That Was The Week That Was - June 12, 1964

[@robertbaker4284]

I don't recall this particular episode, but I recall the show very well. In later years I considered it the harbinger and inspiration for SNL's Weekend Update as it premiered in 1975 as anchored by Chevy Chase. As well as the inspiration for the many political satire sketches for which SNL became famous during presidential election years.

[@nelsonlugo45]

Thanks for providing this gem of a memory. I've wondered for decades if there was any record of the most memorable show from my youth. Awesome!

[@richardranke7878]

OMG!I did see this TW3 episode when I was nine.The one thing I always remembered was the story of Goldiewater and the Three Elephants-which I understand perfectly now! (Chuckle!)

[@pholkiephred]

This is a true treasure; I hope more of them exist. The show helped put me on a path of being a lifetime progressive Democrat.

[@joelholmes1260]

I always watched this show on American TV back in 1964, even though I was only nine years old at the time. Of course, it was almost always completely one-sided ideologically. Why no video clips of the 1964-65 U.S. version, which paved the way for later efforts at televised satire in subsequent decades?

[@653j521]

Joel Holmes They were very much in favor of civil rights. The humor was based on intellect rather than emotions and required a great deal of knowledge. I don't imagine it found a lot of viewers in certain sectors of the country. To my way of thinking they were on the right side of history. Certainly mentioning Johnson with Vietnam and Laos is chilling.

[@markschildberg1667]

Very few episodes of the NBC version of TW3 survive on kinescope. NBC's practice at that time was to wipe tapes once shows had broadcast (tape was expensive). And since TW3 was a live show with all-topical humor, there didn't seem to be the desire to preserve episodes. Yes, it's a shame, since there was so much talent on the show and many stars-to-be appeared on it. Fortunately, these acetate dubs of the audio were made for each episode, and the scripts are archived at a university (I forget which).

[@jehobden]

2:05 I recognize Alan Alda's voice there.

[@hebneh]

Now why would this TV show's soundtrack be played on the radio, with no visuals? I watched this show when my parents did, but at the age of 10 I didn't understand the great majority of what was being discussed.

[@ericn.wilson2345]

If they didn't save (or even make) the kinescopes, it might've been for internal reference, in case the legal department had to cover the network's butt.

[@fazbell]

Watched it at age 13 and sensed that it was important but I did not have the reference points to understand it all.

[@robertgift]

What was the upbeat variety program which was aired on Friday evenings? Used Put on a Happy Face as theme song.

[@robertgift]

Thank you HF. That was it! I was always happy to see it because it because Friday night meanthe start of two days of no school. It was only somewhat entertaining to my 13-year-old mind.

[@ivanlieberburg6055]

I watched this show religiously when I was 15. Too bad there are no visuals. It was biased, but in my direction.

[@jehobden]

@curiositykilledthebattery HOLLYWOOD PALACE was usually on Saturday nights, except for 1967-68, when ABC moved it to Tuesday nights, moving it back a year later.

[@JoeKaye-hn5dt]

The kinescopes were supposedly destroyed. Probably deliberately. Too bad. This is unfettered history. Presented with a bias, but very funny. I was 14, watched this with my UAW dad who religiously voted (D) in those days - but not for long after that.

[@cosmokramer1987]

They have absolutely no kinoscopes saved of this show?

[@brianphillips1374]

There are at least two episodes. They are or were at the Museum of Broadcasting in New York. I recall Henry Fonda was the guest on the episode that I saw.

[@artchimes8584]

TW3 was produced by Leland Hayward Productions, and NBC dutifully made copies of the shows. But LHP declined to purchase them-I've seen the memo-likely figuring there was little financial upside to peddling TW3's brand of topical satire in years to come. So the tapes were destroyed. NBC retained recordings of a handful of shows, for its own purposes, on black-and-white 16mm kinescopes (the 1963 pilot and some shows from the 1964 season, which aired in monochrome) and on color videotape (after the show switched to color for its final season). However, audio of all the TW3s survives, mostly through the efforts of private collectors. (I'm one of those collectors, and the appearance of this NBC disc recording came as a welcome surprise.) Also, there are program scripts in the collections of the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress.

[@cosmokramer1987]

@@brianphillips1374I just saw your answer seven years later. lol, thank you sir!

[@brianphillips579]

@@cosmokramer1987 You're welcome. In the American version, Tom Lehrer contributed songs to this program. He sang them himself on his records, not only because he wanted to have a recorded evidence, but also, because, on occasion, his songs were sung by a woman named Nancy Ames, who, in one interview, he called "a robot".