1956 Democractic Convention on CBS sponsored by SPUD Cigarettes

Since it's election time for our friends in the USA (well, not really, it's still ten months away, but you'd never know it watching American news) I thought this would be appropriate. This CBS news special was sponsored by Westinghouse and Phillip Morris. Westinghouse eventually became the owners of CBS for a brief period before deciding their energies were best spent focusing on nuclear weapons. Enjoy the fun as we watch Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, and other CBS news legends in action as integration is the hot topic in a contentious South vs. North battle within the Democratic Party.

Are We On? - Tim Conway and Ernie Anderson LP (1966)

Today we have a comedy record from Cleveland stars Tim Conway and Ernie "Ghoulardi" Anderson. Conway had performed on Anderson's regional Ohio show Ernie's Place in the nineteen fifties. Many years later, when the two had individually moved to Los Angeles in order to further their showbiz careers, they teamed up to form a comedy team - the one on display on these two albums. They were released a few months before Conway found fame on The Carol Burnett Show, a gig that had a schedule that would no longer allow Tim to continue working with Ernie. Anderson went on to be the voice of ABC for many many years. Listen to a sample of Ernie's voice work here and you can find the hilarious and profane Ernie Anderson blooper mp3 over here.

Listen to both of these comedy albums here.

are we on? Track Listings:
Side One -
Do You Fly Much?
Boy
Dr. Herford
Matchmaker
Side Two -
Race Car Driver
King Anderson of Parma
The Warden
The Baseball Coordinator
The Swiss Astronaut

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest Elvis (1990) - Footage Offline 09/20/09

The Dick Van Dyke Show with guest star Allan Melvin (1961) - Footage Offline - 10/03/09

For the next little while, whenever I come across an old TV show with Allan Melvin in it, it'll be plastered on the site immediately. It shouldn't be too difficult since he's in seventy percent of the things I watch, however, if you were to do a YouTube search for his name, only a couple of things will come up. But he is all over that and all the other video sharing sites if you know where (and how) to look.

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guests Oliver Reed and Shelley Winters (1975)

Re-posted here.

Allan Melvin 1922-2008

Well, this was a shock. I was just listening to one of Allan Melvin's introductions to an episode of The Phil Silvers Show on the fine Sgt. Bilko DVD set and wondered,"Gee, how old is Allan Melvin now?" Typing his name into google produced an announcement from TODAY... he died this week. Unreal. The news hit the wires about an hour ago. Melvin was a staple of Bilko, The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Brady Bunch, All in the Family, and countless television shows of the fifties, sixties and seventies and many, many commercials. Melvin also did many cartoon voices for Hanna Barbera. See him in some of the Bilko stuff previously posted on this site. Check out Melvin in a commercial, as a villain in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, as a "space enforcer" in Lost in Space, briefly in My Favorite Martian (well, according to IMDB listings he appears in this episode, but I didn't have the patience to sit through it - you tell me if you spot him), as Charlie in an episode of Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, The Phil Silvers Show and as Sarge Snorkel in a Beetle Bailey short. More of this to come as I find it.

Dodge Truck Promotional Film with Don Knotts (1965)

I can't tell you much about this oddity. Spanning about twenty-minutes, this film was probably made for Dodge shareholders or maybe its dealers to be shown at some kind of sales convention.

What's My Line with guest Benjamin Kubelsky (1966)

GSN has returned to showing What's My Line and I've Got a Secret every night at midnight, perhaps in response to some of the backlash that they've received for stripping their channel of most classic game shows and replacing them with unwatchable new game shows that few people care about. I watched an episode of What's My Line the other night that had Woody Allen as one of the panelists (and he visibly cringed each time Bennett Cerf spoke) that hopefully will be on the internet soon.

Howdee! Cousin Minnie Pearl - Starday Records (1963)

One of the most successful female stand-ups of all time, enjoying wide popularity simultaneously with both the Hollywood and Nashville crowds. Listen to the album in its entirety by clicking here.

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guests Jack Palance and Steve Allen (1976)

The Merv Griffin Show with guests Betty White and Allen Ludden (1966)

Husband and wife, and game show mainstays, Allen Ludden and Betty White.

