Surviving episodes of television from the year 1948
This is an incomplete list of surviving episodes of television content from the year of 1948...there is also some additional surviving episodes from that year.
At the time, the only way to record live television was to directly film the TV monitor screen itself, using equipment designed for that purpose so there wouldn't be flicker...these are known as "kinescope recordings". This was how live TV was recorded before the invention of video tape in the mid-1950s.
Only complete intact episodes are listed.
As you may have noticed, none of these series survive as complete runs except perhaps for the Toscanini specials. The oldest series for which most of the episodes aired were kept come from 1949, and include "Admiral Broadway Revue" (NBC), "Let There be Stars" (ABC) and the second version of "The Morey Amsterdam Show" (DuMont).
I know I am being captain obvious, but some of these series also have surviving episodes from later years (many of the 1949 episodes of "The Morey Amsterdam Show" survive, for example)
Note: DuMont, one of the first commercial television networks, operated from 1946 to 1956. It several popular series including "Captain Video" (1949-1955), "Cavalcade of Stars" (1949-1952), "Down You Go", "Rocky King, Detective" (1950-1954), "The Plainclothesman" (1949-1954), "The Magic Cottage" (1949-1952), and "Life is Worth Living" (1952-1955, moved to ABC as DuMont shut down and continued to 1957).
At the time, the only way to record live television was to directly film the TV monitor screen itself, using equipment designed for that purpose so there wouldn't be flicker...these are known as "kinescope recordings". This was how live TV was recorded before the invention of video tape in the mid-1950s.
Only complete intact episodes are listed.
As you may have noticed, none of these series survive as complete runs except perhaps for the Toscanini specials. The oldest series for which most of the episodes aired were kept come from 1949, and include "Admiral Broadway Revue" (NBC), "Let There be Stars" (ABC) and the second version of "The Morey Amsterdam Show" (DuMont).
I know I am being captain obvious, but some of these series also have surviving episodes from later years (many of the 1949 episodes of "The Morey Amsterdam Show" survive, for example)
Note: DuMont, one of the first commercial television networks, operated from 1946 to 1956. It several popular series including "Captain Video" (1949-1955), "Cavalcade of Stars" (1949-1952), "Down You Go", "Rocky King, Detective" (1950-1954), "The Plainclothesman" (1949-1954), "The Magic Cottage" (1949-1952), and "Life is Worth Living" (1952-1955, moved to ABC as DuMont shut down and continued to 1957).
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