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Let us not forget all the great Saturday morning westerns
The Lone Ranger
Cisco Kid
Lash LaRue
Johnny Ringo
Tales of Wells Fargo
Et al

Many of them are on Youtube if interested.

Also a link to Louie Mattar's marvel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HUCI4pLPR8
 
Darwin - in my day, those westerns were on during prime time - not Saturday morning! TV wasn't even broadcast 24/7 back then, and Saturday morning in the late 1940s early 1950s was just the "test pattern" -

312px-RCA_Indian_Head_test_pattern.png

I think Saturday TV came on at 5pm.
 
I remember that pattern well. Used to stare at it until the good Captain, Green Jeans, Mr. Moose, and Bunny Rabbit came on. Made me mad 'cause I always had to run for the school bus in the middle of Tom Terrific and Manfred the Wonder Dog. Some I mentioned were prime time but there were many Saturday morning westerns. They would run from 6-7 a.m. until noon. No babysitter needed. Give me a bowl of dry cereal and leave me be.
 
It was always disappointing to turn the TV on (early) to find the test-pattern.
 
Gliderman8 said:
Iā€™ll add Sea Hunt...
Click to expand...

You could always count on the obligatory cutting-of-the-regulator-hoses during an exciting scene in Sea Hunt.
Funny how Lloyd Bridges is probably now better known as an actor in the "Airplane" movies.
 
Who can forget the adventures of Sky King and his niece Penny flying around in his Cessna T-50 and later Cessna 310 saving the world from evil doers. Such adventure for young minds.
 
Sky King! Yes - really loved that series (and Penny ...). That T-50 wasn't bad either!

Elliot - I was born in Fort Worth in 1948 (home of the Convair B-36, which I saw in the sky nearly every day); didn't move to New England until 1990.

TM
 
pdplot said:
Anyone remember the name of the test pattern and why it was round with lines?
Click to expand...

I don't recall what it was called but I think it was used to aid in adjusting the horizontal and vertical hold on TV sets?
 
Basil said:
I don't recall what it was called but I think it was used to aid in adjusting the horizontal and vertical hold on TV sets?
Click to expand...

I believe you were thinking of "The Outer Limits".
 
It had many uses for black and white tv adjustments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian-head_test_pattern It was scrapped for the NTSC color bar pattern with the advent of color tv. Now it is probably all done by computers and digitizers. It was called the Indian head test pattern.
 
Last edited:
(strange, but I've stopped getting email updates of topics ...)

Anyway, something I never knew until I read the Wikipedia article: that "test pattern" was developed before WW2. It was electronically generated, so it would be a standard across North America. Wasn't a hard copy with a camera focused on it - it was "pure" electronics. Wow.

We'd usually see it just after watching the flag being raised or lowered, and hearing the national anthem. (Haven't seen those on your screen in a while, eh? Might be an improvement over much of what's on these days.)

And now, back to your regularly scheduled program.

TM
 
Mickey Richaud said:
Ah yes - Love That Bob - one of my favorites as well.

So, was it the photography, or the "chase" he was always involved in that influenced you...? :devilgrin:
Click to expand...

Bit of both, methinks. :smirk:
 
Bob Cummings & Arthur Godfrey, both pilots and I met them a couple times at the Flying W Ranch were I had a plane when they would stop in for lunch on occasion. Both were very sociable and invited me to their table, I was a flight instructor at the time. They liked my old Stearman, they were always in a rush and never had the time to go up in it, I asked! :grin: PJ

View attachment 53474
 
The test pattern was called a raster and indeed was used to check the horizontal and vertical holds, which, if you're old enough to remember, frequently "broke" horizontally or started rolling vertically without stopping. The movies always made fun of early TV - showing out of sync pictures and "please stand by", chiefly because they thought it would be the end of movie theaters.
 
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