July 27, 1953- September 24, 1954   Prior to Steve Allen hosting The Tonight Show (Sept. 27, 1954-Jan. 25,1957) on network T.V. he hosted a similar late night show locally in New York City called the Steve Allen Show. (11:20pm-midnight). These Monday through Friday 40 minute telecasts included regulars, Steve Lawrence, Helen Dixon and Bobby Bryne and his orchestra. Sponsor was Knickerbocker beer on Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday, only.  

This is the 27th broadcast in the series. Broadcast theme song, "Stay Just A Little While With Me," opens the show. Steve Allen, at the piano, sings "Cecilia." Jim Moran, who appears every Tuesday on the broadcast discusses with Allen "Oysters," as the Oyster season begins. Author James Michener joins in and also discusses his latest movie adaptation screenplay for the film "Return To Paradise," about to open in theaters nation wide. This was the first theatrical contribution for Michener in his literary career.  

Incredible relaxed late night television from a bygone era as Steve offers a beer to Mitchener in-between anecdotes. Steve Lawrence, who just turned 18 years of age, sings "C'est si bon."   Bobby Byrne & his orchestra plays "Lover." Sign off, as Steve reminds viewers that this new late night series is on the air every weekday night for 40 minutes, 11:20pm to Midnight. Cast sings theme song "Stay Just A Little While With Me."                                                    

July 27, 1953- September 24, 1954   Prior to Steve Allen hosting The Tonight Show (Sept. 27, 1954-Jan. 25,1957) on network T.V. he hosted a similar late night show locally in New York City called the Steve Allen Show. (11:20pm-midnight). These Monday through Friday 40 minute telecasts included regulars, Steve Lawrence, Helen Dixon and Bobby Bryne and his orchestra. Sponsor was Knickerbocker beer on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday only.                                                    

July 27, 1953- September 24, 1954   Prior to Steve Allen hosting The Tonight Show (Sept. 27, 1954-Jan. 25,1957) on network T.V. he hosted a similar late night show locally in New York City called the Steve Allen Show. (11:20pm-midnight). These Monday through Friday 40 minute telecasts included regulars, Steve Lawrence, Helen Dixon and Bobby Bryne and his orchestra. Sponsor was Knickerbocker beer on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.                                       

July 27, 1953- September 24, 1954   Prior to Steve Allen hosting The Tonight Show (Sept. 27, 1954-Jan. 25,1957) on network T.V. he hosted a similar late night show locally in New York City called the Steve Allen Show. (11:20pm-midnight). These Monday through Friday 40 minute telecasts included regulars, Steve Lawrence, Helen Dixon and Bobby Bryne and his orchestra. Sponsor was Knickerbocker beer on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.   Note: SOME VARIATIONS IN SOUND QUALITY.                                       

  
September 27, 1954 - January 25, 1957
The first host of THE TONIGHT SHOW, which was then titled TONIGHT!, Steve Allen began his broadcast career as a disc jockey. On July 27, 1953 Steve Allen began hosting a local show over WRCA-TV which ran from 11:20 P.M. to Midnight , Mondays through Fridays, sponsored by Knickerbocker Beer, developed by station executive Ted Cott to lure a potential sponsor, Rupert Breweries, away from a late-night show on New York's Channel 7 (TALK OF THE TOWN), hosted by Louis Nye, who would later be featured on Steve Allen's Sunday Night Variety Show.  

After a successful fourteen-month local run, THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW became a network show. Beginning September 27, 1954, the show retitled TONIGHT!, and expanded to 105 minutes from 40 minutes. 
 
NOTE: Sound of this Television Audio Air Check is PRISTINE. A rare return to an early TONIGHT! STARRING STEVE ALLEN broadcast when Late Night Television was so informal and relaxed with open ended time dedicated to a person, topic, music, or just impromptu  comedy.         

September 10, 1950-December 25, 1955.

