You know I remember before audio cassettes there were 8 Track Cartridges. I wonder if the replacement of the bulky cartridges with their track bleeding problem by the smaller cassettes happened in TTL or if things just started with the cassettes.
One result of video cassettes developing in the late 70s in OTL was the easier access to the promotional videos made for music singles that had been around since at least the Beatles, who made them so they didn't need to go on Ed Sullivan and other shows to promote new releases.
That easier access and usage of these videos made possible the rise of MTV and the copycat Friday Night video programs on superstations. MTV of course caused major changes in the music industry including a new focus on fashion, the revitalization of dance and a market for newer British acts in the U.S. It also meant that looks became as important for stardom as sound.
So I'm wondering what happens with music video and its consequences in TTL.
I did not know that. Seems I learn something new every update. (Hmm... This is like the PBS of AH.)Brainbin said:The originally dominant wax cylinders that were once known as “records” were phased out after World War I, replaced by the competing vinyl discs, which became known as such from that point forward. However, a critical advantage held by wax over vinyl was that their nature permitted overwriting, or re-recording, the information stored on them.
Was having the option of repeats intended all along? Do you suppose Desilu would have prospered without it?Brainbin said:the creation of the rerun, Desilu Productions became one of the wealthiest studios in Hollywood
Brainbin said:allowed for the act of wiping, in which the magnetic tapes would be reused, and the vintage programming formerly stored on them would be lost forever.
You think the ratings were low OTL.Brainbin said:a pipe-dream that was only slightly more realistic than the rumoured desire by Gene Roddenberry to film Star Trek in Esperanto.
Do you suppose it occurred to anybody to put Desilu's entire catalog on CED?Brainbin said:Ball herself personally found the proposal ridiculous, but she also remembered about how Bill Paley had thought the exact same thing of Desi’s ideas to capture I Love Lucy on film, and to rerun episodes during her maternity leave.
Why am I not surprised?Brainbin said:“The Trouble with Tribbles”, would prove the best-selling video for the system for the first several years of its existence
Why do I feel like the logo should be a white suit signed by Travolta?Brainbin said:branded as DiscoVision
OTL, AIUI, the VTR was a reel-to-reel (professional) machine, while the VCR was a cassette (home) system.Brainbin said:As opposed to videocassette recorders
I should've known I wouldn't be the only one. Oh, well. I do expect TWR to be the only one worth my vote again this year.Brainbin said:I would like to thank vultan, phx1138, and Falkenburg, all of whom were kind enough to independently nominate That Wacky Redhead for the Turtledove Awards
AIUI, 8-tracks had better quality than records in cars (yes, records) & offered longer playing time.Asharella said:You know I remember before audio cassettes there were 8 Track Cartridges. I wonder if the replacement of the bulky cartridges with their track bleeding problem by the smaller cassettes happened in TTL or if things just started with the cassettes.
Walt Disney had kept his studio afloat during an otherwise desperate period by putting such classics as Snow White into new releases every seven years. The notion was that this had been a sufficiently long interval for the rise of a new generation of uninitiated children to enjoy his cartoons; however, plenty of people who had already seen them went to watch them again, as they had repeatedly done during the original release, and as they did for all hit movies.
In fact, Norman Lear had even proposed that Those Were the Days be broadcast in black-and-white, to emphasize the starkness of their situation; CBS naturally turned him down flat.
Meanwhile, across the Pacific in the United States, technological advances came in an entirely different form: optical discs (in much the same size and shape as vinyl records), as opposed to magnetic tape. This eliminated the possibility for end-user re-recording, likely a deliberate consideration by the developers, given their highly litigious society.
Consequently, their formats instead made use of videodisc players, or VDPs. RCA, which owned NBC (largely as a vehicle for the sale of their radios and television sets), employed what was known as the Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) system, under their brand name of SelectaVision.
