 | |
| Country of origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Language(s) | English |
| Starring | Arthur Godfrey |
| Original release | July 2, 1946 – October 1, 1956 |
| Sponsored by | Lipton Tea |
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (also known as Talent Scouts) was an American radio and television variety show which ran on CBS from 1946 until 1958. Sponsored by Lipton Tea, it starred Arthur Godfrey, who was also hosting Arthur Godfrey and His Friends at the same time.
The concept for the show was that Godfrey had several "talent scouts" who brought their discoveries onto the program to showcase their talents. The winner of each show was determined by a meter that judged the audience's applause. The radio series began July 2, 1946, and was heard on CBS Tuesday evenings at 9pm. The winner on October 1, 1946, was pianist José Melis, who later became a familiar late night television personality as the orchestra leader on Jack Paar's Tonight show.
In the summer of 1947, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts moved to Fridays at 9:30 p.m. After August 1947 it aired on Mondays at 8:30 p.m. The radio show continued until October 1, 1956. With Archie Bleyer leading the orchestra, the show's announcer was George Bryan. The show's opening (to the tune of "Four and Twenty Blackbirds") featured Peggy Marshall and the Holidays singing:
At that point, the music would segue into trombonist Lou McGarity and the orchestra playing Godfrey's familiar theme song, "Seems Like Old Times", sometimes with Godfrey singing or humming along.
Contestants on the show included Pat Boone, The Chordettes, The McGuire Sisters and Carmel Quinn, all of whom went on to perform on Arthur Godfrey and His Friends. Other contestants included Tony Bennett, The Blackwood Brothers, Lenny Bruce, Laurie Carroll, [1] Roy Clark, Rosemary Clooney, Ken Berry, Florian ZaBach, Wally Cox, Vic Damone, The Diamonds, Eddie Fisher, Connie Francis, Don Knotts, Steve Lawrence, Al Martino, Barbara McNair, Marian McPartland, Johnny Nash, Leslie Uggams, Lorraine Donahue (who later appeared on The Voice of Firestone ), Joe Negri, Roger Williams (pianist), and Jonathan Winters. Swedish singer Kjerstin Dellert won a contest in 1948 with Someone to Watch Over Me , beginning her career as a vocalist there. [2] Patsy Cline first gained national attention with a winning performance of Walkin' After Midnight on the January 21, 1957, broadcast. Among those who auditioned but were not chosen to appear on the broadcast were Buddy Holly, The Four Freshmen, and Elvis Presley.[ citation needed ]
| Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Talent Scouts |
| Genre | Variety |
| Directed by |
|
| Starring | Arthur Godfrey |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 10 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 24–25 minutes |
| Production company | CBS Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | December 6, 1948 – January 1, 1958 |
On television, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts premiered December 6, 1948. According to the Nielsen ratings, it was the highest rated television show for the 1951–1952 season. It remained a highly popular show through the decade. The show took a great drop in ratings after orchestra bandleader Archie Bleyer left in the 1954–1955 season, but rebounded as the scouts continued to discover more talent. However, by the fall of 1957, television audiences began to prefer westerns and adventure shows to quiz programs and Godfrey's ratings dropped out of the top 30 Nielsen Chart. [3] The show aired its final episode on January 1, 1958.
On December 24, 1956, the show became the first entertainment program to be videotaped for broadcast, as the then-new technology was used for a time-delayed rebroadcast in the Pacific Time Zone. An Ampex quadruplex videotape machine recorded the initial live broadcast to the Eastern part of the country, which was replayed three hours later. [4] As with his radio programs, CBS allowed Godfrey to periodically host the show remotely from his Virginia farm while the rest of the cast and guests performed in New York.
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts aired Monday at 8:30-9:00 PM on CBS its entire run.
The year 1953 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events during 1953.
The Chordettes were an American female vocal quartet, specializing in traditional pop music. They are best known for their 1950s hit songs "Mr. Sandman" and "Lollipop".
