NOT own the image of William Frawley. Of course if there was such a "deal, neither the Post Office folks nor Lucie Arnaz will make THAT bit of info public. Especially not now considering that the Post Office has been singing the blues recently about how much money they are losing since fewer people are using them in the first place.

Besides doesn't Lucille Ball already have her own stamp?

 

[ricksegers]

IIRC this will be the third Lucy stamp. I believe the show was featured on the 20th century collection as well as the Hollywood Legends release.

 

[radioman148]

All of them winners.

Except for I Love Lucy. Kinda surprised American Bandstand didn't make the list. But then again it could had been a Dick Clark issue.

I'm surprised that "The Adventures of Superman" didn't make it.

Me too !! I am very surprised about Superman. With "I Love Lucy" I have to wonder if there was some deal between the USPS and "Desilu TOO' ( a.k.a. Lucie Arnaz ) to have "I Love Lucy" being featured on a stamp since Lucie owns the images of not only Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz but also Vivian Vance's too however for some reason Lucie does NOT own the image of William Frawley. Of course if there was such a "deal, neither the Post Office folks nor Lucie Arnaz will make THAT bit of info public. Especially not now considering that the Post Office has been singing the blues recently about how much money they are losing since fewer people are using them in the first place.

Besides doesn't Lucille Ball already have her own stamp?

Superman was one of the most popular shows of the 50s. It should be on there.

 

[kirkiefan]

Agreed....Superman was one of the best,although filmed on a limited budget and "blissfully campy" all too often.

Examples:
The theme song always played when Superman takes off and in flight

Jimmy Olsen pushed up against a cardboard "wall" by a gangster.

Superman shuts off a rotating sawmill blade by just looking at it while saving the damsel in distress.

Still, I wonder to this day which studio was it where the series filmed and by what production company?
(The series was copyrighted by "National Comics Publications Inc. and was distributed by Motion Pictures for Television Inc.)

...It always seems to me as if the series may have been filmed by either Fred Ziv's company (who gave us The Cisco Kid,Sea Hunt and Highway Patrol)...or McGowan Productions (producers of Sky King and the first seasons of Death Valley Days) since they both used such similar visuals and even more so the melodramtic/thematic music used in Superman makes me wonder to this day.

But at any rate...they just don't make 'em like that anymore. (sigh!)

 

[radioman148]

You may find some answers to your questions including the studios that Superman was filmed at here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_of_Superman_(TV_series)