 Most COLGATE COMEDY SHOWS were comedy-variety hours with guest hosts Martin & Lewis, Abbott & Costello, Eddie Cantor, Donald O'Connor, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, & Gordon MacRae. Starting in the Fall of 1952, occasional revues and musicals were broadcast. In the summer of 1955, the name of the series was changed to "Colgate Variety Hour," and when Colgate dropped its sponsorship, the show continued in January 1956 for one half season as the "NBC Comedy Hour." Woody Allen was one of the writers. 
 Presented on "COLGATE COMEDY HOUR." A Sunday evening variety hour. Most shows were comedy variety hours with guest hosts. A few comedy plays and musicals were also televised. 

Ethel Merman recreates her starring role in ANYTHING GOES, loosely based adaptation of the 1934 Cole Porter musical.             

    To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the General Foods Corporation has taken over the NBC and CBS networks from 8:00 to 9:30 P.M. to present highlights from the musical productions of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, 2nd.  The shows to be represented in this review of eleven years of musical-comedy achievement are: Oklahoma, Carousel, Allegro, South Pacific, The King and I, and Me and Juliet. 

   Clarence Francis, chairman of General Foods, opens the program which is hosted by Mary Martin. The first musical number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," sung by Gordon MacRae, comes from "Oklahoma!", Rodgers and Hammerstein's first musical collaboration together. Jack Benny then appears in a sketch in which he recalls buying a ticket to "Carousel" for only six dollars and sixty cents. Then John Raitt sings "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan," and is joined by Jan Clayton in singing "If I Loved You"; both songs are from "Carousel." After Martin sings "It Might as Well Be Spring," from the score to the movie "State Fair," Edgar Bergen and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy, introduce Bill Hayes and Janice Rule in "You Are Never Away," from the musical "Allegro." The following segment is an excerpt from Groucho Marx's "You Bet Your Life" television series, in which he interviews Rodgers and Hammerstein. Then Martin and Ezio Pinza perform "Some Enchanted Evening," and Martin sings "A Wonderful Guy." Both pieces are from the musical "South Pacific." Ed Sullivan then introduces excerpts from "The King and I," which feature Patricia Morison singing "Getting to Know You," with dancing by Michiko, as well as Yul Brynner performing "A Puzzlement." Jack Benny returns to showcase Tony Martin in "The Big Black Giant" and Rosemary Clooney in "No Other Love"; both pieces are from "Me and Juliet." The program ends with MacRae and Florence Henderson performing a duet from "Oklahoma!" titled "People Will Say We're in Love."       

  
September 27, 1954 - January 25, 1957
The first host of THE TONIGHT SHOW, which was then titled TONIGHT!, Steve Allen began his broadcast career as a disc jockey. On July 27, 1953 Steve Allen began hosting a local show over WRCA-TV which ran from 11:20 P.M. to Midnight , Mondays through Fridays, sponsored by Knickerbocker Beer, developed by station executive Ted Cott to lure a potential sponsor, Rupert Breweries, away from a late-night show on New York's Channel 7 (TALK OF THE TOWN), hosted by Louis Nye, who would later be featured on Steve Allen's Sunday Night Variety Show.  

After a successful fourteen-month local run, THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW became a network show. Beginning September 27, 1954, the show retitled TONIGHT!, and expanded to 105 minutes from 40 minutes. 
 
NOTE: Sound of this Television Audio Air Check is PRISTINE. A rare return to an early TONIGHT! STARRING STEVE ALLEN broadcast when Late Night Television was so informal and relaxed with open ended time dedicated to a person, topic, music, or just impromptu  comedy.                      

  
September 27, 1954 - January 25, 1957
The first host of THE TONIGHT SHOW, which was then titled TONIGHT!, Steve Allen began his broadcast career as a disc jockey. On July 27, 1953 Steve Allen began hosting a local show over WRCA-TV which ran from 11:20 P.M. to Midnight , Mondays through Fridays, sponsored by Knickerbocker Beer, developed by station executive Ted Cott to lure a potential sponsor, Rupert Breweries, away from a late-night show on New York's Channel 7 (TALK OF THE TOWN), hosted by Louis Nye, who would later be featured on Steve Allen's Sunday Night Variety Show.  

After a successful fourteen-month local run, THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW became a network show. Beginning September 27, 1954, the show retitled TONIGHT!, and expanded to 105 minutes from 40 minutes. 
 
