Saturday Night Review (TV series)

Last updated
Saturday Night Review
Written by
  • Jack Ellinson
  • Milton Geiger
  • Jerry Seelin
  • Phil Shukin
  • Snag Werris
Starring
Music by
Country of originUnited States
Production
ProducerErnie Glucksman
Original release
Network NBC
ReleaseJune 6, 1953 (1953-06-06) –
September 18, 1954 (1954-09-18)

Saturday Night Review (also seen as Saturday Night Revue) is a live American variety television series that was broadcast on NBC in 1953 and 1954 as a summer replacement for Your Show of Shows . [1]

Contents

1953 version

Hoagy Carmichael was the host of Saturday Night Review, the main premise of which was the introduction of new entertainers. [2] NBC executives viewed the program as a vehicle for testing those performers in hopes of developing new programs that would feature some of them. Those who appeared on it included Eddy Arnold, Dick Wesson, Cass Daley, [3] Sunny Gale, Jackie Kannon and George Gobel. [2] The show featured sets representing Carmichael's penthouse apartment and a nightclub. Episodes opened with him entertaining friends in the apartment, after which they moved to the nightclub to watch performers. [1] Gordon Jenkins led the program's orchestra. [2] The show was broadcast from 9 to 10:30 p.m. on Saturdays, beginning on June 6, 1953, [1] and ending on September 5, 1953. [4]

Critical reception

Critic Jack Gould found little to like about the program in his review in The New York Times , describing the show as "an uninspired ninety minutes that was hard to distinguish from an audition." He wrote that the program "needs to be taken in hand vigorously, given a point of view routined with some imagination and revamped to capitalize on Mr. Carmichael's talents". [2]

1954 version

Eddie Albert was the master of ceremonies when Saturday Night Review again replaced Your Show of Shows in the summer of 1954, and the format was "more of a straight revue". Pat Carroll was a regular. [1] Ben Blue and Alan Young alternated weeks as the show's comedians, and the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra provided music. [5] The program again focused on presenting new performers. [1]

Saturday Night Review originated in Hollywood [5] with Ernie Glucksman as producer and Jim Jordan as director. The writers were Jack Ellinson, Milton Geiger, Jerry Seelin, Phil Shukin, and Snag Werris. [6] It began on June 12, 1954, [7] and ended on September 18, 1954. [1]

Critical reception

A review in the trade publication Billboard summed up the show as "better than most" summer programs. [6] Albert and Blue were commended for maintaining a "free and easy atmosphere" over the 90-minutes length, regardless of the quality of the material. Reviewer June Bundy wrote, "the over-all effect was one of beguiling nonchalance". [6]

Earlier use of title

Saturday Night Review was used in 1950 as an umbrella title for two programs, The Jack Carter Show (8-9 p.m. ET) and Your Show of Shows (9-10:30 p.m. E.T.). [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoagy Carmichael</span> American composer, pianist, singer, actor and bandleader (1899–1981)

Hoagland Howard Carmichael was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first singer-songwriters in the age of mass media to utilize new communication technologies such as television, microphones, and sound recordings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stardust (1927 song)</span> 1927 song by Hoagy Carmichael

"Stardust" is a 1927 song composed by Hoagy Carmichael, with lyrics later added by Mitchell Parish. It has been recorded as an instrumental or vocal track over 1,500 times. Carmichael developed a taste for jazz while attending Indiana University. He formed his own band and played at local events in Indiana and Ohio. Following his graduation, Carmichael moved to Florida to work for a law firm. He left the law sector and returned to Indiana, after learning of the success of one of his compositions. In 1927, after leaving a local university hangout, Carmichael started to whistle a tune that he later developed further. When composing the song, he was inspired by the end of one of his love affairs, and on the suggestion of a university classmate, he decided on its title. The same year, Carmichael recorded an instrumental version of the song for Gennett Records.

<i>Your Show of Shows</i> American variety television program 1950-1954

Your Show of Shows is a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC from February 25, 1950, through June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Other featured performers were Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Bill Hayes, baritone singer Jack Russell, Judy Johnson, the Hamilton Trio and the soprano Marguerite Piazza. José Ferrer made several guest appearances on the series.

