Great memory. They had a late, late show where most of the lights in the Apt Complex went off not on as the music played. Simpler times , not better times but less complex.
I remember, as a child, hearing this as I lay awake in bed. My dad would still be watching TV. Until I finally saw it for myself, in the early 1970s, I'd always wondered what was on the screen. A great memory.
When this memorable opening was first unveiled in fall 1965 (and used through about 1971 or '72), WCBS's film chains and slide scanners (shared with the CBS network) were vintage RCA 3-vidicon TK-26's that were brought from the old "Studio 72" on Broadway and 81st Street in 1964 to the then-just opened Broadcast Center on West 57th Street. The GE 4-vidicon PE-240's with rounded edges on the camera heads didn't show up at CBS's telecine department until around early to mid-1966.
My love of movies started with this show, staying up late to watch old movies. The studios had opened their vaults to television and it was a treasure trove.
So did I. The first full length movie I saw circa 1964 was the 1956 movie Back from Eternity which had Robert Ryan Anita Ekberg and Gene Barry who was in Burke's Law currently then on ch.7 WABC TV, NYC. It had a cameo of a beautiful young woman who portable a college girl with her friend asking for a autograph from a old respectful professor. I later found out it was the movie debut of Barbara Eden who became famous for I Dream of Jeannie her second TV series on which she was a regular vast member.
This was actually 1965-72. In '72 there was an animated open where a bunch of stars (the five-sided kind) all crowd into a television set, with a musical arrangement of "The Syncopated Clock" along the lines of "Hot Butter" by Popcorn; this only lasted to 1973 when the "Lite Brite" player piano open took effect, lasting through 1990.
The animation was even cuter for the later overnight movies -- I remember being up at 3.30 am, don't ask why. For that one, it was reversed, so the lights in the windows blinked off, and just one or two lights were on at the end!
yeah that's the one i most vividly recall as a kid -- kinda both spooked me and reassured me.. we (don't ask why lol) were nearly the only ones up, but still being acknowledged ! .. coincidence that it's nearly 4am eastern time as i type this 55 years later? don't think so
Wonderful memories. I drive over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and take the exit for the east bound Belt Plwy and as I drive down the ramp I see apartment buildings that remind me of the Late Show building but sans TV antennas. The rooves used to be inundated with them. Now maybe one bent and rusting. I don't know why but I miss sign offs with the national anthem and sign-ons with inspirational messages and Sunrise Semester. Did 24 hour TV and streaming destroy the beautiy and comfort of the hours?
Amazing!!! Your effort posting this is much appreciated. This is what makes you tube the greatest invention. Now all we need is to find the WNEW WEEKEND PLAYHOUSE opening from the mid 70's - the channel 9 FRIDAY NIGHT movie opening from the late 70's and the Automobile Club of America commercial with Leo Wiser and I could die in peace. Seeing this original guarantees a smile on my deathbed. Thank you NYCTTV.
SPLENDID! thank you for posting this....I believe the tune is called "the syncopated clock" . what i remember is that the "late late show was essentially the same opening, but at the end, there were far fewer lights in the windows. That was back in the days when most people used to sleep at night...
Around :22, a slide featuring the title of the evening's "feature presentation"- and the star(s)- would appear on screen (usually accompanied by a Channel 2 staff announcer, like Pat Connell or Gaylord Avery). Now, "THE LATE SHOW" usually lasted around two hours, followed by "THE LATE LATE SHOW {I}" at about 1:30am. Then, another "LATE LATE SHOW {II}" appeared after 3am, followed at around 4:30 or so by "late news headlines", "GIVE US THIS DAY" [a brief sermon], and Channel 2's sign-off....
@TammiWayKewl - There was no "Late Late Late Show" except in a "Honeymooners" episode or numerous "Carol Burnett Show" film parodies. But pre-1969, "The Late Show" usually aired after the late news (from 1965 to '69, with a start time of 11:30), and "The Late Late Show" followed. After 1963, there were anywhere from two to four "Late Late Shows" shown after "The Late Show," as WCBS went at that point to a 24/7/365 transmission schedule and a 23.5-hour (average) broadcast day.
