Bed scene, color broadcast and other television innovations that have emerged in the last century

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the Internet era, fewer and fewer people prefer television. But earlier this discovery brought a lot of benefits, and also became one of the main ones, thanks to which the world saw many interesting things: from the first appearance of the president on the screen to the demonstration of the personal life of the then actors. Here are five interesting things that were shown on TV much earlier than we thought.

1-2. First couple to share bed / First pregnancy: Mary Kay and Johnny (1947-1950)

Many believe that it was Lucille Ball who became the first pregnant woman to be shown on a TV show. However, this is a slightly erroneous statement, because the first pregnancy planned and introduced into the plot belongs to the show "Mary Kay and Johnny". We also note that this was the first show where they showed how the heroes share a matrimonial bed. Starring a real-life couple, Johnny and Mary Kay Stearns, this series was the very first comedy show on TV. It was filmed for free and aired on Dumont, NBC and CBS for three years. Alas, this series was not recorded on tape, and therefore its digital recordings have not been preserved.

When Mary Kay became pregnant, she continued to play in the show, however, the pregnancy was never advertised and was always carefully hidden on the screen. However, the birth of the child was in the script. When the girl went to the maternity hospital, Johnny appeared on the TV show, nervously paced the stage in anticipation of his paternity. Note that already at the age of one month, their son Christopher joined the couple on the set, while remaining both behind the scenes and in his limits.

3. First color TV show: Doll, Fran and Ollie (1947-1957)

Although Little Sisko (1950-1956) and Marriage (1954) were the first shows in the world to be released in color from their first episodes, the first experimental color television show hit the world in 1949 with the show's launch. Doll, Fran and Ollie. At the time, the FCC was testing the RCA linear color system. And on the same day, after the tests, the first episode of this series was shown for the second time, but this time in black and white. Luckily for us, both versions survived on media and are now available for viewing on DVD.

This show, which was one of the first to be shown throughout the country, told about the circus troupe "Puppet Politan Players", which consisted of twelve puppets and one person. The leading role in this series was played by the then famous actress and singer Fran Ellison. Other, no less main and beloved heroes were a clown named Doll, as well as a funny dragon named Ollie. The series was insanely popular at one time not only among children, but even among adults. This can be judged at least by the amount of feedback from fans. So, the actors received over fifteen thousand letters every day. This series was nominated six times for an Emmy in the category "Best Children's Program", and one day he did win it, and it happened in 1952.

4. First film shown on TV: "Crooked Circle" (1932)

It is generally accepted that it was The Wizard of Oz (1939) that became the first film to be shown on television. But this is far from the case. The Crooked Circle (1932) is a film that tells the story of a group of amateur detectives who were planning to expose a secret group of occultists. A year after the film hit the airwaves, the Dong Lee television system in Los Angeles decided to show the movie on its experimental station W6XAO. However, despite this, many were never able to see the film, because not every house had a television station, and therefore it remained inaccessible to the general public.

In 1940, the film was shown at an experimental station, this time owned by NBC. The WNBC-TV station, which was owned by the company, was located not just anywhere, but in New York itself. Note that in 1951, NBC became the first nationwide television network in the United States, and in 1953 it was the first to host an Oscar. As television became more accessible to ordinary people, the popularity of movie theaters began to decline sharply. Therefore, by 1955, such a practice as the sale of the rights to their films, released before 1948 inclusive to viewers, became an absolute norm. And only on November 3, 1956, such a picture as "The Wizard of Oz" was released and was shown on television in prime time.

5. First public television show: 1926

Despite the fact that televisions at one time represented a rather rare and even luxurious piece of furniture and were not widespread among ordinary people, the first public demonstration of television took place on January 27, 1926. And all this was made possible thanks to the efforts and courtesy of the Swiss inventor John Loughie Byrd. John was able to expand and improve the system of the German scientist Paul Nipkow, who patented his ideas and designs for a television system in 1884. Despite the fact that many scientists and technicians tried to diversify and improve these ideas, to bring something of their own to them, it was Byrd who managed to create the first clear image, which he presented to the public in London.

He christened his invention "television," which used mechanical rotating plates to scan moving images and transmit them to a screen. In January 1928, the scientist went to New York, where he spoke about his unique invention. Four months after his visit, a few lucky families were able to receive the coveted prototypes, which were assembled by General Electric for an experimental broadcast.

After nearly a decade of innovation and innovation, the televisions were presented at the 1939 New York World's Fair, where they were successfully sold. Note that Franklin Roosevelt spoke during the exhibition with his words and speeches, thereby becoming the first president to appear on television. On June 1, 1941, NBC and CBS obtained their first commercial licenses for television from their stations in New York. It was this day that went down in history as the first day of the appearance of television, since all its other launches were considered experimental.

Continuing the topic - read also about how they managed to predict the future.