"My Living Doll"? (1 Viewer)

[John Karras]

Maybe that highly-lauded, but ever-silent James Finn is one of the "Top Men".

 

[JoeDoakes]

Glad someone got it

 

[Jack P]

That was a joke, Neil you missed it! Joe's too fast for you!

 

[Neil Brock]

Maybe Jimmy Jet is on it!

 

[FanCollector]

Except, they aren't an archive. Speaking to archivists at other places, which are actual archives, none of them really know what the Paley Center is. UCLA, Library of Congress and Wisconsin Historical Society are the 3 best television archives in the country and all are far more organized and professionally run than Paley, in addition to having far better collections.

I'm an archivist also (not in television collections), and the Paley Center clearly has its deficiencies. At the same time, there is a distinction to be made in terms of mission. When I was 12 years old, I discovered The Defenders at The Museum of Broadcasting (the ancestor of The Paley Center), and became a fan. I never would have gotten to see that show in the late 1980s anywhere else. I visited the Library of Congress that same year and they wouldn't let me look at a book, let alone part of their archival film collection. Archives have to balance the needs of preservation and access, and the better television archives have not always prioritized access. If I had a rare piece of television history, I might not send it to the Paley Center to be preserved and studied. But if I ever wanted more than five people to be able to see it, I'd think about it...

 

[Neil Brock]

I'm an archivist also (not in television collections), and the Paley Center clearly has its deficiencies. At the same time, there is a distinction to be made in terms of mission. When I was 12 years old, I discovered The Defenders at The Museum of Broadcasting (the ancestor of The Paley Center), and became a fan. I never would have gotten to see that show in the late 1980s anywhere else. I visited the Library of Congress that same year and they wouldn't let me look at a book, let alone part of their archival film collection. Archives have to balance the needs of preservation and access, and the better television archives have not always prioritized access. If I had a rare piece of television history, I might not send it to the Paley Center to be preserved and studied. But if I ever wanted more than five people to be able to see it, I'd think about it...

In the unlikely event that a) they would actually not lose what you donated and b) they would deem it worthy of transferring it to a usable format. So much of what exists in their collection, among the small percentage of the collection that they can find, still resides on formats such as 2-inch tape, 35mm film, etc. that they have neither the equipment nor the budget to transfer.

 

[MartinP.]

Neil,

Do the same things apply to the Paley Center in Beverly Hills?

 

[Neil Brock]

Neil,

Do the same things apply to the Paley Center in Beverly Hills?

I'm not as familiar with their operation but I wouldn't think otherwise. The few times I've been in the one in Beverly Hills, its been a ghost town. No visitors but a big building right on Rodeo Drive, one of the most expensive streets in the world. The only thing the Paley Center is good at (and they are great at it) is raising money through donations by telling the entertainment community what a wonderful job they do of archiving material. If those people only knew...

 

[Ron1973]

I'm not as familiar with their operation but I wouldn't think otherwise. The few times I've been in the one in Beverly Hills, its been a ghost town. No visitors but a big building right on Rodeo Drive, one of the most expensive streets in the world. The only thing the Paley Center is good at (and they are great at it) is raising money through donations by telling the entertainment community what a wonderful job they do of archiving material. If those people only knew...

Sounds sort of like PBS and their "we'll go off the air if you don't contribute..."

 

[Jack P]

And their "if not us then who?" fearmongering?

 

[Ron1973]

And their "if not us then who?" fearmongering?

I still have a homemade VHS tape of In the Hank Williams Tradition WKNO aired circa 1988. "If you want to see programs like this year round..." They'd do the same thing every year; some nice musical show, but you'd never see anything that nice again until pledge time!

 

[Jack P]

Not surprising. Just another case of how much PBS has overinflated its reputation over the decades (though nowhere near as much as NPR).

 

[Ron1973]

Not surprising. Just another case of how much PBS has overinflated its reputation over the decades (though nowhere near as much as NPR).

The last time I watched a fund raiser was probably 5 years ago. They were showing an Elvis gospel special that Bill Gaither produced. Not a bad special at all. If you would only become a member, they would send you the 3 CD collection of Elvis gospel songs as a "free gift." I bet! I have that particular set, and I think I got it for around $30. Lol!!!!

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I still have a homemade VHS tape of In the Hank Williams Tradition WKNO aired circa 1988. "If you want to see programs like this year round..." They'd do the same thing every year; some nice musical show, but you'd never see anything that nice again until pledge time!

Exactly.

During pledge times, I've seen a few documentaries about local Virginia TV hosts on one of the channels, and they always give the "if you want to see more of this" speech, and then go back to airing the thinly veiled infomercials about brain power and weightloss during regular times.

Or, Downton Abbey marathons. Well, sorry guys, but I have a DVD player and a Blu Ray player. I've got Downton, Call the Midwife, Grantchester, and pretty much every other British show at my disposal at any time for a one time fee.

/thankfully, those local documentaries are often available through the filmmakers' websites for a fair enough price. So now I've got those, too.