This is a 16mm Kinescope of Broadway Open House that I transferred during the analog era.I'm hoping to restore the original prints in 2k technology next
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Notes: Broadway Open House is network television's first late-night comedy-variety series. It was telecast live on NBC from May 29, 1950, to August 24, 1951, airing weeknights from 11pm to midnight.
One of the pioneering TV creations of NBC president Pat Weaver, it demonstrated the potential for late-night programming and led to the later development of The Tonight Show.
The show was originally planned to be hosted by comic Don "Creesh" Hornsby (so named because he yelled "Creesh" often). Hornsby had been brought into the variety show business by Bob Hope, whose topical humor would serve as the basis for most of the late-night talk shows that would follow.
One week before he was to begin hosting, the 26-year-old Hornsby suddenly contracted polio, from which he died on the day he was to host his first show, May 22, 1950. Hornsby's sudden demise forced NBC to postpone the show and rush to find new hosts on short notice.
Pat Weaver, an NBC executive at the time, noticed the positive feedback that Jerry Lester (then hosting Cavalcade of Stars for Du Mont) and his manic personality had received on a recent appearance on one of NBC's talk shows and offered Lester the hosting position almost immediately, allowing the show to go into production only a week after originally scheduled.Broadway Open House was performed before a live studio audience, in the manner of a stage show.
For the first few weeks, Lester hosted only the Tuesday, Thursday and Friday episodes of Broadway Open House, with Morey Amsterdam hosting Mondays and Wednesdays.
Amsterdam soon exited the show, leaving Lester the sole host, performing sketches with his crew of sidekicks (including some of the earliest TV appearances of brassy Barbara Nichols), running through standard nightclub comedy routines and introducing the show's vocal group, the Mello Larks. Lester's signature bit was to twist his eyeglasses at a 45 degree angle on his face.
The show had occasional guests, including Lenny Bruce, who appeared May 1950 and Charlie Parker who appeared October 31, 1950 (an audio recording exists of his appearance on the show), and there were also audience participation bits, such as having women from the audience join the female cast members in modeling fur coats. Lester's fondness for bean bags became a running gag on the series. The sponsors included Anchor Hocking glassware and Blatz Beer.
16 май 2021
