The 1950's

It Was A Great Time To Be Alive!

Television Circa 1950

1951 (Arthur Godfrey & Groucho Marx

Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Godfrey

In January, Arthur Godfrey and Faye Emerson are named most pleasing personalities in Look's TV awards show on CBS. In 1948, Arthur Godfrey Time began to be simultaneously broadcast on radio and television. The radio version ran three hours; the TV version an hour, later expanded to an hour and a half.

Godfrey's skills as a commercial pitchman brought him a number of loyal sponsors, including Lipton Tea, Frigidaire, Pillsbury cake mixes and Chesterfield cigarettes.

Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx

'You Bet Your Life' was broadcast on radio beginning in 1947, initially moving to television in 1950 as the radio show with cameras. On the program, contestants had the potential to win $10,000, $5,000, or $2,000 in a bonus round at the end of the show.

 

TV Guide selects Lucky Strike's popular "Be Happy, Go Lucky" spot as commercial of the year. In it, cheerleaders sing, "Yes, Luckies get our loudest cheers on campus and on dates. With college gals and college guys a Lucky really rates."

1952

"Omnibus," one of commercial TV's most honored cultural series, debuts. Hosted by Alistair Cooke, the program takes in $5.5 million in advertising revenues during five years on the air, against $8.5 million in costs.

"I Love Lucy," a half-hour filmed TV sitcom, is born. The show, unlike the live TV productions typical of the time, ranks No. 1 in the nation for four of its first six full seasons. It is sponsored by Philip Morris.

Popular bandleader Kay Kyser, clad in cap and gown and calling himself 'The Old Perfesser', presided over the madness each week. On hand was a full band along with singers Ish Kabbible (who had several hits as a vocalist for Kyser's band in the Forties) and Mike Douglas (who went on to host his own daytime show two decades later)

CBS broadcasts the first color program on June 21, but only 25 receivers can accommodate mechanical color. Viewers of 12 million existing b&w sets see only a blank screen.

1951
Alistair Cooke "Omnibus," one of commercial TV's most honored cultural series, debuts. Hosted by Alistair Cooke, the program takes in $5.5 million in advertising revenues during five years on the air, against $8.5 million in costs.
I Love Lucy "I Love Lucy," a half-hour filmed TV sitcom, is born. The show, unlike the live TV productions typical of the time, ranks No. 1 in the nation for four of its first six full seasons. It is sponsored by Philip Morris.
Kay Kaiser Popular bandleader Kay Kyser, clad in cap and gown and calling himself 'The Old Perfesser', presided over the madness each week. On hand was a full band along with singers Ish Kabbible (who had several hits as a vocalist for Kyser's band in the Forties) and Mike Douglas (who went on to host his own daytime show two decades later)
CBS broadcasts the first color program on June 21, but only 25 receivers can accommodate mechanical color. Viewers of 12 million existing b&w sets see only a blank screen.
1952
Elsie the Cow Borden's Elsie the Cow beats out actor Van Johnson and U.S. Sen. Robert Taft in recognition polls as one of America's most familiar faces.  Elsie the Cow beat out actor Van Johnson and U.S. Sen. Robert Taft in a 1952 recognition poll surveying America's most familiar faces.
Bob Hope Bob Hope takes his comedy from radio to TV when "The Bob Hope Show" debuts in October . Hope began his monthly and semi-monthly television specials in 1950 when he was still the number-one box office draw in the land, starring in a long string of Paramount Pictures like Fancy Pants, Monsieur Beaucaire, Caught in the Draft and, of course, the seven classic 'Road' pictures with Bing Crosby. Hope made a total of 53 films in his career; in most of them, Bob played the cocky (but cowardly) 'lady's man' who almost never got the girl.
Dave Garroway NBC's "Today" show, first and longest-running early-morning network show, bows with host Dave Garroway and chimpanzee sidekick J. Fred Muggs.
By year's end, the number of TV households grows to 20 million, up 33% from previous year. U.S. advertisers spend a record $288 million on TV time, an increase of 38.8% from 1951.
1953
Color broadcasting officially arrives in the U.S. on Dec. 17, when FCC approves modified version of an RCA system
1954
The Capn' "Captain Kangaroo," the first network kids show, begins on CBS.
Hamms Bear The Hamm's bear is introduced in a TV spot that initially runs as a sequel to a 1953 Hamm's commercial that featured beavers beating on tom-toms. The beer spot's tagline, "From the land of sky blue waters," and distinctive soundtrack remain with the Campbell-Mithun campaign for many years.
1954
Steve Allen NBC launches "The Tonight Show," featuring comedian Steve Allen, on Sept. 27. For nearly four decades -- until CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" enters the scene in 1993 -- the show dominates late night.
1955
Queen For A Day Immensely popular daytime radio show "Queen For A Day" shifts to TV in January. Between radio and TV, the show had a run of nearly 20 years, although widely criticized as an exploitation of human misery, wrapped in commercial plugs. At the peak of popularity, NBC increased the show's length from 30 to 45 minutes to gain time to sell at the premium ad rate of $4,000 per minute.

Jack Bailey hosted four contestants chosen from the studio audience that compete for prizes by telling their sad life stories - and people back then had it a LOT rougher than we do today! Heck, just going through a GOOD day in the Fifties would be like a major hardship today...