I remember hearing this theme when I lived in Jacksonville, FL, from '87-'03 and WJXT had "The Late Show", "The Really Late Show", and "The I Can't Believe It's Really This Late Show"!
On Fridays and Saturdays, during the mid and late '60s, there would be another "LATE LATE SHOW {III}", around 5am, featuring an obscure B-movie lasting a little over an hour {such as 1941's "For Beauty's Sake", starring Joan Davis, Ned Sparks, Marjorie Weaver and Ted North [WHAT A CAST!]}, then the station would present "GIVE US THIS DAY", and sign-off until 7am or so.
I loved the Late Show movie. So much better than talk shows where hosts are so sycophantic to some celebrity who’s plugging their latest project. I’d watch old movies all night long. It was relaxing and felt intimate. Just me and the old movies until the tv station went off the air. I also remember WCBS in NY used to play A Christmas Carol all night long on Christmas Eve. They alternated the Alistair Sim 1951 version and the 1938 Gene Lockhart version.
@nycttv - This variation was used whenever a color film was shown. If, on the other hand, there was a B&W film, this opening would be used except there was no "In Color" byline below "The Late Show" title.
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!!! I remember this one. GOD, i was so small back then. I remember the apartment lights coming on, and I remembered making the sound of the clock with my tongue. Oh God! Such good memories!
garygerani is absolutely correct: This is the real deal, right down to the authentic version of LeRoy Anderson's "The Syncopated Clock" (it was Percy Faith's) that was used as the soundtrack. This is a fabulous find that I've waited years for someone to post here on RU-vid. Thank you so much, nyctv.
Back in the 50's and 60's, WCBS, Channel 2 in NYC would play the same song showing the clock before "The Early Show", which I believe started around 4:30pm.
@@dianecristina3319 Yes, that's what I was referring to, WCBS channel 2 in NYC would show movies in the late afternoon, around 4:30, called "The Early Show". The music is called "Syncopated Clock, I believe, and it showed an antique clock while the music played. I have not been able to find any information on this show because if you search for it, you only get info on the talk show from the '80s
@bronx56 - It would've been after 1965 - the same year this opening was introduced. Also, besides Mr. Connell and Mr. Avery, other announcers who rotated on "The Late Show" over the years included Don Robertson, Dave Campbell and Norm Stevens; the "Late Late Show's" airing would have been around the time the likes of Roger Forster were on duty at the annoucing booth. From what I've read, Bill Gilliand was (on-camera?) host of the special "Schaefer Award Theatre" presentations.
I'd love to see the real original. The one before the animated lights going on in apartments scene. It was a clock with little figures dancing under a glass dome.
My dad was a cook and use to get up two oclock in the mornings, and i'd be up watching the Late,the Late Late,and the Late, Late ,Late show.Sometimes on his way out the house he'd open the room door and say shut the tv off give it a rest.I'd be pissed if somethibg good was on ,like a good scfi movie like forbidden planet (actor leslie nilson)or The queen of outer space (actress zaza gabore).But i had to do it .If he happen to have came back for something and i was still watching the tv.Most likey he would take the tv out of our room.I think at that time me and my brother was one of the few kids back then that had our own 19" tv in our room.Dad had the big zenith floor model in the living room.Damnskippy television was television, those were the days.
I have a memory of another opening, perhaps the Late, Late, Show, where all the lights would go out except for one. I remember this because my father worked nights and I'd get up out of bed to watch a little TV with him. We had a little game where I'd try to guess which light would stay on. This was probably around 1964 or 65.
Damn, I am 56 and remember this as a kid. We only got WABC and WCBS and WNBC at my house. On a clear evening WNEW, WPIX and WWOR to watch wrestling at midnite.
