I hope you appreciate these two pictures (above and below) as much as I do. It has taken me two years and much effort to finally acquire these iconic images.

To me, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (2/67 - 4/69) and The Carol Burnett Show (9/67 - 3/78) represent one of the greatest times ever in CBS and television history. Burnett was usually done in Studio 33 and the Smothers Brothers came from Studios 31 and 41 at CBS Television City, as was the Glenn Campbell Show and Sony and Cher Show of that period. For much more on Television City, including studio diagrams, we have posted a special story in the new Gallery section, and you can go there by clicking here.

Behind Tom and Dick is a new 1967 era PC60 in its original color and has not yet been painted CBS grey as per network president Frank Stanton. The photo of Carol was taken during rehearsal of the second episode (on September 16, 1967) and the PC60 behind her has been painted, but both are equipped with Angeneiux 10x full servo lenses, Vinten Mark III tilt heads and are mounted on TVP peds.

Thanks to George Sunga (former Smothers Brothers and Threes' Company producer), Maureen Muldaur of Muldaur Media.com and the Smothers Brothers' Knave Productions for help acquiring the Smothers Brothers images above and below.
Burnett image courtesy CBS Photo Archive. All Rights Reserved. This image cannot be archived, sold, leased or shared.

This is another shot from the Smothers Brothers set taken the same day as the one above showing a yet unpainted PC60 riding a Chapman crane. Both images were used in "Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" produced by Maureen Muldaur. I thank her for her help and her brilliant production.

Above, Harry Belafonte on the set of 'The Strollin' Twenties' on November 30, 1965. Yet another PC60 on a Chapman crane but at CBS New York.
Image courtesy CBS Photo Archive. All Rights Reserved. This image cannot be archived, sold, leased or shared.

In the Oval Office, a PC60 brings the nation a speech from President Lyndon Johnson. Interesting early portable teleprompter set up.
Image courtesy CBS Photo Archive. All Rights Reserved. This image cannot be archived, sold, leased or shared.

On the set of All in the Family, Norman Lear speaks to Carol O'Connor at a 1971 dress rehearsal at Television City.
Image courtesy CBS Photo Archive. All Rights Reserved. This image cannot be archived, sold, leased or shared.

Shooting the Moon! Well, virtually. Above and below, cameramen using PC60s shoot images of a model of the moon's surface at the CBS News Space Center during the Apollo 11 Mission on July 20, 1069.
Image courtesy CBS Photo Archive. All Rights Reserved. This image cannot be archived, sold, leased or shared.

Above, Mama Cass Elliot of the Mamas and Papas start in her own 1973 special at Television City. Great shot of the stage showing 3 of the 4 PC70s on the set.
Image courtesy CBS Photo Archive. All Rights Reserved. This image cannot be archived, sold, leased or shared.

Oh those good old disco days! On the set of American Bandstand, one of the tricks the cameramen used to keep from being run into was to keep some extra cable around you.
Photo courtesy Terrill Menor.

Above, an image of Lawrence Welk that someone has photo shopped along the way and taken out the CBS logo. But not to worry...I have in the Viewseum, a great 3 minute video of the scene this still image came from, where Welk mans the camera while the cameraman dances. Welk's show started locally at KTLA, then in 1955 moved to ABC where they stayed till 1971. When ABC canceled the show, Welk went into syndication till '82. For 23 of those 27 years, the show taped at the Hollywood Palladium except for three occasions. The 1965-66 and 1976-77 shows came from the Hollywood Palace, and from Television City from 1977 till 79. Incidentally, his debut on ABC helped bring an end to Sid Cesar's 'Show OF Shows' on NBC when they went head to head at 8 o'clock Saturday nights.

Speaking of ABC and music makers, below is Alice Cooper in a 1975 appearance on the Welk show. NOT. Notice the optional Varatol lens.
Photo courtesy ABC. All Rights Reserved. This image cannot be archived, sold, leased or shared.

PC70s in action at WTVT in Tampa. I believe this to be a light weight Vinten crane and see their Fulmar pedestal under the floor camera.
Photo courtesy Mike Clark.

For a former CBS New York cameraman, I think the photo above is the perfect image to leave behind. I believe this rather distinguished looking gentleman is Ed Dunn.
Photo courtesy CBS Retirees site.

