Studio One: The Medium

Studio One: The Medium. 

Originally broadcast on CBS, 7:30 PM ET, December 12, 1948.

Plot: Based off the opera of the time, a gypsy, her daughter and mute servant attempt to con people out of their money by staging seances. The plan starts to turn when the gypsy senses there is something out there threatening her.

Analysis: Yes, folks, our first show is opera.

I'm HYPED~!

Seriously, it's in English, which helps to understand the plot. Plus, staging theater on television was a method of "legitimization", same as music programs worked for radio 20 years before.

Two things to be aware of going in with the show: firstly, the sound isn't great, so you may need the subtitles function to understand what is being said. Secondly, like most shows, Studio One was broadcast live just once, making each show unique. The drawback was the only available means of preservation was a kine-scope, basically running a film camera recording a monitor of the presentation. If you want an approximation of what it's like, grab a video camera and tape a show directly off TV using the camera. You get the show, but lose quality of image along the way. That's the bad news. On the other hand, the kine-scopes are often the only means of preserving television from this period, so bitter with the sweet as they say.

As for the show itself, I'll try to follow a basic "no-spoiler" rule and simply say the plot is interesting, if a bit muddy, especially toward the end. It is a show that requires patience to watch and you do kind of need to be in it's proverbial wheelhouse to really enjoy it. But, as of right now, it is the oldest preserved broadcast commercially available, so there's that bit of history as well.

If you are interested in checking it out, it can be bought with the Studio One Anthology (http://www.amazon.com/Studio-One-Antholo....83808049&sr=1-1). We'll revisit this anthology a few more times, so it might be worth your time to check out.