Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

Last updated
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Hugh O'Brian Rod Serling Lloyd Bridges 1965.jpg
Hugh O'Brian, Rod Serling, and Lloyd Bridges. O'Brian and Bridges appeared in the Serling-penned episode "Exit From a Plane in Flight".
Also known asUniversal Star Time
Theatre of the Stars
Genre Anthology
Presented by Bob Hope
Composers Johnny Williams
Bernard Herrmann
Benny Carter
Cyril Mockridge
Dizzy Gillespie
Quincy Jones
Les Brown
Johnny Mandel
Lalo Schifrin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes107
Production
Executive producer Roy Huggins
Producers Richard Berg
Jack Laird
Richard Lewis
Running time48 mins.
Production companiesHovue Productions, in association with Universal Television
Original release
Network NBC
ReleaseOctober 4, 1963 (1963-10-04) 
May 17, 1967 (1967-05-17)

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre is an American anthology series, sponsored by Chrysler Corporation, which ran on NBC from 1963 through 1967. The show was hosted by Bob Hope, but it had a variety of formats, including musical, dramatic, and comedy.

Contents

Overview

The program included such events as an adaptation of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich , starring Jason Robards (from the 1962 novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn); The Seven Little Foys , starring Mickey Rooney, Eddie Foy Jr. and the Osmond Brothers; Think Pretty, a musical starring Fred Astaire and Barrie Chase; and Groucho Marx in "Time for Elizabeth", a televised adaptation of a play that Marx and Norman Krasna wrote in 1948.

Generally, each episode ran for an hour, although for some 'special presentations', NBC expanded the broadcast time to 90 minutes.

Hope was paid US$25,000 ($251,815 in 2023 dollars [1] ) per week for those episodes he merely introduced, and US$500,000 ($5,036,304 in 2023 dollars [1] ) for those in which he starred. Hope's performances consisted of his typical joke- and celebrity-filled blackout sketches. These were usually called Chrysler Presents a Bob Hope Special. Every season, Hope traveled to Vietnam for Christmas, to entertain the troops.

Actors who appeared in episodes included Phyllis Avery, John Cassavetes, Broderick Crawford, Angie Dickinson, Peter Falk, Sean Garrison, Sam Levene, Jack Lord, Carol Lynley, Ida Lupino, George Maharis, Darren McGavin, Dina Merrill, Hugh O'Brian, Suzanne Pleshette, Cliff Robertson, William Shatner, Robert Stack, Robert Wagner, Stuart Whitman, Shelley Winters, and Robert Young.

Notable directors included Sydney Pollack, Stuart Rosenberg, John Cassavetes, Sam Peckinpah, Ida Lupino, and Daniel Petrie.[ citation needed ]

Several episodes were rerun from 1968 through 1972 under several different titles: NBC Adventure Theatre (1971–1972), NBC Action Playhouse (1971–1972), NBC Comedy Playhouse (1968–1970) and NBC Comedy Theater (1971–1972). The Hope introductions were replaced by other hosts, such as Peter Marshall (who hosted "Action"), Art Fleming ("Adventure" in 1971), Ed McMahon ("Adventure" in 1972), Monty Hall ("Comedy Playhouse" in 1968) and Jack Kelly ("Comedy Playhouse" in 1970, and "Comedy Theater").

In syndication, the series was presented as Universal Star Time and Theatre of the Stars, minus Hope's opening and closing segments.

Several of the dramatic episodes of the series aired in Britain on BBC2 as Impact, which also included episodes of Kraft Suspense Theatre .

Episodes

Awards and nominations

The show won a total of seven Primetime Emmy Awards and was nominated for six more.[ citation needed ] Among them were the following:

For her performance in the episode "Two is the Number" (1964), Shelley Winters won for outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or movie.

Simone Signoret won for outstanding lead actress for her performance in "A Small Rebellion" (1966) which also starred Sam Levene as theatre owner Noel Greb and George Maharis as playwright Michael Kolinos. [2]

Cliff Robertson won for outstanding lead actor for his performance in "The Game" (1966).

Rod Steiger won for outstanding lead actor for his performance in "A Slow Fade to Black" (1964).

Sydney Pollack was nominated for directing "Something About Lee Wiley" (1963),[ citation needed ] and won for directing "The Game" (1966).

Rod Serling won for writing the episode, "It's Mental Work" (1964).

Additionally, the show was nominated twice for the Directors Guild of America Award and twice for the Edgar Allan Poe Award.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricardo Montalbán</span> Mexican and American actor (1920–2009)

Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG was a Mexican and American film and television actor. Montalbán's career spanned seven decades, during which he became widely known for performances in genres from crime and drama to musicals and comedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gena Rowlands</span> American actress (born 1930)

Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands is an American retired actress, whose career in film, stage, and television has spanned nearly seven decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she is known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, including A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), both of which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also won the Silver Bear for Best Actress for Opening Night (1977). She is also known for her performances in Woody Allen's Another Woman (1988), and her son Nick Cassavetes's film, The Notebook (2004). In 2021, Richard Brody of The New Yorker said, “The most important and original movie actor of the past half century-plus is Gena Rowlands.” In November 2015, Rowlands received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her unique screen performances.