January 20, 1972 Cher checks the viewfinder shot at Television City during the taping of ''The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour'. In this close up, you can bear witness to the ''CBS grey' paint jobs they gave all their cameras dating back to the TK30s. Even though the Norelco badge is painted over, at least it's still there which is more than you can say for the RCA cameras used at CBS.
Photo courtesy CBS Photo Archive. All Rights Reserved. This image cannot be archived, sold, leased or shared.

Great shot of a Norelco PC 60 at the Ed Sullivan Theatre in 1967. Make sure to check out the new 6 image sequence from the Ed Sullivan Theatre - Studio 50 stage in the new Gallery section.
Photo courtesy Life Magazine.

This series of 3 photos of some historic cameras is laid out in chronological order starting above. These are the 2 of the 4 Cronkite Cameras and were used nightly in 'The CBS Evening News' studio in New York. The photo was taken by Dennis Degan around 1966. These cameras would later be used for Dan Rather and were retired around 1990. CBS is very proud of their history of donating equipment to educational, religious and public broadcasting facilities and these went to Boston's Catholic Broadcast Center. After a few years of use, they were scheduled to be scrapped, but a Boston television professional who had lovingly volunteered to maintain them, could not let that happen to such an important part of broadcast history and he came to the rescue.

That man was Paul Beck, who is my good friend, a master preservationist and Curator at the Museum of Broadcast Technology. Below in the second picture of this set, we see a photo he took in his basement where they were stored while Paul looked for a fitting home for them. He finally found a proper place, and in the final image of the sequence, we see 2 of the 4 Cronkite Cameras on display at the magnificent Newseum in Washington D.C. Thanks to Paul and to the Newseum's Curator, Carrie Christoffersen for their combined efforts and for the images.

Vladimir Horowitz at Carnegie Hall in 1968.

Above is one of the thirty five Norelco cameras NBC bought for their remote trucks. This one is dressed for the season as it broadcasts the Christmas tree lighting festival at Rockefeller Plaza in 1966.
Photo courtesy NBCU Photobank.com. All Rights Reserved. This image cannot be archived, sold, leased or shared.

What is a Norelco doing on the set of Saturday Night Live? The were used in the field but never in the NBC studios, right? Right, but this is not what it looks like. Behind the camera is long time SNL cameraman John Pinto using the Norelco as a prop camera during the filming of Man On The Moon which was about Andy Kaufmann. You really need to see the SNL Crane story on the new Gallery section, but come back because there is a lot more here to see. Speaking of the moon…take a look below.

30 year NBC Burbank veteran cameraman Jon Olson sent me these two photos of taken in May of 1969 aboard the USS Ticonderoga. He, and the carrier were there to recover the crew of the Apollo 10 mission. That was the dry run for the moon landing done in Apollo 11. Above is one of the 35 NBC PC70s and below, although he’s smiling, is cameraman Bobby Keys lugging around a very heavy Norelco PCP 70 “portable” camera. Although the back pack is almost as big and cumbersome as the camera, I guess it’s a good thing there was one, because without it, he would have needed lead weights on his back for balance. Given the playful look on his associate’s face and the way he’s holding that big cable head, I can almost imagine were he wanted to ‘plug’ it in. Unfortunately Jon is not in these pictures because he took them, but that’s his nature. He also took some great shots for us all with his TK41 on the Andy Williams Show and his TK44 on the Dean Martin Show, and much more.

Game show action at ABC studiosin Los Angeles. 
photo courtesy ABC. All Rights Reserved. This image cannot be archived, sold, leased or shared.

Dave Minott aiming a PC70 atop a van built by CBS Labs for the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention

CBS tech at the Broadcast Center in NYC using a pattern generator to tune up one of their many Norelco P60s. Notice the zoom wheel cables go to the internal servos for the lens, and the cameras are mounted on Vinten Mark III heads and TVP electric pedestals.
Photo courtesy of Dave Minott/CBS Retirees Web site

Norelcos at the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami.
Photo courtesy Retired CBS Engineers

Here are Norelcos in use at CBS New York in 1975 taken during taping of a pilot for a game show called King of The Hill. The host of the program was Robert Earle who earlier had hosted The GE College Bowl on NBC. King of The Hill never went into production. Earle was also a professor at Ithaca College in Upstate New York.
Photo courtesy of Retired CBS Engineers

Above and below, some of WAGA Atlanta's 6 Norelco cameras at work in 1975.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Degan

Shot from the 1973 Watergate hearings shows the optional Varatol lenses in use.
 Photo courtesy Life Magazine