Author Topic: The Paley Center for Media in NYC (Read 22418 times)

DoorNumberFour · « **Reply #75 on:** October 04, 2010, 04:17:18 PM »

Update re: the Paley Center...

- Celebrity Sweepstakes is no longer available for immediate viewing, but Jackpot! is. It was the episode from the day before the $38,750 Super Jackpot win, and features its own exciting moment: a Super Jackpot of $30,000.

- Don't know if anyone has mentioned this before, but the 1964 "test" episode of Jeopardy, apart from being uncommonly hilarious, also gives you the main theme in the clear at the end. Definitely worth the view if you go.

- And regarding the museum itself: gone are the days where you pick your two (or four) episodes and get whisked away to a viewing room. Now the Paley Center has what you could consider its own Youtube: all the material is digitized and readily available to search AND view from your beautiful HD LCD monitor. Also, no more episode limits: you now get 2 hours to watch as much as you want, which means you can also skip around and see a bunch of shows during your stay.

MrBuddwing · « **Reply #76 on:** October 06, 2010, 12:08:39 AM »

[quote name=\'DoorNumberFour\' post=\'248696\' date=\'Oct 4 2010, 04:17 PM\']Update re: the Paley Center...
- And regarding the museum itself: gone are the days where you pick your two (or four) episodes and get whisked away to a viewing room. Now the Paley Center has what you could consider its own Youtube: all the material is digitized and readily available to search AND view from your beautiful HD LCD monitor. Also, no more episode limits: you now get 2 hours to watch as much as you want, which means you can also skip around and see a bunch of shows during your stay.[/quote]

I've been there (Manhattan) a couple of times in the past several months and saw three programs. Only one of the three - ABC's notorious bomb "Turn-On" - was available in digital form. The other two shows I watched, an episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" from 1976 and Bing Crosby's last Christmas special, were on tape, which meant going upstairs to a different screening area. (If you're not a member of the Paley Center, you can still watch digitally stored programs, but you need to be a member to watch a tape.)

MikeK · « **Reply #77 on:** October 06, 2010, 06:09:41 PM »

[quote name=\'MrBuddwing\' post=\'248786\' date=\'Oct 6 2010, 12:08 AM\']I've been there (Manhattan) a couple of times in the past several months and saw three programs. Only one of the three - ABC's notorious bomb "Turn-On" - was available in digital form.[/quote]
Veering off-track (surprise surprise), how bad was this?

clemon79 · « **Reply #78 on:** October 06, 2010, 06:13:16 PM »

[quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'248809\' date=\'Oct 6 2010, 03:09 PM\']Veering off-track (surprise surprise), how bad was this?[/quote]
Bask in the crappe. I remember reading about this in one of the original three Books of Lists many many years ago. Two markets canned it in mid-show. Tim Conway couldn't even save it.

MikeK · « **Reply #79 on:** October 06, 2010, 06:25:20 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'248810\' date=\'Oct 6 2010, 06:13 PM\'][quote name=\'MikeK\' post=\'248809\' date=\'Oct 6 2010, 03:09 PM\']Veering off-track (surprise surprise), how bad was this?[/quote]
Bask in the crappe. I remember reading about this in one of the original three Books of Lists many many years ago. Two markets canned it in mid-show. Tim Conway couldn't even save it.[/quote]
I've read about its place in history. I wanted to know first-hand if it was truly that bad.

mmb5 · « **Reply #80 on:** October 06, 2010, 06:36:24 PM »

I've done a fair amount of contemporary research and there's no evidence that it was canceled mid-show by any station.

It committed the cardinal sin of not being funny. If it was even slightly funny it would have been not the curiosity it has become and likely would have lasted a few episodes. And the awful Moog drum loop that played throughout the show didn't help matters either.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #81 on:** October 06, 2010, 11:30:32 PM »

And here's a quick set of clips...

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #82 on:** October 06, 2010, 11:46:59 PM »

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'248831\' date=\'Oct 6 2010, 11:30 PM\']And here's a quick set of clips...[/quote]
Where we see George Schlatter himself telling the "canceled in the middle of the episode" story. Anybody who's read anything approaching an even-handed record of Laugh-In knows that Mr. Schlatter likes to invent history whenever it suits his storytelling.

snowpeck · « **Reply #83 on:** October 07, 2010, 02:00:59 AM »

What percentage of the library is digital now? Last time I was there it was still all on tape (and the nice workers there gave us extra time because we weren't going to be able to come back later in the week--- the museum was only open on the weekend because Adam Sandler was shooting a movie there).

whewfan · « **Reply #84 on:** October 07, 2010, 05:37:04 AM »

Just read the Wikipedia article, and based on what I've read, it looks like an edgier Laugh In... if you will, perhaps jokes and skits that they tried to get in Laugh In and were rejected by the censors at the time. It also appears that Turn On was more cynical than Laugh In. However, most of the jokes IMO were just a series of "rimshots" and I can see why it was pulled after only one airing.

mmb5 · « **Reply #85 on:** October 07, 2010, 12:49:17 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'248833\' date=\'Oct 6 2010, 11:46 PM\'][quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'248831\' date=\'Oct 6 2010, 11:30 PM\']And here's a quick set of clips...[/quote]
Where we see George Schlatter himself telling the "canceled in the middle of the episode" story. Anybody who's read anything approaching an even-handed record of Laugh-In knows that Mr. Schlatter likes to invent history whenever it suits his storytelling.
[/quote]
I know in some other thing I watched about it he claimed it was actually funny. For those of you who want to read an entirely different take on Mr. Schlatter and the Laugh-In days, I highly recommend this entry from Beware the Blog. Whenever that author (Kliph Nesterhoff) submits an entry, it is amazing what he can dig up.

MrBuddwing · « **Reply #86 on:** October 08, 2010, 11:32:14 AM »

I thought this amateur review of "Turn-On" described it pretty well:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063960/usercomments-22

MrBuddwing · « **Reply #87 on:** October 08, 2010, 11:40:53 AM »

[quote name=\'mmb5\' post=\'248814\' date=\'Oct 6 2010, 06:36 PM\']It committed the cardinal sin of not being funny. If it was even slightly funny it would have been not the curiosity it has become and likely would have lasted a few episodes. And the awful Moog drum loop that played throughout the show didn't help matters either.[/quote]

One gag caused a flicker of a smile to cross my face. Only one. Beautiful, blindfolded blonde Maura McGiveney is facing a firing squad. A soldier (played by Hamilton Camp) says to her, "I know this may seem a little unusual, miss - but in this case, the firing squad has one last request."

One flicker does not a 30-minute comedy show make.

Tim L · « **Reply #88 on:** October 08, 2010, 12:45:05 PM »

Here is a quote from UPI TV Writer Rick DuBrow's column Monday, February 10, 1969-An excerpt from the Elyria (Ohio) Chronicle-Telegram:Courtesy Newspaper Archive

STATIONS IN Cleveland,
Denver and Little Rock, Ark.,
canceled "Turn-On" last
week. One station manager
wrote ABC:
"If your naughty little boys
have to write dirty words .on
walls, please don't use our
walls. It's all right to be racy,
but this is just plain dirty."

Though it doesnt say here, the station manager that wrote ABC was said to have been WEWS-TV 5 Cleveland Station Manager Don Perris..