Friday, October 12, 2007 - 6:50 pm
"Beautiful downtown Burbank."
"The phrase was coined in 1961 by broadcast personality Gary Owens, who used it when announcing Los Angeles-area weather on station KFWB."
This from AP:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i0pbOdrSVgW6Vlk8yZ2amoVxvA9QD8S7CVU80
Friday, October 12, 2007 - 10:34 pm
Even so, their Burbank studios weren't even in downtown Burbank...
Monday, October 15, 2007 - 3:17 pm
To keep this on a radio theme, Clear Channel's L.A. cluster of stations is just a couple blocks away from the Burbank studios.
I had the great opportunity to attend tapings of both Leno and Johnny Carson in Burbank. To this day, one of the most fascinating "media" experiences I've ever had.
Leno came out and warmed up the crowd before the show, (as Letterman also does), but Carson never showed his face, building the anticipation for the audience, and when showtime came (I believe 5:30 pacific) the studio became very quiet, you heard a faint background "in 10, (pause), 5-4-3-2-1, and Doc would start that great theme. Pure TV magic!
Monday, October 15, 2007 - 4:39 pm
NBC Burbank in 1954, originally known as "NBC Color City".
http://www.ev1.pair.com/colorTV/images/otherimages/NBC-ColorCity-1.jpg
Monday, October 15, 2007 - 8:17 pm
As long as we're talking about TV tonight, it should be noted that back in 1951 on this night "I Love Lucy" debuted on CBS.
The first 2 seasons were filmed at the "General Service" studios at 1040 North Palmas Ave. in Hollywood. In 1953 Desilu moved production to the "Motion Picture Center" studios at 846 North Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood. This studio would become the new home of Desilu. (The Ricardo's got a window in their retooled living room.) In 1955 Desilu Productions (Desi Arnaz & Lucille Ball, owners) purchased the lot.
In 1957 Desilu needing more studio space for all their Television productions, purchased the "RKO Radio" studios, which included the "Selznick International" studios (formerly RKO-Pathe) at 9336 West Washington Blvd. in Culver City, and it was renamed the "Desilu-Culver" studios. The RKO Radio studio became known as the "Desilu-Gower" studios. This became Desilu's new headquarters. The old headquarters, at the Motion Picture Center studios became known as the "Desilu-Cahuenga" studios.
This made Desilu, a TV producer, the largest owner of studio space in Hollywood with 62 acres. In 1967 Desilu was sold to Paramount Pictures for $17 Million and became Paramount Television. All this you've just read started on this date in 1951.
