Family Affair is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 12th, 1966 to September 9th, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do civil engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Brian Keith) as he attempted to raise his brother’s orphaned children in his luxury New York City apartment. Davis’ traditional English gentleman’s gentleman, Mr. Giles French (Sebastian Cabot), also had adjustments to make as he became saddled with the responsibility of caring for 15-year-old Cissy (Kathy Garver) and the 6-year-old twins, Jody (Johnny Whitaker) and Buffy (Anissa Jones). The show ran for 138 episodes. Family Affair was created and produced by Don Fedderson, also known for My Three Sons and The Millionaire.
William “Bill” Davis, originally of Terre Haute, Indiana, is a successful civil engineer who develops major projects all over the world. A wealthy bachelor often dating socialites, he lives in a large apartment at 600 E. 62nd Street in Manhattan, and has a quintessential gentleman’s gentleman, Giles French. However, his quiet lifestyle is turned upside-down when his two nieces and nephew move in.
Bill’s brother Bob and sister-in-law Mary had died in an automobile accident a year prior to the premiere episode. Their children, teen Cissy and her young twin siblings Buffy and Jody, had been dispersed among relatives in Terre Haute, but none wanted to continue raising the children, so they attempt to give the responsibility to Bill. “Uncle Bill” is not keen on the idea at first, but the children endear themselves to him. First Buffy comes along, followed by Jody, and finally Cissy. Initially mortified by the situation is Mr. French, who effectively becomes the children’s nanny, on top of his valet duties. However as time passes they all become a family, albeit an accidental one.
When Sebastian Cabot became ill, Giles’s brother, Nigel “Niles” French (John Williams) was introduced, working for the Davis family for nine episodes in 1967 while Giles is said to be in England visiting the Queen. In the last season, Bill hires a part-time housekeeper, Emily Turner (Nancy Walker) to assist Mr. French.
Various other characters were also seen regularly, including several acquaintances of Mr. French who are in service (most notably Miss Faversham (Heather Angel), colleagues of Bill, and friends of Cissy.
You Asked for It was a popular human interest show created and hosted by Art Baker. Initially titled The Art Baker Show, the program originally aired on American television between 1950 and 1959.
On the show, viewers were asked to send in postcards describing something that they wanted to see on television, such as the reenactment of William Tell shooting an apple off his son’s head. In 1950, US national archery champion Stan Overby performed the feat, shooting an apple off his assistant’s head.
The show was originally broadcast live, so some of the riskier propositions took on added elements of danger and suspense. A segment where animal trainer and stuntman, Reed Parham wrestled a huge, deadly anaconda, for example, nearly became disastrous until assistants interceded with guns drawn, visibly unnerving host Art Baker.
In the Happy Days episode “Fearless Fonzarelli” (aired September 30th, 1975), Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumps his motorcycle over fourteen garbage cans. The feat attracts the cameras of the fictional (though thinly-veiled) You Wanted To See It, with the real Jack Smith playing himself. You Wanted To See It shows up again in the Weezer video “Buddy Holly” which shows the band playing at Arnold’s Drive-In, a popular diner in the Happy Days sitcom.
A parody of the show called You’re Asking for It was featured in the Bugs Bunny cartoon Wideo Wabbit (1956).
Talent Varieties is a country music talent show on American network television and radio in 1955 that featured performers hoping to achieve fame in the entertainment business.The weekly ABC-TV program was a live half-hour summer replacement series hosted by Slim Wilson. Wilson introduced the amateur and professional talent, including music and comedy acts (many from the Ozarks); and his Tall Timber Trio, composed of Speedy Haworth (guitar), Bob White (bass guitar) and Bryan “Doc” Martin (steel guitar) provided accompaniment. Auditions were handled by Bill Ring. The Westport Kids appeared July 12th, and Buck Griffin appeared August 2nd.The show aired on Tuesday nights from June 28th–November 1st. Its original time slot was 7:30–8 p.m. Eastern Time, replacing Cavalcade of America, but moved to 10–10:30 p.m. in September to briefly replace Break the Bank.ABC Radio simulcast the program under the name Talent Round-Up from 7:30 p.m., as well as carrying an additional half-hour until 8:30.The program originated from the Jewell Theatre in Springfield, Missouri, home to ABC’s Ozark Jubilee; and was produced and directed by the Jubilee’s Bryan Bisney, who took over from Ring in September.
