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THE ROOTS OF VIDEO AND ROCK & ROLL
The Greatest TV Shows From the 1950's & 60's
plus The Classic Oldies Video Jukebox and TV Doo Wops





WATCH & REMEMBER, OR DISCOVER, THE GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION
ALONG WITH THE EARLY DAYS OF ROCK, POP AND SOUL



Scroll down, click 'channels' from menu to view your choices:

JACKIE GLEASON ON THE ROCKY MARCIANO SHOW (1960)
Jackie recalls his early days as a night club comic in Newark, NJ (and the brawl); also, Jackie gets a humanitarian award. (WATV-Newark NJ))    ...Bloopers from The Honeymooners below)
JIMMY DEAN INTERVIEWED ON THE GIG YOUNG SHOW (1954)
Rebel trait obvious, Jimmy talks about car racing and safety; ominously, he was killed days later in a car wreck. (Du Mont)
ELVIS IS IN THE HOUSE! THE KING SINGS MONEY, HONEY (1958)
Elvis Presley performance from "The Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey Show." (CBS) ...and there's more Elvis on the Video Juke Box Below!
A TRIBUTE TO ELVIS PRESLEY, THE KING OF ROCK & ROLL (1959-62)
Clips of The King from his early days to induction into the Army (also shown: Elvis' mom, dad and Col. Tom Parker.
THE EDSEL INTRODUCED ON NBC(1957)
Ford paid the network big dollars (in those days) to run this filmed The Edsel Show promotion. (NBC)
BOBBT DARIN PERFORMS "MACK THE KNIFE" (1959)
Bobby opened his first of thirteen hour variety shows with this performance of his biggest hit. (CBS)
WESTINGHOUSE DEBUTS HI-TECH "ADVANCED TV" (1951)
Show the kids hi-tech video blossoming before anyone heard of cable, satellite or HDTV. (promo)
WILLIAM BENDIX AS LOVABLE CHESTER A. RILEY (1956)
The Life Of Riley with Marjorie Reynolds, Tom D'andrea, Lugene Sanders, Wesley Morgan (CBS)
SOME OF WHAT MADE 50'S TV GOLDEN (COMPILATION, (1952-60)
Art Carney, Rod Serling, Madge The Manicurist, Eva Gabor, Ted Mack, Do It Yourself TV Ads, Don Adams.
THE PATTI PAGE SHOW (1958)
The Singin' Rage, The Immortal Tennessee Waltz. (syndicated)
BLOOPERS FROM THE HONEYMOONERS (1957-58)
On live TV: Jackie's fly is open, Audrey misses her entrance cue, Jackie slips on the set! (Du Mont) (Color Honeymooners on our OTV ch. 30)
THE CENSORED JERRY LEE LEWIS UNCENSORED! (1957-59)
Whole Lotta Shakin'! The' "Killer" smooches his child bride cousin, goes wild performing on stage, networks nixed both.
VIDEO DOO WOP CLASSIC(1958)
Rare Clip: The Del Vikings Sing Jitterbug Mary ...More Doo Wops On The Video Jukebox below.
REMEMBERING THE ORIGINAL STAR TREK (1966)
William Shatner (Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), Deforest Kelly (Bones) Live Long & Prosper. (NBC)
ALAN FREED'S BIG BEAT DANCE PARTY DANCERS (1959)
The Local NYC Ch. 5 Regulars Plus Alan's Parting Statement. (WNEW-TV NY).
THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW (1957)
Steverino's classic rock and roll hate poetic reading of Be Bop A Lula.  (NBC).
The Inventor Of TV Sketch Comedy ERNIE KOVACS (1954)
Ernie's vignettes could have been taped yesterday and still look contemporary. (ABC)
There's more Ernie Kovacs video in our Oldies Television Trivia Quiz (link below)
THE RED SKELTON SHOW (1959)
Red as Clem Kaddiddlehoffer going to college, Guests: Reed Haley & Marvin Kaplan. (CBS)
THE DELINQUENCY EXPLOSION! (COMPILATION, 1957-60)
Hoods, Dolls, Street Fights, Make Out Points & ...Barry Goldwater!
FATHER KNOWS BEST (1953)
Full Episode of The definitive family sitcom: Betty & Kathy fued over a boy's attention
Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray, Lauren Chapan. (CBS)