Chris, I'm 66 and remember the movies on "The Late Show", The Late, Late Show and I vaguely recall "The Late, Late, Late Show that came on around 3am. I lived in Brooklyn and also got channels; 2 (CBS), 4 (NBC), 5 (WNEW Metromedia), and to keep this short, channels 7, 9, 11, 13 and the hispanic UHF 41 and 47. I loved to watch the little apartment lights go on at the start and then go out at the end of The Late Show to the "syncopated clock" tune. As I lived in apartment buildings in the 50's, 60's and 70's I can really relate to the show. What a pleasant trip down memory lane. Remember when... subway tokens or a slice of pizza were only 15 cents?
MICKEY RUSHTON HERE MY LATE SHOW OPENINGS ARE RECREATIONS PAGE BY PAGE WITH A ANNOUNCER.....AND WITHOUT ANNOUNCER I KEPT THE ANNOUNCER IN SOME VERSIONS BECAUSE IT FITS
@jazz1929 - "The Best of Broadway" actually aired on WABC-TV from Sept. 15, 1963 to either Sept. 30 or Oct. 3, 1970, airing seven nights a week. Saturday nights were the "money" nights (that is, WABC showed top films in their library that got massive ratings). As well, WNBC, up to early 1965, had a Saturday night edition of "Movie 4" (shelved after NBC decided to air reruns of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" on the weekend), and then the "Saturday [later Sunday] Film Festival."
Wow you got a better memory than I do I know when they did this it had to be like in the mid-to-late 60s then after that the seventies came around and s*** I done lost my mind and I'm still looking for it but I do remember this from my childhood thank you dear friend
Oh....my.....god.....yes, this is it......jesus, sneaking out to watch on the (21 inch. huge Zenith console lol) , ker-chunck channel changer, , falling asleep, next thing I know my mothers shaking me to get up and go back to bed with the Indian test pattern and the tone.......
@x60hz , I am really glad that you enjoyed this. Actually I thought I would be the only one who would remember this. I grew up about an hour north of NYC (in the country) so when night fell there was nothing to do but watch movies late at night and late at night there was channel 2 and just about nothing else. To this very day I would rather have channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 from NYC than all of the garbage they have today. If you want i will send you a cooy of this on dvd, please send pm.
@IntelProperty - The edits of Mr. Faith's recording I've seen online to try to match this opening had nothing to do with what is actually on here, so I concur with your assessment in this case.
@fromthesidelines - Pray tell, would the typesetting and layout for such slides, as of the 1960's, have been as on the very end of this clip: watch?v=TQejnG0sVkU I seem to remember that layout as late as the very early 1970's, with some slides for some titles being used as late as 1981 (the year of the clip referred to).
OK, first off you're a genius for even finding this clip. Second, where the HELL did you find it. You can tell from the condition of the film it's obviously an original. Thirdly, I would love an uncompressed original of this clip as I am a film restoration artist (not to mention the guy who did the recreation of this here on RU-vid - NOT MickeyRushton - Joe Malzone) and would love to bring this piece back to its true luster. BRAVO nycttv for bringing a true staple from the past back to life!
That was for the late show movie, par of three first the early show at 5pm. then the Late show at 11:30 and the Late Late show being shown around 1am. Sadly it was no match for the Million Dollar movie that started around 4 pm and ended late at night. Loved to watch A walk in the sun and Mighty Joe Young 20 + times a week
Hi Mike, I remember both movies. A Walk In the Sun had Dana Andrews and Huntz Hall. Really liked that movie, just don't lose your binoculars!! Never know when you'll need them. Mighty Joe Young (the original) with Robert Armstrong and Ben Johnson is a classic. Every Thanksgiving on WOR-TV (channel 9) they would show King Kong, Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young. All three back to back. I'd roll some joints and bring brandy and go with friends to the Macy's Parade, then off to the folks for a nice dinner and finally back to Bay Ridge for more weed and those three most excellent movies. Ah, the 1970's. I miss that.
