Musical Comedy Time

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Musical Comedy Time is an anthology television series broadcast on CBS from October 2, 1950, to March 19, 1951, alternating with Robert Montgomery Presents [1] on Mondays from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time. [2] It was the first television program to feature televised adaptations of musical theatre works from the Broadway stage. [3] These adaptations were abridged versions of the musicals and only presented part of the work to fit within a television series's time limits. [4]

Regulars on the show were The Ken Christie Singers, The Kevin Jonson Dancers, and the Harry Sosnik Orchestra. [2]

The premiere broadcast on October 2, 1950, broadcast twice monthly, featured a television adaptation of Cole Porter's Anything Goes with Ethel Merman reprising her role from the original 1934 Broadway production. [5] Other adaptations included Babes in Toyland, [6] Miss Liberty , and Louisiana Purchase . [7]

References

  1. ↑ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 578. ISBN   0-14-02-4916-8.
  2. 1 2 Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (1999). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (7th ed.). New York: The Ballentine Publishing Group. p. 698. ISBN   0-345-42923-0.
  3. ↑ Anthony Enns (2021). "Live Musical Spectaculars". In Julie Lobalzo Wright, Martha Shearer (ed.). Musicals at the Margins: Genre, Boundaries, Canons. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 218.
  4. ↑ Thomas S. Hischak (2008). "Musical Comedy Time". The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theatre, Film, and Television. Oxford University Press. p. 516. ISBN   9780199887323.
  5. ↑ Kelly Kessler (2020). Broadway in the Box: Television's Lasting Love Affair with the Musical. Oxford University Press. p. 24. ISBN   9780190674038.
  6. ↑ Lohman, Sidney (December 24, 1950). "Christmas on the Airwaves" . The New York Times. p. 51. Retrieved March 4, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Fred Allen Leaves Video Show Dec. 17: Comedian Will Give Up Sunday Night Series on N.B.C. Because of Health" . The New York Times. December 1, 1950. p. 31. Retrieved March 4, 2025.


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