<i>Your Hit Parade</i> American radio and television music program (1935–1959)

Your Hit Parade was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year run, the show had 19 orchestra leaders and 52 singers or groups. Many fans inaccurately referred to the show as The Hit Parade.

<i>The Colgate Comedy Hour</i> American TV series or program

The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the series are archived at the UCLA Library in their Special Collections.

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.

<i>Ford Theatre</i> Television and radio series

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).

The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra was an American swing jazz band popular in the 1950s.

Max Liebman Presents, aka Max Liebman Spectaculars, is an American television musical variety series, presented monthly in a 90-minute format on NBC, beginning September 12, 1954, and ending on June 6, 1956. Throughout the show's run, episodes were broadcast on Saturdays beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. In the second season, the same title was also used for a show with a different format on Sundays beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Four Star Revue is an American variety/comedy program that aired on NBC from October 4, 1950, to December 26, 1953.

Talent Patrol was an American game show during the 1950s. The series starred Steve Allen and later Arlene Francis as the hosts. The series ran on the American Broadcasting Company from 1953-1955.

Bank on the Stars is an American game show that aired on CBS and NBC from 1953 to 1954. The series was hosted by Jack Paar, Bill Cullen, and Jimmy Nelson. Roger Price, Olin Tice and Bill McCord were the announcers.

This Is Show Business is an American variety television program that was broadcast first on CBS and later on NBC beginning July 15, 1949, and ending September 11, 1956. It was CBS-TV's first regular series broadcast live from coast to coast. It was originally titled This Is Broadway.

Hollywood Opening Night is an American anthology television program that was broadcast on CBS in 1951-1952 and on NBC in 1952-1953. The NBC version was the first dramatic anthology presented live from the West Coast. Episodes were 30 minutes long.

<i>The Pride of the Family</i> TV series or program

The Pride of the Family is a 30-minute American television situation comedy that was broadcast on ABC from October 2, 1953, until September 24, 1954. CBS showed reruns of the program in prime time in the summer of 1955.

54th Street Revue is an American variety television program that was broadcast on CBS from May 5, 1949, through March 25, 1950. The program was a "showcase for up-and-coming professionals", originating from a theater on 54th Street in New York City.

Anita Blanch Boyer Dukoff, known as Anita Boyer was an American singer of the Big Band Era, described by Billboard as "one of the music business's most proficient canaries". She was noted for performances with Tommy Dorsey (1939), Leo Reisman (1940–41), Artie Shaw (1940), Nat King Cole (1941–44), Jerry Wald (1942–43) and Hoagy Carmichael (1945). With Dorsey she helped popularize the song "I Concentrate On You", and with Reisman she recorded the song "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" for Pal Joey.

The Mickey Rooney Show is an American television situation comedy that was broadcast on NBC from August 28, 1954, to June 4, 1955. It was also shown with the title Hey Mulligan.

The Peter Lind Hayes Show is the title of two American television shows and one American radio program. One TV show was a situation comedy broadcast in prime time on NBC in 1950-1951. The other was a daytime variety program on ABC in 1958-1959. The radio program was a weekly variety show on CBS in 1954-1955.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (June 24, 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 1197. ISBN   978-0-307-48320-1 . Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Gould, Jack (June 8, 1953). "Television in Review" Hoagy Carmichael Begins Summer Chores Over N. B. C. in 'Saturday Night Review'" . The New York Times. p. 37. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  3. ↑ "NBC Pacts Trio for 'Revue' Appearances" (PDF). Billboard. May 9, 1953. p. 3. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  4. ↑ 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. 728. ISBN   0-14-02-4916-8.
  5. 1 2 "Sauter-Finegan to Play Video Series". Billboard. April 17, 1954. p. 30. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Bundy, June (June 26, 1954). "The Saturday Night Revue (TV)". Billboard. p. 43. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  7. ↑ "NBC-TV Production Pact to Glucksman" (PDF). Billboard. June 12, 1954. p. 12. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Radio and Television: 'Saturday Night Review,' N.B.C.'s 2 -Hour TV Variety Show, Will Bow at 8 P.M." . The New York Times. February 25, 1950. p. 28. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.