Maybe the funniest commercial to ever air -- and it aired only once. I wonder why

[leigh.bess.toad]

My bf shared this with me tonight. Thought you might enjoy it.

 

Ralph Williams was a Big Time car dealer in the SF area! This is one of the greatest commercial ever seen and it only aired once. This commercial was done live! During the late 60s, most television programs and commercials were live. There were no "pre-recorded" programs. There were some obvious problems with this method. No "retakes" and "bloopers" were a regular occurrence.

 

The salesman doing the commercial was named Chick Lambert. He quit right after this commercial. Is there any wonder why??? This is no blooper! This guy was just very upset with his boss and told it like he thought it was. What a great job of ad-libbing. He never misses a beat while, if you listen carefully, you'll hear the cameraman and soundman lose it. The commercial got on the air. But only once!

 

[video=youtube;0hjgIF71lio]

[bigvalboy]

Damn LBT..that was without a doubt one of the funniest things I have ever seen. LOL LOL LOL Where do you guys find this stuff????

[leigh.bess.toad]

Where do you guys find this stuff????

 

Have a bf with as warped a sense of humor as your own. Well that's not right. His is far more warped.

[bigvalboy]

Have a bf with as warped a sense of humor as your own. Well that's not right. His is far more warped.

 

Well he's a keeper...that was some funny shit. And as to my warped sense of humor, I will quote Herman Cain..."I got all this stuff just rollin round in my head"

[leigh.bess.toad]

Well he's a keeper...

 

I don't know BVB about the relationship. I don't know how long it has. Probably 30, maybe 40 years tops.

[+ purplekow]

Nice commercial Probably got a lot of publicity for the owner who probably did wind up making out on the deal after the initial embarrassment.

[leigh.bess.toad]

But can you IMAGINE what today's FCC would do with this ad? A nanosecond of Janet Jackson's boob, an off the cuff "fuck" from Bono had them and the right wing ideologues absolutely frothing. Sort of like Santorum.

[bigvalboy]

I don't know BVB about the relationship. I don't know how long it has. Probably 30, maybe 40 years tops.

 

It doesn't matter how long...Quality before Quantity, I always say...they no doubt will be the best years of your life.

 

Be well my friend, BVB

[Phil_musc]

I guess Ralph should have signed with Don Draper and the Mad Men agency.

 

Thanks, Lee, and thanks to the bf. A real howler. The ad, I mean. Not your bf. He might be a howler himself, but I've never met you guys so I have no idea. ;-)

[raulgmanzo]

...This commercial was done live! During the late 60s, most television programs and commercials were live. There were no "pre-recorded" programs. There were some obvious problems with this method. No "retakes" and "bloopers" were a regular occurrence....

 

In the 1940s and 1950s I believe a bunch of television was live to avoid the cost and delay of using film but at the end of the 1950s magnetic recording (which dates to the 1800s) had developed to the point where it could handle the bandwidth required for television. In 1958 Advertising Age reported that "videotape seems to be catching on like wildfire." Seems that singer Bing Crosby was an early pioneer in the use of videotape.

 

Though those early recorders would have been monstrous machines with the earlier ones recording on steel bands or ribbons that must have been quite cumbersome.

 

However decades earlier film technology had of course been well established and while I understand that it's processing time and cost made it impractical for many programs it was used in prerecording at least some programs as early as 1951 such as "I Love Lucy". But in the 1930s newsreels shown in evening performances at movie theatres might have been shot, developed, edited and delivered all on the same day. So certainly the turnaround time would, I think, have been good enough for commercials.

 

Okay I REALLY don't know but I'm guessing that the car commercial in question was not live and that whether or not it ever aired it was an out take.

 

Hmmm maybe it's time I get around to visiting the Museum of Broadcast Communications (http://www.museum.tv/) a couple miles away here in Chicago.

[+ deej]

I wondered about the timeframe, too.

 

But remember, even "I Love Lucy" featured commercials performed live -- remember "VitaMeataVegamin"?

 

Betty White, when hosting SNL, said that in the early days of TV everything was live because they didn't have a choice. (And then she wondered what the hell was wrong with SNL! LOL)

 

This video has the ring of a soundcheck that wasn't supposed to ever see the light of day.

[justaguy]

Thanks for this one, Lee. A good chuckle in the morning is always appreciated.