So a lot of T.V shows were shot on film as late as the early 2000s. Feature films were shot on film even if made for television. Color movies were gaining ground as early as the 1950s but it took until 1968 for Europe (including the British Isles) to get color T.V. It seems some content made for European and Australasian television was shot on color film even before Europe got color T.V. The Magical Mystery Tour by the Beatles is a made-for-television film that was filmed and first televised in 1967, a year before Europe got color T.V. Was color film used a lot for television, even in Europe, even before 1968? My understanding is that black and white film, at least for cinema, was considered outdated by 1968.
Would The Flintstones and The Alvin Show count? And I'm pretty sure the few Color TV's in existence in 1961-1962 broadcast both shows in color.
I don't know about the Alvin Show but the Flinstones is cell animated, so if the drawings survived long enough, the could just be photographed again in color. But the U.S got color T.V in the early 1950s and Canada and Japan (also 60 Hz countries) got color T.V in the early 1960s. However, many North American T.V shows like Mister Ed and the Dick Van Dyke show were shot on black and white film well into the 1960s. I do wonder if anything made for television in 50Hz countries was shot on color film even before 1967. EDIT: Thunderbirds is a British T.V series shot on 35mm color film between 1964 and 1966 and was first broadcast before Europe got color T.V. This is a science fiction series, set in the future, so using color film seemed wholly appropriate. Additionally, it was done entirely in the studio so perhaps a slower film would have been preferred.
In the US, color TV didn't become prevalent, (as in all prime time shows filmed in color), until 1966, I think. In the '50s, color TV was far from the norm. The Lone Ranger & The Adventures Of Superman were the only 2 US TV shows filmed in color that I know of, & both started out filmed in B&W the 1st 2-3 seasons.
Like was said the first color sets early mid 50's were out of reach for most households ...it would be 10 years before they became "more" affordable ...Wasn't Bonanza specifically shot in color in order to get people to buy color sets?
Magical Mystery Tour was first shown on BBC1 on Boxing Day 1967 in B&W because the channel was still transmitting in 405 line B&W, until the switch to 625 line color in the Fall of '69. BBC2 however was set-up from the get-go as 625 line and capable of transmitting in color, so I believe it broadcast Magical Mystery Tour in color something like a week after the BBC1 broadcast.
In that case, what are some examples of US (and possibly Canadian) prime time shows that were filmed in color before 1966? And I mean shows of which at least some pre-1966 seasons were filmed in color.
Google is your friend: https://www.hometheaterforum.com/co...r-tv-series-pre-1966-compiling-a-list.329348/
Walt Disney had the foresight to film segments for his Disneyland anthology series in color as far back as 1955. When the show moved from ABC to NBC in 1961 to take advantage of that network’s full color capabilities, he had six years’ worth of programming to reuse as needed, this time in color.
It turns out that 1966 is also the year that color TV came to Canada, in that light, were any Canadian TV shows filmed in color before then?
Well, does that thread (on the home theater forum) only list U.S shows or are some Canadian ones listed too? EDIT: Another thing worth nothing is whether all the shows on that list were actually shot on color film or were some mastered in color to videotape. This thread is about ones actually shot on color film, not anything mastered to color videotape. I chose to exclude anything mastered to tape because of the limitations of video at that time, especially having less than 1,000 lines of resolution.
Yes, sponsored by RCA and shown in color to get people to buy color TV sets. And @Myrtonos , to answer your question, "Bonanza' was a prime time network show shot and shown in color starting in the 1959/1960 TV season, so it predates the 1966 date in your earlier post.
Well there would have to be wouldn't there? If there were more answers than questions, then all the questions would have been answered and therefore ceased to exist, leaving only answers. Logic my friend.
According to its Wikipedia page, it was the first television series to be filmed in color: The Cisco Kid (TV series) - Wikipedia
In regard to whether or not 'The Flintstones' originally aired in B&W or color, Wikipedia had this to say: "The first three seasons of The Flintstones aired Friday nights at 8:30 Eastern time on ABC, with the first two seasons in black-and-white. Beginning with the third season in 1962, ABC televised the Flintstones in color, one of the first programs in color on that network.[39]" Of course the first two seasons of 'The Flintstones' were produced in color, just aired in B&W. In regard to 'The Alvin Show', its Wikipedia page has this to say about whether or not it originally aired in color: "Although the series was created in color, it was initially telecast in black and white. It was later rebroadcast in color from 1962-65 for Saturday mornings on CBS and again Saturday mornings on NBC in 1979.[2][3]"
Again, the Flinstones is cell animated. Let us now exclude anything cell animated that has not already been mentioned because the frames are just drawn and painted, each frame can quite easily be photographed more than once.