NOTE: Sound of this Television Audio Air Check is PRISTINE. A rare return to an early TONIGHT! STARRING STEVE ALLEN broadcast when Late Night Television was so informal and relaxed with open ended time dedicated to a person, topic, music, or just impromptu  comedy.                                   

September 27,1954-January 25,1957 
Tonight! starring Steve Allen begins airing locally at 11:15pm, for 15 minutes, sponsored by Knickerbocker Beer. From 11:30 to 1:00am the broadcast aired nationally. 

The basic format of The Tonight Show was established during Allen's tenure: an opening monologue, a segment involving the studio audience (through interviews or games such as "Stump the Band"), and a simple set (a desk and chair for the host, a couch for the guests) were all trademarks of the Allen era. Allen inaugurated the out-of-town broadcast (the first one was done from Miami), the one guest show (Carl Sandburg was the first solo guest), and the one topic show (entire programs were devoted to such subjects as narcotics, civil rights, and black music). Allen also established the practice of paying his guests only "scale," the minimum fee required by union-network contract (this practice led to a highly publicized  feud between Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan and later between Jack Paar and Ed Sullivan, as Sullivan paid top dollar for his guests). Though Allen's Tonight! show closely resembled the shows of his successors, Jack Paar and Johnny Carson, it was a more musical show; Allen himself was an accomplished musician and composer (he wrote his theme, "This Could Be The Start of Something Big"), and he employed a nucleus of musical regulars on his show. In addition to announcer – sidekick Gene Rayburn, the show featured singers Steve Lawrence (who was only seventeen when he began singing on Allen's local show), Eydie Gormé (who subsequently married Steve Lawrence), Andy Williams (who later hosted several series of his own), and Pat Marshall (who was succeeded by Pat Kirby).  Skitch Henderson led the Orchestra. 

Steve Allen makes his network television Tonight! Show debut. The broadcast accents comedy, song & music. News & sports are handled by Gene Rayburn.                                                                             

September 10, 1950-December 25, 1955.
 Most shows were comedy-variety hours with guest hosts Martin & Lewis, Abbott & Costello, Eddie Cantor, Donald O'Connor, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, & Gordon MacRae. Starting in the Fall of 1952, occasional revues and musicals were broadcast. In the summer of 1955, the name of the series was changed to "Colgate Variety Hour," and when Colgate dropped its sponsorship, the show continued in January 1956 for one half season as the "NBC Comedy Hour." Woody Allen was one of the writers. 

Milton Berle is host at the Diamond Jubilee Celebration of the Friar's Club, a fraternal organization of men in show business.


                                       

September 10, 1950-December 25, 1955.
 Most shows were comedy-variety hours with guest hosts Martin & Lewis, Abbott & Costello, Eddie Cantor, Donald O'Connor, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, & Gordon MacRae. Starting in the Fall of 1952, occasional revues and musicals were broadcast. In the summer of 1955, the name of the series was changed to "Colgate Variety Hour," and when Colgate dropped its sponsorship, the show continued in January 1956 for one half season as the "NBC Comedy Hour." Woody Allen was one of the writers. 


Presented on "COLGATE COMEDY SHOW. Dietz-Schwartz musical about the Governor of a Spanish colony in 1812 who cannot resist the ladies.                          

Tex and Jinx broadcast history:

April 22, 1946- February 27, 1959. 

WEAF (WNBC, WRCA), New York weekdays at 8:30 A.M. until 1954; at 1:00pm,1954-1955; then at 6:30 and 10:35pm until July 31, 1958, moving to WOR broadcasting at 2:15pm. 

Broadcast on WRCA FM RADIO in New York City.

   The rare archived radio broadcast begins with Tex McCrary playing back an interview he did in the past with  Elizabeth’s husband, Michael Wilding who describes his wife’s eyes as “violet eyes,” and, possessing a  “double row of eyelashes.” 

Tex asks Elizabeth if Wilding indeed has ever told her that to which she states she feels her eyes are blue. Again, McCrary plays another segment of his interview of Michael Wilding for Elizabeth Taylor to listen. He states that his wife is pretty without make-up, but when she applies her own make up it takes over two and half hours to do so. Taylor responds that it is true and even longer when she does her hair,  fingernails and toe nails.  However, Michael takes only five minutes to shave!
 