This technology, a very long time in coming, was finally released in 1977; patents had been issued in 1971, and the earliest demonstrations of the technology had been made by 1973. [7] The manufacturing process for the playback hardware had a lower cost than any of the other formats, allowing for lower selling prices with comparable video quality to the magnetic tape systems. The most drastic limitation on the part of the discs themselves was their length – in their initial release, they allowed only thirty minutes per side of footage (one hour total).
And so, a shrewd negotiator, she made a counter-proposal. She would agree, but on her terms. In addition to a flat fee for each series sold on SelectaVision, Desilu would also receive a large share of the profits from each copy sold of each episode. RCA agreed, so long as this percentage would be tied to sales prices, rendering it a licensing charge, to be treated as part of the larger selling expenses (similar to a sales commission); as opposed to adding it to the cost of goods sold, along with the other manufacturing costs.
VTRs marketed themselves on providing the opportunity for recording broadcast television, allowing for the practice properly known as “time shifting”, which allowed home viewers to record programs they might have otherwise watched, and then see them again at a more convenient time.
[8] IOTL, a portion of an episode of Get Smart (codenamed “Lum Fong”) was used instead.
Obviously, I'm not willing to divulge that at this juncture, and what is normally a major disadvantage of the appeals process (the incredibly long deliberation period) can be converted into something of a strength here (at least, in terms of building suspense as part of an overall narrative arc); I'm not bound to answer you until the 1983-84 cycle, if I follow the OTL timetable. And, in fact, since RCA isn't involved in manufacturing VTRs, their introduction to the American market will be later and less complete IOTL - pushing that case back even further (though I promise that it will be covered before the end of the timeline). So you'll have to sit on that question...Really interesting! I take that Fred Rogers will have his CMOA, right?
8-track cartridges did exist ITTL, yes, but since this post far more heavily emphasized the video aspects of applications for magnetic tape, I chose to gloss over them.You know I remember before audio cassettes there were 8 Track Cartridges. I wonder if the replacement of the bulky cartridges with their track bleeding problem by the smaller cassettes happened in TTL or if things just started with the cassettes.
I would be remiss if I did not post about music videos, especially as we move into the 1980s. But they didn't become a force in popular culture until the launch of a certain all-music-video channel; up to that point, they were primarily a curiosity, a novelty. There's a lot more to cover before that changes ITTL.Asharella said:One result of video cassettes developing in the late 70s in OTL was the easier access to the promotional videos made for music singles that had been around since at least the Beatles, who made them so they didn't need to go on Ed Sullivan and other shows to promote new releases.
That easier access and usage of these videos made possible the rise of MTV and the copycat Friday Night video programs on superstations. MTV of course caused major changes in the music industry including a new focus on fashion, the revitalization of dance and a market for newer British acts in the U.S. It also meant that looks became as important for stardom as sound.
So I'm wondering what happens with music video and its consequences in TTL.
No. Airing in the place of the animated Star Trek series ITTL was an H.R. Pufnstuf cartoon.Asharella said:I'm also wondering about cartoons in this period. I know there wasn't any Animated Star Trek series, but I'm wondering if there was a Tribbles one?
Having grown up on (reruns of) the Ruby-Spears cartoon myself, I remember that property quite fondly (though I've never seen the CGI movies, and from what I understand, I'm not missing much). Again, we're a number of years out from the date of the OTL premiere, so it's difficult to gauge whether such a revival would be successful ITTL.Asharella said:Also there is an animated product that pre-existed Scooby Doo by half a generation and is still popular today. I'm talking about Alvin and the Chipmunks. I watched new episodes when I was in pre-school in the late 50s. My kids watched new episodes when they were that age in the 80s. Now my toddler grandson watches the CGI movies.
No, I'm launching CEDs ahead of schedule ITTL. The Capacitance Electronic Disc (and Laserdisc, for that matter) were analog optical discs; the technology to store, record, and playback video on digital optical discs will not be commercially available until after the end of this timeline, as was the case IOTL.See you're launching DVD's ahead of schedule ITTL.
