Quite a few people have written in with theories about the live/tape/kinescope question regarding The Shari Lewis Show. A number reminded me that by the time the show debuted, NBC did have videotape capability. Shari's program replaced Howdy Doody and the last episode of that series exists on tape — a tape that was saved because of its historic nature.
The Shari Lewis Show may have been done live but probably wasn't. They probably did the show whenever it was convenient — though with very little editing — and taped it. The thing was that videotape was expensive back then and once a show didn't seem to have immediate rerun value, the tapes were erased and used for something else. So once Shari's series was cancelled, someone at NBC made the decision that they wouldn't need those episodes again and the tapes were wiped. They may have then transferred the material to kinescopes just in case they needed it…or they may have been making kinescopes all along to service markets that weren't equipped to run videotape — overseas, especially. Only a handful of Tonight Show episodes exist from the fifties and sixties and around half of them are kinescopes that were made so the programs could be shown to U.S. troops stationed in other lands.
Johnny Carson, of course, used to complain often that so much of his work had been erased to save a few dimes on tape, and others who worked in TV then have had similar complaints. One night on his show, Carson got visibly angry on the topic, speaking of the "idiots" in the business affairs department. The next afternoon, I had lunch with one of the heads of that division and someone (not I) brought up Johnny's remarks. The Biz Affairs guy readily admitted that his predecessors had been foolish, both in terms of heritage and profit. But then he added another view of the situation by quoting a speech that he wanted to make to Mr. Carson but didn't dare. He said, approximately…
You're right, Johnny. People here were stupid to throw your old shows out. Why didn't you ever ask for them? Every time we make a new deal with you, you hold us up for more money and you demand more promotion for the show and a higher budget and more parking spaces for your staff and fresh basil in the NBC commissary and every other thing you can think of. Why, in all those negotiations over the years, did you never say, "I want custody of the old tapes" or even "I want you to make sure you're preserving all my old shows"? Yeah, the guys here were short-sighted and it was mainly their responsibility…but how come you let them erase all those tapes and you never stopped them?
An interesting point and I wonder what Johnny would have said. I mean, after he had the guy who said that to him fired.