Week of September 29: Let's Go To the Videotape

By Sylvia Gurinsky

A chance viewing of an episode of the British comedy "To the Manor Born" generates this column about, of all things, videotape.

The episode of this comedy, aired by the BBC from 1979-81, featured a lot of exterior shots. All of those, as was the tradition at the time, were shot on film, while the interior shots were on videotape. That was a tradition in Britain as late as 1992, when early exterior shots on the comedy "As Time Goes By" were on film.

The genesis of videotape on live television in the United States took place during the 1950s; the first major color videotape presentation was the NBC special "An Evening With Fred Astaire" in 1958.

Daytime television programs such as soap operas and game shows were starting to show up on color videotape during the late 1960s (Sadly, many were erased and are now lost.). But the first primetime television series to be shown on videotape was "All In the Family" in 1970.

Exterior shots on videotape on American television series were already common by the mid-1980s. One of the most famous examples was on a soap opera - Luke and Laura's wedding on "General Hospital" in 1981. It was watched by 30 million viewers.

These days, most American prime-time television shows are shot on film. While film provides a sense of "urgency," one misses the you-are-there, intimate atmosphere generated by videotape.

See you next week. Until then, Happy Viewing!