I always assumed the network received B&W prints until they began broadcasting in color. But thanks to not being alive then and never having worked for a network affiliate alongside someone who knows, I could be wrong.
The East Coast feed and the West Coast feed had two prints each: one 35mm for the main feed, one 16mm for the back-up feed in case of "technical difficulties".
Yes and both the 35 mm and 16 mm prints were in color for color telecasts. The black and white 16mm prints were for stations that aired shows on a delay and were not able to delay the shows themselves via video tape. There was also a third 16mm color print of many shows that went to Denver which for many years was the origination point for the Mountain Time Zone. When everything moved to tape including shows that were originally on film, the 35 and 16 prints were no longer used by the networks on air.
Her family may not have them anymore. I agree with you that this doesn't necessarily constitute bootlegging, but it was the word I used at the time, and I didn't want to derail this thread into the gray areas of HTF policy.
Did you see this clip on Youtube? I have a copy of this episode with the exact same cut.
