AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, THE: BIG DREAM, SMALL SCREEN (TV)
Summary
One in this documentary series. This installment covers the life and work of Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of the electric television. Host David McCullough explains that Farnsworth is not nearly as well-known as he should be, given the popularity of his ingenious invention. At age fourteen, young Farnsworth had an "epiphany" while plowing a field about sending pictures across the airwaves like radio sound, and he is seen appearing on "What's My Line?", with the contestants unable to guess his identity. His sons Skee and Kent explain that he actually never had a television in the house, telling his children there was nothing "worthwhile" to watch. Born in a log cabin in Utah in 1906, Farnsworth moved repeatedly with his Mormon family before settling in Idaho, where he became fascinated with science and radio. Sisters Agnes and Laura explain how he invented various "gadgets" to speed up household chores and "built the future" for his family. While still a teen, he impressed his science teacher with his ideas about electrons and using a camera to create lines of light and shade, which could be sent out in a stream of pulses to an antenna to create a picture. Radio was still a novelty in Utah, but he bonded with Elma "Pem" Gardner over their shared love of music, and she later became his wife, though television remained "the other woman." In 1925 he joined up with George Everson and Les Garrel, who invested $6,000 in his invention, and they headed for California and built a makeshift laboratory in their Hollywood home, with Pem serving as his assistant.
Farnsworth performed many experiments, and despite some failures, he promised to have a working television within a year after receiving an additional $25,000. Others, including Romilly Rutherford, worked alongside him, and Farnsworth meticulously recorded their progress in notebooks. Elsewhere, rival inventor Vladimir Zworykin, who had far more formal training, struggled with his own attempts, and mechanical television seemed preferable, with engineer John Logie Baird explaining his crude system of "spinning discs" to send out a shadowy picture. Farnsworth remained optimistic, however, and finally got a clear signal in September of 1927. Hollywood noticed his progress and Farnsworth gained some fame, though he required yet more money and the financiers grew nervous. At the same time, powerful RCA head David Sarnoff had a "fateful meeting" with Zworykin, and gave him money to "catch up" to Farnsworth's progress. Zworykin met with Farnsworth under the pretense of admiring his work, but quickly telegrammed Sarnoff with details of Farnsworth's constructions and then attempted to "invent around" Farnsworth's patents. Sarnoff offered Farnsworth $100,000 for his patents, but Farnsworth refused and Sarnoff summoned his lawyers, claiming that Zworykin had beaten him to it. Farnsworth signed a secret deal with Philco and moved his work to Philadelphia, though RCA picked up his test transmissions and the two spied on one another's work.
Farnsworth and Pem's 13-month-old son then died unexpectedly, and Pem was forced to travel alone to bury him out west. This spurred Farnsworth to leave Philco and set up on his own, eventually giving an exciting public demonstration at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute. He won a patent victory against RCA and then sailed to England, where he signed a contract with Baird. In 1936 he formed his own experimental television station, W3XPF, though it was only available to a few and TVs sold poorly because of limited broadcasting abilities. Farnsworth, distressed, headed for Maine and began drinking heavily to the point of hospitalization, later occupying himself by constructing a trout pond on his land. In 1939, Sarnoff demonstrated the "first" television at the New York World's Fair, leaving Farnsworth's name out of the presentation. However, Farnsworth finally won his case against RCA and Sarnoff was forced to pay him royalties, but he still received little public credit. The American government then halted production of television altogether because of World War II, needing the technology for radars and defense, and Farnsworth realized that he would never make his fortune from television after all. He suffered a nervous breakdown and lost his home to a forest fire in 1947, choosing to focus on nuclear fusion in his later years before his death in 1971, and his sisters comment on the sad end to his brilliant career. However, despite his "outsider" status, statues were eventually erected to him in Utah and Washington D.C., honoring his contribution to science and popular culture. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: February 10, 1997 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:91657
- GENRE: Education/Information
- SUBJECT HEADING: Education/Information; Inventions; Television
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1988-
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Miracle-Gro plant food
- TV - Commercials - Scotts lawn fertilizer
CREDITS
- Frederick Zollo … Executive Producer
- Nicholas Paleologos … Executive Producer
- Margaret Drain … Executive Producer
- Susan Mottau … Coordinating Producer
- Alison Trinkl … Producer
- David Dugan … Director, Writer
- Wilfred Josephs … Music by
- Charles Kuskin … Theme Music by
- David McCullough … Host
- Liev Schreiber … Narrator
- John Logie Baird
- George Everson
- Philo T. Farnsworth
- Skee Farnsworth
- Kent Farnsworth
- Elma "Pem" Gardner
- Les Garrel
- Agnes Lindsay
- Laura Player
- Romilly Rutherford
- David Sarnoff
- Vladimir Zworykin