An Evening With Fred Astaire - The Use of Videotape

The Use of Videotape

The program was highly innovative in its use of color videotape, a technology then in its infancy. Edward Stephenson designed the production, receiving Art Director credit. (note Production Design as a television art department credit did not become vogue until the late 1970's). Ed Stephenson was awarded an art direction Emmy for his work on the tv special.

As with the first major television program to be recorded on videotape-- The Edsel Show in 1957, this was a straight recording of a live performance with no editing. Early videotape use was confined largely to rebroadcasting programs from the east coast three hours later in the west, and was a cheaper, better-quality alternative to the film-based kinescopes. The experimental low-band quadruplex recording system in use was troublesome and hard to copy. Furthermore, early video editing was a highly complicated matter that required the engineer to cover the two-inch tape with iron oxide solution to locate the magnetic tracks and then splice it with a razor blade.

Although it was recorded live, An Evening with Fred Astaire used a number of innovative production techniques that are now commonplace, such as chroma key, and dissolves between scenes.

In 1988, the show earned a further technical Emmy Award for Ed Reitan, Don Kent, and Dan Einstein, who restored the original videotape, transferring its contents to a modern format. (The three had also restored the oldest color videotape known to exist, the dedication of WRC-TV's new studio in Washington, DC on May 21, 1958.)

The show was rebroadcast twice, on NBC on January 26, 1959, and on CBS on December 20, 1964. It was thus one of the earliest shows to be rerun using color videotape. The 1964 rebroadcast used a different beginning and ending that eliminated the advertising for Chrysler; instead the opening and closing dances were shown uninterrupted.