tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3738012638904762739.post5656850102645136880..comments2024-03-27T01:19:56.698-07:00Comments on Tralfaz: Good Weekly TV is ImpossibleYowphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09264605351878574044noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3738012638904762739.post-90355478177885571972015-04-17T01:31:54.507-07:002015-04-17T01:31:54.507-07:00Hope, however, continued to produce his highly-rat...Hope, however, continued to produce his highly-rated specials in black-and-white for as long as he could get away with it - and as long as color gung-ho NBC would let him. His hand was evidently forced in December 1965 when his first color special aired - and his shows would be produced in color thereafter.wbhisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02270661237413315760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3738012638904762739.post-4710907487288840762014-04-20T20:21:37.305-07:002014-04-20T20:21:37.305-07:00Huh. So Amos 'N' Andy was still on the rad...Huh. So <i>Amos 'N' Andy</i> was still on the radio airwaves as late as '59? That changes my perception of the closing gag of the 1960 Bugs Bunny short LIGHTER THAN HARE, in which Bugs, tuning his war surplus radio, wonders aloud if "'Amos 'N' Andy is on yet".<br /><br /> I had always assumed his remark was supposed to humorously convey how out-of-touch and isolated Bugs was, since A 'N' A couldn't possibly still be broadcast on the radio airwaves, but once again, Bugs proves that while he may possess a certain amount of naivete, he is never clueless. top_cat_jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06365510398800837335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3738012638904762739.post-5681120387646367302014-04-20T16:20:49.921-07:002014-04-20T16:20:49.921-07:00Except for late Sunday afternoons, there were no h...Except for late Sunday afternoons, there were no half-hour "entertainment" shows on CBS' prime-time radio schedule in the fall of 1959, "J". Jack's last "first-run" radio show was taped in May 1955 (two seasons of "transcribed" repeats followed, from 1956 through '58). However, there WERE daytime shows, including "ARTHUR GODFREY TIME", 'THE GARRY MOORE SHOW", "ART LINKLETTER'S HOUSE PARTY", and assorted "soap operas" (and Peg Lynch's "THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR"). Freeman Gosden & Charles Correll appeared on a nightly "AMOS 'N' ANDY MUSIC HALL" at 7:05pm(et) [they were disc jockeys, along with "Kingfish"- spinning discs, cracking a few jokes, and interviewing various celebrities]. Burns & Allen's nightly five-minute "show" [7:40pm(et)] actually consisted of soundtracks of the "double routines" they'd done at the end of their filmed TV series between 1955 and '58 {Gracie had indeed retired the year before}.bgraumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07481033911573623806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3738012638904762739.post-31395156491858433132014-04-20T16:06:46.961-07:002014-04-20T16:06:46.961-07:00This was two months before Bob Hope made his natio...This was two months before Bob Hope made his national TV debut on his Easter Sunday special, "THE STAR SPANGLED REVUE", over NBC; HE previously swore he'd NEVER appear on TV...but General Motors' Frigidaire division made him an offer he couldn't refuse: after he asked for $50,000 dollars to appear in ONE special {he thought that'd be the end of THAT, as NO ONE had yet received that kind of money to appear on TV back then}, they made him a counter-offer....$40,000 for the Easter special, and $150,000 for four additional specials over a two-year period. If there was one thing Hope liked more than a "hot audience", it was "hot money". He agreed, and embraced TV from then on. At the same time, CBS wanted George Burns & Gracie Allen to appear in a regular TV series- she declared, "I won't be pushed into it!". George said, "Let's make ONE TV test. If you're not comfortable in front of the cameras, I won't say another word about it." They "kinnied" a pilot [it's on YouTube]--- and Gracie WAS comfortable enough to agree to appear on a bi-weekly series, beginning that October. Jack was eventually convinced to make his "official" debut on a 45 minute special [originating from New York] on October 28, 1950.bgraumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07481033911573623806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3738012638904762739.post-83292015806309767632014-04-20T08:01:34.608-07:002014-04-20T08:01:34.608-07:00CBS and (to a lesser extent) NBC really were still...CBS and (to a lesser extent) NBC really were still committed to trying to do something with network radio all the way through the end of the 1950s and into the early 60s -- they just weren't quite sure what it was; NBC was trying their Monitor format of something old, something new, while CBS stayed with more traditional options (I came across <a href="http://lileks.com/bleats/archive/14/0414/mp3/CBSPromo0959.mp3" rel="nofollow">this ad a couple of days ago, touting CBS radio's fall 1959 lineup</a>. No mention of Jack, who was firmly ensconced on TV by then, but the promo does tout Arthur Godfrey, Gary Moore, Amos and Andy, and Burns & Allen, where replaying the old shows could be justified since Gracie had retired from television a year earlier). <br />J Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15175515543694122729noreply@blogger.com