DICK CLARK & AUDIENCE BRINGS ON THE BIG BOPPER (1958)
Gal fan peeks through a telescope and, Hello, Baby, it's J. P. Richardson. (ABC) Also: the day the music died.
OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST BOB MATTHIAS (1956)
1952 Olympic Triathalon Champ Discusses The Games & Movie Acting Debut With Herb Sheldon. (Du Mont)
DANCES OF THE 1950's: THE HAND JIVE (1957)
Along with The Stroll it was banned from TV in the Bible Belt! (WABD-TV, New York City)
GROUCHO MARX YOU BET YOUR LIFE (1959)
Contestants: Then 11 year old Candice Bergen appearing with dad, Edgar; also Groucho's daughter, Melinda. (NBC)
DRAGNET(1959)
The grandaddy of all TV cop shows and the definitive police melodrama with Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday, Alexander as Officer Frank Smith. (NBC)
THE IMMORTAL MUSICAL COMEDY OF VICTOR BORGE 1951
Victor and the symphony orchestra give a new twist to Listz and it is a classic Borge. (CBS)
EDDIE FISHER SINGS A MEDLEY OF HIS BIGGEST HITS 1953
Eddie sings I'm Walking Behind You, Anytime, With These Hands, Oh My Papa. (NBC)
ABBOTT & COSTELLO IN A MUSICAL MAYHEM 1951
Lou's in a Mexican Tejano Band, Bud's the manager, and a hotel manager wants the band silent. (NBC)
KAY STARR: WHEEL OF FORTUNE (1957)
Network owner RCA tested it's mew color kinescope system as well as censorship limits in this risque burlesque-ish dance line production. (NBC)
THE HONEYMOONERS IN COLOR 1969
Ralph and Ed are jailed in Paris, accused of counterfeiting. Ed's escape plan backfires with hilarious consequences. (CBS)
THE ORIGINAL FLASH GORDON SERIAL theatres 1939. TV 1960's Long before TJ's doo wops, PBS used Buster Crabbe's Flash Gordon movie matinee cliffhangers to rattle the tin cup. (PBS)
THE LONE RANGER 1955
Hi Ho, Silver! It's the grandaddy of weekly TV western series starring Clayton Moore (syndicated)
THE EVER MEMORABLE EDDIE CANTOR 1952
Hosting The Colegate Comedy Hour, Eddie pantomines asketch: he's the hapless victom of a vixen
BOBBY DARIN FLUBS...UH, HOSTS A BEAUTY CONTEST 1957
A pre-"Mack The Knife" Darin tries his hand at TV pageants and what a disaster! (Du Mont)
MORE DANCES OF THE 1950's: THE SWINGBACK 1959
Think So You Think You Can Dance is new? Here's a 50's TV Dancing Contest (Du Mont)
GREAT BALLS OF FIRE! IT'S THE KILLER! 1958
Jerry Lee Lewis brings down the house again for his fan club prez & Dick Clark (ABC)
THE DANNY THOMAS SHOW 1958
"Make Room For Daddy" with rare Danny Thomas stand up comic routine (CBS)
SID CESAR: YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS 1957
sketch comedy with co-stars Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner & Howie Morris as "Uncle Goofy!" (CBS)
HERE COMES TOBOR! 1954
Before Captain Video got ahold of Tobor, little Robbie ran the prequel to "Tobor The Great" (Du Mont)
THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN 1954
After the animation came TV's Superman series starring George Reeves and Phyllis Coates (synd/WB)
MANHATTAN ALIVE: THE TV WORLD SKETCH PICKS 1977
Larry Cutrone's cable TV comedy breakthrough spoofing Bogie, Hee Haw, Saturday Night Fever & more (CICT)
SPIKE JONES 1951
Spike & the gang of hilarious musical whackies perform their signature "Cocktails For Two." (Du Mont)
WKRP IN CINCINNATI 1969
Two complete half hour episodes of MTM's outstanding sitcom about an Ohio AM radio station
Gary Sandy, Gordon Jump, Jan Smithers, Loni Anderson, Howard Hesseman, Frank Bonner (CBS)
THE LIBERACE SHOW 1952
Walter Liberace brought style to candlelight piano music, with, of course, brother George on violin." (Du Mont)

