5 Major Firsts in TV History
For all the formulaic sitcoms and talk shows that have run throughout the history of television, there are a number of times when audiences have witnessed true ingenuity. From memorable commercials to shocking plot twists, television events that may seem commonplace today once revolutionized the medium. Ever since the demonstration of the first television in 1926, the small screen has been a reflection of larger shifts in American society. With that in mind, here are five historic firsts in television history.
The First Official TV Commercial
On July 1, 1941, at 2:29 p.m., viewers tuning in to the NBC-owned WNBT television station saw something they had never seen before. Before that day’s broadcast of the Brooklyn Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies baseball game, the first authorized TV commercial hit the airwaves. The inaugural ad was produced by Bulova watches and ran for about 60 seconds, featuring visuals of a clock superimposed over a map of the United States with the accompanying voice-over, “America runs on Bulova time.”
The watchmaker paid just $9 to broadcast the advertisement ($4 for air fees and $5 for station fees), a far cry from the exorbitant advertising prices of today. WNBT was also the only station to advertise that day, though other networks soon followed suit. The Federal Communications Commission had previously implemented an advertising ban that forbade television commercials, though broadcasters still ran ads without authorization. The FCC finally issued 10 commercial licenses on May 2, 1941 — ushering in a new chapter in television history.
The First Laugh Track
Laugh tracks are an indelible part of sitcom television, and it all began in 1950 with a little-known program called The Hank McCune Show. The sitcom debuted on local stations in 1949 and centered around a fictional television variety show host. By the time the series made its network debut on September 9, 1950, it was accompanied by roaring laughter from a laugh track despite the lack of any live studio audience. One review from Variety magazine said, “Although the show is lensed on film without a studio audience, there are chuckles and yucks dubbed in… the practice may have unlimited possibilities.”
The laugh track was invented by mechanical engineer Charles Douglass, who was formerly a radar technician in the Navy. After leaving the military, Douglass created a device that came to be known as the “Laff Box.” A rudimentary version of Douglass’ invention debuted on The Hank McCune Show, though it took him three years to perfect his invention. Each 3-foot-tall Laff Box was handmade by Douglass and could hold 32 reels of 10 laughs apiece. By the 1960s, Douglass was supplying his much-coveted Laff Box to such iconic television programs as The Munsters and Gilligan’s Island.
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The First Spinoff
Television spinoffs are standard practice today, and we have The Gene Autry Show to thank for kicking off the concept in 1950. The show delighted TV audiences, following the exploits of the titular singing cowboy and his trusted horse, Champion. When The Gene Autry Show wrapped up in 1956, the series was so popular that it inspired television’s first spinoff, a series called The Adventures of Champion, which ran for 26 episodes between 1955 and 1956. While the concept of a spinoff was unusual at the time, it became significantly more popular with the debut of The Andy Griffith Show in 1960. Starring Griffith himself, the hit series actually originated from a single episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled “Danny Meets Andy Griffith,” in which Griffith debuted the character of Sheriff Andy Taylor. The episode was a hit, and the concept earned a television run of its own.
The First Televised Presidential Debate
Television has long played a key role in American politics, and few televised political events have a stronger impact than presidential debates, the first of which aired in 1956. Though neither President Dwight D. Eisenhower nor his challenger Adlai Stevenson participated in a televised debate themselves that year, both were represented by proxies, with Senator Margaret Chase Smith filling in for Eisenhower and former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt representing Stevenson. The two women debated the issues live on-air on November 4, 1956, with Eisenhower coming out victorious in the election shortly thereafter.
The first televised presidential debate between the actual candidates occurred four years later, with a CBS broadcast on September 26, 1960. This debate pitted Senator John F. Kennedy against Vice President Richard Nixon, and was the first of four televised debates in advance of that year’s election. Kennedy was widely considered the winner of the debate, which many have speculated was due to his charismatic presence on camera compared to Nixon, who declined to wear makeup and appeared visibly sweaty. Though Nixon fared better in future debates, this moment in TV history helped Kennedy gain a valuable early lead in the polls, which he maintained en route to winning the presidency.
The First Scripted Birth
In 1948, the sitcom Mary Kay and Johnny — starring real-life married couple Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns — made history by incorporating the actress’ pregnancy into the show, becoming the first TV show to depict a pregnancy and birth. When the couple’s son, Christopher, was born on December 19, 1948, Mary Kay was notably absent from the live taping. In response, Johnny wrote a 15-minute episode that featured him pacing around a hospital waiting room awaiting his son’s birth. Unfortunately, all but one full episode of Mary Kay and Johnny was lost in the 1970s, and the show’s impact was forgotten over time. It was a few years later that another sitcom, I Love Lucy, also depicted a pregnancy and birth, proving to be significantly more impactful given the show’s popularity.
When actress Lucille Ball — the biggest television star at the time — became pregnant in 1952, producers needed to figure out how to interweave her real changing appearance with her character on I Love Lucy. At first, network executives suggested coming up with methods for concealing Ball’s baby bump, such as having her hide behind chairs. But Desi Arnaz — Ball’s husband and co-star — found those suggestions insulting, and fought back. After a conversation between Arnaz, CBS, and advertiser Philip Morris, the latter signed off on a plan to incorporate Ball’s real-life pregnancy into the plot of the show.
While the word “pregnancy” remained forbidden, the show’s characters spoke using synonyms such as “expecting” in reference to Lucy’s storyline baby. The character’s pregnancy was revealed during a December 8, 1952, episode titled “Lucy Is Enceinte” — “enceinte” being the French word for pregnant. With Ball scheduled to deliver her actual child on January 19, 1953, CBS scheduled the pretaped birth episode for that very same evening. “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” was a major television event, attracting more than 44 million American viewers and helping pave the way for talking about other previously taboo topics on television.
