|
|
Post by topbilled on May 31, 2023 14:01:31 GMT
Several shows have the distinction of transitioning to color during their original broadcast runs.
Not every series that began in the late 50s or early 60s had the fortune of starting in color like Bonanza and The Virginian did.
Here's an incomplete list of examples (feel free to add any I've omitted):
Hazel...season 1 in b&w, 2-5 in color...note: one experimental episode from season 1 is in color.
The Beverly Hillbillies...1-3 in b&w, 4-9 in color
Gunsmoke...1-11 in b&w, 12-20 in color
My Favorite Martian...1-2 in b&w, 3 in color
The Andy Griffith Show...1-5 in b&w, 6-8 in color...interestingly, Don Knotts quit the series at the end of season 5, though he did make a few guest returns in the color episodes.
Gomer Pyle USMC...1 in b&w, 2-5 in color
The Lucy Show...1 in b&w, 2-6 in color...season 2 was filmed in both formats and originally aired in b&w, but when the show went into reruns, season 2 was shown in color.
Petticoat Junction...1-2 in b&w, 3-7 in color...one reason the show was renewed for a 7th season despite faltering ratings is because they planned to put the b&w episodes into the vault and only rerun the color episodes so they needed to make sure there were enough color episodes for syndication.
|
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on May 31, 2023 14:08:51 GMT
Wagon Train has the most unusual history re: black-and-white versus color.
Season 1-4 were filmed entirely in b&w...season 5 was done mostly in b&w, however a few episodes from season 5 (five episodes to be exact) were given an increased budget and made in color.
When the show switched networks at the start of season 6, it was produced all in b&w during the sixth season. However, when season 7 started, the show's format changed from fitting into a one-hour time slot to fitting into a ninety-minute time slot. All the expanded episodes from season 7 were filmed in color.
But for WT's eighth and final season, it reverted back to the one-hour format and with a reduced budget was once again filmed in b&w.
|
|
|
|
Post by Guest on May 31, 2023 14:14:36 GMT
Several shows have the distinction of transitioning to color during their original broadcast runs.
Not every series that began in the late 50s or early 60s had the fortune of starting in color like Bonanza and The Virginian did.
Here's an incomplete list of examples (feel free to add any I've omitted):
Hazel...season 1 in b&w, 2-5 in color...note: one experimental episode from season 1 is in color.
The Beverly Hillbillies...1-3 in b&w, 4-9 in color
Gunsmoke...1-11 in b&w, 12-20 in color
My Favorite Martian...1-2 in b&w, 3 in color
The Andy Griffith Show...1-5 in b&w, 6-8 in color...interestingly, Don Knotts quit the series at the end of season 5, though he did make a few guest returns in the color episodes.
Gomer Pyle USMC...1 in b&w, 2-5 in color
The Lucy Show...1 in b&w, 2-6 in color...season 2 was filmed in both formats and originally aired in b&w, but when the show went into reruns, season 2 was shown in color.
Petticoat Junction...1-2 in b&w, 3-7 in color...one reason the show was renewed for a 7th season despite faltering ratings is because they planned to put the b&w episodes into the vault and only rerun the color episodes so they needed to make sure there were enough color episodes for syndication. My Three Sons. From wiki: " 184 black-and-white episodes were produced for ABC from 1960 to 1965, for the first five years of its run. When the show moved to CBS in September 1965, it switched to color, and 196 half-hour color episodes were produced for telecast from September 1965 to the series' end in 1972. " It seems to me that in syndication the plot ones were played more often than the earlier B&W ones. That's just my faulty memory but I don't recall seeing the ones with Mike and Bun as often in reruns. |
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on May 31, 2023 14:33:45 GMT
Yes, I think the original syndication package for My Three Sons only included the color episodes, like had happened with Petticoat Junction. This means those early seasons went unseen for decades.
