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had only 90 minutes to replicate an authentic theater program, so the weekly serial chapter was usually shortened to about half its length and the feature attraction was always edited down to about an hour. Thus the casual viewer got the flavor of the old movie marathons in smaller portions. During
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serial chapter "to be continued," and a tightly edited feature presentation. The 90-minute series ran for five consecutive first-run seasons, each consisting of 16 episodes, and continued on PBS for three subsequent years in reruns. The series was an independent production from Bijou
Productions,
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In 1995, an international television distributor, TV Matters, Inc., bought the broadcast rights to the series, and with the help of the series’ producers undertook a makeover updating the opening sequences and retaining only the best film elements from the original 80 episodes. A total of 52
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was first licensed by PBS, national programs were voted on and chosen by program managers of member stations, rather than national program chiefs. The stations effectively voted their available program dollars in a series of voting "preference rounds." The
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had its national premiere the following year. Galbraith left the series, along with host Scott DeVenney, in 1982, and producer
Campbell continued on as executive producer and producer of the following two seasons and the re-release ten years later.
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content, as the cost of licensing content from the major studios was prohibitive. All of the short subjects and serials, as well as the feature films, were in the public domain except one: a single, first-season broadcast of
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series made the cut for five consecutive seasons, but was not picked up in 1985 due to diminishing programming dollars and the need to spend what was available on core series like
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audiences. National
Nielsen ratings for the first-run episodes were mostly in the 4.0 to 5-7 ranges, reported as unprecedented for a non-prime time PBS fringe-time series.
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Going to the movies prior to 1960, and especially prior to the advent of television, could last for several hours, and include many short films along with a single- or
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the first season the 16mm film prints were physically cut and spliced to fit the time slot; subsequent seasons used video technology to accomplish the editing.
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for daily afternoon or morning broadcasts. One West Coast affiliate found ratings success running the series on
Saturday nights at 10:00pm, as a lead-in to
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member stations for scheduling any way they chose. Most stations ran the series on weekend mornings or afternoons. Several PBS stations, such as
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Bob
Campbell and John Galbraith, series co-creators and producers, presented their concept to PBS in 1979, were given a green light, and
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producers and the film supplier presumed the film to be out of copyright, only to find later that the literary rights to the character
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in 1980. It recreated the
American moviegoing experiences of the 1930s and the 1940s, with trailers, a cartoon, one or more selected
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The theme music played during the opening credits was titled "At the Bijou," and was performed (in a new recording) by crooner
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cartoons were featured on the show, along with many other famous cartoon characters. Later seasons of the program included
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was hosted by actor Scott DeVenney. In 1983 the opening format was changed, the host was dropped, and a
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were still protected. The
Drummond film was withdrawn from the series and replaced with a
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was considered a "fringe-time" series, and episodes were fed to
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American television series with live action and animation
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1981 Season Two press kit cover, designed by Carl
Darnell
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is a television series that premiered nationally on
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269:. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1986-10-18.
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110:musical.
44:Inc., of
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