A distinct possibility - but remember that compact discs are digital and operate quite differently from the analog CED players, which are essentially the same as record players (complete with having a turntable needle that would regularly require replacement). Also, of course, the whole reason there are Home Video Wars is because the territory being contested was terra nullius beforehand; vinyl records are firmly established as the format of choice in their medium, and it will take some time for them to phase out completely (as IOTL); and you will note that the same also holds true for the shift from VHS to DVD IOTL. In fact, as OTL has shown, there is still a place for vinyl in modern music.I wonder if the greater popularity of video-discs will lead to an earlier adoption of CDs (or something similar) for music.
Thank you!Another excellent update (as usual).
I like to carry on the tradition, established by finer, more august authors than myself, to educate about OTL, even as we entertain with the differences of our ATLs.phx1138 said:I did not know that. Seems I learn something new every update. (Hmm... This is like the PBS of AH.)
I think it occurred to the two of them that, since they would want to re-watch their old episodes, so too would the viewing audience. Radio, the genre from which early television stole so much wholesale, virtually always broadcast live, so the idea of reruns was downright alien to them. I can say with complete certainty that Desilu would not have flourished as a studio without reruns; but then, television as a medium would be a very different thing without them, which really deserves its own timeline.phx1138 said:Was having the option of repeats intended all along? Do you suppose Desilu would have prospered without it?
It did, and they are; it's just that Star Trek is the test-bed (remember, RCA has to pay Desilu a flat fee for the licensing of each series).phx1138 said:Do you suppose it occurred to anybody to put Desilu's entire catalog on CED?
I've mentioned before that I'm hesitant to change "Tribbles" because it would be tampering with perfection, but the episode ITTL is probably even stronger. The presence of John Colicos as Kor, who would play his character with more fire and defiance as opposed to the deferential performance of William Campbell as Koloth (and again, I quite liked Campbell as Trelane, so nothing against him as an actor) would be the biggest positive; other little changes, like a few different choices in shot selection (inspired by their mention in Gerrold's book about the episode), and the appearance of Komack as the Admiral, rather than Fitzpatrick, are also beneficial. It would be a stretch to say that people regard "Tribbles" as the best episode of Star Trek, especially ITTL, but it is still probably the most widely-known, and fondly remembered, as IOTL.phx1138 said:Why am I not surprised?
That seemingly anachronistic title did indeed inspire me to investigate further, but it dates from 1969, if you can believe it, so I kept it as-is.phx1138 said:Why do I feel like the logo should be a white suit signed by Travolta?
You are correct, but nomenclature has nothing to do with logic, and the term "VTR" prevailing instead ITTL (especially as VTR formats are less prominent early on) is just one more example of that, to add to countless others. (Even IOTL, Sony v. Universal refers to "VTRs" as opposed to "VCRs", and that was in 1984!)phx1138 said:OTL, AIUI, the VTR was a reel-to-reel (professional) machine, while the VCR was a cassette (home) system.
Thank you, and I appreciate your future votephx1138 said:I should've known I wouldn't be the only one. Oh, well. I do expect TWR to be the only one worth my vote again this year.
Thank you, Glen! And it's certainly been one heck of a year, has it not?Great update on the alternate development of home video and another Desilu connection! Great way to cap the year!
And thank you very much, Andrew!Another fantastic update, Brainbin!
The "Disney Vault", as you note, did exist in an embryonic form prior to home video, but it was really something whose mythos is tied to the development of that medium; after all, it was commonplace that virtually all movies would be out of release, most of the time. But then, over the course of a generation, movies that had lain dormant for decades were suddenly widely available to consumers, but Disney kept up with their (previously quite liberal) release practices. I think the gem in that particular Disney crown would have to be holding off on a home video release of the aforementioned Snow White until 1994 - one year after squeezing out one last theatrical re-release.Andrew T said:Ah, "the Vault" -- a practice that continued at least as far as the late 1980s IOTL. A companion practice was the annual telecasting of movies, of which The Wizard of Oz was the most striking example. VCRs killed that practice IOTL; like (I imagine) millions of other Americans, The Wizard of Oz was one of the very first things our household "taped" off of TV.