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Have fun with guessing the answers to
questions about Shows of Video's Golden Age



from OLDIES TELEVISION
THE CLASSIC OLDIES VIDEO JUKEBOX

Greater Media Radio may have taken away your Classic Oldies, but we have them here for you!
The Fleetwoods, The Rays, The Platters, Dion & The Belmonts,
The Rascals, Fats Domino, Jackie Wilson, Dinah Washington
Elvis, The Duprees, Bobby Darin, The Stylistics
Frankie Lymon, The Diamonds Sam Cooke & more, featuring Video Doo Wops!
Click Here or Scroll down to first read all about the roots of video & rock music



An online photo album that remembers the television shows time forgot



The Donna Reed Show, Father Knows Best On DVD
Criminal attorney Perry Mason and convicted fugitive Richard Kimball boxed.


SCROLL DOWN FOR THE HISTORY OF
THE GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION








The Most Requested Shows To Add To Our Channel Showings (updated weekly):
Ben Casey Vince Edwards, Sam Jaffe (grandaddy to/inspiration for Fox's House)
Hogan's Heroes Bob Crave, Howard Morris
The Big Valley Barbara Stanwyck, Lee Majors, Linda Evans
The Goldbergs Gertrude Berg, Phillip Loeb, (Loeb replaced by Harold J. Stone, then Phillip Harris)
The People's Choice Jackie Cooper, Patricia Breslin, and Mary Croft, voice of basset hound, Cleo
Car 54, Where Are You? Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis This is currently licensed to DVD
Man Against Crime Ralph Bellamy
The Naked City Lawrence Dobkin, host. The city was, of course, New York
Burns & Allen George Burns, Gracie Allen, Bea Bearnadette, Harry Von Zell coming in July!
77 Sunset Strip Efrem Zimbalist, jr, Ed "Kookie" Byrnes
Our Miss BrooksEve Arden as the school marm
My Little Margie Gale Storm (Margie Albright), Charles Farrell (Dad Vernon Albright)
Dobie Gillis Dwayne Hickman, Bob Denver, Frank Faylen, Tuesday Weld
GunsmokesJames Arness, Dennis Weaver, Amanda Blake coming in August!
Hopalong Cassidy William Boyd as Hoppy, Edgar Buchanin as Red Connors Coming in Sept
Medic Richard Boone as Conrad Steiner, Doctor Of Medicine coming in aAgust!
I Led Three Lives Richard Carlson as Commie infiltrator Herbert Philbrick
What's My Line John Daly hosted, panelists Ogden Nash, Bennett Cerf, Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene Frances
Leave It To Beaver Hugh Beaumant, Barbara Billingsly, Tony Dow & Jerry Mathers as The Beaver.
Father Knows Best Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray, Lauren Chapman.
Highway Patrol Broderick Crawford (10/4!)
The Patty Duke Show Patty Duke, William Schallert, Jean Byron
Meet Millie Elena Verdugo, Florence Halop, Marvin Kaplan


Note: as we get clearances and stream clips, then add to the Oldies TV Channels above, we delete the title from the vote list
Usually, if a show is on wide release DVD, i.e. I Love Lucy,  we will unlikely get clearance, SO, check a video retailer on these.

The Golden Age Of Television & The Roots Of Rock 'n Roll

Remembering When Video Was Monochrome & Music Was Monophonic!

What was then is very relevant to what is now

Before SCTV, SNL & Mad TV, before radio and TV itself, the popular entertainment medium, aside from movies and music, was vaudeville comedy stage revues. As the radio networks (CBS, NBC, Mutual, Westinghouse) needed more than just music and news, vaudevillian stars and their acts were recruited for comedy monologues, sketches and sitcoms. The next move was television in it's infancy. Live sketch comedy goes back to the dawn of television (1948-52): fledgling show pioneers were Sid Caesar (with great support from cast members Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner and Howie Morris), Ernie Kovacs, Red Skelton and Milton Berle (dubbed "Mr.Television" and "Uncle Miltie"). Get this: Berle hosted the syndicated Bowling For Dollars for one season and Gleason hosted a quiz show that lasted one broadcast (see our Trivia Quiz for details. While there were those vaudevillians who lasted a decade on TV, notably Berle, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, George Burns & Gracie Allen, Skelton's characterizations on all three networks, others, such as Ed Wynn, George Gobel, Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis and Donald O'Connor, lasted only a few years.

Advancements in television production in the 50's are credited to Lucille Ball (filming before a live audience), Desi Arnaz (three to five camera synched production), Ernie Kovacs (granddaddy of special effect) and Jackie Gleason (the Eletronicam system combining film and kinescope into one camera unit). Word has it that Les Paul, the celebrated guitarist who pioneered multiple track audio recording and Bing Crosby planted the seed at Ampex Electronics for recording video and audio on magnetic tape ...videotape recording.

Of course our beloved Jackie Gleason used to say about classic TV comedy, "When it's funny, it's funny and that's what makes a show endearing as a classic forever after" Many of today's successful TV show producers stated they studied the masters of yesteryear.an When it's good television, it's good television no matter how dim the picture or low the resolution. Jackie Gleason, Lucille Ball and her then husband Desi Arnaz, came up with ingenious, creative innovations, would pave the way for future TV sitcoms. Also rans included Father Knows Best (Robert Young, Jane Eyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray, Lauren Chapan), The Bob Cummmings Show (co-starring Ann B. Davis), My Little Margie (Gale Storm, Charles Farrel) Oh Sussana (Gale Storm, Zazu Pitts), I Married Joan (Joan Davis, Jim Backus), Our Miss Brooks (Eve Arden), Mr. Peepers (Wally Cos), The Dennis Day Shoe (co-starring Cliff Arquette), The Life If Riley (see trivia quiz for original Riley, second longer running series: William Bendix, Marjorie Reynolds, Lugene Sanders, Wesley Morgan, Tom D'andrea), The Goldbergs (Gertrude Berg, Harold J. Stone), December Bride (Spring Byington), Meet Millie (Elena Verdugo, Florence Hallop, Marvin Kaplan), (The Many Loves Of) Dobie Gillis (Dwayne Hickman, Bob Denver, Tuesday Weld), The Dick Van Dykd Show (co-starring Mary Tyler Moore, Morey Amsterdam, Rosemarie, Carl Eeiner, it's creator),.