Back to the Michael Wilding / Tex McCrary interview. Wilding states that he never saw his wife Elizabeth in a movie before they became engaged. Then, he was taken by Taylor’s parents to Paramount Studios and saw “A Place in the Sun,” which he praises. However, after then seeing “National Velvet” where in real life Taylor was twelve years old, he became ashen as he left the theater and Elizabeth states that if he had seen the film first he may not have ever asked me to marry him (“cradle robbery”).
 
Taylor similarly confirms that she had never seen a Michael Wilding movie prior to their engagement (1951). 
She confirms that Michael watched her two nights ago on television doing a southern accent appearing on What’s My Line? 
She demonstrates the accent for Tex. 
 
Elizabeth Taylor reminisces about attending, for six years, The Little Red School House on the MGM  movie lot where all the contract children actors would attend from 9am to noon on days they were not filming and attending school three hours a day (private tutor) a day,  between scenes  when filming. Others to graduate from The Little Red School House were Mickey Rooney, Margaret O’Brien, Jane Powell, Butch Jenkins and Dean Stockwell. 
                                                                                                     

September 10, 1950-December 25, 1955. 
Most shows were comedy-variety hours with guest hosts Martin & Lewis, Abbott & Costello, Eddie Cantor, Donald O'Connor, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, & Gordon MacRae. Starting in the Fall of 1952, occasional revues and musicals were broadcast. In the summer of 1955, the name of the series was changed to "Colgate Variety Hour," and when Colgate dropped its sponsorship, the show continued in January 1956 for one half season as the "NBC Comedy Hour." Woody Allen was one of the writers. 

Presented on "COLGATE COMEDY SHOW." A group of married women invite soldiers from a nearby Army camp to their homes. Based on the 1941 Cole Porter musical. No close otherwise complete.             

September 10, 1950-December 25, 1955. 
Most shows were comedy-variety hours with guest hosts Martin & Lewis, Abbott & Costello, Eddie Cantor, Donald O'Connor, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, & Gordon MacRae. Starting in the Fall of 1952, occasional revues and musicals were broadcast. In the summer of 1955, the name of the series was changed to "Colgate Variety Hour," and when Colgate dropped its sponsorship, the show continued in January 1956 for one half season as the "NBC Comedy Hour." Woody Allen was one of the writers. 

Presented on "COLGATE COMEDY SHOW." A group of married women invite soldiers from a nearby Army camp to their homes. Based on the 1941 Cole Porter musical. 
Among the original songs of the original show are: "Everything I Love," "Farming," "Let's Not Talk About Love," "You Irritate Me So," "Lay Needs a Rest," "A Little Rumba Numba," "Ace in the Hole," "I Hate You Darling," and "Rub Your Lamp." 
No close otherwise complete.                                       

           September 27, 1954 - January 25, 1957
The first host of THE TONIGHT SHOW, which was then titled TONIGHT!, Steve Allen began his broadcast career as a disc jockey. On July 27, 1953 Steve Allen began hosting a local show over WRCA-TV which ran from 11:20 P.M. to Midnight , Mondays through Fridays, sponsored by Knickerbocker Beer, developed by station executive Ted Cott to lure a potential sponsor, Rupert Breweries, away from a late-night show on New York's Channel 7 (TALK OF THE TOWN), hosted by Louis Nye, who would later be featured on Steve Allen's Sunday Night Variety Show.  

After a successful fourteen-month local run, THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW became a network show. Beginning September 27, 1954, the show retitled TONIGHT!, and expanded to 105 minutes from 40 minutes. 

This rare early December 9, 1954 TV Audio Air Check recorded only nine weeks after the debut of TONIGHT! STARRING STEVE ALLEN, profiles composer Johnny Mercer at his natural best. 

In this informal broadcast Steve Allen, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme give tribute to Johnny Mercer. Over 20 songs are sung written by Mercer including "Lazy Bones,"  co-written with Hoagy Carmichael, a;nd "I'm An Old Cow Hand."

Eydie Gorme sings "P.S. I Love You." Steve sings "Love is the Face in the Misty Light."

