I know that film directors would choose, or sometimes alternate, between black & white and color films - why did all TV
-
alabel-1 — 11 years ago(August 02, 2014 11:45 PM)
All TV shows in the 1950s were shot in color
"
Comparatively few series were produced in color in the 1950s because so few viewers had color sets.
Color series were often distributed in black-and-white because it was cheaper to make b&w prints and cheaper to transmit them. Same with color movies. So even if you had a color TV, you werent guaranteed seeing all of the color shows then being produced in color. I remember my mother reading a letter from her brother in California in which he lamented buying a color TV for the first time and realizing that the only shows he could see in color were Bonanza and Ruff and Reddy (a Hanna-Barbera cartoon show)."
http://briandanacamp.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/early-color-tv-shows-the -1950s/
, emphasis mine -
eelb — 11 years ago(November 29, 2014 02:01 AM)
All
TV shows in the 1950s were shot in color, but a much cheaper film stock was used for television programs
, and TV shows were usually not as carefully preserved back then (in fact, many kinescopes were simply thrown away), so the colors faded
That's a redundant statement. Few TV shows were shot in color until the later part of the decade. Simply because there were no color TV sets widely available to consumers. Even then, it was a gradual transition to color, and programs weren't entirely in color until the mid-60's. The initial cost of color TV sets was high, and some households had black and white TV's until the 1970's. It was similar to the more recent transition to HD. -
398 — 11 years ago(August 18, 2014 11:14 PM)
Very few folks had color TV's and black and white filming was cheaper, both in the original filming and in copying.
I think using black and white was a simple matter of dollars and cents.
Interestingly, the Cisco Kid series, was filmed in color starting in 1950. The producers must have been very far-sighted as color TV's did not come on the market for several years.
I would be interested in knowing if there was a network show filmed in color prior to Bonanza. I don't know of one, other than I think Disney. -
KrazeeforKittiez — 11 years ago(September 17, 2014 11:24 AM)
I think it is probably because most people had b/w sets.
Also.The first National broadcast of a color show was of the 1954 Tournament of Roses parade. 'It was not until the mid-1960s that color sets started selling in large numbers, due in part to the color transition of 1965 in which it was announced that over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color that fall.'.Wikepedia
I had the chance to work with Michael Jackson who was as brilliant as they come.
Tommy Mottola -
oldbubblehead — 11 years ago(October 02, 2014 04:13 AM)
Early color television sets were very, very expensive to purchase and expensive to repair. Plus the color fidelity was poor and you had to be constantly adjusting the color controls. Sure it was in color, but the color fidelity was not good - everything looked like washed out pastels. It wasn't until the late sixties/early seventies that the prices came down and the quality improved to the point that it was worthwhile for the average family to buy one. The networks did not provide 24/7 color programming until the late seventies and the last black and white broadcasting station did not convert to color until 1986.
-
NewtonFigg — 11 years ago(October 04, 2014 09:02 AM)
Color TV then was like VHS and Beta was 20 years later. CBS broadcast a few shows in its color format, but you couldn't see the show on a B&W set. NBC had "compatible" color which you could see on a color or B&W set. And the peacock network was born.
-
NewtonFigg — 11 years ago(October 18, 2014 06:29 PM)
Tonight I found a 1965 Hollywood Palace with Frank Sinatra in living color. One of the sponsors was Zenith Television with its 21" portable TV with the two button remote clicker. All the sets shown were B&W. Not one color set in the ad.
-
eelb — 11 years ago(November 29, 2014 02:13 AM)
I remember those days. Family members arguing that it was too yellow, too red, or whatever, and constantly getting up to roll a little dial on the side of the TV.
I don't recall much prime time network programming being in B/W after about 1966. If you watch the series that ran several years in the early to mid-60's, there's usually a season where they switched over to color. If you check the year, it's seems 1966 is most common. NBC was much more aggressive in colorizing, and many of their shows were shot in color from about 1959-60 forward.
Bonanza
being a good example. -
eelb — 11 years ago(November 29, 2014 02:23 AM)
I don't think the directors had much to do with it. It was a network decision, revolving around the available technology, and if a show had high enough ratings to warrant it being produced in color. At the onset of color TV, it would have had to be a special event to be shown in color. The fact that the program was shown in color, was more eventful than the program itself. So few people had color TV's, that such programs were promoted well in advance, and usually resulted in crowds gathered around showroom windows at electronics stores.
RCA owned NBC, so there was a lot of cross promoting going on as far as color TV was concerned.