Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Colorizing the Petries



(This was not the episode shown.)

We watched the colorized version of two old DICK VAN DYKE shows on Sunday night on CBS. They were two classic episodes and they did a good job (IMHO) of choosing colors that would have been in use in the early sixties. However, after the first few minutes, I didn't even think about the color. I just concentrated on the great plots, acting, sets, costumes. I think in my head, they were always in color. Mary looked gorgeous. I think they colored Dick's hair a little too light.
Did you see it? What did you think? Are you in favor of colorization now that it's a better process? Is it worth colorizing TV shows?

20 comments:

Unknown said...

The show was too good to need gimmicks like colorization, but it was kind of fun to see it in color. It's just as funny in black and white, though.

Al Tucher said...

It would be great to see the first season of LOST IN SPACE colorized, at the time Irwin Allen admitted that filming it in black-and-white may have been a mistake because of the number of color TV`s that were being sold in America at that time, and just remember how good seasons two and three did look in color.

Jeff Meyerson said...

No. It should have been in the original black & white. Bah, humbug.

And stay off my lawn!

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Lost in Space? Terrible show not worth watching in B&W or color.
I missed these. Somehow they were off my radar. Colorizing old tv shows bothers me less than colorizing old movies.

Jeff Meyerson said...

Also, I find even good shows like this hard to watch these days because I dislike the whole MAD MEN/narrow tie/smoke everywhere era. I grew up with it and I don't want to revisit it.

So sue me.

Charles Gramlich said...

I was completely confused by the "petry" in your title. I kept thinking of petroglyphs or something along that line. I never watched this show during its original run but I've seen various reruns and I like it. Lana is a big fan.

pattinase (abbott) said...

One of my favorites. And I remember at the time--and I was ten or twelve--it seemed more sophisticated than any other show. I can't imagine there is any real payoff than colorizing more of these shows.

Anonymous said...

I think I feel better about the whole process now that it's been so improved, Patti. There are some films (like some of Hitchcock's) that are best in black and white, in my opinion. But I'm not dead-set against the process.

Rick Robinson said...

Leave 'em alone, I say. Everything don't need color.

Alert the media: Jeff doesn't HAVE a lawn to keep off of. Why he doesn't like narrow ties is unknown.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I was kinda stunned at how thin they were.
And how wide on MTM.

Barry Ergang said...

Always having liked the show when it originally aired, I watched it and enjoyed it for the comedy. I've never been a fan of colorization, but I have to admit that what was originally aired was far superior--and a sellout to modern audiences--to what I've seen in the past. Nevertheless, I'll take B&W over colorization every time.

I can't imagine watching a favorite film like "The Night of the Hunter" in color, since the novel's lyrical prose is so effectively captured in B&W. E.g., the nighttime scenes when the children escape downstream in a boat from the murderous preacher. Or, prior to that, when we see the preacher in silhouette from the fleeing young boy's vantage point from the barn's upper window.

George said...

Most TV watchers have been conditioned to color programming. If something is in black & white many people won't watch it. Like you, I tend to find fault with many of the colorization schemes. The colors look fake at times.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Certainly movies are more problematic than TV for this although seeing THE TWILIGHT ZONE in color would be wrong, very wrong. And there are other exceptions on the tube, I'm sure.

David Cranmer said...

We have been watching the show with our five-year-old and she laughs and laughs. No reason to color.

Cap'n Bob said...

I'm a'gin it.

Todd Mason said...

There are certain series that took great pride in their cinematography in b&w, such as THE OUTER LIMITS and PETER GUNN.

As terrible as the vast majority of the episodes were--Irwin Allen jumped with both feet and at least one hand onto the BATMAN-inspired Camp bandwagon with his mostly terrible sf series...the kind of thing I will refer to as "sci-fi"--here meaning pathetic attempts to create sf from people who couldn't tell shinola from granola...the first season of LOST IN SPACE had at least two decent enough episodes, in a genuinely non-stupid pilot, and one where Bill Mumy's character has been teleported back to Earth without the others and tries to find a way to recover them. But they got over that right quick, and aimed squarely for the stupid, with the notion the wink would be sufficient excuse...likewise with VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA...they were back to playing it ineptly, if straight, by the advent of LAND OF THE GIANTS and THE TIME TUNNEL. Then again, the third season of STAR TREK was only marginally better.

This who can't watch anything in b&w are of a piece with those who can't tolerate characters bursting into song in musicals, and presumably can't stand any opera as well...

Todd Mason said...

They were (at least officially), the Petries...if my mother's chiefest tv crush was James Garner, my father's was Moore (Robert Wagner and Diana Rigg as honorable mentions)(I could see it, in all cases, though think I'd be more inclined to Garner and Rigg if pressed hard enough).

Though, of course, the Sela Wards and Christina Changs of my generation cast literally tall shadows...

Todd Mason said...

The YT clip looks "good" enough to have been shot on low-quality videotape at the same time as the filming in b&w...so colorization was, at least in a Test mode, up to that level by the time they did this...I didn't look in on the CBS broadcast the other day, to see how that looked.

Al Tucher said...

Todd, from a purely entertainment standpoint there are many episodes of the Irwin Allen shows that are still better than a lot of the stuff on TV now ! ! !.

Todd Mason said...

If given the choice of the worst Allen episodes or anything to do with Kardashians or Dr. Phil McGraw, the Allen campfests win for me. But there is so much then and now I prefer to those Allen productions...