I have repeatedly warned all of you that I'm not writing a utopia - and we'll be meeting Exhibit A himself soon enough!Andrew T said:Don't worry, I'm sure TTL's equivalent of Ted Turner -- maybe even Ted himself, although he's been absent so far -- will be around shortly to colorize anything that might have inadvertently been filmed in black and white.
At times like this, I can't help but be reminded of Shakespeare - specifically, Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, Scene 2, Line 73Andrew T said:You say that like it's a bad thing!
This is a very good point, and it got me to thinking about TV-on-CED, and how this format is actually far more conducive to television than to motion pictures. Virtually all shows are half-hour or hour-long programs, meaning that a single episode (or two!) can fit on just one disc; and, of course, they're actually shorter than that, because of commercials. I actually checked through my episodes of Star Trek (50-51 minutes long, and in their original editions, of course) to confirm, and indeed, every episode has an act break between 24 and 30 minutes in. This provides a natural place to interrupt the action, and entice the viewer to rise, turn the disc over, and sit back down.Andrew T said:Two implications: First, having scenes interrupted with text prompts to 'PLEASE TURN DISC OVER' or 'INSERT DISC 2' will become part of the cultural zeitgeist as kids who grow up in the 70s and 80s will simply become accustomed to having to get up in the middle of the movie and flip the disc.
And that is an excellent point, especially since (as noted) the two VTR formats also have a two-hour maximum. For movies that are just over the line (like the OTL Jaws) I suspect that the standard tricks (such as speeding up the credits) will be employed to bring it back under the limit. Since there's going to be some delay between theatrical and home video releases (as there was IOTL), this urgency won't be felt immediately, but you'll note that, especially for CED, the major studios will have a vested interest here.Andrew T said:Second, there will be tremendous pressures to keep movies under two hours in length to avoid shipping a third videodisc. IOTL, some of the biggest blockbusters of this time period are just slightly over two hours in length, including Jaws (2:05), Star Wars (2:01), The Empire Strikes Back (2:09), Superman (2:23) and Superman II (2:08), and so on.
I've always felt that she was a much better businessperson than most people give her credit for; this is me laying it out on the line, so to speak.Andrew T said:That's not just shrewd negotiations; that's essentially a better-than-OTL's-Microsoft deal. If RCA wins the home video wars, That Wacky Redhead has the potential to become one of the richest people in human history.
Fortunately for me, I happen to have a consultant who is an expert in legal and technological matters on retainerAndrew T said:As you note in footnote 12, that will prompt our "highly litigious society" into some serious litigation, as time-shifting remains contentious today even in light of Sony v. Universal.
Was that the OTL one? Which lasted longer TTL? (I do vaguely recall one, & liking it. I also vaguely recall the familiar song was actually the theme.)Brainbin said:No. Airing in the place of the animated Star Trek series ITTL was an H.R. Pufnstuf cartoon.
I'd say they'd count you a worthy disciple indeed.Brainbin said:I like to carry on the tradition, established by finer, more august authors than myself, to educate about OTL, even as we entertain with the differences of our ATLs.
An interesting thought. As for the second point, I entirely agree. It appears TV, again, was perfectly placed for the tech: radio didn't have really good recording media (I can't think making a lacquer copy of every show would be too practical...). Plus, by appearances, radio was following the vaudeville/live theatre model, so recording shows IMO would've seemed like a pretty odd idea in the first place. (It does make me wonder what would've happened if somebody had done it...)Brainbin said:I think it occurred to the two of them that, since they would want to re-watch their old episodes, so too would the viewing audience. Radio, the genre from which early television stole so much wholesale, virtually always broadcast live, so the idea of reruns was downright alien to them. I can say with complete certainty that Desilu would not have flourished as a studio without reruns; but then, television as a medium would be a very different thing without them, which really deserves its own timeline.
