Posted by Rich Grise, but drunk on 01/10/65 11:43

On Sun, 26 Mar 2006 02:04:18 -0500, DaveM wrote:
> "Rich Grise, but drunk" <yahright@example.net> wrote in message
>> On Sat, 25 Mar 2006 15:41:09 -0500, Jay Rose wrote:
>>> On 2006-03-25 15:31:34 -0500, "Richard Crowley" <rcrowley@xpr7t.net>
>>>>> This is a shotgun mike, there's a sketch about 1/2 way down the page:
>>>>> http://members.shaw.ca/roma/twenty-eight.html
>>>>
>>>> That was a crude, amateurish attempt at the technology behind a
>>>> line-gradient ("shotgun") microphone.
>>>
>>> IIRC, RCA had a professional directional mic back in the 50s that used
>>> multiple exposed tubes.
>>
>> I saw one on TeeVee, in about 1955, on the intro segment of "Science
>> Fiction Theater". The host would kinda wander around this very
>> scientifical- looking lab, and in this particular ep, he wound up at the
>> shotgun mike, and I think the ep was about spying or something. Let's
>> make that 1955 +- 2; I was just a kid barely starting school, maybe
>> first grade, but I remember it because I was fascinated by it.
>>
>> Anyways, those shotgun mikes have been around about as long as audio
>> electronics have been.
>> Rich
>
> Oh Wow!!! I remember that episode too, as well as an episode that dealt
> with a high energy sound cannon that supposedly incapacitated or killed
> anyone it was fired at. Seems the good guy foiled the villain by using a
> round bottomed bowl to redirect the blast back at the bad guy. It was a
> great series for its time. Been hoping to see that series on TV Land, but
> nothing as yet.
>

I get channel 56 on local airwave TeeVee - this is in LA, CA, I don't
remember their call letters, but they show reruns of "Becker", "Magnum,
PI" (which my Mom always liked - she used to say I looked like Tom
Selleck, bless her soul), "Colombo" (or is that "Columbo?"), and lately,
Alfred Hitchcock. "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" followed immediately by
the 1/2-hour "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".

Man, those are the classics - and seeing Hitchcock, now that I'm more-or-
less a grownup, he's a spectacularly subtle humorist - he does humour that
I did not recognize 40 years ago, but now, woo-hoo!

"I'm here to announce the introduction of this new product. I know, it
looks like four telephone booths behind me, but they are actually
television booths. For the benefit of those who have not yet purchased a
television set, these booths will be placed in convenient locations, such
as railway stations, airports[1], marketplaces, and so on, so that for a
dime, the customer can watch three minutes of this television show. And as
a special feature, since it seems that many of our viewers are accustomed
to watching TV while reclining on the couch, or in bed, a certain number
of these television booths will have the screen mounted in the floor, so
that the viewer may watch the show while looking between his feet."

Cheers!
Rich
--
[1] I actually saw coin-operated TVs in an airport once - they were
mounted on some kind of cantilevered arm at the chairs in a waiting area -
plunk down a quarter, and watch 10 minutes or so of TeeVee. It's OK, after
the people-watching gets too boring. :-)
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