The Television Ghost

Last updated
The Television Ghost
TVGhost.png
A newspaper promotion for the series
Genre Dramatic
Horror
Anthology
Presented byGeorge Kelting
Narrated byBill Schudt
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Production locations New York, New York
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time15 minutes
Original release
Network W2XAB
ReleaseAugust 17, 1931 (1931-08-17) 
February 15, 1933 (1933-02-15) [1]

The Television Ghost is an American dramatic horror anthology television series featuring ghost stories presented by George Kelting as the ghost of various murder victims. It originally aired in New York City on W2XAB (now WCBS-TV), an experimental television station of Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), from August 17, 1931 to February 15, 1933. It is believed to be one of the first dramatic television series in the world. [1] Due to a lack of any preservation the entire series is widely accepted as being completely lost.

Contents

Premise

The ghosts of murder victims would tell the story of their respective murders. George Kelting was the storyteller and acted as the ghost, wearing white make-up and having a white sheet draped over his head. [2]

Cast and crew

Broadcast

The series was also broadcast on radio by W2XE New York City and AM 970 WABC (forerunner to modern AM 880 WCBS, not related to the current WABC or AM 970). The Television Ghost ran for the entirety of W2XAB's two-year run as a mechanical television station. Each episode featured a run time of 15 minutes.

No audio recordings of the program were ever made, nor were any portions of the program filmed; the only known remaining documents are a few publicity photos of Kelting in costume and some newspaper mentions, making it a lost television broadcast.

A Halloween episode was previewed in the Brooklyn Standard Union on October 30, 1931: "Halloween will be duly celebrated by Columbia's television station W2XAB tomorrow when the Television Ghost, unidentified mystery character, takes things in his own hands to thrill and chill lookers-in and listeners-in. The Television Ghost, who stalks the radio waves regularly on Tuesday nights will be given free rein of the visual studios and will demonstrate, among other things, how one ghost can become three ghosts without a magician in the picture." [4]

For part of its run it was followed on the schedule by Piano Lessons . [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WABC-TV</span> ABC flagship station in New York City

WABC-TV is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters; its transmitter is located at the Empire State Building.

WABC is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a conservative talk radio format known as "Talkradio 77". Owned by John Catsimatidis' Red Apple Media, the station's studios are located in Red Apple Media headquarters on Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and its transmitter is in Lodi, New Jersey. Its 50,000-watt non-directional clear channel signal can be heard at night throughout much of the Eastern United States and Eastern Canada. It is the primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System in the New York metropolitan area and New Jersey. WABC simulcasts on WLIR-FM in Hampton Bays, New York, on eastern Long Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNBC</span> NBC flagship station in New York City

WNBC is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo station WNJU. WNBC's studios and offices are co-located with NBC's corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan; WNJU's facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey, also serve as WNBC's New Jersey news bureau. Through a channel sharing agreement with WNJU, the two stations transmit using WNJU's spectrum from an antenna atop One World Trade Center.

WCBS-TV, branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station WLNY-TV. The two stations share studios within the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan; WCBS-TV's transmitter is located at One World Trade Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHSQ</span> ESPN Radio station in New York City

WHSQ is a radio station in New York City. Owned by Audacy, Inc. and operated by Good Karma Brands (GKB) under a local marketing agreement (LMA), it broadcasts a sports radio format as the co-flagship of the ESPN Radio network. The station's transmitter is located on High Island in the Bronx; its 50,000-watt clear channel signal can be heard at night throughout much of the eastern United States and Eastern Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WCBS-FM</span> Classic hits radio station in New York City

WCBS-FM is a radio station owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. licensed to New York, New York, and broadcasting a classic hits format. The station's studios are in the combined Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, and its transmitter is located at the Empire State Building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WINS (AM)</span> All-news radio station in New York City

WINS (1010 kHz) is a commercial, all-news AM radio station licensed to New York, New York owned by Audacy, Inc. The station brands itself "1010 WINS", with its call sign phonetically pronounced as "wins". WINS's studios are located in the combined Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood in lower Manhattan, and its transmitter is located in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernie Anastos</span> American news anchor (born 1943)

Ernie Anastos is a New York Emmy award winning television news anchor and talk show host on WABC with Positively Ernie focusing on uplifting stories and interviews. He is also a children’s author and host of his own nationally syndicated TV show, Positively America. He has anchored the evening news at four flagship network stations in New York: UPN 9, ABC 7, CBS 2 and FOX 5. In 2017, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio honored Anastos by designating every March 21 to be Ernie Anastos Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Morrow</span> American radio performer (born 1935)

