|
Post by Andrea Doria on Feb 11, 2023 20:15:33 GMT
Howdy Doody Lassie Ding Dong School Leave it to Beaver The Lone Ranger Burns and Allen Father Knows Best The Loretta Young Show Jack Benny Your Show of Shows (Sid Caesar)
|
|
|
Post by galacticgirrrl on Feb 11, 2023 20:36:24 GMT
How has this been lost to the sands of time? I have never heard of it. Thank you for posting it AD. You know you are in groundbreaking territory when..... Many local NBC executives who were watching the show's development and its rehearsals, were very skeptical about its chances for television survival. The station's general manager viewed the program as either the worst or best television program he had ever seen; another executive thought the show would bring an end to television broadcasting and revive radio programs.Thankfully I see many episodes have been uploaded. Reading the history of the show I can't help but think this would make a great feature film. The 100s of calls and letters coming in the day after the first unsupported show aired, the circumstances around it being taken off the air: It is said Horwich was given an ultimatum: to accept this sponsor or Ding Dong School would be canceled. The person said to have delivered this message was Robert W. Sarnoff, son of David Sarnoff.
|
|
|
Post by Andrea Doria on Feb 12, 2023 11:41:21 GMT
Reading the history of the show I can't help but think this would make a great feature film. The 100s of calls and letters coming in the day after the first unsupported show aired, the circumstances around it being taken off the air: It would, wouldn't it? I loved the Tom Hanks movie about Mr. Rogers. The whole history of shows for children is interesting. Kids don't need a star rating, when they're sitting, slack jawed, two feet from the TV, you know you've got a hit. Miss Frances may have just stood behind a table and washed doll clothes in a bowl, but the kids were mesmerized. Later they loved the quiet, repetitive world of Captain Kangaroo. Mr. Rogers also gave them that and created a safe place to talk about things that worried kids. I feel sorry for kids today subjected to what TV producers think they should like. I doubt if they really want frenetic shows made of cluttered, gaudy sets and frantic activity, giving them a sensory overload that may capture their attention, in the moment, but then leave them nervous and no better off.
|
|
|
Post by sepiatone on Feb 12, 2023 17:41:50 GMT
Sure. What many producers of children's programming seemed to fail at doing was to examine why shows like CAPTAIN KANGAROO and MR. ROGERS were so successful.
At first mocking it like everyone else, it wasn't until my own kids would sit quietly watching Mr. Rogers that I noticed his formula.
He talked to kids on their level, but without seemingly talking down to them. What other children's show would have the host discuss and play many minutes of Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture? And somehow make it interesting to kids? Or have the Marsalis family of jazz musicians(Ellis, Branford, Jason and Delfeayo) perform their band of music? Bob Keeshan(Kangaroo) used a similar formula. So did Miss Francis.
Sepiatone
|
|
|
Post by jamesjazzguitar on Feb 25, 2023 19:36:50 GMT
Next weekend Decades will be showing the Peter Gunn noir influenced detective show.
|
|
|
Post by Andrea Doria on Feb 25, 2023 21:08:10 GMT
Next weekend Decades will be showing the Peter Gunn noir influenced detective show. I'll watch just to hear that opening theme. Every kid I knew who had a piano learned to play that.
|
|
|
Post by jamesjazzguitar on Feb 25, 2023 22:07:32 GMT
Next weekend Decades will be showing the Peter Gunn noir influenced detective show. I'll watch just to hear that opening theme. Every kid I knew who had a piano learned to play that.The musical score was really good, as well as the fact that first rate musicians were often featured in the show.
|
|
|
Post by dianedebuda on Feb 26, 2023 2:28:38 GMT
Peter Gunn: The start of my love affair with the music of Mancini.
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on May 29, 2023 2:01:52 GMT
I just looked back over this thread...nobody mentioned December Bride starring Spring Byington.
This weekend, I watched an episode from 1956 that was uploaded on YouTube. I found it to be very funny. I've always been a Spring Byington fan, I like her positive attitude, it's sorta contagious!
There are a few reviews on the IMDb with users likening Spring's rapport with costar Verna Felton to a Lucy-Ethel kind of thing. One person went so far as to say DB is I Love Lucy senior citizen style.
At the risk of seeming overly analytical, it seems like creator-writer Parke Levy's goal was to demonstrate that not all mothers-in-law are unbearable, and the Lily Ruskin character is meant to shatter stereotypes not only about the mother-in-law image, but also about older folks proving they can still lead active lives.
Anyone have thoughts or memories of this particular program and any of its specific episodes?
|
|
|
Post by sepiatone on May 29, 2023 15:55:38 GMT
I can't speak to specific episodes of that show, And I'm now trying to deal with my guilt of not mentioning that show either as it was a favorite of mine as a kid, which also spurred my fondness for HARRY MORGAN who played Pete Porter on the show.
The radio show aired from 1952 t0 1953, with the TV version debuting in 1954. I was only three then so obviously wasn't watching it until about 1956 when I was five years old. And Morgan was a hoot of course.
Sepiatone
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on May 29, 2023 19:13:29 GMT
I can't speak to specific episodes of that show, And I'm now trying to deal with my guilt of not mentioning that show either as it was a favorite of mine as a kid, which also spurred my fondness for HARRY MORGAN who played Pete Porter on the show. The radio show aired from 1952 t0 1953, with the TV version debuting in 1954. I was only three then so obviously wasn't watching it until about 1956 when I was five years old. And Morgan was a hoot of course. Sepiatone I had read that after the show ended in the spring of 1959, CBS reran it in primetime for a few years until 1961. So that may have been when you saw some of the episodes...?
