(todd gitlin) studios turned television into an assembly-line product. by building a set, using it on 39 episodes a year. they had a regular cast. the division of labor was very precise. the turnaround time on episodes was very brief. now, of course, the studios had always done that. let's not romanticize the old studio set-up, but here the formulas were even more confining because week after week "the phil silvers show" or "ozzie and harriet" had to be recognizably the same. (announcer) "ozzie and harriet" starring the entire nelson family ozzie, harriet, david and rickie. hello. i'm mister ed. (narrator) these weekly television series, shot on film, marked the end of the era of live television. (sidney lumet) you've got filmed television. so the result is you've got the worst of both mediums. you don't have time and care that you can put into a movie and you don't have the thrill and adventure and completion of seeing the entire piece at once. (narrator) while much of hollywood turned to television, studio directors responded with more sumptuous cinema