Classic TV: The 50s : Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and white?

Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and white?

I know that film directors would choose, or sometimes alternate, between black & white and color films - why did all TV directors go with black and white? Did they think that it would add a little gravitas to shows like The Abbott and Costello Show?

"Professor Marvel never guesses - he knows!"

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and white?

All TV shows in the 1950s were shot in color, but a much cheaper film stock was used for television programs, and TV shows were usually not as carefully preserved back then (in fact, many kinescopes were simply thrown away), so the colors faded
after just a few short years. Rare exceptions of this included the 1958 TV special An Evening With Fred Astaire; Mr. Astaire, still a big movie star at the time, was able to afford to shoot the special on higher-quality color tape, which
is why the program is one of the few existing 1950s TV shows that has retained its
original color format.




I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!

Hewwo.

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi


All TV shows in the 1950s were shot in color


"Comparatively few series were produced in color in the 1950s because so few viewers had color sets. Color series were often distributed in black-and-white because it was cheaper to make b&w prints and cheaper to transmit them. Same with color movies. So even if you had a color TV, you weren’t guaranteed seeing all of the color shows then being produced in color. I remember my mother reading a letter from her brother in California in which he lamented buying a color TV for the first time and realizing that the only shows he could see in color were “Bonanza” and “Ruff and Reddy” (a Hanna-Barbera cartoon show)."
http://briandanacamp.wordpress.com/2014/02/07/early-color-tv-shows-the -1950s/, emphasis mine

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi


All TV shows in the 1950s were shot in color, but a much cheaper film stock was used for television programs, and TV shows were usually not as carefully preserved back then (in fact, many kinescopes were simply thrown away), so the colors faded



That's a redundant statement. Few TV shows were shot in color until the later part of the decade. Simply because there were no color TV sets widely available to consumers. Even then, it was a gradual transition to color, and programs weren't entirely in color until the mid-60's. The initial cost of color TV sets was high, and some households had black and white TV's until the 1970's. It was similar to the more recent transition to HD.

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi


Very few folks had color TV's and black and white filming was cheaper, both in the original filming and in copying.

I think using black and white was a simple matter of dollars and cents.

Interestingly, the Cisco Kid series, was filmed in color starting in 1950. The producers must have been very far-sighted as color TV's did not come on the market for several years.

I would be interested in knowing if there was a network show filmed in color prior to Bonanza. I don't know of one, other than I think Disney.

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi

I can remember watching Howdy Dowdy around 1953 and the announcer saying the show was in color. Of course, I was watching on a black and white TV and saw no difference.

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi

Also, the last season,, 56-57, of The Lone Ranger was filmed in color.

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi

I realize I spelled Doody wrong, but I paid attention to spell check.

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi

I think it is probably because most people had b/w sets.

Also....The first National broadcast of a color show was of the 1954 Tournament of Roses parade. 'It was not until the mid-1960s that color sets started selling in large numbers, due in part to the color transition of 1965 in which it was announced that over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color that fall.'....Wikepedia




I had the chance to work with Michael Jackson who was as brilliant as they come.
Tommy Mottola

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi

Early color television sets were very, very expensive to purchase and expensive to repair. Plus the color fidelity was poor and you had to be constantly adjusting the color controls. Sure it was in color, but the color fidelity was not good - everything looked like washed out pastels. It wasn't until the late sixties/early seventies that the prices came down and the quality improved to the point that it was worthwhile for the average family to buy one. The networks did not provide 24/7 color programming until the late seventies and the last black and white broadcasting station did not convert to color until 1986.

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi

Color TV then was like VHS and Beta was 20 years later. CBS broadcast a few shows in its color format, but you couldn't see the show on a B&W set. NBC had "compatible" color which you could see on a color or B&W set. And the peacock network was born.

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi

Tonight I found a 1965 Hollywood Palace with Frank Sinatra in living color. One of the sponsors was Zenith Television with its 21" portable TV with the two button remote clicker. All the sets shown were B&W. Not one color set in the ad.

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi

I remember those days. Family members arguing that it was too yellow, too red, or whatever, and constantly getting up to roll a little dial on the side of the TV.

I don't recall much prime time network programming being in B/W after about 1966. If you watch the series that ran several years in the early to mid-60's, there's usually a season where they switched over to color. If you check the year, it's seems 1966 is most common. NBC was much more aggressive in colorizing, and many of their shows were shot in color from about 1959-60 forward. Bonanza being a good example.

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi

I don't think the directors had much to do with it. It was a network decision, revolving around the available technology, and if a show had high enough ratings to warrant it being produced in color. At the onset of color TV, it would have had to be a special event to be shown in color. The fact that the program was shown in color, was more eventful than the program itself. So few people had color TV's, that such programs were promoted well in advance, and usually resulted in crowds gathered around showroom windows at electronics stores.

RCA owned NBC, so there was a lot of cross promoting going on as far as color TV was concerned.

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi

Who needed a color set?

All you had to do was get one of those tinted pieces of glass or plastic that you put over the screen and you had a poor man's color set.

Re: Why did all TV directors in the 50's choose to film in black and whi

Remember watching The Wizard of Oz on a B&W set and missing THE COLOR TRANSFORMATION (Taaaa daaaa) scene !!!
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