Bewitched Sponsored by Chevrolet (1965)

The Steve Allen Show with guest Jack E. Leonard (1961)

What's My Line with mystery guests Allen & Rossi (1966)

We've referred a fair bit to the faded-from-memory comedy team of Allen & Rossi here at the site, perhaps more than is necessary. However, there is no denying their enormous popularity once upon a time. It's also remarkable how few people remember them, even as Marty Allen continues to perform well into his eighties, primarily on cruise ships. Click Marty Allen on the subject line below to listen to LPs by the pair and witness other interesting clip including the trailer for the horrible movie they're promoting on this appearance.

The Steve Allen Show featuring Don Knotts (1960)

Don Knotts performs a very funny routine that, as far as I know, he also wrote. This bit is also featured on his only comedy LP (and unfortunately, Don Knotts doesn't make an appearance on Capitol Records' The Andy Griffith Show album) An Evening with Me on United Artists. I think I'll try and upload both of those records sometime very soon.

To Tell the Truth with guest William M. Gaines

I've always wanted to see this! Mad Magazine publisher, William M. Gaines on To Tell the Truth! I imagine that panelist Gene Rayburn may have had the upper hand here, seeing as how the head writer of Match Game was Dick Debartolo, one of Mad's most prolific contributors. So perhaps Gene was acting coy when he delivered the wrong answer. Debartolo makes a rare public appearance without his moustache at the end of the show.

Dick saw the clip yesterday and wrote in to Classic Television Showbiz:

"How in the world did you know that was me without my stache? Amazing." Debartolo also put to rest the idea that Rayburn may have known who Gaines actually was, "Actually, they led totally separate lives, so Rayburn probably heard MAD stories from me, but he never met Gaines. I don't think he was faking it when he didn't vote for him. Bill was thrilled that he stumped the panel. Especially since that was about the best dressed I ever saw Gaines! Still back stage Kitty [Carlisle] said to me: "I never figured it was him --- I mean look at the way he's dressed. I was looking for someone who ran a very successful magazine so I thought it couldn't be him!"

Thanks for the note, Dick, we'll be sure to hit you up for more anecdotes in a few weeks when we post the failed Vaughn Meader "comeback" comedy LP The Second Coming.

The Mike Douglas Show with guest Sly Stone and co-host David Steinberg (1974)

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest David Letterman (1986)

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guests Charlie Callas and Robert Goulet (1971)

Breaking News! The Mike Douglas Show coming to DVD - March 25th, 2008!

Hopefully this will be more like Shout! Factory's The Dick Cavett Show collection and less like the Carson and Griffin DVDs. By that I mean, I hope they include some full episodes instead of just random "best of" clips. If we want "best of" clips or "memorable moments" we can get them up the wazzoo on the internet. What we truely need is universal access to the 60 and 90 minute programs unfettered from beginning to end. The Cavett discs are fascinating time-capsules and it doesn't even seem to matter who the guests are, it's always interesting. Here's hoping the Douglas discs follow the lead (they won't and they don't, but it'd be nice). TvshowsonDVD.com has the scoop over here.

The Bob Hope Special with guest Telly Savalas (1976)

If you ever wondered what a vaudeville team consisting of Bob Hope and Telly Savalas would look like, well search no further. The legendary Greek golden throat is even exercised at the end.
And while we're at it, you've probably seen this before, but if not, Telly singing the "hit" single If off his album Telly. And Telly makes an appearance on the German television show Musik Laden in 1972:

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1960) - Footage Offline - 6/30/08

You may have noticed in the past couple months that we here at Classic Television Showbiz are doing our godamndest to present as many full episodes of programs as possible, as opposed to just mere clips that you usually get stuck with on the internet. Here's a complete episode of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis featuring Bob Denver as filthy beatnik Maynard G. Kribbs, the great Richard Deacon and elderly character actor Burt Mustin, who I've come to know thanks to a hilarious interview with comedian Norm Macdonald on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. You'll notice in the closing credits that he is mis-credited as Burt Muskin. Despite all the fine character actors involved in this one, it's a pretty weak offering. It was directed by Rod Amateau, who went on to man the helm on several car chase moonshine movies in the seventies and eventually created The Dukes of Hazzard. Appropriately enough, this installment is called "That's Show Biz."