A noteworthy B&W idol mentions: While Shelley Fabares was a teen queen on The Donna Reed ShowThe Patty Duke Show that was written around a teenage girl, actually two, both played by Patty Duke (later, the suicidal pill popping starlet in Valley Of The Dolls). Patty played a bouncy, vivacious teen and a live-in twin cousin (hey, anything's possible even on early TV) who was the exact opposite - conservatively demure. Also in the cast: William Schallert (also a player on Dobie Gillis and Jean Byron. Of course, Ricky Nelson (OK, Rick Nelson now) was the girl's hearthrob on Ozzie & Harriet (with real life dad & mom as dad and mom), attempts to make Ronnie Burns with real life parents on(Burns & Allen and Dwayne Hickman Dobie Gillis girl swooners failed. Oh well, there was always lovable Maynard G. Krebs (Dobie, who would go on to become lovable Gilligan.

Noteworthy, but tragic: Honeymooners resurgence. In it's original form,as a standalone sitcom or sketches on Gleason's variety shows, The (original) Honeymooners episodes were endeared and today held as classics, in many major markets run as twelve hour marathons on New Years Eve. In the mid 1966, Jackie resurrected the sitcom as The Jackie Gleason Show presents The Honeymooners", hour musicals taped in Miami Beach. Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph could not relocate from New York. Shiela Mac Rae was the new Alice, Jane Kean the new Trixie and it just didn't work. In the mid 70's, Jackie regrouped the original cast and gave it a go on ABC, less the what was latter day considered politically incorrect fisting and "Pow, right in the kisser," or "To the moon, Alice," and the smacks on Norton's shoulder. After three hour runs, ABC pulled the plug on the legendary bus driver, sewer worker and wives. The kinescope episodes of The Honeymooners from 1954 to 1959 remain the loved classics. BTW: did you know Audrey Meadows was not the first to play Alice Kramden. And did you know Jackie played a blue collar worker dad on a sitcom, the role later played by another comedic actor? Find out who was the first to play Alice and what was Jackie's first 1949 CBS sitcom role in our Trivia Quiz. Of course, Jackie had success with his Honeymoonerless American Scene Magazine (1962-65) with his characterizations of The Poor Soul, Reginald Van Gleason III (often with former Marx Brothers movies character actress Margaret Du Mont), Charlie Bracken, The Loud Mouth (with Art Carney whom he bothered at a diner), Joe the Bartender (with Frank Fontaine a/k/a Crazy Guggenheim.

In the "minority" (race) oppressive 1950's, Black principal roles were portrayed by white stage minstrel (blackface) comics as Amos and Andy. A second black theme sitcom, , starred noted black film actress Ethel Waters as a maid. It would take Norman Lear, in the 70's, to bring network television prominence to Afro-American based situation comedies.

There would be no weekly comedy sketch show series hosted by a woman until many years later when a young female supporting cast member from The Gary Moore Show and on a failed sitcom Stanley starring Buddy Hackett, the femme talent named Carol Burnett finally got her own showcase on CBS with cast members Harvey Korman, Lule Wagoner, Vickie Lawrence and Tim Conway. The long awaited success and chemistry became legendary. Entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan became the rigid but endearing presenter of entertainers, opera singers to acrobats, dancers to sword throwers, lion tamers to puppet mouse Topogigo Sunday nights on CBS. When rock and roll proved it was here to stay, poker faced Sullivan challenged teen favorite Dick Clark (ABC) for booking Elvis and The Beatles, who never appeared on either Clark's American Bandstand or Saturday Night stage show (see teen dance and variety shows below). Sullivan even allowed so/so R&R one hit wonders such as "The Sparkletones" (Black Slacks) share his stage with the likes of Renata Tibaldi and Alan King. There was also Your Hit Parade on which four vocalist regulars sang the top ten tunes for the week. Who were the crooners? See our Trivia Quiz/

Hard to categorize was NBC's Colegate Comedy Hour brcause some weeks it was more musical than comical. The weekly fare had rotating hosts which included Eddie Cantor, the team of Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, Bud Abbot and Lou Costello, the latter having also their own weekly syndicated half hour show. The Colegate endeavor, which failed miserably in the Nielsons, except for Martin & Lewis weeks, was more like Sullivan's show because it had an array of song and dance musical guests including Danny Kaye, Kay Starr and ol' blue eyes himself, Frank Sinatra; but even the Chairman of the Board couldn't dig this one out of the ratings cellar. It would have been funnier if Don Rickles were around TV screens, then, in the late 50's, to heckle Sinatra ("Hey Frank, make yourself at home...hit somebody" was one of Rickles' most famous barbs to blue eyes years later on the The Deab Nartin Show)

Producer Don Fedderson had no ratings problem with The Millionaire. No, not a quiz show, but a weekly series drama in which Michael Anthony, played by Marvin Miller, gave away a million smackers to some poor soul at the benevolence of the unseen, but heard billionaire, John Beresford Tipton, who was just curious about human nature and how sudden wealth could change it. Viewers were also intrigued and the show ran for several seasons in the late 1950's and early 60's on CBS. (Most of the recipients were better off without the mysterious windfall).



