Cartrivision on "What's My Line"

Sometime in 1972, a PR guy from the Cartrivision company appeared on "What's My Line" to demonstrate this early home video system. Perhaps because Henry Morgan guesses the secret so quickly, the demonstration goes on for quite some time--and seems to impress the panel. Unfortunately, consumers weren't so impressed (note how much the system cost!) and the format died within the year. (John Daly never would have stood for this kind of blatant plug.)

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Cartrivision
• What's
• My
• Line
• home
• video
• Arlene
• Francis

[wmbrown6]

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?"

[quadvideotape]

Thanks for the info! I'm making a correction. (And the blacks *are* reddish; I hadn't noticed before.)

[gymnastix]

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.

[quadvideotape]

Thanks for the information! I don't know who the mystery guest was; I recorded this and didn't keep the entire program. Now I wish I had.

[NJRoadfan]

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.

[MiHiVidz]

Great Idea: Being able to record TV shows at home

Bad Idea: The only TV shows at the time were 70's crap TV shows.

[ricarleite]

Soupy Sales!

[RealAgentOfSHIELD]

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

[OleVanDole]

@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.

[Enigmatism415]

@OleVanDole

A far cry from today's television programming?

[OleVanDole]

70s television sucked, just so fucking cheesy/scripted and coked up.

[ecgaskill]

I bought a remaindered Cartrivision tape deck and chassis in 1976 for $250 ($931.75 in 2009 bucks). I worked for an American TV manufacturing plant (now there's another anachronism!), and I HAD to, to get this thing running. Only had 4 tape cassettes to serve me until I got VHS in 1980, so not much remains except an interview with my 96-year-old grandmother in '76. BTW, $2,145 in 1972 = $10,877.94 in 2009 (per The Inflation Calculator). O the bad old days!

[alexvegas]

I love how relatively recent this was, yet how alien the technology is to them. Progress!

[johnreagannumber1]

The way "Cassette" is pronounced is hilarious.