Arthur Morton Godfrey was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname The Old Redhead. At the peak of his success, in the early to mid 1950s, Godfrey was heard on radio and seen on television up to six days a week, sometimes for as many as nine separate broadcasts for CBS. His programs included Arthur Godfrey Time, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, Arthur Godfrey and His Friends, The Arthur Godfrey Digest and King Arthur Godfrey and His Round Table.
Albert Gordon MacRae was an American actor, singer, and television and radio host. He appeared in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! (1955) and Carousel (1956), and played the leading man opposite Doris Day in On Moonlight Bay (1951) and sequel By The Light of the Silvery Moon (1953).
The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports is an American radio-turned-television program by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) that ran from 1942 to 1960. The program included broadcasts of a variety of sports, although it is primarily remembered for its focus on boxing matches.
Arthur Godfrey and His Friends is an American television variety show hosted by Arthur Godfrey. The hour-long series aired on CBS Television from January 12, 1949, to June 1957, then again as a half-hour show from September 1958 to April 1959.
Archibald Martin Bleyer was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive.
The Original Amateur Hour is an American radio and television program. The show was a continuation of Major Bowes Amateur Hour, which had been a radio staple from 1934 to 1945. Major Edward Bowes, the originator of the program and its master of ceremonies, left the show in 1945 and died the following year. He was ultimately succeeded by Ted Mack, when the show was brought into television in 1948.
Robert Q. Lewis was an American radio and television entertainer, comedian, game show host, and actor. Lewis added the middle initial "Q" to his name accidentally on the air in 1942, when he responded to a reference to radio comedian F. Chase Taylor's character, Colonel Lemuel Q. Stoopnagle, by saying, "and this is Robert Q. Lewis." He subsequently decided to retain the initial, telling interviewers that it stood for "Quizzical."
Julius La Rosa was an American traditional popular music singer, who worked in both radio and television beginning in the 1950s.
Donald T. McNeill was an American radio personality, best known as the creator and host of The Breakfast Club, which ran for more than 35 years.
The Edsel Show is an hour-long television special broadcast live on CBS in the United States on October 13, 1957, intended to promote Ford Motor Company's new Edsel cars. It was a milestone in the long career of entertainer Bing Crosby and is notable as the first CBS entertainment program to be recorded on videotape for rebroadcast in the western part of the country following a live performance for the east coast. Crosby arranged for this ‘live’ program to be ‘produced’ by his alma mater Gonzaga University in order that the profits could go to them in a tax efficient way. The program won the Look Magazine TV Award for ‘Best Musical Show’ and was nominated for an Emmy as the “Best Single Program of the Year”.
Kjerstin Dellert was a Swedish opera singer and theater manager.
The following is the 1950–51 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1950 through March 1951. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1949–50 season. This season became the first in which primetime was entirely covered by the networks. It was also the inaugural season of the Nielsen rating system. Late in the season, the coast-to-coast link was in service.
The following is the 1951–52 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1951 through March 1952. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1950–51 season. This was the first television season of national network interconnection by coaxial cable and microwave, meaning programming could be transmitted live coast-to-coast if needed.
Ford Theatre, spelled Ford Theater for the original radio version and known, in full, as The Ford Television Theatre for the TV version, is a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. At various times the television series appeared on all three major television networks, while the radio version was broadcast on two separate networks and on two separate coasts. Ford Theatre was named for its sponsor, the Ford Motor Company, which had an earlier success with its concert music series, The Ford Sunday Evening Hour (1934–42).
Startime is an anthology show of drama, comedy, and variety, and was one of the first American television shows broadcast in color. The program was aired Tuesday nights in the United States on the NBC network in the 1959–60 season.
Stop the Music is a prime time radio game show that aired on ABC Radio on Sundays, from March 21, 1948 to August 10, 1952. Stop the Music crossed over to ABC television on Thursdays, beginning on May 5, 1949 through April 24, 1952, and again for a half-hour from September 7, 1954, to June 14, 1956.
The Mariners were an American pop and gospel vocal group of the mid 20th century, particularly noted for their work with Arthur Godfrey.
Dunning, John. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-507678-8
