Dick Tracy Wrist TV from 1967 unsold pilot

Found this on youtube... the unaired and unsold 1967 pilot to a Dick Tracy TV series, done by those same folks that brought us Batman and The Green Hornet, the Dick Tracy pilot starred Ray MacDonnel as Tracy, Victor Buono as "Memory Master" and had a theme song by The Ventures! How could you go wrong!

Just go to youtube and search for Dick Tracy Pilot, and you can watch it.

My personal interest was sparked by the fleetingly short close up of the Wrist TV. Here are a couple shots I captured from the pilot... grainy, but cool.





Might be a fun project to tackle, to go along with the movie wrist communicator.

Cool find

i wonder what the smallest mp4 player is
it could serve as a base so the screen could function
and look like a working com
just a thought

It's funny that it's important to see who you are talking to. I can see how a Vid-Phon would be cool for talking to friends or family but otherwise ain't it kind of a waste of technology? Yeck! I don't want to see my coworkers any more than I have to.

shuktuki said:

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i wonder what the smallest mp4 player is
it could serve as a base so the screen could function
and look like a working com
just a thought

That sounds like a fun idea! I'm checking out some of the cheap players tomorrow... usually the cheaper the player, the smaller the screen. I'm estimating about 1 by 2 inches for the prop... we'll see.

At first glance a cable splitter came to mind,but this was way before cable!

TheSt.LouisKid said:

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It's funny that it's important to see who you are talking to. I can see how a Vid-Phon would be cool for talking to friends or family but otherwise ain't it kind of a waste of technology? Yeck! I don't want to see my coworkers any more than I have to.

Yeah, I never understood that one, either. I really have no desire to make sure i look my best... or at least presentable before I answer the phone.

And sometimes technology seems to take a step backward. I mean, the phone lets you TALK to other people... yet so many people I know use their phones to TYPE to each other much more often than talk! I'll never understand that one.

TheSt.LouisKid said:

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It's funny that it's important to see who you are talking to. I can see how a Vid-Phon would be cool for talking to friends or family but otherwise ain't it kind of a waste of technology? Yeck! I don't want to see my coworkers any more than I have to.

Yeah, a video-phone makes it pretty hard to call in sick when you're out trout fishing, or having a really good weekend at a vegas craps table.....um, no, boss- the woman wearing feathers is my nurse! yeah, my nurse.........

Looks like something done by paint by numbers here a long time ago.

Love the painted silver valve stem covers as knobs.

I read an interview with Chester Gould where he said that his original idea for the two-way wrist radio, was as a two-way wrist tv radio, but the syndicate would only let him do it as a radio. They thought that the wrist tv radio was too wild.

David.

Krel said:

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Love the painted silver valve stem covers as knobs.

I read an interview with Chester Gould where he said that his original idea for the two-way wrist radio, was as a two-way wrist tv radio, but the syndicate would only let him do it as a radio. They thought that the wrist tv radio was too wild.

David.

I know that the wrist TV did show up in the comics, but not until 1964, right around the time the series became a science fiction/space opera.

Jaruemalak said:

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Found this on youtube... the unaired and unsold 1967 pilot to a Dick Tracy TV series, done by those same folks that brought us Batman and The Green Hornet, the Dick Tracy pilot starred Ray MacDonnel as Tracy, Victor Buono as "Memory Master" and had a theme song by The Ventures! How could you go wrong!

Heck, that would have been worth watching for Victor Buono alone. He was always a joy.

shotts63 said:

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At first glance a cable splitter came to mind,but this was way before cable!

There was cable then, actually, but it was used mainly for bringing the same half-dozen broadcast channels found in most markets into areas with poor/no reception. The cable-only and satellite channels wouldn't come until much later, but in 1967 cable splitters had already been around in one form or another for years, used originally in shortwave radio applications.

Jaruemalak said:

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I know that the wrist TV did show up in the comics, but not until 1964, right around the time the series became a science fiction/space opera.

Right about the time I first started reading Dick Tracy, apparently -- I don't really remember the wrist TV ever not being in the strip.

Is that what those knobs on the right-side are ? I thought they looked like those metal covers for the erasers on mechanical pencils.

dang that looks like a nice made watch. would be awesome to have a replica of that.