Noted. I misunderstood that.Brainbin said:It did, and they are; it's just that Star Trek is the test-bed (remember, RCA has to pay Desilu a flat fee for the licensing of each series).
Change it? No, by no means--except fix the clumsy editing. Other than that, it needed nothing.Brainbin said:I've mentioned before that I'm hesitant to change "Tribbles" because it would be tampering with perfection, but the episode ITTL is probably even stronger. The presence of John Colicos as Kor, who would play his character with more fire and defiance as opposed to the deferential performance of William Campbell as Koloth (and again, I quite liked Campbell as Trelane, so nothing against him as an actor) would be the biggest positive; other little changes, like a few different choices in shot selection (inspired by their mention in Gerrold's book about the episode), and the appearance of Komack as the Admiral, rather than Fitzpatrick, are also beneficial. It would be a stretch to say that people regard "Tribbles" as the best episode of Star Trek, especially ITTL, but it is still probably the most widely-known, and fondly remembered, as IOTL.
Not the anachronism that troubles me: it's an awful name.Brainbin said:anachronistic title
Noted, & not meaning criticism: just sayin'.Brainbin said:You are correct, but nomenclature has nothing to do with logic, and the term "VTR" prevailing instead ITTL (especially as VTR formats are less prominent early on) is just one more example of that, to add to countless others. (Even IOTL, Sony v. Universal refers to "VTRs" as opposed to "VCRs", and that was in 1984!)
I've always thought Disney was extremely smart to do it this way.Brainbin said:The "Disney Vault", as you note, did exist in an embryonic form prior to home video, but it was really something whose mythos is tied to the development of that medium; after all, it was commonplace that virtually all movies would be out of release, most of the time. But then, over the course of a generation, movies that had lain dormant for decades were suddenly widely available to consumers, but Disney kept up with their (previously quite liberal) release practices. I think the gem in that particular Disney crown would have to be holding off on a home video release of the aforementioned Snow White until 1994 - one year after squeezing out one last theatrical re-release.
On the coroner's slab, after Orson Welles hears what he's planning to do to "Citizen Kane"?Brainbin said:we'll be meeting Exhibit A himself soon enough!
Ah, but friend Henry was offering it as a warning: if you mean to control the country, you need to eliminate your most effective opposition, who are least likely to be credibly branded wild-eyed radicals...Brainbin said:At times like this, I can't help but be reminded of Shakespeare - specifically, Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, Scene 2, Line 73
Given every show at the time was structured on four acts, a convenient break is extremely likely.Brainbin said:This is a very good point, and it got me to thinking about TV-on-CED, and how this format is actually far more conducive to television than to motion pictures. Virtually all shows are half-hour or hour-long programs, meaning that a single episode (or two!) can fit on just one disc; and, of course, they're actually shorter than that, because of commercials. I actually checked through my episodes of Star Trek (50-51 minutes long, and in their original editions, of course) to confirm, and indeed, every episode has an act break between 24 and 30 minutes in. This provides a natural place to interrupt the action, and entice the viewer to rise, turn the disc over, and sit back down.
True. Even so, it does suggest pressure on directors to get the project in at around 2h, so the titles/credits can be trimmed/sped enough... Which also suggests pressure (or greater inclination) to indiscriminate &/or bad cutting...Brainbin said:I suspect that the standard tricks (such as speeding up the credits) will be employed to bring it back under the limit.
+1. I think there was some modesty--but also, if she'd being underestimated, it gives her an edge...Brainbin said:I've always felt that she was a much better businessperson than most people give her credit for; this is me laying it out on the line, so to speak.
Intriguing. It suggests the Brits might create something akin to the "TNG" Klingons. (Or, at least, something more nuanced than the OTL "TOS" ones...)CaptainCrowbar said:there's a good chance that post-yank Who would have made quite a few uses of Trek references, and in particular of the Klingons and Romulans (because of all the FX shots that would let them re-use). (For example, I could easily imagine the Big Bads in "The Invasion of Time" being Romulans instead of Sontarans.)