50's Kiddie TV Delights: Notable children;s shows: Bob Smith's Howdy Doody, with Clarabelle The Clown (Bob Keeshan, later Lew Anderson (pictured page top) Burr Tilstrom's Kukla Fran & Ollie,, Pinky Lee (pictured left), who collapsed while dancing frenetically during a live broadcast, Winky Dink, Fearless Fosdick (marionettes), Shari Lewis & Lambchop, Paul Winchell & Jerry Mahoney; these kidvid shows were on the networks, while local stations concocted ultra-low budget cartoon shows, such as Newark New Jersey's (Junior Frolics) had hosts like "Uncle" Fred Sayles narrating silent screen cartoons (Farmer Brown a/k/a Farmer Grey, KoKo The Clown, et al) over instrumental records. First Animated Cartoons in syndication: Rocky & Bullwinkle, Gumby, Underdog, Superman were the favorites. Curiously, Bullwinkle with villains Boris Badeniff and Natasha, had overtones of cold war propaganda, a la Animal Farm. but "Moose and Squirrel" was a weekly syndicated series. Major market independent TV stations had cartoon blocks of Felix The Cat, Looney Toons,(Bugs, Daffy, Tweety, et al); Allied Artist Toons; Little LuLu, Betty Boop, among others. 50'S non-animated-animal series faves Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, (doggies), My Friend Flicka (horsie). Mr Ed, the talking horse, would hee haw viewers the next decade. There was also Cleo, the talking dog, on the short lived prime time sitcom The People's Choice starring Jackie Cooper and Patricia Breslin.

Yes, NBC had a late night talk show debuting with Fred Allen, then Jack Paar The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson followed. followed. ABC had the venerable Joe Franklin. Merv Griffin, who vied with Carson to host The Tonight Show on NBC, found success in syndication with co-host Arthur Treacher. Dick Cavett found a talk show home later on ABC after Franklin was relegated to Memory Lane on then New York station channel 9, later licensed to Secaucus, NJ after station owners RKO-General got in dutch with the FCC.

Poignant early TV evening news anchors included Edward R. Murrow and John Cameron Swayze ("Hop-scotching the world for headlines!") Morning guys were Dave Garroway, (pictured left, who prolifically signed off with "Peace"). Robert Q. Lewis, Arthur Godfrey, among others (these after stations decided to go on the air at 9AM rather than 5PM, see "remember when..." below). Independent stations, strapped financially, aired armed forces advertorials provided by the Army,Navy and Marines...along with Three Stooges, Laurel & Hardy and Little Rascals film shorts. Interesting clips of early television commercials can be found included with our Oldies Television Trivia Quiz,link below our channel selector. Were there infomercials back in the early days of television? There was Star Nail, Jon Gnagy Learn To Draw Kits, Leg Magique, Jack La Lane Super Juicer

Sports without ESPN: Baseball legends like Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson (left) Pee Wee Reese, Joe Di Maggio or Yogi Berra were not seen nationwide as they played ball in the early days of television, games were carried on local stations where the games were played. Ditto football.Tennis, hockey and golf were not considered hot sports events in the early 50's when air time was at a premium. The networks began broadcasting World Series and Super Bowls, other games remained locally broadcast. Boxing and wrestling films were shown late night on weekends, bowling was relegated to the weekend afternoons when a station had no baseball. After Milton Berle's ratings declined on NBC in the mid 60's, the network loaned him to the syndicated Bowling For Dollars The thinking was to turn tenpin into a game show and since Groucho Marx's sardonic wisecracking gained popularity on his quiz show, maybe Berle could do likewise and popularize TV bowling. Of course it didn't work. Berle was awkward, not familiar with the sport. The most celebrated early TV baseball announcers were Mel Allen (pictured above) and Red Barber.

There was the never fail medical drama that began with Medic (Richard Boone as "Conrad Steiner, Doctor of Medicine") and Janet Dean, Registered Nurse. (Ella Raines). Then came...

