Let There Be Stars
Encyclopedia
Let There Be Stars was an early television series which aired on the ABC
television network
in 1949. It was a high-budget show for its time, and used new production techniques such as "Teleparencies", transparencies which could be displayed in the background, faded in or out or dissolved, and changed on the fly.
The idea of the program was to highlight up-and-coming actors and actresses who had been found by a talent scout working to cast new performers in Broadway
shows.
The first program got a rave review from Variety
magazine, but quality dropped off, and the show only lasted a little more than a month, from October 16, 1949 through November 27.
The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th episodes are stored at the Paley Center for Media. The archive also has a "rough rehearsal kinescope
" of one of the episodes.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
in 1949. It was a high-budget show for its time, and used new production techniques such as "Teleparencies", transparencies which could be displayed in the background, faded in or out or dissolved, and changed on the fly.
The idea of the program was to highlight up-and-coming actors and actresses who had been found by a talent scout working to cast new performers in Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
shows.
The first program got a rave review from Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine, but quality dropped off, and the show only lasted a little more than a month, from October 16, 1949 through November 27.
The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th episodes are stored at the Paley Center for Media. The archive also has a "rough rehearsal kinescope
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
" of one of the episodes.