The Red Skelton Show
The Red Skelton Show | |
---|---|
Running time | 22–24 minutes (1951–1962; 1970–1971) 45–48 minutes (1954; 1962–1970) |
Production companies | Van Bernard Productions Sursum Productions |
Original release | |
Network | NBC (1951–1953; 1970–1971) CBS (1953–1970) |
Release | September 30, 1951 August 1, 1971 | –
The Red Skelton Show is an American television comedy/
Origins: 1950s
The program was produced at
Skelton was infatuated with his appearance on color television, and he cajoled CBS to colorcast the program (In 1961, Skelton also invested in three rental remote vans which had full live, film, and color videotape capability). Although visionary, the venture in color was premature and, when it failed, CBS bought Skelton's facilities (formerly
From 1956 to 1962,
Format during the 1960s
In September 1962, the program was again expanded to a full hour (becoming The Red Skelton Hour) and remained in this longer format for the balance of its CBS run. The format of the program itself during this period was quite simple.
Pre-opening
This pre-opening format was changed slightly each year during the rest of the show's CBS run, but followed this basic format.
Instead of a traditional opening title card, announcer Art Gilmore would intone, “From Television City in Hollywood,” and Skelton would perform a brief comedic blackout sketch, ending with the show's resident vocal group (the Skeltones) singing the words "The Red Skelton Hour" (beginning in the 1964–65 season, Skelton would simply stand alone, smiling and waving at the camera, spotlighted on a darkened stage as the shot zoomed in (dressed in some seasons as one of his various characters), as Gilmore would announce the title, and (in later seasons) the singers sang the title), leading into a brief musical "song and dance" number (about 90 seconds long) performed in lyrical song by several smiling male and female dancers as they danced and moved cheerfully across the large stage. This introductory number would have a certain visual theme, such as gardening, college football, the signs of the zodiac, etc., and the set, the dancers’ costumes, and the lyrics of the dancers’ song would reflect the theme. After the dancers sang the first two stanzas, they continued the song, singing “our guest star…” followed by the guest's name, matched with a camera shot of the guest (most evenings there was at least one major celebrity guest as well as a musical guest); “David Rose and his orchestra,” with a shot of Rose; the singers (originally the Modernaires; the Skel-tones by 1963; by the fall of 1964 as the Alan Copeland Singers (Copeland, the credited vocal arranger of the show, was originally a member of the Modernaires); and by the 1969–70 season as The Jimmy Joyce Singers and the dancers (introduced after 1964 as the Tom Hansen Dancers, after the show's credited choreographer); and finally introducing Skelton as the star of the show; the assembled dancers looking "stage left" anticipating Skelton's entrance on stage to begin his opening monologue.
For the final CBS season (1969–70), a cold open blackout sketch was added, featuring the antics of two alien moon men, green in color, performing comedic antics on the moon, as the song Mah Nà Mah Nà was playing. This led immediately into the dancers' routine.
Opening monologue
After the opening song-and-dance routine, Skelton opened with a monologue. The monologue often lapsed into character humor, including "Gertrude and Heathcliff, the Two Seagulls", which he performed by crossing his eyes and sticking his thumbs into his armpits for "wings". (Johnny Carson, who was a writer on this program for a period, reminisced about writing for this spot.) Skelton performed the "Doughnut Dunkers," one of his earliest signature routines, in a 1964 episode during this monologue.
Guest stars
This was followed by a guest-star performance, often a singer. Musical accompaniment was generally provided by the show's orchestra and led by its well-known bandleader, David Rose. He was also the composer of the show's familiar signature tune, "Holiday for Strings"[1](U.S. Copyright Registration Date 26-3-1942). The guest then appeared with Skelton in a comedy sketch. In other episodes, the Tom Hansen Dancers would perform another song-and-dance number, sometimes joined by the guest star.
Among the notable guest stars on the program were western film stars Amanda Blake and Roscoe Ates, who played a sheriff in the 1961 episode "Candid Clem". John Wayne, Jack Benny, Phyllis Diller, George Raft, Martha Raye, Robert Vaughn, Audrey Meadows, Carol Lawrence, Shirley Bassey, Godfrey Cambridge and Carol Channing also made appearances. Popular television actress Phyllis Avery appeared twice in "Clem's Watermelons" (1961) and "Nothing But the Tooth" (1962). Billy Gray, who played Bud Anderson Jr. on "Father Knows Best", guest starred after the former show ended its six-year run.