One example I didn't mention in my original post is The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet. It ran for 14 seasons, and the first 13 seasons (1952-1965) are in b&w. The Nelsons had planned to wrap it up at the end of the 13th season, but were persuaded to come back for one more year...and that final season was made in color.
|
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on May 31, 2023 14:45:29 GMT
Most long-running soap operas that started in the 1950s or early 1960s began in b&w. Unlike network primetime series, soaps tended to take longer to transition to color.
NBC seems to be the network that first transitioned their soaps to the color format. Days of Our Lives began in November 1965 in color. Another World transitioned to color sometime in early 1966. The Doctors went to color in October 1966, and was NBC's last soap to switch over.
But CBS was slower to adapt, and 1967 seems to be the big year its daytime shows transitioned...Guiding Light went to color in March '67; As the World Turns went to color in August '67; Search for Tomorrow went to color in September '67; The Secret Storm also went to color in September '67. The Edge of Night went to color in 1967 and so did Love of Life though I couldn't find which months those two CBS soaps transitioned over.
As for ABC, I couldn't find when General Hospital switched from black-and-white to color. It started in 1963 in black-and-white. Later soaps like One Life to Live which began in 1968 and All My Children which premiered in 1970, were always in color.
Most soaps during the 50s and 60s were recorded live and then the tapes were 'wiped' and recorded over again. The main exception is The Doctors which ran from 1963 to 1982 and has most of its catalogue intact. It wasn't until around 1972 when other daytime soaps started to have their episodes saved. By 1977, it became industry practice to save all soap episodes. This means that aside from The Doctors, if soap opera episodes prior to 1972 survive, even if they were originally filmed in color, they are probably from kinescope copies which were done in b&w.
|
|
|
|
Post by gerald424 on May 31, 2023 15:32:55 GMT
Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie started in B&W and moved to color. And in syndication, they were reluctant to show the B&W episodes until recent years.
In the case of Bewitched, the whole style changed. The B&W episodes look like a 50's movie, a noir even. They left the home, went to restaurants etc... Once it moved to color, they moved to more modern 60s styles and basically stayed inside the Stevens home.
If you notice, the networks really emphasized the color spectrum once the change began. Making a true threshold of "that was the past and this is the present".
Just a note: The English series "The Saint" , even after switching to color would have a scene here and there that was still B&W which was a bit disorienting.
|
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on May 31, 2023 16:23:22 GMT
A few more:
The first season of Gilligan's Island is in black-and-white, while seasons 2 & 3 are in color.
Laramie...1-2 in b&w; 3-4 in color
Branded...season 1 is in b&w and season 2 is in color
F Troop...season 1 is in b&w and season 2 is in color
The first television version of Jack Webb's Dragnet which aired from 1951 to 1959 is in b&w; while the second version which aired from 1967 to 1970 is in color.
|
|
|
|
Post by jamesjazzguitar on May 31, 2023 16:43:25 GMT
Tales of Well Fargo: First 5 seasons were the fairly standard 30 minutes B&W episodes. Season 6 it was one-hour color.
But I admit I like the 30 minute ones more since they have a lot of action and tension packed into their 22 minutes or so running time. The one-hour ones feature a lot more gags and fluff that has little to do with the storyline. While veteran actors William Demarest and Virginia Christine are the responsible for most of this fluff and they have great chemistry, the tension of the storyline (which is often a crime\killing) is broken up too much and tends to follow a set pattern; start = set up the story, next - fluff, next - back to story, next fluff, etc.. I.e. the fluff sections just go on too long where the pace of the story gets lost.
|
|
|
|
Post by NoShear on May 31, 2023 16:47:09 GMT
Branded...season 1 is in b&w and season 2 is in color
There's something interesting - and possibly unique for its time - regarding BRANDED, TopBilled: I'm confident that you will find a three-parter was shot and aired in color while BRANDED was still in its first season. My favorite western, THE WILD WILD WEST, was a cusper. |
|
|
|
Post by sepiatone on May 31, 2023 17:36:26 GMT
Well, y'all covered just about every one I could think of off the top of my head.
