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Abe Burrows' Almanac

Abe Burrows' Almanac is an American television series that aired on CBS in 1950. The live program, hosted by Abe Burrows, featured music, song and comedy performances by guests. The show was broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 9:00 PM. Milton DeLugg conducted the orchestra. While Burrows had a successful nightclub act and made regular appearances as a performer on CBS radio programs, this short-lived series is notable for being his only featured role in a television program.

Abe Burrows' Almanac

9.0 N/A
Judge for Yourself

Judge for Yourself, at first subtitled The Fred Allen Show, is a Mark Goodson and Bill Todman nontraditional court show/quiz show, with comedian Fred Allen as the emcee. It aired on NBC from August 18, 1953 to May 11, 1954. Dennis James was the series announcer but took over as host in January 1954. Each week three performers – singers, dancers, musicians, or comedians – were judged by two panels, one of professional entertainers and the other from the studio audience. If one of the amateur judges rated the acts 1, 2, or 3 in the same order as the celebrities, that individual would win a $1,000 prize. Two instrumental jazz groups that appeared on Judge for Yourself had considerable success thereafter, vibraphonist Terry Gibbs and the Marian McPartland Trio. The original intent of the series was to allow Allen to interact with guests, much as Groucho Marx did on his own NBC series, You Bet Your Life. The complicated format first employed, however, was revamped in the middle of the season. On the episode which aired on January 5, 1954, the professional judges were dropped, and the studio audience panel rated new songs to predict future hits, the comparable format of ABC's Jukebox Jury, which also aired in the 1953–1954 season.

Judge for Yourself

7.0 N/A
Wide Wide World

Wide Wide World was a 90-minute documentary series telecast live on NBC on Sunday afternoons at 4pm Eastern. Conceived by network head Pat Weaver and hosted by Dave Garroway, Wide Wide World was introduced on the Producers' Showcase series on June 27, 1955. The premiere episode, featuring entertainment from the US, Canada and Mexico, was the first international North American telecast in the history of the medium. It returned in the fall as a regular Sunday series, telecast from October 16, 1955 to June 8, 1958. The program was sponsored by General Motors and Barry Wood was the executive producer. In March 1956, Time magazine reported that it was the highest-rated daytime show on television.

Wide Wide World

6.5 N/A
Time Will Tell

Time Will Tell is an early American game show which aired on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network Fridays at 10:30pm ET from August 27 to October 15, 1954. The show's host, Ernie Kovacs, would go on to host many other shows on both DuMont, ABC, and NBC. Game play involved three contestants answering questions in 90-second rounds, timed with a large hourglass. The program, produced and distributed by the network, aired on most DuMont affiliates on Fridays at 10:30 pm Eastern Time, replacing Gamble on Love which was also hosted by Kovacs in the same time slot. After Time Will Tell ended, DuMont replaced the series with local programming. For DuMont, Kovacs also hosted the panel show One Minute Please and the late-night talk show The Ernie Kovacs Show.

Time Will Tell

8.0 N/A
It's Alec Templeton Time

It's Alec Templeton Time was an early American television program broadcast on the now defunct DuMont Television Network. The series ran during the summer of 1955. It was a musical program hosted by blind satirist and musician Alec Templeton. The program, produced and distributed by DuMont, aired on Friday nights on most DuMont affiliates. It's Alec Templeton Time has the distinction of being one of the last programs to air on the dying DuMont Television Network, along with Have a Heart, What's the Story and Boxing From St. Nicholas Arena. The struggling network was already beginning to shut down network operations before It's Alec Templeton Time even aired its first episode, and Paramount Pictures would take control of DuMont during the summer; as a result, the series' run was brief, and did not last past the summer months.

It's Alec Templeton Time

9.0 N/A
Ozark Jubilee

Ozark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and featured performers located in Springfield, Missouri which has long emulated Nashville, Tennessee as a center of American country music. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed Country Music Jubilee on July 6, 1957, and was finally named Jubilee USA on August 2, 1958. Originating "from the heart of the Ozarks," the Saturday night variety series helped popularize country music in America's cities and suburbs, drawing more than nine million viewers. The ABC Radio version was heard by millions more starting in August 1954. A typical program included a mix of vocal and instrumental performances, comedy routines, square dancing and an occasional novelty act. The host was Red Foley, the nation's top country music personality. Big names such as Patsy Cline, Eddy Arnold, Johnny Cash and Faron Young were interspersed with a regular cast, including a group of young talent the Jubilee brought to national fame: 11-year-old Brenda Lee, Porter Wagoner, Wanda Jackson, Sonny James, Jean Shepard and The Browns. Other featured cast members were Webb Pierce, Bobby Lord, Leroy Van Dyke, Norma Jean and Carl Smith.

Ozark Jubilee

3.0 N/A
Tiny Talent Time

The talent and variety program showcased the artistic abilities of local children in an entertaining family genre. The show was marked by a characteristically home-spun style and had great appeal to many different age groups. Indeed, many participants in the original show have enjoyed illustrious careers as performers around the world. During the program, host Bill. Lawrence engaged in casual, light-hearted banter with the performers before and after each act. The questions usually revolved around a child's school, home life, family and likes and dislikes.

Tiny Talent Time

NR N/A
The Big Payoff

The Big Payoff was a daytime and primetime game show that premiered on NBC in 1951, and ended its network run on CBS in 1959. It had a brief syndication revival in 1962. NBC used The Big Payoff to replace the 15-minute show Miss Susan starring Susan Peters, which had gone off the air in December 1951. Contestants were selected from men who mailed in letters explaining why the women in their lives deserved prizes. The men were asked four questions in order to win prizes like a mink coat or a vacation. Late in the network run, the format changed to three competing couples. For the 1962 revival, there were only two couples. On Tuesdays, the format changed to the "Little Big Payoff" in which children sent in a letter in which they voiced the reason that they should appear. Four questions were asked, and prizes awarded for each correct answer. It was called the "Big Payoff" because when a contestant won they had the opportunity to answer one final question. Getting this question correct, the individual was awarded a "Mink Coat" and/or a trip to Europe. Bess Meyerson modeled the mink coat and escorted the contestants on stage. After all - this was live TV The theme song was "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" by Irving Berlin, and the sponsor was Revlon.

The Big Payoff

8.0 N/A