The “Boob Tube” was a living room’s fixture; now it is watched in space. Return to 1843 to meet the many involved in its birth – and learn of early wars. What were its first programs and stars – besides Lucy and Lassie? Remember characters we loved, and villains we loved to hate. They made us cry almost as much as the comedians who made us laugh till it hurt.
Learn of the steps taken to bring us to today: including the first TV broadcast in history, of NBC then CBS, the birth of Radio — whose offer to the Italian Government prompted a response of “send him to the insane asylum.” The Victorian Age’s “Moon Landing” — the height of technology at the time — was Queen Victoria sending the first electronic message across the Atlantic Ocean to the President of the United States, James Buchanan. The message was 98 words long and took 16 hours to transmit. A technological miracle!
Meet the spiritual fathers of TV, the man who built a mechanical TV to implement their ideas (yes, mechanical — electronic did not exist). Then meet the teenager who came up with the idea for electronic TV, and of his battle with family: NBC, RCA, and GE.
What were the first programs? Where and when were they shown? What about Lassie? The great comedy shows? The golden age of Westerns? Characters who loved (and we loved), and of those we loved to hate?
A program that brings the past to the present. Learn. Laugh. Some Cry.