About B&W Kinescopes

[Professor1985]

To me B&W kinescopes in episodes #1006 and #1017 don't match at all. The Parallel Time 1970 storyline doesn't looked good in a B&W kinescope, I wished they colorized the B&W kinescopes from the Color episodes and leave the B&W episodes pre-August 11, 1967 alone and get it VidFIRED. VidFIRE is a process that restore kinescopes of "Doctor Who" episodes to video-look, and they colorized the early 1970s color episodes of "Doctor Who" that survived in B&W. I don't want to disrespect Dan Curtis' memory and his family. I think DS episodes that was in Color, now survived in B&W kinescope, episodes 295,300,318,320,323,325,335,341,344,351,352,368/369,437,509,683,797,813, especially 1006 and 1017 should be colorized. Darn you ABC for being cheapies for now using color kinescopes for color DS episodes.

[Darren Gross]

Vidfire is a PAL only process at the moment, but even an NTSC equivalent wouldn't help the DS kinescopes at all.

The ones made by the BBC for Doctor Who eps in the 60's were really stunning for kinescopes. Usually rich contrasts, sharp detail etc., plus the extra 100 lines or so of PAL resolution really help create a fairly stable image on film. I'm sure there are lousy Who kinescopes out there, but the ones they've vidfired have been of an extremely high quality.

The DS kinescopes on the other hand look lousy. There's almost no contrast at all- no grays or shades of, they're bleary and unsharp and frequently have flicker.

Vidfire only works on making the film frame rate have a closer look to the video field rate...

It couldn't do a thing about adding detail to the picture on these Kine's.

We're stuck with them.

BUT at least we have some record of these episodes. Most Doctor Who fans would kill to have bleary kinescopes of the missing 100 or so classic episodes...And so would I!
 
D

[ClaudeNorth]

Sort of on topic...

I've always found it curious that the first appearance of Jonathan Frid and the first appearance of Lara Parker exist only as kinescopes.  Makes me wonder if the master tapes for those episodes are stashed away in someone's private collection.  Seems a bit odd to be a coincidence.

[Charles_Ellis]

And I'm still convinced that there are master tapes that have yet to be found, lying in some tape vaults.  It has happened before:  an early 1795 episode that was syndicated in B/W kinescope form has since had its color master tape found.  It's episode #367, which is on DVD in color.  I do know that Jim Pierson has spent many an hour going through various vaults for better source material.  Perhaps somewhere there's the video master to #1219, the 'lost' episode from 1841PT.  On the other hand, we should be grateful that practically all of DS has been archived.  Miost daytime dramas from the 60s either aired live or pretaped their shows and reused the videotape after a few months- that's why you don't see reruns of say, "As The World Turns" from that time period. There are some exceptions- both "Days of our Lives" and "Strange Paradise" were indepenently produced on color tape, and are all accounted for.  Sony has every "Days" episode since its 1965 debut in its vaults, and for its 40th Anniversary last November, SoapNet aired the first two episodes, both half-hour color episodes.

[joe integlia]

anything made in the PAL video format could be converted to the NTSC format. but doubt anyone is going to go through the trouble to colorize the kinescopes. if they were going to do that they would have done it for the DVD releases. the kinescopes seem to vary in quality. ive seen some that are over exposed and others that look ok. it is too bad they didnt use color film. some stations that showed it on a delayed basis must have shown the entire series or most of it in b-w if all they could get is the b-w kinescopes. it is fortunate that dan curtis owned DS and not ABC because ABC probably would have erased over the videotapes!

[BuzzH]

Sort of on topic...

I've always found it curious that the first appearance of Jonathan Frid and the first appearance of Lara Parker exist only as kinescopes.  Makes me wonder if the master tapes for those episodes are stashed away in someone's private collection.  Seems a bit odd to be a coincidence.

I could be wrong, but Jonathan's first appearance wasn't a kinoscope (was it)?  It was definataely a black and white ep, but was it kinoscope?

[joe integlia]

i think the episode that ends with barnabas coming to the door and mrs. j lets him in is in kinescope format. the episode before it that ends with the hand coming out of the coffin is on videotape and that technically is barnabas 1st appearance but not jonathan frids. timothy gordon was the hand!

[retzev]

I could be wrong, but Jonathan's first appearance wasn't a kinoscope (was it)?  It was definataely a black and white ep, but was it kinoscope?

Yeah, it's a kinescope 

But, the fact that we have an audio recording of the only epsiode that's missing is uncanny.

We are very fortunate fans -

[BuzzH]

i think the episode that ends with barnabas coming to the door and mrs. j lets him in is in kinescope format.

I guess I'm thinking of the episode where he goes to the portrait, turns and says, "You may tell her it's Barnabas Collins."  Is this the ep in question?

[ClaudeNorth]

I guess I'm thinking of the episode where he goes to the portrait, turns and says, "You may tell her it's Barnabas Collins."  Is this the ep in question?

Yes, the episode in which JF appears briefly at the end is a kinescope.  The next episode, which starts with a recap of that scene, is a videotape.

[BuzzH]

Yes, the episode in which JF appears briefly at the end is a kinescope.  The next episode, which starts with a recap of that scene, is a videotape.

Okay, I thought so, I'm not totally crazy then. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

it is fortunate that dan curtis owned DS and not ABC because ABC probably would have erased over the videotapes!

It's a common misconception that Curtis preserved the DS episodes, but that's not actually true. Curtis has never owned them. ABC did and then ownership was transferred to Worldvision. ABC is who should be thanked for preserving them.

Also check out:

'Dark Shadows' Prompts Suit Against ABC And Worldvision

[Willie]

The 1970 episodes may look really odd in B&W, but there were a couple of kinescope episodes back in 1795 that I thought added a certain extra "scariness" to the ep's, so I guess it all balances out.  Personally, just like the flubbed lines and often less-than-perfect video quality, it just reminds you that you're watching an old show, and really adds to the charm.  Not only does it take you out of your day-to-day life with the drama, but even takes you to a different time all together.

Sort of like my Battlestar Galactica DVD's;  I remember watching that show sitting on the floor of my Grandma's house in town (we didn't get that channel at our house).  It's all part of the experience.

[BuzzH]

there were a couple of kinescope episodes back in 1795 that I thought added a certain extra "scariness" to the ep's

I agree whole-heartedly!  I love that the ep where[spoiler]Barnabas is chasing Maggie through the tunnels beneath the Old House when she escapes from the basement cell[/spoiler]is a kinoscope.  It makes what is happening onscreen all the more terrifying and gripping.  Sort of like those old Universal horror flicks of the 30's and 40's.

[Miss_Winthrop]

I too found it odd that several 'key' episodes went missing and only the kinescope survives.