Texaco Star Theater
Texaco Star Theater is an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American
The classic 1940–1944 version of the program, hosted by radio's
Radio
The roots of Texaco Star Theater were in a 1930s radio hit,
Comedian Eddie Cantor was the star of a show called "Texaco Town" from 1936 to 1938. The show's cast featured young singers Bobby Breen and Deanna Durbin, announcer Jimmy Wallington, who read the commercials for Fire Chief gasoline, Harry Park, and bandleader Jacques Renard. The show was a combination of comedy and music. Cantor frequently sang a tune about the "mayor of Texaco Town".
Texaco Star Theater (spelled Theatre for most of the radio show's run) was first broadcast on October 5, 1938, and it continued on the air until June 26, 1940. Initial host Adolphe Menjou was succeeded by John Barrymore, who was replaced by Ken Murray. During the almost two-year span, Una Merkel, Irene Noblette, Charlie Ruggles, and Ned Sparks appeared as comedians. Kenny Baker, Jane Froman, and Frances Langford sang, with David Broekman leading the orchestra. Jimmy Wallington was the announcer.[1] The show began as a variety show with dramatizations and songs by guest stars. In 1940, the show became a star vehicle for Allen, with the show re-titled Texaco Star Theater with Fred Allen and the program airing on October 2, 1940.
Allen's previous sponsor,
Though some believe the title
Allen was forced to leave the show in 1944 due to
Television
On television, continuing a practice long established in radio, Texaco included its brand name in the show title. When the television version launched on June 8, 1948, Texaco also made sure its employees were featured prominently throughout the hour, usually appearing as smiling "guardian angels" performing good deeds of one or another kind, and a quartet of Texaco singers opened each week's show with the theme song.
They did not settle on Berle—who hosted a freshly revived radio version in spring 1948—as the permanent host right away; he hosted the first television Texaco Star Theater in June 1948[3] but was originally part of a rotation of hosts[4] (Berle himself had only a four-week contract). Comedian Jack Carter was host for August. Berle was named the permanent host that fall.[5]
He was a smash once the new full season began, Texaco Star Theater hitting ratings as high as 80 and owning Tuesday night for
With Berle at the helm, Texaco Star Theater was largely credited with driving American television set sales heavily; the number of TV sets sold during Berle's run on the show was said to have grown from 500,000, his first year on the tube, to over 30 million when the show ended in 1956. Texaco Star Theater was also the highest rated television show of the 1950–1951 television season, the first season in which the
Uncle Miltie was far from alone in keeping the show alive and kicking. His support players included Fatso Marco (1948–1952), Ruth Gilbert as "Maxine", Milton's love-starved secretary (1952–1955), Bobby Sherwood (1952–1953), Arnold Stang (1953–1955), Jack Collins (1953–1955), and Milton Frome (1953–1955). The show's music was provided by Alan Roth (1948–1955) and Victor Young (1955–1956).
As phenomenally popular as Texaco Star Theater was, it was hardly an undisturbed appeal. "Berle presented himself as one part
Based on episodes that appear on the Internet Archive, it appears the series typically ran 48–50 minutes excluding commercials.
Title changes
Texaco dropped its sponsorship of the show and Buick became the new sponsor in 1953, prompting the show's name change to The Buick-Berle Show.[4] Two years later, it became, simply, The Milton Berle Show, its title until its run ended at last in June 1956. By then, Berle and his audience had probably burned out on each other, and Buick had even dropped sponsorship of the show at the beginning of the 1955–1956 season (opting to sponsor Jackie Gleason's half-hour filmed edition of The Honeymooners), after ratings fell dramatically during the 1954–1955 as well (the higher ratings of his 1955–56 competition, The Phil Silvers Show on CBS, did not help Berle either);[7] though Berle would remain one of the nation's beloved entertainers, overall, the show that made him a superstar was clearly spent for steam and fresh ideas, and two subsequent attempts at television comebacks hosting his own show lasted barely a year each. (Berle did, however, contribute his part to the making of a rock and roll legend: in his final season, he opened his stage to Elvis Presley amid the beginning of the hip-swiveling singer's international popularity.)
Part of the problem was variety shows becoming costlier to produce, compared to the Texaco days when, among other factors, name guest stars did not mind the low appearance fees they got for appearing, because they could bank the exposure they got from even one appearance on the Berle show; or with Fred Allen and Ed Wynn in its earlier radio incarnations.
But part of the problem was Berle himself: with competition (Jack Benny, George Burns, Bob Hope, Perry Como, etc.) crowding him more and more as the years went on, as more television performers and creators found their on-camera legs, and brought new or at least more polished ideas to the air, Berle tried refining his camera persona and evolving from the freewheeling, manic style he cultivated so successfully in the Texaco years. The net result: the balance between excess and decorum now weighted more toward decorum, which wasn't exactly what Berle represented at the height of his popularity. He began losing many of his former fans, who preferred when he kept things more unpredictable, and it would be years before his kind of manic balance would find a television home again.
Broadcast history
NOTE: The most frequent time slot for the series is in bold text.
- Tuesday at 8:00–9:00 pm on NBC: June 1948 – June 1956
- Wednesday at 9:00–9:30 pm on NBC: October 1958 – May 1959
U.S. television ratings
Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May
Season | Ranking | Ratings |
---|---|---|
1950–1951 | No. 1 | 61.6 |
1951–1952 | No. 2 | 53.8 |
1952–1953 | No. 5 | 46.7 |
1953–1954 | 40.2 | |
1954–1955 | No. 11 | 34.6 |
1955–1956 | N/A |
In the 1954–1955 season, the half-hour Texaco Star Theater offered in alternation The Jimmy Durante Show and The Donald O'Connor Show on the NBC Saturday evening schedule.
As a Top 30 program, Texaco Star Theater has an average rating of 47.3.
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
- ^ "Radio: NEW TEXACO FORMAT UPS NUT TO $11,500". Variety. Vol. 160, no. 2. September 19, 1945. p. 26.
- ^ "Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #13".
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4766-2427-3. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0313314810. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
- ^ "Awards Search". Emmy Awards. Television Academy. Archived from the original on June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
- ^ "Milton Berle: U.S. Comedian/Actor". museum.tv. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
External links
- Milton Berle Show radio shows
- Texaco Star Theater at IMDb
- Public domain 1949 episode of Texaco Star Theater at the Internet Archive