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DGA QUARTERLY 69 comedies, sitcoms and dramatic pro- gramming, both on film and tape. New York remained the center for sports programming, news and live events. Meanwhile, the role of the director changed dramatically and the initial phase of experimentation and discovery in television gave way to an adolescence marked by experience and technological ad- vances. Free from many of the demands of live television, directors were now able to concentrate more on the performances of the ac- tors, pacing and the aesthetics of directing. "When directors came West, it changed the nature of the content of television," said Reynolds, who won two DGA Awards and three Emmys for M*A*S*H. "Directing was gaining more finesse. When we worked outside for M*A*S*H, for example, cameras were actu- ally more flexible by this time and we had handheld cameras. It had a big impact in terms of our technique of directing." But for the directors who cut their teeth on early television, the initial rush of discovery was never forgotten. Years later, when Fran- kenheimer had made his mark as a film director, he recalled his own sense of excitement directing television in its first decade. "We all loved it," he said. "If live television were still around the way it was when it was really live, we would have preferred it to movies. I don't know how to explain the feeling you have as you're going along and it's working—and isn't working. So many emotions and feelings in one hour or an hour and a half." ® and Peyton Place, which in 1964 became television's first primetime soap. "It was shaky in the sense that you had to hit your mark. On one show I directed, Eli Wallach was so frightened that he would always look down at the mark. I kept saying, 'Eli you mustn't tell the audience you're hitting a mark!' But everybody was concerned about that." H E P A C E W A S A L S O grueling, and directors quickly learned the importance of rehearsals. Usually several directors were hired by a net- work and rotated episodes on live dramatic shows. A director had about 10 days to rehearse for a one-hour drama. If it aired on Sunday, the following morning he was casting the next show, then spent a few days working with the writer and was back in rehearsals again five days later for the next perfor- mance. Haas, who directed the popular series The Millionaire, re- called the pressure from the network. "If you were running late, they would send one of the executives out to the set to raise hell with you." In 1951, as the New York television scene exploded with live dra- matic presentations, the premiere of the comedy I Love Lucy led the way for an alternative filmed approach to television that was devel- oping on the West Coast. Lucy, which was created and produced by Desi Arnaz under the banner of Desilu Productions, adapted a three- camera studio system for live television shot on film. Using 35 mm cameras, the sitcom's proscenium-stage performances were filmed from the unconventional perspective of a live audience. Rather than the standard light-block-rehearse-and shoot, one set and one setup at a time, which was the traditional way film was used, the director now planned scene by scene and filmed the action in continuous takes, which he later assembled in postproduction. No longer did a director call the shots from the control room but could be out on the floor with the actors and the rest of the crew. The need for instant cutting and editing became obsolete, and by the time videotape was introduced in 1956, television directors were able to select the shots they wanted during final edit, correct or discard bad takes in the ed- iting room, and use extra footage that had been shot from another camera. Postproduction became a major tool in the TV director's arsenal. Sheldon Leonard, who started out working on single-camera shows, made the switch to a multi-camera setup for Make Room for Daddy with Danny Thomas. "At that time, I Love Lucy was the only multi-camera show," he recalled in an interview for the DGA's 50th anniversary. "I had to learn the multiple camera technique, which turned out to be relatively simple, and also gave me opportunities I would not have had otherwise. For example, the opportunity to de- velop a show the way you develop a legitimate stage play, with a four- or five-day rehearsal period before you commit to film." By the late 1950s, a lot of television production had moved per- manently to the West Coast, which became the center for episodic NEW TRICKS: Sheldon Leonard, who started out working on single-camera shows, made the switch to a multi-camera setup for Make Room for Daddy. "I learned a great deal about cutting in live television because, after all, the live television director certainly had the final cut. That's what went on the air." —JOHN FRANKENHEIMER T