Musical guests
The Beach Boys made their network television debut as musical guests on a 1963 episode. The Rolling Stones videotaped three songs in London for a 1964 Skelton show. Another British Invasion band, The Kinks, appeared in early 1965 (shortly before the American Federation of Musicians banned them from touring in the US for the next four years). The Supremes and the Motown Sound visited the Skelton hour in 1965. Other musical guests included Bobby Rydell, the Lettermen, Vikki Carr, Horst Jankowski, Gloria Loring, the New Christy Minstrels, the Doodletown Pipers, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, the Association, Lulu, Johnny Mathis, Tom Jones, Matt Monro, Lou Rawls and also Dionne Warwick in 1966 & 1967.
Comedy sketches
The sketches were usually built around one of Red's many characters, including "Deadeye", an incredibly inept
In its later years, the show generally finished with "The Silent Spot", with Skelton pantomiming Freddie or another silent character. (It was hard for some younger viewers to accept that such an overwhelmingly visual, physical performer had once been a staple of radio.[citation needed]) After "The Silent Spot", the show closed with Red looking into the camera and saying sincerely, "Good night and may God bless."[18]
The Tom Hansen Dancers would return in their costumes from the pre-opening song-and-dance number and invite the audience to join the show the following week, singing to the tune of "Holiday for Strings" as the closing credits appeared.
While the vast majority of Skelton's skits were comedy, there were a few serious segments. One memorable segment came in 1969, when Skelton performed a self-written monologue about the
Skelton television characters
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Junior
-
Clem Kadiddlehopper
-
San Fernando Red
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George Appleby
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Freddie the Freeloader
-
Cauliflower McPugg
Final years: 1970–1971
CBS ended its association with the program in early 1970. This apparently marked the beginning of one of several attempts by CBS to downplay programming (even shows gaining relatively strong Nielsen ratings) whose primary appeal was to "
The move to NBC: 1970
At least in part due to Skelton's iconic status, the program was picked up by NBC in late 1970.[20] However, the program that aired was quite different from the one that Skelton's CBS audience was used to seeing. The new set was dark, devoid of the bright and colorful backdrops that viewers had seen on CBS. The show was cut back to its original half-hour length and it was moved from Tuesday to Monday nights.
But perhaps the biggest change was that the show began to incorporate "regulars" for the first time along with Skelton, Rose, and Rose's orchestra. A repertory company of young, comic
The new format never really worked; the audience sensed that there was little chemistry between Skelton and his repertory company. The program ended in March 1971, although selected programs from this final season were rerun on NBC on Sunday nights during mid-1971 by Procter & Gamble, so it could be said that Skelton's network television career had ended exactly where it had begun.[18][20]
Skelton's later TV career
Skelton continued to make appearances for many years afterwards, increasingly as a nostalgic figure, but was never again a regular feature of network television programming.[21] He was awarded the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Governors Award, a lifetime achievement award, in 1986.[22][23] Skelton was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame in 1989.[18][24]
Broadcast history and Nielsen ratings
Season | Time slot (ET) | Rank | Rating |
---|---|---|---|
1951–1952 | Sunday at 10:00–10:30 pm on NBC | 4 | 50.2 |
1952–1953 | Sunday at 7:00–7:30 pm on NBC | 28 | 33.7 (Tied with The Lone Ranger) |
1953–1954 | Tuesday at 8:30–9:00 pm on CBS (September 1953 – June 1954) Wednesday at 8:00–9:00 pm on CBS (July–September 1954) |
Not in the Top 30 | |
1954–1955 | Tuesday at 8:00–9:00 pm on CBS (September–December 1954) Tuesday at 9:30–10:30 pm on CBS (January 1955 – June 1961) | ||
1955–1956 | 14 | 32.3 | |
1956–1957 | 15 | 31.4 (Tied with The Lineup) | |
1957–1958 | 28.9 | ||
1958–1959 | 12 | 28.5 | |
1959–1960 | 5 | 30.8 | |
1960–1961 | 19 | 24.0 | |
1961–1962 | Tuesday at 9:00–9:30 pm on CBS | 6 | 27.1 |
1962–1963 | Tuesday at 8:30–9:30 pm on CBS | 2 | 31.1 (Tied with Candid Camera) |
1963–1964 | Tuesday at 8:00–9:00 pm on CBS | 11 | 25.7 |
1964–1965 | Tuesday at 8:30–9:30 pm on CBS | 6 | 27.4 |
1965–1966 | 4 | 27.6 | |
1966–1967 | 2 | 28.2 | |
1967–1968 | 7 | 25.3 | |
1968–1969 | 11 | 23.3 (Tied with Mission: Impossible and Bewitched) | |