This could have the interesting effect that (at least outside the US) the next generation of fans might actually come to associate the Klingons and Romulans more with Who than Trek. (Depending on where the Trek restart you've been hinting at goes, of course.)
And, in fact, since RCA isn't involved in manufacturing VTRs, their introduction to the American market will be later and less complete IOTL - pushing that case back even further (though I promise that it will be covered before the end of the timeline). So you'll have to sit on that question...
I think it occurred to the two of them that, since they would want to re-watch their old episodes, so too would the viewing audience. Radio, the genre from which early television stole so much wholesale, virtually always broadcast live, so the idea of reruns was downright alien to them. I can say with complete certainty that Desilu would not have flourished as a studio without reruns; but then, television as a medium would be a very different thing without them, which really deserves its own timeline.
For movies that are just over the line (like the OTL Jaws) I suspect that the standard tricks (such as speeding up the credits) will be employed to bring it back under the limit. Since there's going to be some delay between theatrical and home video releases (as there was IOTL), this urgency won't be felt immediately, but you'll note that, especially for CED, the major studios will have a vested interest here.
That attitude hasn't disappeared...Thande said:repeats were not only worthless but the subject of contempt, treated as cynical money-saving laziness on the part of the broadcaster.
Welcome aboard, CaptainCrowbar! You're my first confirmed Kiwi commenter, so now I have the entire Commonwealth Trade Agreement as part of my active readership!Hi! New reader here, only recently discovered this timeline and just caught up. For your demographic purposes, I'm a New Zealander, born 1962.
Well, nobody's perfectCaptainCrowbar said:I've always been much more of a fan of Doctor Who than Star Trek (for the record, though, I liked TNG better than any of the other incarnations).
Congratulations! You're obviously one of the lucky ones. I'm sure that many of the people in this thread envy you greatly.CaptainCrowbar said:Thanks to the fact that we got Who a few years behind the UK, I'm old enough to remember when William Hartnell was the one and only Doctor; he and Patrick Troughton were the heroes of my childhood (although Eccleston is now my favourite Doctor). I'm sad that many of the Who adventures I enjoyed then are now lost and will never be seen again (I have particularly fond memories of "Power of the Daleks" and "Evil of the Daleks", which were the talk of the schoolyard when I was a kid).
I've always thought of New Zealand as somewhat analogous, culturally speaking, to Canada; the cultural pull of a much larger neighbour who is in very close proximity (Australia and the United States, respectively); the continued but distant influence of our cultural heritage (the United Kingdom, mutually); and an established, vocal minority population integral to our national identity, who are distinct from either of these (the Maori and French-Canadians). Obviously it's not a perfect match, of course.CaptainCrowbar said:I'm learning a lot about TV history here, especially on the American side; until the last couple of decades or so, our TV tended to be dominated by British shows. (It's often said, with some justice, that the biggest difference between NZ and Australia is that we tend to look to Britain for inspiration while the Aussies look more to America. Even our spelling follows that model.)
I admire your line of thinking, but production companies are notorious for their reuse of props and models; that Star Trek paraphernalia isn't going any further than elsewhere in the studio lot at Desilu. Some of it might even see reuse in Mission: Impossible, let alone the more fitting choices of Re-Genesis and The Questor Tapes.CaptainCrowbar said:A thought that occurred to me about Doctor Who, in the wake of the Trek crossover: The contract between the BBC and Desilu undoubtedly allowed both studios to make some use of each other's continuity in future episodes. (Even though Trek, at least, doesn't seem to have done anything with this, both studios would have wanted such a clause to avoid awkward constraints on future plots. Probably it had some kind of limits about how often the other series could be referred to, etc.) This might become important after the US run of Who finished; with a reduced budget, but audience expectations formed during the Yank Years, the BBC would have been eager for any opportunity to re-use props, models, FX shots, etc from Trek; and with Trek itself finished, and Desilu having no immediate plans to restart it, they'd probably have been happy to sell a boatload of Trek paraphernalia to Britain at mate's rates. So there's a good chance that post-yank Who would have made quite a few uses of Trek references, and in particular of the Klingons and Romulans (because of all the FX shots that would let them re-use). (For example, I could easily imagine the Big Bads in "The Invasion of Time" being Romulans instead of Sontarans.)