Except COMBAT which did the first four of it's five season run in B&W with the last season producing 25 episodes in color.
Sepiatone
|
|
|
|
Post by jamesjazzguitar on May 31, 2023 19:00:37 GMT
A few more:
The first season of Gilligan's Island is in black-and-white, while seasons 2 & 3 are in color.
Laramie...1-2 in b&w; 3-4 in color
Branded...season 1 is in b&w and season 2 is in color
F Troop...season 1 is in b&w and season 2 is in color
The first television version of Jack Webb's Dragnet which aired from 1951 to 1959 is in b&w; while the second version which aired from 1967 to 1970 is in color. I see you list Laramie: This is what Wiki has to say: At the beginning of its third season, Laramie was one of the first television programs that made the transition from black-and-white to color. But yesterday INSP had on Season 1 \ Episode 1 and it was in color. It wasn't until later in the Wiki text that I discovered this: "The series premiere "Stage Stop" (September 15, 1959), which was filmed in color, explains how Slim Sherman and Jess Harper become partners in the Sherman Ranch and Relay Station". The head villain in the episode was Dan Duryea who really elevated the episode. Not to make this thread more complex but I wonder how many early 60s TV shows had the premiere in color but the episodes for the rest of the season in B&W. |
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on May 31, 2023 19:03:43 GMT
Did anyone mention The Fugitive..? I believe its final season was in color, which I think was a mistake, as switching from black and white made it feel less noir (in my opinion).
***
NoShear: Thanks for mentioning Branded. You're correct, three episodes in season 1 were in color...that is because it was a three-part story, and the producers edited those three episodes together to make a feature film for the European market. But then they went back to black-and-white for the rest of that first season.
|
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on May 31, 2023 19:07:22 GMT
A few more:
The first season of Gilligan's Island is in black-and-white, while seasons 2 & 3 are in color.
Laramie...1-2 in b&w; 3-4 in color
Branded...season 1 is in b&w and season 2 is in color
F Troop...season 1 is in b&w and season 2 is in color
The first television version of Jack Webb's Dragnet which aired from 1951 to 1959 is in b&w; while the second version which aired from 1967 to 1970 is in color. I see you list Laramie: This is what Wiki has to say: At the beginning of its third season, Laramie was one of the first television programs that made the transition from black-and-white to color. But yesterday INSP had on Season 1 \ Episode 1 and it was in color. It wasn't until later in the Wiki text that I discovered this: "The series premiere "Stage Stop" (September 15, 1959), which was filmed in color, explains how Slim Sherman and Jess Harper become partners in the Sherman Ranch and Relay Station". The head villain in the episode was Dan Duryea who really elevated the episode. Not to make this thread more complex but I wonder how many early 60s TV shows had the premiere in color but the episodes for the rest of the season in B&W.
I think the success of Bonanza which debuted in color in the fall of 1959 had a profound effect on other western series. Yes, it was more expensive, but color episodes did better in syndication which led to more profits later on. |
|
|
|
Post by NoShear on May 31, 2023 19:45:19 GMT
NoShear: Thanks for mentioning Branded. You're correct, three episodes in season 1 were in color...that is because it was a three-part story, and the producers edited those three episodes together to make a feature film for the European market. But then they went back to black-and-white for the rest of that first season. You're welcome, TopBilled. From the frontier, I move to the proverbial final frontier: LOST in SPACE! |
|
|
|
Post by NoShear on May 31, 2023 19:52:24 GMT
Re: "Not to make this thread more complex but I wonder how many early 60s TV shows had the premiere in color but the episodes for the rest of the season in B&W." Speaking of both this and my aforementioned drop on LOST in SPACE (read: Irwin Allen), here's a strange one for you, jamesjazzguitar: The pilot to VOYAGE to the BOTTOM of the SEA was shot in color but aired in black & white! (Color broadcasts of the series weren't seen until its second season.) |
|