In a separate segment Steve Allen introduces. from Rockefeller Center in New York City, the melodic strains of the one hundred voice Rockefeller Center Choristers. It is the 16th year that they have sung Christmas music  beneath the Rockefeller Christmas tree which was erected today. 

Steve asks Mercer how he got started, and to state how he first met Hoagy Carmichael. 

With Skitch Henderson at the piano. Steve and Johnny sing "You Have To Accent The Positive." Steve Lawrence sings, "Angel Eyes."
Johnny Mercer sings "Watcher  Gonna Swing Tonight, " "Rain or Come Shine," "Old Black Magic," "You Must  Have Been a Beautiful Baby," and "One For My Baby." Eydie sings, "When the Angels Sing."

In a separate skit Steve Allen and Johnny Mercer play Interrogator and defendant...Mercer questioned as to what is the one necessary  integrity that a composer has to have to be a song writer...searching for imaginary lyrics reflecting LOVE through its lyrics. 

Back at the piano, Steve and Johnny sing "Too Marvelous For Words," "Pardon My Southern Accent," Skylark."  "Dream,"  "Fools Rush in," " Goody Goody," "Blues in the Night," with the NBC orchestra. 

Johnny Mercer sings himself off with lyrics thanking Steve Allen for the tribute and inviting him to be a guest on his show tonight. 

NOTE: Sound of this Television Audio Air Check is PRISTINE. A rare return to an early TONIGHT! STARRING STEVE ALLEN broadcast when Late Night Television was so informal and relaxed with open ended time dedicated to a person or topic.  
THE ONLY EXTANT BROADCAST RECORD IN THE COUNTRY.                                              

  
September 27, 1954 - January 25, 1957
The first host of THE TONIGHT SHOW, which was then titled TONIGHT!, Steve Allen began his broadcast career as a disc jockey. On July 27, 1953 Steve Allen began hosting a local show over WRCA-TV which ran from 11:20 P.M. to Midnight , Mondays through Fridays, sponsored by Knickerbocker Beer, developed by station executive Ted Cott to lure a potential sponsor, Rupert Breweries, away from a late-night show on New York's Channel 7 (TALK OF THE TOWN), hosted by Louis Nye, who would later be featured on Steve Allen's Sunday Night Variety Show.  

After a successful fourteen-month local run, THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW became a network show. Beginning September 27, 1954, the show retitled TONIGHT!, and expanded to 105 minutes from 40 minutes. 
 
NOTE: Sound of this Television Audio Air Check is PRISTINE. A rare return to an early TONIGHT! STARRING STEVE ALLEN broadcast when Late Night Television was so informal and relaxed with open ended time dedicated to a person, topic, music, or just impromptu  comedy.                                                

  
September 27, 1954 - January 25, 1957
The first host of THE TONIGHT SHOW, which was then titled TONIGHT!, Steve Allen began his broadcast career as a disc jockey. On July 27, 1953 Steve Allen began hosting a local show over WRCA-TV which ran from 11:20 P.M. to Midnight , Mondays through Fridays, sponsored by Knickerbocker Beer, developed by station executive Ted Cott to lure a potential sponsor, Rupert Breweries, away from a late-night show on New York's Channel 7 (TALK OF THE TOWN), hosted by Louis Nye, who would later be featured on Steve Allen's Sunday Night Variety Show.  

After a successful fourteen-month local run, THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW became a network show. Beginning September 27, 1954, the show retitled TONIGHT!, and expanded to 105 minutes from 40 minutes. 
 
NOTE: Sound of this Television Audio Air Check is PRISTINE. A rare return to an early TONIGHT! STARRING STEVE ALLEN broadcast when Late Night Television was so informal and relaxed with open ended time dedicated to a person, topic, music, or just impromptu  comedy.                                                             

          Folk operettas by Ira Gershwin played by Skitch Henderson and company.     

  
September 27, 1954 - January 25, 1957
The first host of THE TONIGHT SHOW, which was then titled TONIGHT!, Steve Allen began his broadcast career as a disc jockey. On July 27, 1953 Steve Allen began hosting a local show over WRCA-TV which ran from 11:20 P.M. to Midnight , Mondays through Fridays, sponsored by Knickerbocker Beer, developed by station executive Ted Cott to lure a potential sponsor, Rupert Breweries, away from a late-night show on New York's Channel 7 (TALK OF THE TOWN), hosted by Louis Nye, who would later be featured on Steve Allen's Sunday Night Variety Show.  

