Ira Skutch

Ira Skutch was interviewed for nearly three hours in Los Angeles, CA. Skutch talked about his early years as a page and later manager of guided tours at NBC in the mid-1940s.  He described in detail the layout of the NBC building, listing the various studios and the radio series that were produced in each, as well as which were modified to bring in television production.  Skutch talked about his work as a stage manger on NBC’s earliest television series including NBC Television Theater, You Are an Artist, Face to Face, Kraft Television Theater, and the big budget variety series Hour Glass. Skutch discussed his work in technique and production as a director of “live” television commercials for television series as well as the 1952 political conventions. He chronicled his work as a director on such shows as Disc Magic (a 1946 precursor to music video), The Swift Home Service Club (one of network television first daytime series), and Philco TV Playhouse. Lastly Skutch talked in detail about his 26-year tenure as director, then producer at Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, where he worked on such series as Beat the Clock, Play Your Hunch, and Match Game. The interview was conducted by Gary Rutkowski on January 29, 2004.