The following is the 1970–71 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1970 through August 1971. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1969–70 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football.

The following is the 1971–72 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1971 through August 1972. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1970–71 season. All times are Eastern and Pacific, with certain exceptions, such as Monday Night Football. This season would be the first time the prime time schedule would be shortened to three hours, giving the 7:30 p.m. slot back to local stations, as implemented in the Prime Time Access Rule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Audley</span> American actress (1905–1991)

Eleanor Audley was an American actress with a distinctive voice and a diverse body of work. She played Oliver Douglas's mom, Eunice Douglas, on the CBS sitcom Green Acres (1965–1969), and provided two Disney animated classics with the voices of the two iconic villains: Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's evil stepmother in Cinderella (1950), and Maleficent, the wicked fairy in Sleeping Beauty (1959). She had roles in live-action films, but was most active in radio programs such as My Favorite Husband as Liz Cooper's mother-in-law, Mrs. Cooper, and Father Knows Best as the Anderson family's neighbor, Mrs. Smith. Audley's television appearances include those in I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mister Ed, Hazel, The Beverly Hillbillies, Pistols 'n' Petticoats, and My Three Sons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheree North</span> American actress, dancer, and singer (1932–2005)

Sheree North was an American actress, dancer, and singer, known for being one of 20th Century-Fox's intended successors to Marilyn Monroe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse White (actor)</span> American actor (1917–1997)

Jesse White was an American actor who was best known for his portrayal as "Ol' Lonely" the repairman in Maytag television commercials from 1967 to 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthology series</span> Form of broadcast entertainment

An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different cast in each episode, but several series in the past, such as Four Star Playhouse, employed a permanent troupe of character actors who would appear in a different drama each week. Some anthology series, such as Studio One, began on radio and then expanded to television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Maharis</span> American actor (1928–2023)

George Maharis was an American actor, singer, and visual artist who portrayed Buz Murdock in the first three seasons of the TV series Route 66. Maharis also recorded several pop music albums at the height of his fame, and later starred in the TV series The Most Deadly Game.

The Kraft Suspense Theatre is an American television anthology series that was produced and broadcast from 1963 to 1965 on NBC. Sponsored by Kraft Foods, it was seen three weeks out of every four and was pre-empted for Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall specials once monthly. Como's production company, Roncom Films, also produced Kraft Suspense Theatre.. Writer, editor, critic, and radio playwright Anthony Boucher served as consultant on the series.

Stuart Rosenberg was an American film and television director whose motion pictures include Cool Hand Luke (1967), Voyage of the Damned (1976), The Amityville Horror (1979), and The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984). He was noted for his work with actor Paul Newman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Stevens</span> American actor (1919–2012)

Warren Albert Stevens was an American stage, screen, and television actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Sommars</span> American actress (b. 1940)

Julie Sommars is an American actress. She won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her role in The Governor & J.J. in 1970, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television for Matlock in 1990.

<i>The Impossible Years</i> 1965 play by Robert Fisher and Arthur Marx

The Impossible Years is a 1965 comedy play written by Robert Fisher and Arthur Marx, son of comedian Groucho Marx. After two previews, the Broadway production, directed by Arthur Storch, opened on October 13, 1965, at the Playhouse Theatre, where it ran for 670 performances. The original cast included Alan King, Sudie Bond, Bert Convy, Neva Small, and Scott Glenn. Ed McMahon temporarily assumed the role of Dr. Jack Kingsley for eight performances from January 17, 1966, to January 22, 1966, so Alan King could honor a previously scheduled Miami night club engagement.

<i>The Seven Little Foys</i> 1955 film by Melville Shavelson

The Seven Little Foys is a Technicolor in VistaVision 1955 comedy film directed by Melville Shavelson starring Bob Hope as Eddie Foy. One highlight of the film is an energetic tabletop dance showdown sequence with Bob Hope as Eddie Foy and James Cagney as George M. Cohan. The story of Eddie Foy Sr. and the Seven Little Foys inspired a TV version in 1964 and a stage musical version, which premiered in 2007.

Sam Locke was an American writer and director who worked in theatre, television, and film.

The 1958 Sylvania Television Awards were presented on January 22, 1959, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The Sylvania Awards were established by Sylvania Electric Products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Slow Fade to Black</span> 23rd episode of the 1st season of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

"A Slow Fade to Black" was an American television film broadcast by NBC on March 27, 1964, as part of the television series, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre. Rod Serling wrote the screenplay, and Benny Carter provided the music. Rod Steiger starred and was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding performance by an actor in a leading role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Something About Lee Wiley</span> 2nd episode of the 1st season of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

"Something About Lee Wiley" was an American television episode broadcast by NBC on October 11, 1963, as part of the television series, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre. The film told the story of jazz singer Lee Wiley. Piper Laurie played the role of Wiley.

References

  1. 1 2 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  2. "BOB HOPE PRESENTS THE CHRYSLER THEATRE {UNIVERSAL STAR TIME}: A SMALL REBELLION (TV)". www.paleycenter.org. Retrieved 2020-11-04.