The inopposite docs: Who can forget the boyish, mild-mannered "Dr. Kildare" (Richard Chamberlain) and the obnoxious Dr. Ben Casey (Vince Edwards).
The Simile Docs Ben Casey is grandfather to and, Hugh Laurie admits, inspiration for Fox's top rated medical drama House, Marcus Welby, MD (Robert Young), Medical Center and Jack Webb's Emergency. (One of our viewers got one up on us by submitting Breaking Point, the forgotten TV medic show that sort of a psychiatry version of Ben Casey starring Paul Richards which ran on ABC in 1963 after Vince Edwards hung up his stethoscope. Today, E/R, Gray;s Anatomy ...on and on ...people always were and are fascinated by medical melodrama). General Hospital is the long running daytime medical serial...soap opera The Daytime soap operas (so called, given the name by predominant advertisers) go back also to 1930's radio and 1950's television: The Secret Storm, The Edge Of Night, The Guiding Light to name only a few of many. If you weren't there, you would be surprised, maybe even be amazed, by how much the golden age of television really has inspired today's vast videodrome (homage to Debbie Harry for the term.)

Dancing With The Stars became an instant smash hit when it premiered 2006 on ABC, but in the fifties Arthur Murray Dance Party, which also featured dance contests with luminaries, got big ratings. Dance studio mogul Arthur Murray gave viewers dance lessoms, but his personable wife, Kathryn, hosted the long running summer replacement series.

Howdy, Podner! Annie Oakley (Gail Davis), Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd), Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore), among others, began the weekly western TV series craze in the early 1950's. By the latter part of that century, prime time top rating oaters emerged, including Gunsmoe (James Arness), Maverick (James Garner), The Rifleman (Chuck Connors), Bat Masterson, (Gene Barry) The Virginia( James Drury), Have Gun, Will Travel (Richard Boone as Palladin)., Ponderosa Ranch honcho Hoss Cartwright (Lorne Greene) and sons (Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts would take TV westerns to a new height with Bonanza. When the Emmy award winning series ended in the mid 1950's, horses, podners and varmints faded from the video screen as regular first run network TV offerings.Happy Trails.

The Evolution Of Television. In 1923, the iconoscope, a crude but functional form of the CRT Cathode Ray ("Picture") Tube, laid the path for today's big screens and digital pictures. (There was also the mechanical scanner patented in the same year). By the mid 1930's, experimental TV stations operated as the "red" and "blue"network, which blossomed into Du Mont (named after Allen B. Du Mont, arguably the inceptor of networked TV stations), CBS, NBC and later ABC. Our Oldies Television Trivia Quiz has historic information about videotech pioneers Vladimir Zworkyn and Phil Farnsworth.

Once Upon A Time, In The Beginning....
...When programs were frequently interrupted by a "Please Stand By-Technical Difficulties" sign,
...When TV stations didn't go on the air until 5PM and went off the air at midnight
...When there was 20+ hot vacuum tubes the size of a ketchup bottle inside the TV that too often burned out
...When a white dot stayed in the center of the picture tube for minutes after the TV was turned off
...When TV sets had focus, horizontal hold, vertical hold and rotary channel selector knobs
...When psuedo-color TV was simulated by placing a tri-tinted plastic sheet over the screen
...When "instant on" tube TV sets caught fire and had to be recalled.



Earliest television receivers ("TV sets" as then called) used vacuum tubes and the cathode ray ("picture") tubes were round, Cabinet front screen cutout bezels were usually squared, cutting off top and bottom of the transmitted picture (studio camera operators sometimes, not always, compensated). Eventually, RCA developed the square picture tubes and the NTSC picture ratio standard was set into place. Picture screen sizes began with 10" diagonal, then edged up to 21" by the early 60's. Console TV's boasted large 12" speakers and television-radio (FM/AM)-phonograph (record players, usually automatic changers), average price tag $500, were very popular. There are interesting facts about Vladimir Zworkyn and Phil Farnsworth, the pioneers of television in our trivia quiz.

The Early TV Scandals: Rock & Roll Payola, Dance Shows & Hiked Skirts, and Rigged Quiz Shows. The TV teen dance craze started on the East Coast and spread worldwide, with their (then critiqued) provocative movements.. "Dick Clark's American Bandstand" that went from local Philadelphia WFIL TV 6 (4PM Mon-Fri) in 1957 to the nationwide ABC network and into syndication up to the 1980's. (Did you know Dick took over the helm after a previous host was discovered dating one of the high school dancers?) There were also the local shows hosted by Alan Freed (1958-62 5-6PM Mon-Fri, 8PM Sat WNEW-TV 5 NY), Clay Cole, Rate The Record 6-7PM Mon-Fri 1958 WNTA-TV 13 Newark NJ, then The Clay Cole Show 5 to 6PM M-F & Sat 5PM lip synchs with co-star Angela Martin, 1959-62 WPIX-TV 11 NY), Al Jarvis, movie actor (Make Believe Ballroom) and KECA-TV Los Angeles talk show host got in on the dance party craze with his weekday afternoon show on KABC-TV (also L.A.) which spanned the late fifties through early sixties. Jerry Blavatt the Geeter with the Heater on WPHL-TV 17 PA and John Zacherle, who morphed from host-spook-spoofing horror flicks on WABC-TV 7 NY 1957-61 to DiscoTeen, 6-7PM Mon-Fri 1962-3, on WNJU-TV 47 Newark NJ, the latter two on UHF frequencies that many TV "sets" then could not yet receive! A teen dance show on 3-4PM Mon-Sat WOOK-TV 49, studio in a house on the outskirts of Baltimore, was k'o'd for two many provocative teen girl dancers on platform "up the skirt" camera angles (but this show wasn't the first or only show in dutch for such thing, Alan Freed's Big Beat Dance Party on New York's then WNEW-TV Ch. 5 was castigated, too,
for cameras showing too much of a girl's legs during dances on the Saturday night show (click to see clip), but Alan Freed's TV shows were not axed by Metromedia until the payola scandal in 1959, later to be swept into yesterday's news by the "21" Jack Barry quiz show scandal (Remember Charles Van Doren?).

