The first Golden Age of TelevisionThe Dark Side of Television's 'Golden Age' - Pacific Standard is an era of television in the United States marked by its large number of live productions. The period is generally recognized as beginning in 1947 with the first episode of the drama anthology Kraft Television TheatreAnthony Slide, ed., The Television Industry: A Historical Dictionary, Greenwood Press, 1991, p. 121. and ending in 1960 with the final episode of Playhouse 90, although a few Golden Age shows and stars continued into the 1960s. The Golden Age was followed by the network era, wherein television audiences and programming had shifted to less critically acclaimed fare, almost all of it taped or filmed.
Limitations of early television
Prior to 1928, there had been some attempts at television programming using the mechanical television process. One of the first series made specifically for television to have a sustained run was CBS's 1931–1933 murder-mystery series The Television Ghost, which ran for all 19 months that its flagship television station, then W2XAB, was on the air. The limits of mechanical television inherently meant that these productions were extremely primitive; The Television Ghost, for example, consisted entirely of a 15-minute monologue of a single actor, with the only visual shot being the actor's head.
By the time electronic television matured in the late 1930s, some more varied experimental programs, including live sportscasts and some game shows (such as the CBS Television Quiz and Truth or Consequences), were appearing. In 1942, most television service was suspended because of World War II. The decade-long period of new developments in television technology enabled broadcasting companies to prepare for the end of the war, and the ensuing postwar prosperity allowed for increased consumer purchase of television sets.
Early television broadcasts were limited to live or filmed productions. The first practical videotape system, Ampex's Quadruplex, only became available in 1957. Broadcasting news, sports and other live events was something of a technical challenge in the early days of television and live drama with multiple cameras was extremely challenging. A live, 90-minute drama might require a dozen sets and at least that many cameras. Major set and other changes had to occur during commercials, and there were no "second takes". The performing cast and crew operated with the awareness that as many as 10 million people were viewing their telecast, and any error was seen live.
After the adoption of videotape in 1957, many live dramas were shot "live to tape", still retaining a "live" television look and feel but able to both preserve the program for later broadcast and allowing the possibility of retakes, still rare since videotape editing required a razor blade and was not done unless absolutely necessary.
With the availability of videotape, networks used it more often for daytime programming, such as soap opera dramas. During the 7:30 pm to 11 pm "prime" viewership period, use of filmed (rather than live) programming grew from 1951's 20%, and 1956's 58%, to 1961-62's ca. 80% filmed episodes.Anreder, Steven S. "Out of the Dark Room." Barron's National Business and Financial Weekly, 10 July 1961, 5.
In Britain, from the very beginning of regular television broadcasting in 1936 until the 1980s, interior scenes for television drama and comedy shows were shot with electronic cameras, while exterior scenes were shot with film cameras. This arrangement conditioned British viewers to identify a "live" look with interior scenes and a "film" look with exterior scenes. In the U.S. and West Germany, most shows were produced completely in either film or video to avoid jarring difference in frame rate. Most other countries avoided outdoor shots for television productions as much as they could until portable video cameras became available.
By the early 1960s, about 90% of American households had a television set, and the roles of television and radio had changed significantly. Radio was largely saved from obsolescence by the invention of the far more portable transistor radio in the 1950s and the concurrent rise of higher-fidelity FM radio, so that radio became primarily a medium for music, while scripted programming became wholly the domain of television.
Evolution of high-culture drama on television The early days of television introduced hour-long anthology drama series, many of which received critical acclaim. Examples include Kraft Television Theatre (debuted May 7, 1947), The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (debuted September 27, 1948), Television Playhouse (debuted December 4, 1947), The Philco Television Playhouse (debuted October 3, 1948), Westinghouse Studio One (debuted November 7, 1948), and Your Show Time (debuted January 21, 1949).
High culture dominated commercial network television programming in the 1950s with the first television appearances of Leonard Bernstein (on Omnibus) and Arturo Toscanini, the first telecasts from Carnegie Hall, the first live U.S. telecasts of plays by Shakespeare, the first telecasts of Tchaikovsky's ballets The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, and the first opera specially composed for television, Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors. The Bell Telephone Hour, an NBC radio program, began its television run featuring both classical and Broadway performers. The networks employed art critics, notably Aline Saarinen and Brian O'Doherty, something that was mostly discontinued by the start of the digital television era (CBS's John Leonard being the last of significance).
As a new medium, television introduced many innovative programming concepts, such as the diverse cultural programs of Omnibus that debuted on November 9, 1952, and won 65 awards during its run until April 16, 1961.