The Phil Silvers Show, originally titled You’ll Never Get Rich, was a situation comedy which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959 for 142 episodes, plus a 1959 special. The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko of the United States Army.
The series was created and largely written by Nat Hiken, and won three consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Comedy Series. The show is sometimes titled Sergeant Bilko or simply Bilko in reruns, and is very often referred to by these names, both on-screen and by viewers. The show’s success transformed Silvers from a journeyman comedian into a star, and writer-producer Hiken from a highly regarded behind-the-scenes comedy writer into a publicly recognized creator.
This Is Your Life was an American documentary series broadcast on NBC radio 1948 to 1952, and on NBC television 1952 to 1961. It was originally hosted by its producer Ralph Edwards. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience, including special […]
Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented a musical, such as an adaptation of Show Boat, and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and later on television from 1952 to 1957. Originally on CBS, […]
Two for the Money is an American game show television program which ran from 1952 to 1957. The show ran for one season on NBC, and four seasons on CBS. It was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production, and was initially sponsored by Old Gold cigarettes. Humorist Herb Shriner was the host for most of the […]
Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953 (both sponsors’ names alternated as part of the show’s title in its initial broadcasts). […]
Chance of a Lifetime was a competitive talent show which aired on ABC in 1952 – 1953 and 1955 – 1956 and on DuMont 1953 – 1955. Dennis James was the host of the ABC version which ended on August 20th, 1953, and John Reed King was the host of the DuMont version, which ran […]
Masquerade Party is an American television game show. During its original run from 1952–1960, the show appeared at various times on all three major networks except DuMont (ABC, NBC, and CBS). A syndicated revival was produced for one season in 1974-75. A panel of celebrities met with another celebrity that was in heavy make-up and/or costume; this disguise would always […]
I’ve Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman’s own panel show What’s My Line?. Instead of celebrity panelists trying to determine a contestant’s occupation, the panel tries to determine a contestant’s “secret”: something that is unusual, amazing, embarrassing, or humorous about that person. The […]
Life is Worth Living is an inspirational American television series which ran on the DuMont Television Network from February 12th, 1952 to April 26th, 1955, then on ABC until 1957, featuring the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. (Similar series, also featuring Sheen, followed in 1958–61 and 1961–68.) Hosted by Bishop (later Archbishop) Fulton J. Sheen, the series consisted mainly of Sheen speaking to the camera and […]
“Ladies and Gentlemen: The story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.” Dragnet is an American radio, television and motion picture series, enacting the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners. The show takes its name from the […]
The Dinah Shore Show is an American variety show which was broadcast by NBC from November 1951 to January 1956, sponsored by General Motors’ Chevrolet division. For most of the program’s run, it aired from 7:30 to 7:45 Eastern Time on Tuesday and Thursday nights, rounding out the time slot which featured the network’s regular […]
I Love Lucy is a landmark American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15th, 1951, to May 6th, 1957, on CBS. After the series ended in 1957, however, a modified version continued for three more seasons with 13 one-hour specials, running from 1957 to 1960, known first as The Lucille Ball-Desi […]
The Goodyear Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was telecast live on NBC from 1951 to 1957 during the “Golden Age of Television.” Sponsored by Goodyear, Goodyear alternated sponsorship with Philco, and the Philco Television Playhouse was seen on alternate weeks. In 1955, the title was shortened to The Goodyear Playhouse and it […]
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars is an anthology series that was telecast from 1951 until 1959 on CBS. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. The title was shortened to Schlitz Playhouse, beginning with the fall 1957 season. Initially, the show was broadcast live, but starting in the […]
The Red Skelton Show is an American variety show that was a television staple for two decades, from 1951 to 1971. The host of the show, Richard Bernard “Red” Skelton, who had previously been a radio star, had appeared in several motion pictures as well. Although his television series is largely associated with CBS, where it appeared for more than fifteen years, it actually began and […]
