Elvis was impressed - they used to have his "early adopter" tape machine on display at the Graceland Museum-(along with his well-thumbed PDR). Neither was on display the last time I was there. It wasn't from as early as '72 but it was not too long after. Thanks for posting!
I remember watching Whats My Line as a little kid, never heard of Cartrivision before but I did remember seeing those black and white SONY CV-2000 open reel video recorders used in many schools at the time.
Back to 1972! Video recording and even with a programming/timer as well. Wow. Just amazing technology that would blow anyone away during that time. That technology wouldn't really become mainstream till a full decade later. Then you flash forward and we have come so far so very very fast compared to how long a lot of other stuff has taken to develop.
Cartivision was skip field, explains the jumpiness, and tape was crappy back then, look at the dropouts! If someone had deep pockets, chances are they would have bought the cutting edge U-Matic or one of the many reel-to-reel recorders instead of this.
In New York, viewers would have originally seen this installment on WCBS-TV (Ch. 2). That station took on the syndie "WML?" beginning in the 1972-73 season, after its first four years on WOR-TV (Ch. 9).
By the beginning of this season the syndicated WML was looking for an announcer as Johnny Olson started working strictly on the West Coast. A bunch of them contributed including on this episode, Wayne Howell, until finally settling on former ABC staff announcer Chet Gould.
It wasn't just "WML?" whose syndicated version had elements of "IGAS" - so did the syndie "To Tell the Truth" which had actual physical elements of "IGAS," in the form of host Garry Moore and panelist Bill Cullen.
This was actually from the onset of the fourth (1972-73) syndicated season; Larry Blyden took over in '72 from original syndicated host Wally Bruner. It's obvious that this was taped at NBC's New York studios, given that on some of the camera angles (they used TK-44A's back then) the blacks were a bit reddish. Other than the year, I'd agree with your assessment that Mr. Daly wouldn't have allowed such show-and-tell demonstrations on "WML?"
I can offer you some further information abiut this episode,so you will have more than just the year of it. This episode was recorded/videotaped (but not using the CartriVision system, thank goodness) on August 3, 1972. I can't tell you for sure on which day the episode aired--that would depend in some cases on where one lived, as some locales aired episodes on a more delayed basis than others. But usually five games/episodes were played & recorded per taping date.
The only thing recorded on Cartrivision here was the intro seen on the set. The actual video you're watching is from the broadcast master, since aired on GSN.
Wow ... The Library of Congress should still have that tape (no machine to play it on) ... I have a copy of game one of the 1973 NL playoffs and I was told it was off Cartivision and the picture looked nowhere was as sharp as the image in the show
THINK ABOUT THIS: We had landed on the moon three years earlier...so I find it very sad to think of how far communication technology has advanced-while humans have not returned to the moon since this was made in 1972...very sad...
Then figure one week to one month after taping for broadcast date. I ascertained this additional info. because 08/03/1972 was the only taping date on which both Anita Gillette & Henry Morgan appeared together on the "WML? panel in 1972. Do you happen to have the complete episode from which this segment was obtained, or at least the segment with the Mystery Guest? Because that will prove my information definitively, even though i am reasonably certain without such.
I bought one from Olson electronics in 1974 when I was 17. Took me a week on how to get the video out of the set but everyone was amazed at the picture in color from an open chassis with a huge spinning circuit board. No one noticed the skip field, they were begging me to build one for them. Still have mine, got it back in working condition. They show up on eBay every so often. I do have to reload the cartridge with tape from a VHS donor.
If someone had one of those machines and taped game shows in the early 1970's he would be in possesion of shows that have long been wiped (destroyed) and would have a gold mine. For the guy with the Qusar Time Machine, what exactly did you tape with it or do you remember?
I don't see any use for "television taping" in the home except a few enthusiasts. If people desire recorded media in the home, they have a gramophone to listen to.
P.S. It was such a "show-and-tell" aspect that led to comparisons of the syndie version of "WML?" to "I've Got a Secret," therefore leading to some wisenheimers calling the show "What's My Secret Line?"
Well if this format Had become the next big thing, I certainly would have had it! But, no...instead I got suckered into buying the Quasar Time Machine! Now, I have 3 dead machines and a couple hundred huge, clunky tapes that I can't watch!!!!! AAGGGHHH, technology! ^^X^^
@Enigmatism415 Television is definitely better these days. 2010 has been a great year for television, i do agree that some aspects still suck but overall we are better off these days. No censorship and no monopolistic control over the media means television series that dare criticize modern society.