The Day The Music Died February 3, 1959. It was a cold, blistery, snowy winter night when the plane crashed, which claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Jiles .P. "Big Bopper" Richardson and the pilot, Roger Peterson. The three 50's rock and roll idols were headed to a dance party tour scheduled to run in 24 cities from January 23rd to February 15th in 1958. Dion & TThe Belmonts, also booked on the show, took a tour bus along with backup musician Waylon Jennings. Unfortunately, there was controversy in this tragedy, too. Tabloid newspapers alleged a cover-up of an onboard shooting. There are more details about the harrowing music event along with a tear evoking final performance of The Big Bopper, J. P. Richardson, on The Dick Clark show on Oldies Television Channel 22.

Yes, Virginia, there was a Snookey Lansen Who was Snookey Lansen? That's the number one question we see on search engines leading to our Trivia Quiz page. The answer is there. Hint: he was on network TV every Saturday night at 10PM. The second most asked question about old time TV was about censorship back then. In a nutshell: the word "pregnant" was taboo (the forbidden word list was not seven as today, but well over seventy); a married couple could not be seen in the same bed together (thus the twin beds on sitcoms). What was okay, smoking on camera (frowned upon today, which would be an enigma for Ernie Kovacs. George Burns and Groucho Marx if their shows were on now). Visual depictions or words deemed to make fun og mainstream religion were also censored on TV< in the 1950's and most of the 60's. Jokes about Snooky Lansen were fair game.

We've Got Your Favorite Oldies Music Memories Right Here On OLDIESTELEVISION.COM

Here to relive or experience anew are all the great music performances on the "bandstand" format TV shows coast to coast, onstage music live and lip-synched by stars who formed the roots of Rock and Roll like Bill Haley & The Comets, Chuck Berry, Danny & The Juniors, Fats Domino, Little Richard and, of course, The King, Elvis? How about the stars who sang songs that went from streetcorner harmony to the making out love harmony in the back seat. Call it Doo Wop, call it Back Seat Music, call it Group Vocal, we'll always remember The Dubs, The Duprees, The Five Satins, the underestimated Reparata & The Delrons, and the classic Tony Williams and The Platters (and we've got Tony Williams singing lead on TV with the original Platters, not Paul Robi or any other substitute). Berry Gordy brought us the Motown Sound with The Supremes, The Temptations... we could go on and on, but why say it? Click on the Oldies TV banner at the bottom of this webpage, see and hear the stars, the songs, the memories from when Rock & Roll was young The Golden Oldies...still today, they are the heart of Rock & Roll! Don't forget our Oldies Music Video Jukebox is here, links below on this home index page. We are pro-oldies, but not anti-newies; we have today's music videos linked here, too! Future Gold! Also, international music, classic and new indie movies on a separate set of channel links below, and. of course, they are all free, too.

The Oldies TV Trivia
game is also on this site. Can you remember the name of Ernie Kovac's "aped" musical combo? Who played Bachelor Father? (Hint: he went on to fame as the rich mogul of Colorado on Dynasty (Thanks, CallerMike, for helping us on the hint). Who played Flash Gordon in the TV series filmed not in the United States (no, it wasn't Buster Crabbe). Who hosted "The $64,000 Question" (Jack Barry was the host of the scandal ridden "21.") There's also Oldies Music Trivia Quiz questions...like who recorded a charted 1950's R&B song while stoned drunk that was re-recorded in the late 70's by Creedence Clearwater Revival? Which 1959 released top 40 record originated the harsh electronic "swish" that is used today in Heavy Metal? Out of all the songs Elvis recorded, which one was The King's personal favorite? (Hint, it was released in 1962).

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SOME COMMENTS WE RECEIVED ABOUT OLDIESTELEVISION.COM Thank You All

"Thanks For The Memories"

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"My mother danced ob The Alan Freed Show, thanks for finding a clip"

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I looked for reference material and found stuff I enjoyed,
especially like that old time rock and roll"

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OLDIES TELEVISION CLASSIC OLDIES VIDEO JUKEBOX

Sure, we have a Juke Box ...and it plays Oldies Video Music Online!
The music goes down & round and you'll find it below,
so it comes out your computer screen and speakers!