Midwestern Hayride, sometimes known as Midwest Hayride, was an American country music show originating in the 1930s from WLW-AM and later from WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio. During the 1950s it was carried nationally by NBC and then ABC television. The program featured live country music (performed mainly by local musicians but on lesser occasions by national stars) and what was then called “hayseed” comedy, much of which […]
Down You Go is an American television game show originally broadcast on the DuMont Television Network. The Emmy Award-nominated series ran from 1951–1956 as a prime time series primarily hosted by Dr. Bergen Evans. Down You Go was similar to “Hangman”, with a group of four celebrity panelists who were asked to guess a word […]
You Asked for It was a popular human interest show created and hosted by Art Baker. Initially titled The Art Baker Show, the program originally aired on American television between 1950 and 1959. On the show, viewers were asked to send in postcards describing something that they wanted to see on television, such as the […]
Burns and Allen, an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen, worked together as a comedy team in vaudeville, films, radio and television and achieved great success over four decades. Burns and Allen met in 1922 and first performed together at the Hill Street Theatre in Newark, New Jersey, continued in small town vaudeville theaters, married in Cleveland on January 7, 1926, and moved up […]
You Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September 1949 before making the transition to NBC-TV in October 1950. Because of its simple format, it was […]
Big Town is a popular long-running radio drama series which was later adapted to both film and television and a comic book published by DC Comics. When Big Town moved to television, the program was telecast live, but in 1952 the production switched to film after the move from New York City to Hollywood. The television series ran on CBS from 1950 through 1954, continuing on NBC from 1955 through 1956. Repeat episodes aired on […]
High Finance is a quiz show created and hosted by Dennis James which aired on CBS from July 7th to December 15th, 1956. It followed Gunsmoke on the CBS schedule. High Finance aired at 10:30 p.m. Saturdays opposite NBC’s Your Hit Parade. On the program, contestants answered questions about current events. The player would be asked five questions based on three newspapers which he or she studied before […]
The Big Surprise is a television quiz game show broadcast in the United States by NBC from October 8th, 1955 to June 9th, 1956 and from September 18th, 1956 to April 2nd, 1957. It was hastily created by NBC in response to the overwhelming ratings success of The $64,000 Question, which had premiered on CBS in Summer 1955 and almost instantly became a smash hit. The Big Surprise […]
The $64,000 Question is an American game show broadcast from 1955–1958, which became embroiled in the scandals involving TV quiz shows of the day. The $64,000 Challenge (1956–1958) was its popular spin-off show. The $64,000 Question premiered June 7th, 1955 on CBS-TV, sponsored by cosmetics maker Revlon and originating from the start live from CBS-TV Studio 52 in New York (later the disco-theater Studio […]
People Are Funny is an American radio and television game show, created by John Guedel that remained popular throughout the 1940s and 1950s. The program ran from 1942 to 1960. The program’s stunts and audience participation were calculated to reveal the humorous side of human nature. After contestants were sent from the studio to perform […]
Dollar a Second is an American comedy game show hosted by Jan Murray which originally aired from September 20th, 1953 to June 14th, 1954 on the DuMont Television Network. One pair of contestants (or a solo player) were selected to perform a certain task, which could be anything. They earn one dollar for every second […]
Name That Tune is an American television game show that put two contestants against each other to test their knowledge of songs. Premiering in the United States on NBC Radio in 1952, the show was created and produced by Harry Salter and his wife Roberta. Name That Tune ran from 1953 to 1959 on NBC and CBS in prime time. The first hosts were Red Benson […]
Two for the Money is an American game show television program which ran from 1952 to 1957. The show ran for one season on NBC, and four seasons on CBS. It was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production, and was initially sponsored by Old Gold cigarettes. Humorist Herb Shriner was the host for most of the […]
