Bonanza
https://youtu.be/i2IvhKl_hKQ In September 1959 NBC launched "Bonanza," the first TV color western. Filmed at Incline Village, Nevada, the show ran until 1973 with Michael Landon as Little Joe, Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright and Dan Blockeras Hoss. Source: Wikipedia...
Superman George Reeves Dies
https://youtu.be/p0swAKS-5qA George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer in 1914) died from a gunshot in June1959. He was best known for the television series Adventures of Superman (1952–1958). Reeves death at age 45 remains controversial. Although ruled...
Rawhide
Rawhide was an American Western TV series starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood that aired on the CBS network for 7 1/2 years. The series was produced by Charles Marquis Warren, who also produced early episodes of Gunsmoke. The show is fondly remembered...
Tonight – Starring Jack Paar
https://youtu.be/c2m5kZ0p5x4 Although, as my fried Rodney pointed out, the YouTube picture above is NOT Jack Paar - the video actually is. Jack Harold Paar (1918 –2004) was an American talk show host, author, radio and television comedian, and film actor. After...
Have Gun – Will Travel
https://youtu.be/HYl20fyIptM Have Gun – Will Travel was an American Western series that was originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Richard Boone was rated number three or...
American Bandstand
American Bandstand premiered locally in late March 1952 as Bandstand on Philadelphia television station WFIL-TV as a television adjunct to a radio show of the same name on WFIL radio,. In August 1957, the show was picked up...
First Commercial Videotape Recorder
https://youtu.be/f0e03ScjnO4 A video tape recorder (VTR) is designed to record and play back video and audio material from magnetic tape. In 1956, Ampex Corporation introduced the first practical videotape recorder for television...
Popular Television Show Premieres
https://youtu.be/_teSvw34ZlY In 1955 the Mickey Mouse Club premiered on ABC. https://youtu.be/FcEbkM5Z3yA In 1955 Gunsmoke premiered on CBS https://youtu.be/XQ6OdQyYeKA In 1955 Johnny Carson Show premiered on CBS https://youtu.be/sJkmcf4gJ48 In 1955 The Lawrence Welk...
Popular TV Programs
Popular TV shows 1954 https://youtu.be/NkQ58I53mjk https://youtu.be/ojkTUIelOWI https://youtu.be/VjA4-wSjPWg https://youtu.be/2ylvWg6AV7g Top-rated primetime television series of the 1954–55 season as measured by Nielsen Media Research.[1]...
Vintage Commercials
With a shift in government spending at the end of the Korean War, the American GDP dropped by 2.2% and unemployment peaked at ~6%. Although the U.S. Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy to curb inflation, spiking interest rates decreased consumer demand. The...
The Guiding Light
https://youtu.be/egI5QDtHhC0 The Guiding Light was broadcast on NBC, then CBS radio from 1937-1956 and on CBS TV from 1952-2009. The original NBC radio series (broadcast in 15-minute episodes) was based on the personal experiences of writers Emmons Carlson and Irna...
Roy Rogers Show
The Roy Rogers Show was broadcast on NBC from December 1951 to June 1957. Before changing his name, Rogers used his given name Leonard Franklin Slye to co-found the Sons of the Pioneers. https://youtu.be/s3FclAQDCxU IMDb Set in the fictional town...
Amahl and the Night Visitors
https://youtu.be/VUKvrNeNgk8 Amahl and the Night Visitors was a one-act production by Gian Carlo Menotti that was the first opera specifically composed for television in America. The story: One night in Judea, a disabled shepherd...
Dragnet – Danger Ahead
Dun Da dun dun ~ Walter Schumann's ominous, four-note introduction to the TV show Dragnet was recognized by most Americans in the 1950s to signify "danger ahead." Dragnet was an American television series, based on the radio series of the same name, both created...
Ernie Kovacs Popular TV Comedian
https://youtu.be/U2AWAZ0gojY Ernest Edward Kovacs (1919 – 1962, was a popular American TV comedian, actor, and writer. Often spontaneous, his zany comedy style influenced numerous TV comedy programs for years after his death. Frequently his slapstick humor...
Victor Borge Danish Pianist & Comedian
Victor Borge (born Børge Rosenbaum) was a Danish conductor and pianist whose comic renditions of piano concerts were widely popular in the United States and Europe. Born to two concert musicians, Rosenbaum was a child prodigy pianist. After classical...
Color TV
https://youtu.be/O5tf6SQjFlQ In 1950 the Federal Communications Commission issued the first license for color TV broadcasting, to CBS. Although the field-sequential color system developed by Dr. Peter Goldmark was the first color television system to be...
George Burns and Gracie Allen
https://youtu.be/H_KNViwQScw The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show was a popular half-hour CBS television series broadcast from 1950 to 1958. Burns and Allen, vaudevillians in the 1920s, and radio stars in the 1930-40s, received Emmy Award nominations for...
Tom Corbett Space Cadet
Developed by the writer Joseph Greene, and inspired by the Robert A. Heinlein's 1948 novel Space Cadet, the TV series Tom Corbett Space Cadet first appeared on CBS TV in 1950. The series followed Corbett and other cadets at the Space Academy as they trained...
The Martian Chronicles
The Martian Chronicles was published in 1950 by Ray Bradbury as a series of 27 connected short stories about humans fleeing a devastated earth to colonize Mars where they conflict with aboriginal Martians. In 1980 NBC produced the book as a television miniseries...
Zoo Parade
https://youtu.be/IwDnUeCh35M 1950 Philadelphia Zoo TV commercial Zoo Parade, a popular Sunday afternoon TV show on NBC from 1950-57 was hosted by Zoo director Marlin Perkins. ~ The show was actually shot at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo (I couldn't find a short video)....
Beat the Clock
https://youtu.be/H0cBnWgZOKg First televised by CBS in 1950, Beat the Clock was an American television game show that required its contestants to accomplish various stunts within 60 seconds. Contestants were chosen from the studio audience and usually were...
Color TV
https://youtu.be/e7hpZbGd2Uw In 1950, the first public demonstration of the RCA system for color television, the all electronic tri-color picture tube, was made at a press conference in Washington, DC. The RCA system was eventually accepted by the...
What’s My Line
What's My Line? was a game show on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967. Blindfolded celebrity panelists questioned a weekly "mystery guest" to determine his/her employment. Moderated by John Charles Daly, regular panelists included Dorothy Kilgallen, Arlene...
Your Show of Shows
Premiering on NBC TV in February 1950, Your Show of Shows was a weekly, variety show featuring comedians Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. https://youtu.be/ZmCCxEUfEsE https://youtu.be/e0iMF6DWpo8