The Top 5 Most Viewed On Oldies Television Mpnth of June
1. Jackie Gleason & Rocky Marciano [ch. 1]
2. Patti Page The Tennessee Waltz [ch. 10]
3. Bloopers From The Honeymooners [ch. 11]
4. Alan Freed [ch. 15]
5. Star Trek [ch. 14]





OLDIES TELEVISION CLASSIC OLDIES VIDEO JUKEBOX



LISTEN TO CLASSIC OLDIES EARLY 1950's TO 1960's NOW
click here



Please support the ads you see below the screen and we'll get a bigger video juke box!

VOTE FOR YOUR CLASSIC OLDIES SONG OR STAR:
We take requests!
Is there a 1950-65 Golden Oldie you loved on that vinyl '45 or playing on AM?
Vote for it here and if we can get the clip, we'll play it on oldiestelevision.com:

MY FAVORITE 50s-60s MUSIC OLDIE IS...(enter your request)

YOUR VOTES So Far (Updated Weekly):
1. Hey, Jude The Beatles
2. Heartbreak Hotel Elvis Presley
3. You Belong To Me Joey Van & The Duprees
4. Chapel Of Love The Dixie Cups
5. In The Still Of The Night Freddie Paris & The Five Satins
6. Big Girls Don't Cry Franki Valli & The Four Seasons
7. Wild One Bobby Rydell
8. Where Did Our Love Go? Diana Ross & The Supremes
9. Sixteen Candles Johnny Maestro & The Crests
10. I Wonder Why Dion (Di Mucci) & The Belmonts
11, Johnny Angel Shelley Fabares
12. Since I Don't Have You Jimmy Beaumant & The Skyliners
13. Goodnight, Sweetheart Harvey Fuqhar & The Moonglows
14. Brown Eyed Girl Van Morrison
15. California Girls The Beach Boys
16. Venus Frankie Avalon
17. Why Do Fools Fall In Love Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers
18. Angel, Baby Rosie (Hamlin) & The Originals
19. California Dreamin' The Mamas & The Papas
20. Leader Of The Pack Shangri Las
Editors Note: We're working on finding clips to these songs & artists
...uh, not so sure about Napoleon IV, but he got the votes.

Coming March: More Doo Wops, The Beatles, Buddy Knox



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and Marlo Thomas (That Girl!), two generations of TV comedy.
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DONNA, WE MISSED YOU AND NOW YOU'RE BACK!

OTV has had skillions of requests for The Donna Reed Show and Alliance Artists will be releasing a DVD of the beloved 50's show in October. How did we ever do without Donna's smile, the warm demeanor of Carl Betz and the budding beauty of Shelley Fabares (remember Johnny Angel?) who went on to also star in scores of other hit shows. Well, there's a preview of the release on YouTube and the digital re-mastering looks great.

THE LONG AWAITED DVD OF "FATHER KNOWS BEST" JUST RELEASED

Shout! Factory has just released the first season of the classic family TV series Father Knows Best on DVD! One of the best-loved family sitcoms of all time finally come to the DVD format as a 4-Disc set packed not only with all 26 inaugural season episodes, but also with tons of extras, never-before-seen episodes (including the 1959 made-for-the-US-Government episode 24 Hours in Tyrantland), all-new interviews, and much more! Relive this classic 1950s sitcom and experience it like never before as Shout! Factory continues their great line of DVD releases with Father Knows Best: Season One on DVD (was released April 1, 2008).

STAR TREK LOSES NEW MISSION, ORIGINAL MISSION RE-LAUNCHED

Last summer, based on William Shatner and George Takei also-mentions on network talk shows, a Star Trek revival series with the aforementioned original series cast members making guest appearances still buzzed around Trekkie circles. Unfortunately, CBS lost interest and so did Paramount. Go figure: CBS bought rerun syndication rights to the 60's grandaddy, which is playing in major several market. Unfortunately, the ratings numbers are not exactly hitting the 2nd quadrant However, Comcast has come to the rescue giving the series a run on it's free Fancast online TV. www.fancast.com ...we're no dead, Jim.

RALPH, ALICE, NORTON, TRIXIE BACK ON BROADCAST CHANNEL SYNDICATION

Out of the New Years marathon and TVLand cable now you see it now you don't syndrome, CBS-Viacom is syndicating the original Honeymooners to major market broadcast channels. In New York, WPIX channel 11 (CW/11 if we must) has been the traditional home for the Kramdens and the Nortons, in the 70s running the shows at 11:30PM and more recently as a New Years marathon; they've decided to bring The Honeymoonersto the moon, Alice is easily accessed on broadcast TV once again



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