Masquerade Party is an American television game show. During its original run from 1952–1960, the show appeared at various times on all three major networks except DuMont (ABC, NBC, and CBS). A syndicated revival was produced for one season in 1974-75. A panel of celebrities met with another celebrity that was in heavy make-up and/or costume; this disguise would always […]
I’ve Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman’s own panel show What’s My Line?. Instead of celebrity panelists trying to determine a contestant’s occupation, the panel tries to determine a contestant’s “secret”: something that is unusual, amazing, embarrassing, or humorous about that person. The […]
Down You Go is an American television game show originally broadcast on the DuMont Television Network. The Emmy Award-nominated series ran from 1951–1956 as a prime time series primarily hosted by Dr. Bergen Evans. Down You Go was similar to “Hangman”, with a group of four celebrity panelists who were asked to guess a word […]
You Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September 1949 before making the transition to NBC-TV in October 1950. Because of its simple format, it was […]
Truth or Consequences is an American television game show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards (1940–1957) and later on television by Edwards (1950–1954), Jack Bailey (1954–1955), and Bob Barker (1956–1975). The television show ran on CBS, NBC and also in syndication. The premise of the show was to mix the original quiz element […]
Beat the Clock is a Goodson-Todman game show that aired on American television in several versions since 1950. The original show, hosted by Bud Collyer, ran on CBS from 1950 to 1958 and ABC from 1958 to 1961. The show was revived in syndication as The New Beat the Clock from 1969 to 1974, with Jack Narz as host until 1972, when he was replaced by the show’s […]
What’s My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasks celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations. It is the longest-running U.S. primetime network television game-show. […]
Stop the Music was a prime time television game show that aired for an hour on Thursday evenings on ABC from May 5th, 1949 to April 24th, 1952, and again for a half-hour from September 7th, 1954 to June 14th, 1956. The show had also been broadcast on radio from 1948 to 1949. http://archive.org/download/stopTheMusic-Misc1955Episode/StopTheMusic1955.mp4 The program aired at 9 pm ET on Thursdays for […]
Break the Bank is an American quiz show which aired variously on Mutual Radio and ABC, CBS and NBC television from 1945 to 1957. From October 1956 to January 1957, NBC Television aired a short-lived prime-time version called Break the $250,000 Bank. Sponsored by Vicks, the series began on radio October 20, 1945, heard Saturdays on Mutual until April 13th, 1946. Initially, it featured different hosts each week, including John […]
The Johnny Carson Show is a 1955-56 half hour prime time television variety show starring Johnny Carson.
While working as a staff writer on The Red Skelton Show, local Los Angeles television comedian Carson filled in as host when Skelton was injured during a show rehearsal. As a result of Carson’s performance, CBS created the primetime variety program The Johnny Carson Show, a traditional potpourri of comedy, music, dance, skits and monologues. It aired on Thursday nights at 10pm ET.
The short-lived 1955-56 series served as a precursor of what would come later for Carson, planting the seeds for sketches he would perform on the later The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson such as “Mighty Carson Art Players”. However, the show flopped in the ratings and was quickly cancelled. This show was produced in Los Angeles at CBS Television City. The show was alternately sponsored by Revlon, and General Foods (Jell-O, instant Sanka, and Minute Rice).
Johnny Carson wound up hosting a daytime game show called Who Do You Trust? (1957–62) until he was tapped by NBC to replace the departing Jack Paar as host of The Tonight Show in 1962.
The Lineup is an American police drama which aired on CBS radio from 1950 to 1953 and on CBS television from 1954 to 1960.
The television version was set specifically in San Francisco and was produced with the cooperation of the San Francisco Police Department, which received a credit at the close of each episode. It starred Warner Anderson as Guthrie and Tom Tully as Grebb, who was now an inspector instead of a sergeant, because at the time the series was made, there was no such rank as sergeant in the Bureau of Inspectors, SFPD’s investigative division. A full inspector was the closest equivalent to the generic detective sergeant the character had been on radio. The TV version, a CBS Television Production, was filmed on location, using Desilu’s production facilities. In the final season, the show expanded to an hour, and the Grebb character was replaced by a number of younger officers. Syndicated reruns of the series were broadcast under the title San Francisco Beat.