I've Got a Secret with guest appearance from Milton Berle (1962)

The Steve Allen Show with guests Jonathan Winters and Phil Harris (1960)

The Nat King Cole Show with guest Ella Fitzgerald (1957)

The first network variety program to star an African-American was the short-lived, but very popular, Nat King Cole Show. (Amos n' Andy and Belulah were the first TV shows to star African-American actors)To make up for its many airings of The Comic View, BET re-ran the show during its formative years. Wish they would show more early television featuring Black showbiz pioneers. Ella had just come out with the LP pictured above when she made this appearance. This show was cancelled when NBC buckled to pressure from racist advertisers appeasing their racist Southern clientele and their demands. After the cancellation, Nat King Cole remarked, "Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark."

Car 54 Where Are You? (1962)

Joe E. Ross' "Ooh, ooh!" finally gets on the nerves of Fred Gwynne in this episode. I'll be posting the prostitute obsessed Joe E. Ross' comedy record, released on the notorious Laff Records label, in a few weeks.

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest Don Rickles (1987)

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guests Mel Brooks and Crosby, Stills & Nash (1988) - Footage Offline 4/16/08

Johnny Carson Sings on stage with The Rat Pack (1965)

Check it out over here!

The George Gobel Show (1956)

George Gobel is another one of those grand old stars who is today better known for his guest appearances on talk and game shows rather than the act that made him famous in the first place. Gobel was a great stand-up comic with a unique style that is on display on this episode of The George Gobel Show.

The Newlywed Game (1978)

Unlike most old gameshow footage on the internet, this was not taped off the Game Show Network. This is an entire episode including the original commercials as it aired on Los Angeles' KTLA in the late seventies. Bob Eubanks really phones it in.

The Dean Martin Show with guests Allan Sherman and Vic Damone (1965) - Footage Offline

Kliph Nesteroff presents Here's Milt Kamen!

This is the 1961 LP Here's Milt Kamen! from Capitol Records. Mel Brooks produced this album and it's his voice you'll hear at the very start saying, "And now... Milt... Kamen." Groucho Marx sounded his praises on the back cover liner notes.

Maybe one day I'll write about Milt, but for now here's the facts you should know. Kamen was beloved by Groucho, Woody Allen and Mel Brooks. Author Bruce Jay Friedman says Kamen was his favorite stand-up comic. Same goes for Jules Feiffer. For a while Kamen dated CIA operative turned television executive Raysa Bonow. The legend goes that Carl Reiner discovered Milt Kamen and Milt Kamen discovered Woody Allen. Herb Sanford, a producer on The Garry Moore Show wrote in his memoir Ladies and Gentlemen The Garry Moore Show, "Milt played in the Philharmonic and in pit orchestras in Broadway shows. As he sat in the pit and listened to the jokes on stage, he began developing some ideas of his own and veered into television. Milt's comedy bits were far out. One of those he did with us was, one might say, science fiction. It dealt with a giant tomato that attacked an entire town. It ended happily, the victorious tomato "spritzing" a giant Bloody Mary."

Jack Carter remembers Kamen in the days of the Sid Caesar program. "Kamen, the guy who did the run-through of those sketches was also a musician," says Carter.  "He was a french horn player - Milt. And he was really the one that ad-libbed the sketches and set it up. He would do the dress rehearsal and Sid would save [himself] for the show. But Sid got plenty of shtick from this guy."

 
Now, enjoy the LP in its entirety - there are no Vietnam gags, but it's still fun: Here's Milt Kamen!

What's the Law (1967)

Well, what the f*ck is this!? A game show hosted by brilliant radio satirist and former I've Got a Secret panelist Henry Morgan. I researched pretty heavily for a magazine article about Henry Morgan that I wrote last summer, but I never came across any informaiton about a show called What's the Law? Obviously it's a rare, unaired, pilot and it isn't difficult to see why it never got picked up. It moves at a snail's pace. Regardless, this is still super cool. I love the internet.

The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Variety Show (1954) 2/15/08

It's ridiculous how many different names the exact same show had, but it never lets you down. And it's another full episode.

Broadway Open House with host Jerry Lester (1950)

If you ever read a book on the history of The Tonight Show or late night television (there are a lot of them) they all make reference to this show, the first show made exclusively for late night, airing Monday through Friday at 11pm on NBC. The show apparently did not do too well and died after a year. NBC waited another three years before trying the format again, when they hit paydirt with Steve Allen. Still, this hour long episode is pretty damn entertaining and features Milton Delugg as the band leader.