Prime time television drama showcased both original and classic productions, including the first telecasts of Walt Disney's programs, as well as the first telecasts of Mary Martin in Peter Pan, MGM's classic The Wizard of Oz and Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. The first screen adaptation of a James Bond story was a teleplay, "Casino Royale", that aired in 1954. Critics and viewers looked forward to new teleplays by Paddy Chayefsky, Horton Foote, Tad Mosel, Reginald Rose, Rod Serling, William Templeton, Gore Vidal and others. A few of these teleplays, including Rose's Twelve Angry Men and Chayefsky's Marty, would be adapted for film and other media and go on to great acclaim.
Most of these programs were produced as installments of live dramatic anthologies, such as The Philco Television Playhouse, Kraft Television Theatre and Playhouse 90. Live, abridged versions of plays such as Cyrano de Bergerac, with members of the cast of the 1946 Broadway revival recreating their roles, were regularly shown during this period. Playhouse 90 was one of the last shows of its kind; by the late 1950s, production of most American television was moving to Hollywood, which itself carried a contrasting culture and sensibility to shows based in New York City, where most Golden Age programs originated.
The last survivor of the Golden Age's highbrow programming was Camera Three, CBS's "obscure"Mercer, Charles, Associated Press writer, Television World column, "Obscure Program Hailed For Daring to Be Different", The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Thursday 26 January 1956, Volume LXII, Number 127, page 6. Sunday morning arts anthology that began nationwide distribution in 1956.Higgins, Robert. (1964, August 8–14). So They Hired Richard Burton for $124: And That's Just One Example of Camera Three's Resourcefulness. TV Guide, pp 22-24. It would be carried on CBS until 1979, when CBS News Sunday Morning took over the time slot and included some arts content among its features.
This high culture approach to television could be interpreted as a product of its time as networks were concerned with "cultural uplift" and viewed it as a way to cultural legitimacy on the new medium. A similar uplift occurred in the late 1990s to early 2000s, when the networks were switching to high definition format. This was the time when Discovery Channel commissioned Discovery HD Theater to broadcast HD documentaries about nature and history, while BBC released Planet Earth. This coincided with the rise of the new Golden Age of Television that arose in the twenty-first century.
American television genres
Comedy and variety shows were popular. Comedy stars with their own shows included: Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Burns and Allen, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, and Groucho Marx who starred in his quiz show You Bet Your Life. Dinah Shore, Perry Como, Eddie Fisher, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Lawrence Welk as well as other stars had popular weekly musical variety shows. The Ed Sullivan Show showcased many famous acts during the decade.
Professional wrestling was one of the most popular genres of programming in the early days of television, largely based on the star power of Gorgeous George Wagner. Wagner's in-ring character became the biggest drawing card the industry had ever known. With the networks looking for cheap, effective programming to fill its time slots, pro wrestling's glorified action became a genuine hit with the viewing public, as it was the first program of any kind to draw a real profit. Consequently, it was Gorgeous George who brought the sport into the nation's living rooms, as his histrionics and melodramatic behavior made him a larger-than-life figure in American pop culture.
His first television appearance took place on November 11, 1947, an event that was named among the top 100 televised acts of the 20th century by Entertainment Weekly. He immediately became a national celebrity at the same level of Lucille Ball and Bob Hope, who personally donated hundreds of chic robes for George's collection, while changing the course of the industry. No longer was pro-wrestling simply about the in-ring action, but Wagner had created a new sense of theatrics and character performance that had not previously existed. In a very real sense, it was Gorgeous George who single-handedly established television as a viable entertainment medium that could potentially reach millions of homes across the country. It is said that George was probably responsible for selling as many television receivers as Milton Berle.
Westerns quickly became a staple of 1950s TV entertainment. The first, on June 24, 1949, was the Hopalong Cassidy show, at first edited from the 66 films made by William Boyd. A great many B-movie Westerns were aired on TV as time fillers, starring actors like: Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, John Wayne, Lash LaRue, Buster Crabbe, Bob Steele, Johnny Mack Brown, Hoot Gibson, Ken Maynard and others. A number of long-running TV Western series became classics in their own right.
Notable TV Westerns include: The Gene Autry Show, The Roy Rogers Show, Gunsmoke, The Lone Ranger, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, The Rifleman, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Have Gun – Will Travel, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Tales of Wells Fargo, The Range Rider, The Cisco Kid, Bonanza, The Virginian, Wagon Train, The Restless Gun, Trackdown, Annie Oakley, The Big Valley, Maverick, The High Chaparral, Sugarfoot, Cheyenne, The Adventures of Kit Carson, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, Death Valley Days and many others.
The mid-1950s were a period of rapid growth in popularity for the quiz show format until it was beset by a series of scandals, hastening the end of the golden age. Lower-budget game shows and panel shows continued to be popular as daytime fare for several decades after.