Climax!, later known as Climax Mystery Theater is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color (using the massive TK-40A color cameras pioneered and manufactured by RCA, and used primarily by […]
Shower of Stars (also known as Chrysler Shower of Stars) is an American variety television series broadcast live in the United States from 1954 to 1958 by CBS. The series was broadcast in color which was a departure from the usual programming broadcast by CBS. Shower of Stars is typically composed of musical comedy revues with an occasional straight play. It was shown […]
Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953 (both sponsors’ names alternated as part of the show’s title in its initial broadcasts). […]
Life is Worth Living is an inspirational American television series which ran on the DuMont Television Network from February 12th, 1952 to April 26th, 1955, then on ABC until 1957, featuring the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. (Similar series, also featuring Sheen, followed in 1958–61 and 1961–68.) Hosted by Bishop (later Archbishop) Fulton J. Sheen, the series consisted mainly of Sheen speaking to the camera and […]
Down You Go is an American television game show originally broadcast on the DuMont Television Network. The Emmy Award-nominated series ran from 1951–1956 as a prime time series primarily hosted by Dr. Bergen Evans. Down You Go was similar to “Hangman”, with a group of four celebrity panelists who were asked to guess a word […]
You Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September 1949 before making the transition to NBC-TV in October 1950. Because of its simple format, it was […]
Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays. The Lux Video Theatre was a spin-off from the successful Lux Radio Theater series broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934-1935) and CBS (1935–55). Lux Video Theatre began as a live 30-minute Monday evening […]
The Lone Ranger is an American western drama television series that ran from 1949 to 1957, starring Clayton Moore (John Hart from 1952 to 1954) with Jay Silverheels as Tonto. The live-action series initially featured Gerald Mohr as the episode narrator. Fred Foy served as both narrator and announcer of the radio series from 1948 […]
Stop the Music was a prime time television game show that aired for an hour on Thursday evenings on ABC from May 5th, 1949 to April 24th, 1952, and again for a half-hour from September 7th, 1954 to June 14th, 1956. The show had also been broadcast on radio from 1948 to 1949. http://archive.org/download/stopTheMusic-Misc1955Episode/StopTheMusic1955.mp4 The program aired at 9 pm ET on Thursdays for […]
Kukla, Fran and Ollie is an early American television show using puppets, originally created for children but soon watched by more adults than children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed. It first aired from 1947 to 1957. Burr Tillstrom was the creator and only puppeteer on the show, which premiered as […]
Ford Theatre, spelled Ford Theater for the radio version and known as Ford Television Theatre for the TV version, was 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 […]
Mona McCluskey (also known as Meet Mona McCluskey) is an American sitcom that aired on NBC as part of its 1965-1966 schedule. The series stars Juliet Prowse in the title role, and aired from September 16th, 1965 to April 14th, 1966.
Prowse portrayed Mona McCluskey, an actress who marries a United States Air Force sergeant, Mike McCluskey, played by Denny Scott Miller. The major premise of the show is Mona trying to balance her acting career with her marriage to Mike, who preferred that they live on his smaller Air Force salary.
The series also co-stars Herbert Rudley as General Crone, Mike’s boss and Robert Strauss as Sergeant Gruzewsky. Series guest stars include Maurice Marsac; Lee Bergere, Sal Mineo, Barry Kelley, Doris Singleton, and Darlene Patterson.
The series was produced for NBC by McCadden Enterprises, Inc., in association with United Artists Television Production, Inc. The series executive producer was comedian George Burns. The theme song was the Tin Pan Alley standard “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby”, sung by a male voice. Mona McCluskey appeared on Thursday nights against ABC’s Peyton Place and the second half hour of CBS’s two-hour Thursday night movie. It failed to win its time slot and was cancelled by NBC, with its last episode airing in April 1966.