After a successful fourteen-month local run, THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW became a network show. Beginning September 27, 1954, the show retitled TONIGHT!, and expanded to 105 minutes from 40 minutes. 
 
NOTE: Sound of this Television Audio Air Check is PRISTINE. A rare return to an early TONIGHT! STARRING STEVE ALLEN broadcast when Late Night Television was so informal and relaxed with open ended time dedicated to a person, topic, music, or just impromptu  comedy.                                                                          

     The Tex and Jinx Show. January 31, 1955. WRCA, New York City. Commercials deleted. Tex McCrary introduces a recording of General David Sarnoff speaking at a meeting of the American Institue of Electrical Engineers earlier in the day. Jinx is not heard on this recording. Sarnoff recalls a January, 1902 banquet honoring Guglielmo Marconi (he must have had a good memory, Sarnoff was 12-years-old at the time). Sarnoff then goes on to predict television magnetic tape recording, video recordings in the home, the elimination of vacuum tubes (the first transistor radio went on sale later that year) and, "The RCA Music Sound Synthesizer" (the first one was installed by RCA in 1957). The synthesizer demonstration selected by Mr. Sarnoff  Sarnoff also predicts, "Mural Television," with flat screens that you can hang on a wall, which is now predominant in homes all over the world. 

Broadcast from 11:30 pm to 1:05am, pre-empling Tonight Show starring Steve Allen, The seventh annual Emmy Awards , and for the first time televised Nationally. From Hollywood Steve Allen. From New York Emcee Dave Garroway. Commercials included.                                       

  
September 27, 1954 - January 25, 1957
The first host of THE TONIGHT SHOW, which was then titled TONIGHT!, Steve Allen began his broadcast career as a disc jockey. On July 27, 1953 Steve Allen began hosting a local show over WRCA-TV which ran from 11:20 P.M. to Midnight , Mondays through Fridays, sponsored by Knickerbocker Beer, developed by station executive Ted Cott to lure a potential sponsor, Rupert Breweries, away from a late-night show on New York's Channel 7 (TALK OF THE TOWN), hosted by Louis Nye, who would later be featured on Steve Allen's Sunday Night Variety Show.  

After a successful fourteen-month local run, THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW became a network show. Beginning September 27, 1954, the show retitled TONIGHT!, and expanded to 105 minutes from 40 minutes. 
 
NOTE: Sound of this Television Audio Air Check is PRISTINE. A rare return to an early TONIGHT! STARRING STEVE ALLEN broadcast when Late Night Television was so informal and relaxed with open ended time dedicated to a person, topic, music, or just impromptu  comedy.                                                                                       

           June 20, 1948 - May 30, 1971

ED SULLIVAN SHOW, THE, (TOAST OF THE TOWN)
Television's longest-running variety series. Originally, titled, TOAST OF THE TOWN, the name of the series changed on September 18, 1955, to THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW. Most remembered for introducing many stand-up comedians, and musical acts, including The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, The Beatles. 

 Most of the 1,087 broadcasts, encompassing 10,000 performers, have been archived. The major exceptions are the first half-year of shows circa 1948 of which a few kinescope excerpts survive.
 
The ED SULLIVAN SHOW was a spectacular show-case that for twenty-three years entertained the American family. In its prime, more than thirty million viewers, young and old, tuned in at the same time to view popular culture.   

On this show, Ed Sullivan salutes the Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein play OKLAHOMA acknowledging its 12 anniversary. Hammerstein is interviewed by Ed Sullivan.                           

The third televised Academy Awards with M.C's Bob Hope in Hollywood and Thelma Ritter and Conrad Nagel in New York.
                                                    

 

PERSON TO PERSON hosted by Edward R. Murrow - Oct. 2, 1953, through June 29, 1959. Charles Collingwood hosted from Oct. 16, 1959, through Sept. 15, 1961. 

