Remembrance Wall

Television - Film’s forgotten cousin

Television programming has frequently been left behind in reference to preserving our moving image heritage. Yet television has played an important role in shaping the political, cultural, social, and economic trends during the second half of the 20th century. Part of the issue in gaining wider acceptance to preserving our past as reflected on the small screen is that unlike film, television is not perceived widely as an art form. As a result, television programming has suffered much the same stigma as early silent film – as an ephemeral product that is easily disposable. Another issue involves the preservation of a medium that suffers from technological obsolescence. As an example, three Fred Astaire specials from 1958-1960 could not initially benefit from intervention since it took some hunting to find a machine that could playback the 2 in. color videoreels that had been used to tape the programs.

Below are just a few prime examples of television programming that has been lost, found, or forgotten.

The original I Love Lucy pilot was lost for nearly four decades until discovered by the widow of Pepito the Clown, a Spanish clown who had appeared in the pilot. The pilot was subsequently telecast for the first time in 1990. Other lost Lucy footage (now found) includes new opening segments that introduced re-broadcasts of episodes as “flashbacks” and a Christmas show that incorporated scenes from previous episodes.

The Dumont Network briefly showcased the series The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong that aired in 1951 between August 27 and November 21. It starred Anna Mae Wong as an art gallery owner and detective.

A countless number of unsold television pilots are produced every year, seen once or not at all. One of these is the pilot for the series that would become The Dick Van Dyke Show. Titled Head of the Family and shown in 1960 on the summer replacement series, Comedy Spot, it starred Carl Reiner and Barbara Britton in the roles Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore would essay. A set of pilots never broadcast were three produced for the series that would become the landmark, All in the Family. The first pilot was produced in 1968 under the title, Justice for All. It starred Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton in the roles of Archie and Edith Justice. The second pilot, Those Were the Days, was produced in 1969, again starring O’Connor and Stapleton, but this time as Archie and Edith Bunker. The first two pilots were produced for ABC with different actors in the roles of Gloria and Mike. The third pilot that was made for CBS with Sally Struthers and Rob Reiner is still considered lost.

Rod Serling wrote a number of dramas between 1950-1953 now considered lost:

Numerous episodes of The Storm, a series broadcast locally in Cincinatti, Ohio

Serling’s first network teleplay, Grady for the People which was written for the series Stars Over Hollywood

Numerous episodes of Lux Video Theatre

Sports programming, especially before the advent of home video, has been lost over the years due to networks erasing the tapes so that they could be re-used for other programming. The most famous casualty of this practice is Superbowl I, which was broadcast on January 15, 1967. Other casualties are Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962 and early NHL All-Star games.

A dress rehearsal for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (recorded March 17, 1957) starring Julie Andrews was found in the CBS Television archive. The film had been preserved, but not viewed for 45 years. The March 17 run-through was to simulate the final production as closely as possible. The creative team decided to make several changes in the two weeks before the live broadcast—variations in staging, costumes, props, song placement, dialogue and camera.

For more information about lost television:

Museum of Television and Radio "Lost" Programs list

The British TV Missing Episodes Index

Missing, Believed Wiped by Dick Fiddy (British Film Institute: 2001). Recounts the BFI’s efforts to locate and reclaim much of the UK’s missing television material.