I don't recall December Bride ever airing on Nick at Nite or TVLand though it is certainly possible it did. It has never had a full series DVD release, though there was a 'best of' set where 24 of the 157 total episodes were made available. That DVD is long since out of circulation.
The entire series is owned by CBS/Paramount. CBS bought out Parke Levy's share in 1959, which enabled them to rerun it in primetime without paying him any ongoing residuals. And I assume they also bought out Desilu's share, since Desilu was the production company.
It aired directly after I Love Lucy in its early seasons, which obviously helped the show obtain high ratings. For its first four seasons it ranked in the top ten of all programs on television. But it slipped in the ratings during its fifth and final season, as it no longer had Lucy as a lead-in, and CBS had moved it to another night.
|
|
|
Post by jamesjazzguitar on May 29, 2023 19:18:25 GMT
I just looked back over this thread...nobody mentioned December Bride starring Spring Byington.
This weekend, I watched an episode from 1956 that was uploaded on YouTube. I found it to be very funny. I've always been a Spring Byington fan, I like her positive attitude, it's sorta contagious!
There are a few reviews on the IMDb with users likening Spring's rapport with costar Verna Felton to a Lucy-Ethel kind of thing. One person went so far as to say DB is I Love Lucy senior citizen style.
At the risk of seeming overly analytical, it seems like creator-writer Parke Levy's goal was to demonstrate that not all mothers-in-law are unbearable, and the Lily Ruskin character is meant to shatter stereotypes not only about the mother-in-law image, but also about older folks proving they can still lead active lives.
Anyone have thoughts or memories of this particular program and any of its specific episodes? I've been watching the western Laramie on INSP mainly due to Spring Byington. I've been a big fan of her for decades. Yea, that positive attitude is contagious. Such an attitude is necessary in Laramie since Robert Fuller's screen persona is overly angry, then overly soft, then overly angry again! (Just like he was in Wagon Train done right after Laramie). Thus, I wanted to see December Bride episodes since I found out about the show, only after I found out Byington was on Laramie a few months ago.
|
|
|
Post by sepiatone on May 30, 2023 16:34:26 GMT
I had read that after the show ended in the spring of 1959, CBS reran it in primetime for a few years until 1961. So that may have been when you saw some of the episodes...?
Really by that time I was probably too busy watching PETE AND GLADYS, the sort of "spin-off" of December Bride that starred Harry Morgan and Cara Williams in which Morgan reprised his role of PETE PORTER from December Bride. But by 1961 I was 10 but do recall watching DB when I was younger. If you may recall(maybe in some of the episodes on your DVDs) that Pete often lamented about his wife Gladys, who was never seen on that show. And BTW..... I too, went back over this thread and maybe it's my aging eyesight, but I also didn't see the AMOS'n'ANDY show mentioned. It was shown on Saturday afternoons around here(obviously in syndication) and I thought it was pretty funny too. Sepiatone
|
|
|
Post by topbilled on May 31, 2023 1:49:14 GMT
I had read that after the show ended in the spring of 1959, CBS reran it in primetime for a few years until 1961. So that may have been when you saw some of the episodes...?
Really by that time I was probably too busy watching PETE AND GLADYS, the sort of "spin-off" of December Bride that starred Harry Morgan and Cara Williams in which Morgan reprised his role of PETE PORTER from December Bride. But by 1961 I was 10 but do recall watching DB when I was younger. If you may recall(maybe in some of the episodes on your DVDs) that Pete often lamented about his wife Gladys, who was never seen on that show. And BTW..... I too, went back over this thread and maybe it's my aging eyesight, but I also didn't see the AMOS'n'ANDY show mentioned. It was shown on Saturday afternoons around here(obviously in syndication) and I thought it was pretty funny too. Sepiatone I wasn't around back in the late 50s or early 60s, but I think that when I Love Lucy ended in 1957, Lucy and Desi started doing the The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. Those were elongated episodes, running 60 to 75 minutes, and not as many episodes were produced per season. So that means there were weeks during the 1957-58 season when Lucy and Desi's show was not scheduled alongside December Bride which indicates DB had to hold an audience on its own.
Lucy and Desi divorced in 1960 and their show ended that spring, but by then December Bride had ceased production, in 1959. The spinoff, Pete & Gladys starring Harry Morgan & Cara Williams did not begin right after DB ended. There was actually a gap of a year.
In the fall of 1960 when Pete & Gladys started airing, I believe it may have been paired with reruns of December Bride which makes sense...because Lucy and Desi were gone, and viewers enjoyed seeing Harry Morgan on both shows. Primetime reruns of December Bride continued on CBS through 1961.
Pete & Gladys was slightly retooled in 1961. Verna Felton, who had come over from the parent series, departed at the end of season 1. The second season of P&G did not fare too well and it was cancelled in 1962. As we know, Harry Morgan moved on to bigger and better things!
|
|
|
Post by sepiatone on May 31, 2023 17:11:35 GMT
And we know DB couldn't hold an audience without the Lucy-Desi lead in, so...... Sepiatone
|
|