The Yank Years, at best, were something of a mixed bag. There's going to be some sentiment among those in the production team for Doctor Who that they should really return to their pre-established lore and universe, and use the same talented roster of writers who were available to them in the 1970s IOTL to write new material. References to Star Trek will probably be more subtle than any kind of overt continuity crossovers. Star Trek itself will of course never refer to it again, at least on television.CaptainCrowbar said:This could have the interesting effect that (at least outside the US) the next generation of fans might actually come to associate the Klingons and Romulans more with Who than Trek. (Depending on where the Trek restart you've been hinting at goes, of course.)
I can't say I'm surprised. Sony has been responsible for many abominationsAside: one of the ultimate outcomes of Sony OTL is this abominaton.
Pufnstuf never had a cartoon spinoff IOTL; there was just the original series.phx1138 said:Was that the OTL one? Which lasted longer TTL? (I do vaguely recall one, & liking it. I also vaguely recall the familiar song was actually the theme.)
People have done it, though. Plenty of old-time radio broadcasts continue to exist in archival form. You can find many of them on the internet; they've also been sold as, appropriately enough, cassette tapes, a few of which I own personally. Ironically, as noted, most early television broadcasts no longer exist.phx1138 said:An interesting thought. As for the second point, I entirely agree. It appears TV, again, was perfectly placed for the tech: radio didn't have really good recording media (I can't think making a lacquer copy of every show would be too practical...). Plus, by appearances, radio was following the vaudeville/live theatre model, so recording shows IMO would've seemed like a pretty odd idea in the first place. (It does make me wonder what would've happened if somebody had done it...)
Don't worry - all the changes are positive ones, I assure youphx1138 said:Change it? No, by no means--except fix the clumsy editing. Other than that, it needed nothing.
Well, we can't argue with the OTL results, now can we?phx1138 said:I've always thought Disney was extremely smart to do it this way.
I would like to direct you to this article, and please read the last line thereof very carefullyphx1138 said:Ah, but friend Henry was offering it as a warning: if you mean to control the country, you need to eliminate your most effective opposition, who are least likely to be credibly branded wild-eyed radicals...
Yes, and by the late 1970s, the number of commercials has increased further from the days of Classic TV, making it likelier still.phx1138 said:Given every show at the time was structured on four acts, a convenient break is extremely likely.
Well, film editing is a venerable profession, and the 1970s were a good decade for the art IOTL. Perhaps some sort of understanding could be reached?phx1138 said:True. Even so, it does suggest pressure on directors to get the project in at around 2h, so the titles/credits can be trimmed/sped enough... Which also suggests pressure (or greater inclination) to indiscriminate &/or bad cutting...
It certainly wouldn't be the first time that different technologies took hold on either side of the Pond!I suspect that VTRs will be more popular than CEDs in Britain. Since there are fewer reruns, there will be more demand for the ability to "Time-shift" programmes.
What's interesting is that the standard format for CEDs, IOTL, was 30 frames per second, (in NTSC formatting: 450 RPM at four frames per rotation), which is also the standard video framerate as opposed to the 24 frames per second of film. For PAL formatting it was instead 500 RPM at three frames per rotation, which is indeed 25 frames per second. Even under the auspices of the New Hollywood movement, virtually all movies that would enter wide release will be filmed as opposed to videotaped, allowing for up to a theoretical 20% reduction in runtime (6/30). Of course, with a difference that significant, there would be noticeable video and audio irregularities that even a fully tone-deaf person would notice. What was largely done with CED technology IOTL (along with all of the other home video formats with a hard time limit) was a less sophisticated strategy, one still practiced today, of lopping off enough short, inconsequential scenes to get the movie under that arbitrary threshold.NCW8 said:You can actually get away with speeding up the whole film. Films were generally made with 24 frames/second while British tv broadcasts at 25 frames/second. In the seventies, films broadcast on tv would generally just be sped up to 25 frames/s - an increase of 4%. Apparently this had a more noticable effect on the sound (which would be slightly higher pitched) than on the motion. i can't say that I ever noticed it myself - one of the benefits of not having perfect pitch.
