Quoting: October 4, 1956...Playhouse 90 Debuts on CBS Thursday nights at 9:30 eastern, televisions most distinguished dramatic anthology series was anxiously awaited in most American living rooms. Below is a full episode of the show that you will want to see...its full of RCA TK11s and many studio shots all the way through. This is The Comedian starring Mickey Rooney and Mel Torme. It was directed by the great John Frankenheimer and live ran on February 14, 1957. This is a kinescope copy of Season 1s, Episode 20. From its inception in 1956, everyone knew that this 90 minute weekly presentation was a big bite for any production schedule...even the new CBS Television City facility. So, that first year, three out of four episodes were done live with every fourth episode being done on film at another location. Remember, the worldwide debut of video tape was in April of 1956 and it took nearly a year to get some machines built and in use, but soon after CBS TVC got theirs, they began to experiment with using them on Playhouse 90. Although the were live to tape, with no editing, having this ability helped a lot, and in early 57, the show moved completely to videotape. The move to tape allowed the show to keep its live look and best of all, it allowed them to break the 90 minute show into segments and gave them the ability to retake scenes and move sets without the urgency of the live clock against them. In the final 59 - 60 season, the pressures and cost of this truly ambitious effort proved overwhelming and Playhouse 90 cut back to alternate weeks and rotated with The Big Party, which was a 90 minute celebrity talk and variety show. Enjoy and Share! -Bobby Ellerbee
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 10:32:00 +0000
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