Bruce Morrow is an American radio performer, publicly known as Cousin Brucie or Cousin Bruce Morrow. In an October 2020 interview, Morrow said he received the moniker "Cousin" while in the lobby of his midtown Manhattan WABC studio when an elderly woman once asked him "Cousin, lend me fifty cents to get home" to whom he did give that fifty cents. The name stuck for six decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNYM</span> Conservative talk radio station in Hackensack, New Jersey

WNYM – branded "AM 970 The Answer" – is a commercial radio station licensed to Hackensack, New Jersey, and serving the New York metropolitan area. The station is owned by Salem Media Group and programs a conservative talk radio format. Its studios are shared with co-owned WMCA on Broadway in Lower Manhattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Edwards</span> American radio & TV host and producer (1913–2005)

Ralph Livingstone Edwards was an American radio and television host, radio producer, and television producer, best known for his radio-TV game shows Truth or Consequences and reality documentary series This Is Your Life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Yankees Radio Network</span> Official radio network of MLBs New York Yankees

The New York Yankees Radio Network is an Audacy-owned radio network that broadcasts New York Yankees baseball games to 19 stations across 5 states. The network's flagship station is WFAN, which succeeded sister station WCBS as the flagship in 2014; WCBS had aired Yankees broadcasts since the network was founded in 2002 while WFAN had been the flagship station for the Yankees' crosstown rivals, the New York Mets, since the station's founding. The full on-air name of the broadcasts is the WFAN Yankees Radio Network Driven by Jeep, with the Chrysler LLC subsidiary continuing its sponsorship of the network while games are broadcast from the "Duck Duck Go broadcast booth."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred H. Grebe</span>

Alfred Henry Grebe, Sr. was a pioneer in the radio broadcasting field.

Piano Lessons is an American music education television series featuring piano lessons from Giuseppe Aldo Randegger. It originally aired in New York City on W2XAB, a then-experimental television station of Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), from October 8, 1931, to 1932. Piano Lessons is among the earliest regularly scheduled television programs. Due to a lack of any preservation the entire series is widely accepted as being completely lost.

Television Magic was a very early American television series that aired in 1932.

<i>Exhibition Boxing Bouts</i>

Exhibition Boxing Bouts is the possible title for a very early American television series. Aired 1931 to 1932 in New York City, it consisted of miniature boxing matches, and aired on what was then mechanical television station W2XAB, which later became WCBS-TV. Time-slots varied from 15 minutes to 30 minutes, and it aired without commercials, as United States television was still an experimental service. According to the section "Radio Dial Log" in the August 20, 1931 edition of The New York Sun, one of the episodes featured a description by Harry Von Zell and Bill Schudt Jr, with Jimmie deForrest as the referee. None of the episodes still exist, as it aired live, and practical methods to record live television did not exist until late 1947. A still photograph of the series appears in page 19 of the February 20, 1932 edition of The New York Sun, depicting two boxers in a small ring.

Elliot Jaffee was an American television series, which aired 1931 to 1932 on experimental television station W2XAB. Featuring the tenor of the same name, it was a live music series on mechanical television. Jaffee was also a radio performer during the early 1930s. None of the episodes still exist, as methods to record live television were not developed until late 1947. The series aired in a 15-minute time-slot.

Grace Yeager is the assumed title of a 1931–1932 United States television series which aired on New York City television station W2XAB. Among the earliest regularly-scheduled series, it featured the singer of the same name, who was a soprano. According to an article in the October 31, 1931 edition of The New York Sun titled W2XAB Source of Features, Yeager had previously been a member of the San Carlos Opera Company. None of the episodes still exist, as it aired live, and practical methods to record live television did not exist until 1947.

Doris Sharp is the assumed title of a very early television series starring a vocalist of that name, which aired from 1931 to 1932 on New York City station W2XAB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harriet Lee (singer)</span> American radio singer

Harriet Lee was an American radio singer during the Golden Age of Radio in the 1920s–1930s. She was best known as a blues contralto on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and, later, NBC Radio Networks. Called the "Songbird of the Air", she was named Miss Radio 1931 based on nationwide submittals from radio stations, judged by Flo Ziegfeld and McClelland Barclay, to select the "most beautiful radio artist" for the Radio World's Fair in New York City. Lee was one of the highest paid radio stars that year. She hosted the Harriet Lee show on experimental New York City station W2XAB in 1931, making her one of the first singers to have a show on U.S. television.

References

  1. 1 2 Google Books excerpt of the Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed.
  2. Schudt Jr., Bill (April 3, 1932). "Airy Chats". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. E9. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  3. Hawes, William (1986). American Television Drama: The Experimental Years. University of Alabama Press. p. 34. ISBN   0-8173-0276-X.
  4. "Remote Control". Brooklyn Standard Union. Oct 30, 1931. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  5. "Archived copy" (PDF). www.fultonhistory.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)