In a way it makes sense that there are fewer repeats in the United Kingdom, because the dominant shows over there either have extremely short runs, or are so tightly serialized that they would have no second-run audience. Ever since dramatic series stateside began to become more serialized in the 1980s, those are increasingly difficult to find in syndication as well. And, of course, the aftermarket has become so important in the United States that most shows operate at a loss (at least, for what value the word "loss" has in Hollywood, anyway) until they reach the minimum threshold to be sold into syndication. Two highly divergent approaches.To add to what is said above, I think there is more of a stigma to repeats in Britain compared to the USA--less so today with satellite TV but I remember back in the 80s and 90s when amount of repeats was basically used as an indicator of the quality of a channel, i.e. "ITV has 5% more repeats on this year, they must be going to the dogs". At one point around 1990 I recall people were saying BBC2 was a "basically pointless channel because it's all repeats" (it wasn't, they were just a bit more visible than before). You get my point. This sort of thing does help you understand why the BBC tended to wipe so many programmes in previous years, even years after this had stopped there was a continuing attitude from older generations that repeats were not only worthless but the subject of contempt, treated as cynical money-saving laziness on the part of the broadcaster.
Brainbin,
Just returned after a longish vacation; very impressed with the updates since I left.
Two minor comments:
On the NHL update: with the divisions as you've set them up, there are going to be some teams (LA, Colorado, Vancouver, Edmonton) with horrific travel schedules / budgets due to mulptiple games withing the division. I predict re-alignment in fairly short order.
On the format wars: I know you said - and believe you were correct in so doing - that you weren't going to address porn ITTL; it could be a factor in the format wars, though, as people are going to be reluctant to "interrupt their viewing" in order to flip over a disc.
TB-EI
I seriously doubt that most porn viewers will feel that flipping the disc a half hour into the show would be a let down in their viewing enjoyment. Now if it was five minutes in, then yes.
Notice that I put "interrupt their viewing" in quotation marks.
TB-EI
The Yank Years, at best, were something of a mixed bag. There's going to be some sentiment among those in the production team for Doctor Who that they should really return to their pre-established lore and universe, and use the same talented roster of writers who were available to them in the 1970s IOTL to write new material. References to Star Trek will probably be more subtle than any kind of overt continuity crossovers.
Can't blame this on Sony. Of course, Congress has been responsible for many more abominations, so this is no surprise, either...Brainbin said:I can't say I'm surprised. Sony has been responsible for many abominations
Huh. It has been awhile...Brainbin said:Pufnstuf never had a cartoon spinoff IOTL; there was just the original series.
I was thinking less archive & more Desilu...Brainbin said:People have done it, though. Plenty of old-time radio broadcasts continue to exist in archival form. You can find many of them on the internet; they've also been sold as, appropriately enough, cassette tapes, a few of which I own personally. Ironically, as noted, most early television broadcasts no longer exist.
I knew it was safe with you.Brainbin said:Don't worry - all the changes are positive ones, I assure you
Not me.Brainbin said:Well, we can't argue with the OTL results, now can we?
Today, the timing is a bit odd, so less chance of a "perfect" 24min break...Brainbin said:Yes, and by the late 1970s, the number of commercials has increased further from the days of Classic TV, making it likelier still.
I was thinking more of the suits (not this guy, of course) indiscriminately cutting the films because they don't like Carey Grant looking like a bad guy & ending up with a 48m cut that makes no damn sense.Brainbin said:Well, film editing is a venerable profession, and the 1970s were a good decade for the art IOTL. Perhaps some sort of understanding could be reached?