[78-L] fwd: Videotape challenge is in the machinery

[Sammy Jones]

>From the article:
> > "I Love Lucy" is a notable exception, but that's
> because
> > Desi Arnaz put 35mm film cameras next to his TV
> cameras to
> > preserve the show for posterity.

There were no TV cameras in the mix for I Love Lucy, only film.  The author is describing DuMont Electronicam, whereby a 35mm film camera and a video camera shared the same optical path.  The control room saw the output on TV monitors, and the director called shots based on what he saw in the monitors.  There may have been some way to record the data on what shot the director called.  Maybe that data was recorded optically on film?  I can't remember exactly.

I Love Lucy didn't use this system.

David Breneman says:
> Well, although I believe one season of "The Honeymooners"
> was airchecked on kinescopes, most episodes were recorded
> with the DuMont Electronicam system that was essentially a
> 35mm film camera grafted on to a video camera. 

Actually the only season that was made on film with DuMont Electronicam was the 1955-56 season.  The rest of the Honeymooners shows are sketches that were performed as part of Jackie Gleason's variouslive  variety shows (Cavalcade of Stars, Jackie Gleason Show, American Scene Magazine, etc.) or the later Honeymooners specials.  Starting in the '60s some shows exist on videotape, but I'm not sure if the show was ever pre-taped at that point or not.  There certainly would have been no technical reason why it could not have been.

There are many more kinescoped Honeymooners episodes or sketches around than the 39 that were filmed in 1955-56.

To keep this on topic, did Jackie Gleason ever record any 78s?  I'm aware of the LPs (though did somebody say he actually had no connection to those except for lending his name?).

Sammy Jones