TOS in black & white?

[Jackson_Roykirk]

I watched TOS in black and white on an old TV that sometimes filled the screen with static (we called it "snow"), and you'd have to beat on the case to get it to clear up. The show was still great! And I agree that the color version seemed almost too colorful, when I encountered it in reruns in the late 70s.

And don't forget you sometimes had to "fine tune" the channel (my B&W had a separate dial on the outside of the main dial for this), and you had to make sure the rabbit ear antennas were configured the best way for that station (or the omega-shaped or bow-tie shaped UHF antenna).

Our color TV had the "cadillac" of rooftop antennas -- it was motorized and could turn 360 degrees, all controlled from a box on top of the TV console.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

I loved it in b&w. Even better while watching on the 1955 Admiral!

 

[Maurice]

Or the instant a flesh tone appeared gray.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Or the instant a flesh tone appeared gray.

Hey, as a colourblind kid in the 60s, I could see bright green grass on b/w cartoons! I saw it that way for about ten years before a family discussion about the coming of colour TV and I realised no one else did.

 

[Gorn66]

There were some unusual B&W 16mm prints on Ebay last year. Apparently made for NBC affiliates way out in the boonies who were not yet broadcasting in color.

 

[gastrof]

There were some unusual B&W 16mm prints on Ebay last year. Apparently made for NBC affiliates way out in the boonies who were not yet broadcasting in color.

Local TV stations didn't air the show on their own until syndication.

Network affiliates received a transmission from the network head, and just re-broadcast it (live, as they got it) in their local area.

Also, since shows broadcast in color would still be viewable on B&W sets, there'd have been no reason for special films to be made for stations that weren't broadcasting in color. The color image would appear on a black and white TV as shown in Shaw's post above.

 

[Gorn66]

How was that done back then? Certainly not by satellite?

I agree making B&W prints of color shows doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Just don't tell that to the BBC.

 

[M'Sharak]

How was that done back then? Certainly not by satellite?

No, it would have to have been by wire.

Satellite was just coming in then for television and wasn't nearly clean nor reliable enough for broadcasting from a live feed. It would be a novelty for national news programs (" ...and now, coming to you LIVE, via satellite... ") and used only for special events until after Star Trek had finished its original run.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I agree making B&W prints of color shows doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Just don't tell that to the BBC.

In the early days there was a huge cost difference between b/w and colour film stock.

 

[Captain Robert April]

One of the mandates from the FCC during the development of color tv transmission was that the signal had to be compatible with the black & white televisions already in use.

Contrast that with the current development of HDTV, which is about to render the vast majority of televisions in use now completely obsolete, unless one goes out and buys a converter box (just what we need, one more piece of equipment to pile on the set...).