When Collingwood took over as host about half of the series' programs originated from foreign locations and were pre-recorded on videotape. While many of the Murrow segments exist on kinescope and can be accessed, most of the Collingwood segments are not available. 

Edward R. Murrow interviews Marilyn Monroe. Also, photographer Milton H. Greene.                                         

A special filmed at Universal International revolving around the soon to be released feature "The Benny Goodman Story" Starring Steve Allen. Other UI stars upcoming films are previewed via clips and introductions, included in this broadcast, are solid entertainment and comedy segments, a dramatic sequence from the studio's upcoming "Bright Victory," reenacted live with Rex Reason, Grant Williams and in his television debut, Clint Eastwood.             

  
September 27, 1954 - January 25, 1957
The first host of THE TONIGHT SHOW, which was then titled TONIGHT!, Steve Allen began his broadcast career as a disc jockey. On July 27, 1953 Steve Allen began hosting a local show over WRCA-TV which ran from 11:20 P.M. to Midnight , Mondays through Fridays, sponsored by Knickerbocker Beer, developed by station executive Ted Cott to lure a potential sponsor, Rupert Breweries, away from a late-night show on New York's Channel 7 (TALK OF THE TOWN), hosted by Louis Nye, who would later be featured on Steve Allen's Sunday Night Variety Show.  

After a successful fourteen-month local run, THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW became a network show. Beginning September 27, 1954, the show retitled TONIGHT!, and expanded to 105 minutes from 40 minutes. 
 
NOTE: Sound of this Television Audio Air Check is PRISTINE. A rare return to an early TONIGHT! STARRING STEVE ALLEN broadcast when Late Night Television was so informal and relaxed with open ended time dedicated to a person, topic, music, or just impromptu  comedy.                                                                                                    

September 27, 1954 - January 25, 1957. This broadcast was the last from Hollywood which was the home of Tonight! Starring Steve Allen from June 27 to August 26, 1955. It was also the last time Hy Averback appeared as announcer.

The basic format of The Tonight Show was established during Allen's tenure: an opening monologue, a segment involving the studio audience (through interviews or games such as "Stump the Band"), and a simple set (a desk and chair for the host, a couch for the guests) were all trademarks of the Allen era. Allen inaugurated the out-of-town broadcast (the first one was done from Miami), the one guest show (Carl Sandburg was the first solo guest), and the one topic show (entire programs were devoted to such subjects as narcotics, civil rights, and black music). Allen also established the practice of paying his guests only "scale," the minimum fee required by union-network contract (this practice led to a highly publicized  feud between Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan and later between Jack Paar and Ed Sullivan, as Sullivan paid top dollar for his guests). Though Allen's Tonight! show closely resembled the shows of his successors, Jack Paar and Johnny Carson, it was a more musical show; Allen himself was an accomplished musician and composer (he wrote his theme, "This Could Be The Start of Something"), and he employed a nucleus of musical regulars on his show. In addition to announcer – sidekick Gene Rayburn, the show featured singers Steve Lawrence (who was only seventeen when he began singing on Allen's local show), Eydie Gormé (who subsequently married Steve Lawrence), Andy Williams (who later hosted several series of his own), and Pat Marshall (who was succeeded by Pat Kirby).  Skitch Henderson led the Orchestra.                                                                              

October 18, 1954-June 24, 1957.
 Presented on "PRODUCER'S SHOWCASE." Some of television's most notable single programs were presented on this highly acclaimed series, one of the most costly to be produced during the "Golden Age Of Television."



Frank Sinatra stars in this story of family life in the fictional town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire.             

The World Series, GAME ONE, September 28, 1955, at Yankee Stadium. 

The Brooklyn Dodgers vs New York Yankees. 
This is the NBC TV broadcast with Vin Scully calling the play by play.
 
Top of the eighth inning, Carl Furillo singles to center field. 
Gil Hodges flies out to left field. 
Jackie Robinson gets on base when his ground ball goes through the legs of New York Yankee third baseman, Gil McDougald...Furillo advancing to third base and Jackie winding up at second base. Don Zimmer flies out to center field allowing Furillo to tag up from third base making the score now 6 to 4, in favor of the New York Yankees. Robinson tags up from second base and advances to third base. Frank Kellert pinch hits for Brooklyn Dodger pitcher reliever, Don Bessent. On the second pitch by Whitey Ford, Jackie Robinson steals home, only the fifth player to accomplish this feat in World Series history, and the last to do so. 