Kiddie-A-Go-Go (1966)

Sanford and Son (1973)

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson: One Millionth Audience Member Gag (1985)

I've Got a Secret with guest panelist Johnny Carson and guest Lucille Ball (1961)

New Year's Eve with Guy Lombardo (1976) - Footage Offline - 2/20/08

The Wilburn Brothers Show with guest Curly Chalker

The Wilburn Brothers Show featuring Don Helms (1968)

The Giant Spider Invasion featuring Alan Hale Jr. (1975)

This is one of my all time favorite drive-in pictures and yes, a lot of it has to do with the fact it stars the Skipper from Gilligan's Island. The rest of it has to do with the fact it features a giant spider.

The Joey Bishop Show with guest star Danny Thomas (1962) - Footage Offline - 6/07/08

Here it is, the obscure Make Room for Daddy spin-off. Incidentally, the first season is now available on DVD - who would buy it other than me - I am not sure.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Make Room for Daddy with guest stars Lucy & Desi (1959)

Make Room for Daddy with guest star Jack Benny (1957)

This a very funny and very interesting episode. It features a great cameo by Jack Benny and many great exteriors of 1950s Las Vegas. At the end of the show, we also get to see a big chunk of Danny Thomas' actual stand-up act (not a very easy thing to find these days), of course under the guise of Danny Williams.
Online Videos by Veoh.com

Make Room for Daddy (1957)

For years I wondered why Danny Thomas was famous. I never saw Make Room for Daddy (eventually re-named The Danny Thomas Show), but I saw Danny Thomas regularly appear as a song and dance, joke telling guest star on countless nineteen seventies variety shows. I knew his name from the credits of The Dick Van Dyke Show but that was about it. That was then and this is now. Since then I have grown to love his work. Make Room for Daddy is a truly funny (unconventionally so - compared to most of its competition on 1950s television) sitcom from the fifties that gave birth to a huge spin-off called The Andy Griffith Show and a small spin-off called The Joey Bishop Show. Here's a full episode of the show when the widowed stand-up comedian Danny Williams (incidentally, the same name as the current Premier of Newfoundland) finally proposes to a new woman.
Online Videos by Veoh.com

The Garry Moore Show with guests Allen & Rossi (1964) - Footage Offline 1/15/08

And next week a new(!) comedian Norm Crosby!

The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show presented by Tootsie Roll (1954) - Footage Offline 2/15/08

The Colgate Comedy Hour with Abbott & Costello - Christmas Episode (1952)

The Merv Griffin Show with guest Don Rickles (1985)

The Paul Winchell Show (1957) - Footage Offline 2/15/08

The Whistler - Two Christmas Episodes

Murder and dementia didn't slow down in the forties just because everybody else was gettin' sentimental. Two December episodes of one of the top shows in radio noir. The Whistler Christmas episode number one and number two.

A Fred Allen Christmas!

Listen to three Christmas episodes of Fred Allen's various radio shows: Here, here and here.

The Jack Benny Show: a Santa Sack Full of Christmas Episodes

Here's a huge onslaught of Christmas themed episodes of The Jack Benny Show from the thirties, forties and fifties. They're arranged chronilogically. Enjoy!

December 10th, 1938
Christmas Day, 1938
December 17th, 1939
Christmas Eve, 1939
December 22nd, 1940
January 5th, 1941 - Jack returns Christmas gifts
December 21st, 1941
December 21st, 1942
December 26th, 1943
Christmas Eve, 1944
December 22nd, 1946
December 21st, 1947
December 19th, 1948
December 18th, 1949
December 17th, 1950
Christmas Eve, 1950
December 23rd, 1951
December 21st, 1952
December 13th, 1953
December 20th, 1953
December 5th, 1954
December 11th, 1954
December 19th, 1954
December 26th, 1954

And a clip from the Jack Benny television show with Dennis Day and Richard Deacon.

Dragnet - Christmas Episode (1949)

This is easily my favorite episode of the Dragnet radio program. A child is murdered by another child, and Jack Webb's show includes a progressive theme for one time only. Listen to this classic Old Time Radio episode here.

ABC's Wide World of Sports profile of Evel Knievel (1974)

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest Evel Knievel (1973)

The Porter Wagoner Show featuring Buck Trent (1972)

Family Feud: Gilligan's Island vs. Hawaiian Eye vs. Lost in Space (1984)

This has little to do with Christmas other than it being my present ot you. It's also one of Jim Backus' final appearances on television. He was already very sick at this point but his voice is still immaculate. Of course, all of these heroes of sixties television are being moderated by Richard Dawson who came from the same world as a cast member on Hogan's Heroes.