The audience's sympathy applause decided the winner, who was then crowned, robed, tiara-ed, throned, and showered with gifts like refrigerators and washing machines.

Ronald Reagan Future U.S. President Ronald Reagan becomes host of "General Electric Theater," long-running anthology series on CBS (1953-61) in which many top Hollywood film stars appeared. General Electric Theater featured a mix of romance, comedy, adventure, tragedy, fantasy and variety music. Occupying the Sunday evening spot on CBS following the Toast of the Town/Ed Sullivan Show from 1 February 1953 to 27 May 1962, the General Electric Theater presented top Hollywood and Broadway stars in dramatic roles calculated to deliver company voice advertising to the largest possible audience.
Gunsmoke The classic Western series "Gunsmoke" begins its 20-year run on CBS. "The $64,000 Question," sponsored by Revlon, premieres in June on CBS, igniting a U.S. game show craze.  Premiering on CBS in September 1955 and completing its network run September 1975, Gunsmoke is the longest running dramatic series in the history of television. Two of its stars, James Arness and Milburn Stone, remained all 20 seasons, with Amanda Blake a close second, departing after 19 years.
1956
Kinescope Processing Videotape is introduced by Ampex Corp. at a CBS-TV affiliates' session. Most TV shows at the time are produced by the kinescope process.

The Kinescope dominated TV recording for time delay in the early 1950's. A Kinescope recorder was basically a special 16mm or 35mm film camera mounted in a large box aimed at a high quality monochrome video CRT. All things considered the Kinescope made high quality and respectable TV recordings. Most engineers called the process ("kine" )pronouned "kinney" for short. The Kinescope was quite the clever device. It's film camera ran at a speed of 24 fps. Because the TV image repeated at 60 fields interlaced (30 fps) the film had to move intermittantly between video frames and then be rock steady during exposure. The pull-down period for the film frame was during the vertical interval of less than 2ms something no mechanical contraption could do at the time. Several manufacturers like RCA, Acme, General Precision, and Eastman Kodak found various ways around the problem by creating a novel shutter system that used an extra six frames of the 30 frame video sigbal to move the film. This action integrated the video halh-images into what seemed like smopth 24fps film pictures. Of course, the kines were played back on air using RCA film chains running at 24fps so the conversion to film was complete and seemless. Until videotape helical scan recorders made their debut the Kinescope was the only way to transmit delayed television programs which were all shot on film.
The 1939 movie "Wizard of Oz" debuts in November on CBS's "Ford Star Jubilee." After more than three decades of exposure, the feature is considered one of the most successful single programs in TV history and the longest continually sponsored theatrical movie on TV.
1957
Variety reports in May that during a typical week, viewers encounter 420 commercials totaling 5 hours, 8 minutes.
Jack Parr By August, for the first time, more countries worldwide allow TV advertising than forbid it.

  Host Jack Paar revives NBC-TV's "Tonight" show beginning on July 29. Jack Paar is one of television's most intriguing and enigmatic talk show hosts. He served as the host of the Tonight Show from 1957 through 1962 and headed his own NBC variety series from 1962 to 1965. Both series were stamped with Paar's volatile and unpredictable personality and often a haven for witty, literate conversation. Born in Canton, Ohio, U.S.A., 1 May 1918. Married: 1) Irene, late 1930s; 2) Miriam Wagner, 1943, child: Randy. Served as a noncombatant soldier in the United States Army with the 28th Special Service Company during World War II. Actor in motion pictures, 1950-53; appeared in radio and television shows including The $64 Question, Up to Paar, and CBS Morning Show, 1947-57; star of NBC's Tonight Show, 1957-62, and of various other programs.

In an October report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Meyer Naide identifies "television legs," blood clots that result from watching TV too long.
CBS's "Ed Sullivan" show is the year's most-watched network program, with a 50.4 average audience rating.
1958
There are 525 cable TV systems serving 450,000 subscribers in the U.S. In February, CBS takes out a two-page ad in TV Guide in which it warns the public: "Free television as we know it cannot survive alongside pay television."
Quiz Show By the end of the TV season, there are 22 network quiz shows; 18% of NBC's programming alone consists of quizzes. In August, contestant Herbert Stempel charges "Twenty-One" is rigged, triggering a congressional investigation.
Edward R. Murrow In December, Edward R. Murrow writes in TV Guide that viewers must recognize "television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse and insulate us." Edward R. Murrow is the most distinguished and renowned figure in the history of American broadcast journalism. He was a seminal force in the creation and development of electronic newsgathering as both a craft and a profession. Murrow's career began at CBS in 1935 and spanned the infancy of news and public affairs programming on radio through the ascendancy of television in the 1950s, as it eventually became the nation's most popular news medium. In 1961, Murrow left CBS to become director of the United States Information Agency for the new Kennedy administration.
By year's end, ad expenditures in radio and TV cross the $2 billion mark.
1959
The cartoon ad character Mister Magoo becomes the nearsighted spokesman for General Electric bulbs.
Bonanza NBC's Sunday night hit "Bonanza" makes its debut. It becomes the highest-rated program of the 1960s and is on the air 14 years. Set in Nevada, in the 1860s, Bonanza chronicled the adventures of the Cartwright family who owned a large ranch - The Ponderosa.

Hop Sing
Background Music: Bonanza