NOTE: Not included in this air check is Kellert's single, after Robinson steals home. We pick up Vin Scully's play by play with Casey Stengel leaving in Whitey Ford to continue pitching and Don Hoak pinch running for Kellert, whose single is missing from this recording. Jim "Junior" Gilliam pops out to third base ending the inning. Mel Allen is heard doing a Gillette commercial with Casey Stengel.

Brooklyn Dodger Line-Up as described in 
www.baseball-reference.com

Jim Gilliam LF
Pee Wee Reese SS
Duke Snider CF
Roy Campanella C
Carl Furillo RF
Gil Hodges 1B
Jackie Robinson 3B
Don Zimmer 2B
Don Newcombe P
Don Bessent P
Clem Labine P
Frank Kellert PH
Don Hoak PR

NOTE: In a phone conversation with Vin Scully (October 19, 2021), Phil Gries plays the steal of home by Jackie Robinson audio track to which Scully states that his "trademark was to call a play and then shut up." 

When Jackie Robinson stole home Scully stated, "Robinson is dancing off third, shaking up the crowd. Robbie is coming to the plate. The throw to Berra. He steals it!" 

Only the roar of the crowd can be heard for over a minute afterwards, with no additional commentary from the greatest baseball announcer of all time, Vin Scully, as agreed upon by most baseball journalist historians.

Angeles City Council on Friday officially renamed Elysian Park Avenue after the revered announcer, Vin Scully, who's been the voice of the Dodgers for 67 years. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

By: Ed Sherman
September 14, 2016
   
There are many ways to measure the incredible longevity of Dodgers announcer Vin Scully. Given my background, I will go with the sportswriter perspective.

When Scully made his debut in 1950, Grantland Rice, the most influential sportswriter of all time, was writing columns about Jackie Robinson for a Dodgers teams located in Brooklyn.

Now that is some longevity.

Well, it turns out old Vin couldn’t go on forever. After 67 years in the booth, he finally is hanging up the microphone at the end of the Dodgers season.

It truly has been an epic run for Scully, and the fanfare will be unprecedented for his final game broadcasts. In the vast pantheon of great announcers in baseball history, there is no debate about No. 1.

“He’s so much greater than anyone who has ever done this,” Cubs radio announcer Pat Hughes told me for a Chicago Tribune column on Scully. “It’s not even close. It’s an embarrassment of riches. He’s the best, he’s done it the longest and he’s been with one franchise. It’s amazing all of this can be said about one man.”

Scully will leave behind numerous lessons for current and prospective members of the media. First and foremost is his emphasis on preparation. Hughes and Cubs TV announcer Len Kasper each made a point of marveling at how much research Scully does for a broadcast. 

Yet something Kasper said really gets to the essence of what makes Scully so great.

“It’s so striking that what he says, and the words he uses, plays as well on paper as it does on a broadcast,” Kasper said. “He’s like a great author. His pen is his voice.”
                                                                                                                                                                                 

Investigating what separates jazz music from all other forms of music. 

Guest: Leonard Berstein.            

President Dwight Eisenhower gives a campaign speech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.                                       

June 7th, 1955-November 9th, 1958

The $64,000 Question was the first of television's big-money shows in prime time. It was hosted by Hal March. 

In this episode, a professional wrestler wins $8,000 in a category about flowers.

                                      

The opening of the Tonight! show with Ernie Kovacs as host. 

In the summer of 1956, host, Steve Allen, of The Tonight Show, (then titled Tonight! from September 27, 1954 - January 25, 1957)
reduced his nightly appearances. Ernie Kovacs was brought in to host on Mondays and Tuesdays. Allen hosted his last Tonight! show on January 25, 1957, as the series' first era came to a close.                                                   

June 7th, 1955-November 9th, 1958

The $64,000 Question was the first of television's big-money shows in prime time. It was hosted by Hal March. 

In this episode, contestants on the subject of William Shakespeare and dueling. 

Host: Hal March.