The Milton Berle Show - Christmas Episode (1947)

Sponsored by FEEL-IP-MORRRR-EEEEEES! Here's the Christmas episode of Uncle Milty's radio program. I'm pretty sure it originally aired in December of '47. Listen to the whole thing here.

The Beverly Hillbillies Christmas Episode

A Howdy Doody Christmas!

The Addams Family Christmas Episode (1965)

Christmas With The Addams Family
Uploaded by DwightFrye

Double Dare (Christmas Eve, 1976)

The Munsters in the Macy's Santa Claus Parade (1965)

Kent Cigarettes Christmas Spot with Dick Van Dyke and Rose Marie (1962)

The Doris Day Show with guest Bob Crane (1971)

The Doris Day Show does a take-off on late night talk shows in this episode. Bob Crane plays a character that is obviously patterned after Jack Paar (although his clothing reflects Johnny Carson) and his producer is a bit of an in-joke, patterned after Tonight Show producer Fred De Cordova.

Soul Train with guests Ike and Tina Turner (1972) - Footage Offline 1/30/09

Tina and Ike answer questions from Don Cornelius and members of the audience prior to performing.

Soul to Soul with Ike and Tina Turner (1971)

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with guest Carl Reiner (1972)

Totally Weird Jim Backus Thing (1971)

Really no other way to describe it.

The Herb Shriner Show wth guest Orson Welles (1956)

20/20 featuring Johnny Carson (1984) - Footage Offline - 10/14/09

Celebrity Bowling with guests Richard Deacon, Tom Kennedy, Ed Ames and McLean Stevenson (1972)

You Don't Say! (1968)

The bumbling Tom Kennedy might be my all time favorite game show host. There's something about his face that I just love - he looks like a Jack Davis drawing. And the late sixties are probably my favorite era for game shows as they were still pretty square, but elements of the hip, coke snorting heday of the showbizzy seventies were starting to creep in.

The Jonathan Winters Show (1957)

This was Winters' first variety program, a show that was bi-weekly and fifteen minutes in length. Shortly before that famous mental breakdown.

The Richard Pryor Show: The Richard Pryor Roast (1977)

Whatever happened to Jimmy Martinez?

A Tribute to Phyllis Diller

I've uploaded the classic Verve LP Are You Ready for Phyllis Diller? for yer listening pleasure and bookended it with the two best tracks off her novelty LP Born to Sing, an album that includes Diller's interpretation of The Rolling Stones' Satisfaction. Verve didn't have a lot of comedians under contract but those that they did have were top of the line... and they all recorded a lot of stuff for the label. Other than Diller, Verve had Jonathan Winters, Jackie Mason, Shelley Berman and Mort Sahl. Not a bad line-up. Here's the Diller record.

Phyllis Diller backstage with Robert Goulet:
An early Phyllis TV appearance:
The failed 1967 Diller sitcom, The Pruitts of Southampton:
Phyllis Diller on The Dean Martin Show:
Also watch Phyllis on The Muppet Show in three parts here, here and here. Watch some more Phyllis stand-up from The Flip Wilson Show here and here.

The Very Funny Side of Pete Barbutti

Pete Barbutti was/is an eccentric jazz musician and comedian, known best for his many appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. You can watch a couple of those old appearances over here. Barbutti eventually went on to host an absurd syndicated daytime television show called Celebrity Microwaves in the early eighties. I was going to upload his very funny Decca Records comedy album in its entirety today, titled The Very Funny Side of Pete Barbutti and released in 1967. But then I went to Barbutti's recently revamped website and discovered that the man himself has uploaded the LP in its entirety for free already! That and his earlier comedy LP on Chicago's VeeJay Records (primarliy the domain of Black R&B, DooWop, and Soul artists). The site immediately greets you with a montage of Tonight Show hosts introducing Pete. Other than Carson and Leno, you can see him introduced by guest hosts David Brenner, George Carlin, David Letterman, Martin Mull, Bob Newhart, Burt Reynolds and McLean Stevenson. You can also watch several of his television appearances that aren't anywhere else on the internet. That's all over here.