TV Life stuff

[Chris]

Inspired by the Lost Art of TV Guide advertising, I thought I'd do something of my own, but instead of the '80s and '90s, I thought I'd go back further to 1954. If people like this, I'll make more, so if you want me to delve into my other issues, just say so!
TV Life - Part 1

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Not sure how far out of Portland this will gain interest, but I found that really fascinating. Can you get me a higher-resolution scan of that Dave Garroway ad? I sometimes slip really old kitschy ads into BANG where real ad space isn't sold.

 

[Chris]

Here is a better picture of the Garroway ad:
http://www.atari2600land.com/tvlife/garrowayad.jpg

 

[RandomMe]

KPTV on channel 27? From what I know, in the mid 1950's, they merged with the local channel 12, forcing it to move to the aforementioned channel.
I assume that channel 12 (before KPTV took it) was with ABC.

 

[Kung-Fu Yoshi]

I liked the TV Life thing. Was it a national or local magazine? And was Space Patrol a local program?

Hopefully episodes exist somewhere...

 

[RandomMe]

I liked the TV Life thing. Was it a national or local magazine? And was Space Patrol a local program?

Hopefully episodes exist somewhere...

Er... I don't know.

 

[Chris]

I don't know, either. I just thought they were really cool, so I picked them up at the flea market.

 

[RandomMe]

I assume that TV Life was local. It was probably a magazine that served as one of the many predecessors to TV Guide (which was around at the time). Or did TV Life start in the same year as TV Guide's birth and KGW's launch? Who knows...

 

[Chris]

What we do know is that TV Life started in 1953, and that KGW was not listed as a TV station. Only KPTV and KOIN were.

 

[RandomMe]

What we do know is that TV Life started in 1953, and that KGW was not listed as a TV station. Only KPTV and KOIN were.

I confused KGW with KOIN... Sorry...

 

[Chris]

We're abusing kids in the second part of TV Life Stuff, now with Captain Midnight!
TV Life - Part 2

 

[Peter Paltridge]

I've never heard of "Adventures of Blinky." I wonder what kind of adventures he had.

Did you notice all the ads with telephone numbers only have four digits?

 

[Chris]

Well, phone numbers back then had a prefix which was two letters, usually uppercase, like, for example, JUdson 4747. You would dial the J (number 5) then U (number 8) and then the four digits.

 

[RandomMe]

Now I know that the first Captain Midnight ever existed on KPTV (then on channel 27) 60 years ago!

 

[Chris]

Part 3 is up. It is NSFW. Well, not really, but, well, read it to find out. At work.
TV Life - Part 3

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Pretty interesting. Keep 'em coming!

 

[RandomMe]

Championship Bowling on KPTV at 11pm. Something that couldn't be worthy of a "highlight" nowadays.

 

[Chris]

Number 4 is up. I'm thinking of restarting TV Life, only using Portland/Salem broadcast stations instead. Anyone want to subscribe?
TV Life part 4.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

So many repairmen. Were TVs so cheaply made that they were breaking this fast? None of the tubes in the area could be that old.

You likely already know that until the 1980's it was common practice to rename network shows that entered syndication.

"Pig'n Bun." What an awesome name for a restaurant. I wonder if it morphed into Pig'n Pancake.

 

[Vance M.]

Number 4 is up. I'm thinking of restarting TV Life, only using Portland/Salem broadcast stations instead. Anyone want to subscribe?
TV Life part 4.

I would, even if I don't live in that area. I hope it's free though.