1969–1970 | 7 | 23.8 | |
1970–1971 | Monday at 7:30–8:00 pm on NBC (September 1970 – March 1971) Sunday at 8:30–9:00 pm on NBC (June–August 1971) |
Not in the Top 30 |
Awards and nominations
Year | Season | Category | Recipient(s) | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
1952 | One | Outstanding Comedy Series | N/A | Won |
Best Comedian or Comedienne | Red Skelton | Won | ||
1959 | Eight | Outstanding Comedy Series | N/A | Nominated |
1960 | Nine | Outstanding Comedy Series | N/A | Nominated |
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series | Seymour Berns | Nominated | ||
1961 | Ten | Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series | Sherwood Schwartz, David O'Brien, Martin Ragaway, Arthur Phillips, Al Schwartz, Red Skelton |
Won |
1962 | Eleven | Outstanding Comedy Series | N/A | Nominated |
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series | Seymour Berns | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series | Ed Simmons, David O'Brien, Martin Ragaway, Arthur Phillips, Al Schwartz, Sherwood Schwartz, Red Skelton |
Nominated | ||
1963 | Twelve | Outstanding Variety Series | N/A | Nominated |
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series | Seymour Berns | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series | Ed Simmons, Dave O'Brien, Martin Ragaway, Arthur Phillips, Larry Rhine, Mort Greene, Hugh Wedlock Jr., Red Skelton, Bruce Howard, Rick Mittleman |
Nominated | ||
1965 | Fourteen | Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment – Performers | Red Skelton | Nominated |
1966 | Fifteen | Outstanding Variety Series | Seymour Berns | Nominated |
1967 | Sixteen | Outstanding Video Tape Editing | Lewis W. Smith | Nominated |
1970 | Nineteen | Outstanding Choreography | Tom Hansen | Nominated |
References
- ^ ISBN 0-7864-1732-3. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ^ U.S. Copyright Registration Date 26-3-1942
- ^ "Red Skelton Signed to Multi-Million Contract". Ellensburg Daily Record. 4 May 1951. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
- ^ "Red Skelton Signs Radio, TV Contract". Reading Eagle. 4 May 1951. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ Skelton To Air Live as TVA Waives 60-Day Kine Limit. Billboard. 16 June 1951. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
- ^ Rubber Face on TV. Life. 22 October 1951. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
- ^ Skelton, P& G Stew Boiling. Billboard. 22 November 1952. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
- ^ Craig Resigns as B&B Veepee For Radio-TV/Skelton Plans Variety Format. Billboard. 30 May 1953. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
- ^ Skelton To get 8:30 Tues. Slot. Billboard. 13 September 1953. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
- ^ CBS-TV May Boost Skelton Show To Hour in All-Out Tuesday Fight. Billboard. 15 May 1954. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
- ^ Trade ad for Desilu Productions. Billboard. 6 October 1956. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
- ^ "Chaplin Studios Sold To Skelton". The Victoria Advocate. 20 April 1960. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
- ISBN 0-7864-1303-4. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
- ^ Color Programs Every Day On Two Television Networks. Billboard. 22 September 1956. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
- ^ Humphrey, Hal (14 July 1962). "Red Will Outlast Amateur Analysts". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
- ^ "Sherwood Schwartz," Academy of American Television interview, part 2 of 4, accessed 2 September 2011.
- ^ a b "Red Skelton just wants to be a clown". Lawrence Journal-World. 9 November 1966. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Severio, Richard (18 September 1997). "Red Skelton, Knockabout Comic and Clown Prince of the Airwaves, Is Dead at 84". New York Times. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
- ISBN 0-7864-1732-3. [1]Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- ^ a b DuBrow, Rick (20 February 1970). "TV in Review". The News-Dispatch. Jeannette, Pennsylvania. Retrieved 19 May 2011 – via Google newspapers.
- ^ "Red Skelton Is No Recluse". The Mount Airy News. 17 April 1984. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ "Skelton will receive highest academy honor". The Deseret News. 25 July 1986. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ "Skelton Honored at Emmys, Recalls Pain of Cancellation". Lexington, North Carolina: The Dispatch. 22 September 1986. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ "Television Hall of Fame Archives". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 21 May 2011.