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I'd have to say that the bravest man in television is someone whose name I do not know. He's a cameraman who was on the set of the recent live performance of On Golden Pond. Julie Andrews was wonderful, of course, as was Christopher Plummer. But the chap who deserves the kudos is the brave soul with the mobile camera who tracked Ms. Andrews as she descended the stairs. It occurred to me that he had to walk backwards down the stairs on live television. It's a minor moment in television history, but one worth mentioning because it so rarely happens these days.Live television was the norm in the forties and fifties. Then it died at about the same time as the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. Television moved out of New York as well and most of what you see is pre-recorded and from Hollywood. If you're wondering when television lost it's edge, it was that moment.
We see glimpses of it today in Saturday Night Live. You get a feel for what television was live. George Clooney took a gamble with broadcasting Fail Safe live and in black and white. E.R. did a live episode also. Survivor II changed the game a bit to accommodate a live revelation of the winner. Sporting events and awards shows are live. All of these have an exciting element Live means risk. You never know when a naked man will come trotting across the stage or an actor will go to the bathroom with the mike still wide open.
I watched the Game Show Network not too long ago. Beat the Clock was on. It was an old kinescope of a live show. The camerawork was choppy and there were gaps, flubs, and some awkward moments. All the contestants seemed to be from Brooklyn. It was fascinating to watch and I felt like some archaeologist who had discovered a lost civilization of appliance worshipping Brooklynites. Most of all, it was fun.
Television's greatest assets are its accessibility and its immediacy. Casually, we've thrown one of its strong points into the ash bin of history. Everyone can see a T.V., but there is a disconnect between what we see and what we feel. Taped television is something we watch, live television is something we experience.
Television had little choice but to be live in the early days. The Hollywood studios, in a fit of jealousy and terror, forbade many of their stars from appearing on television. What's more, recent movies were not allowed to appear either. Most of the films on television were old saws from the early thirties. It wasn't until 1961 that a post-war film appeared on television.
Most of the live programming during those days was abysmal. There was a great deal of local programming during that time. With the non-cooperation of Hollywood, many station owners struggled just to get something, anything, on the air. Consider Polka-Go-Round, a prime time show that ran on ABC. Live from Chicago, it aired an hour of polka music for every Monday for over a year.
Still, there were some pearls. Playhouse 90 was the standard by which most television dramas would be measured for the decades to come. Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight was the second episode of this series of live dramatic programming. Other entries included Charley's Aunt, The Miracle Worker, The Days of Wine and Roses, and the Plot to Kill Stalin. All of it was live and dangerous to produce.
It's not my nature to get weepy and nostalgic for the good old days, however. Yes, Omnibus and Playhouse 90 were really good live shows and The Ed Sullivan Show will never be rivaled. Yet I do not wish to look back. We should make the effort bring live television into the 21st century with us. On Golden Pond was not my cup of tea. I'm not the sentimental type. I'm an analytical. Dramas about broken family relationships don't really interest me.
Even so, I watched it. It was live television.
It was too compelling not to watch.
Clinton James holds a Masters Degree in Art History. A former professor, he now lectures nationwide.
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