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A mystery solved

B

bpatrick

Some time back we were trying to figure out why Sammy
Davis, Jr. was not allowed to appear on his own 1966 NBC
show for three weeks. We knew he had a previous commitment
to do a special for ABC (I erroneously thought it was the kids'
special "Alice In Wonderland, Or What's A Nice Girl Like You Doing
In A Place Like This?", which aired in the fall of 1966).

Well, leafing through an issue of the Central Florida edition of
TV Guide, I have found the answer: on Tuesday, February 1, 1966,
ABC broadcast "Sammy And Friends," a one-hour variety special with
Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Edie Adams, and Joey Heatherton, along
with announcer William B. Williams, who would be Sammy's sidekick on
his '70s syndicated show "Sammy And Company."

That Friday, Jerry Lewis subbed for Sammy on his regular NBC show;
I assume he resumed his hosting duties the next week (Feb. 11) but
can't verify that.

I know this is an old subject most of you probably hadn't thought about,
and I hadn't either until I caught this. Another interesting point: Sammy's
regular bandleader George Rhodes and choreographer Lester Wilson worked
on the special as well as Sammy's regular show; Carol Burnett's husband Joe
Hamilton produced the special, although I don't know if he produced the series
as well.
 
bpatrick said:
Another interesting point: Sammy's
regular bandleader George Rhodes and choreographer Lester Wilson worked
on the special as well as Sammy's regular show; Carol Burnett's husband Joe
Hamilton produced the special, although I don't know if he produced the series
as well.
Click to expand...
...on that 3-DVD boxed set of clips from The Merv Griffin Show that was released three years ago, a 1966 black&white clip of Merv conversing with Sammy was included; in it, Sammy confirms that Hamilton works the series as well. Sammy also jokes that he may lose the series before it even airs because Griffin's show isn't an NBC product (Griffin left NBC in '63, and was distributed by Westinghouse -- a replacement for Steve Allen when he replaced Garry Moore as host of I've Got a Secret, perhaps?)...
 
Ultimajock said:
(Griffin left NBC in '63, and was distributed by Westinghouse -- a replacement for Steve Allen when he replaced Garry Moore as host of I've Got a Secret, perhaps?)...
Click to expand...
Technically, Regis Philbin had been Allen's replacement at "Group W" (anyone remember That Regis Philbin Show?). Merv probably replaced Reege, especially given that Mr. Griffin's association with Westinghouse began in '65.

And indeed, Sammy returned in time for the Feb. 11, 1966 edition of his own NBC show. Besides Lewis, in the period from the Jan. 7, 1966 debut of The Sammy Davis, Jr. Show, Sean Connery(!) and Johnny Carson also took turns guest-hosting. The whole sad saga of this show was documented and spotlighted in the 1980 book The Worst TV Shows Ever by Bart Andrews and Brad Dunning.

Incidentally, it was this Sammy-William B. connection that was spoofed by SCTV with their recurring set of "Sammy Maudlin Show" sketches. Of course the real William B. Williams was considerably thinner than John Candy, and their voices didn't sound much like each other's, but other than that . . .
 
In relation to Steve/Regis/Merv Late night, etc..Here is an approximate timeline of WNBK/KYW/WKYC-TV Cleveland programming after the 11:00 News Monday-Friday from 1954-Present...

1954-Late 1957 Tonight
1957-61 Movies
1961-62 PM East/West (Mike Wallace/Terrence O' Flaherty)
1962-64 Steve Allen
1964-65 Regis Philbin
1965 Merv Griffin
Sept. 1965-Feb. 25, 1966 Movies (Griffin had moved to the 3:30-5 afternoon slot on WEWS-TV 5 by mid-September)
Feb. 28, 1966-Present Tonight Show (Carson, Leno, O' Brien, Leno again)
 
wbhist said:
Incidentally, it was this Sammy-William B. connection that was spoofed by SCTV with their recurring set of "Sammy Maudlin Show" sketches. Of course the real William B. Williams was considerably thinner than John Candy, and their voices didn't sound much like each other's, but other than that . . .
Click to expand...
...although the Second City TV spoof was probably most directly a result of the mid-70s syndicated talk/variety show Sammy & Company, on which Williams was the announcer/sidekick...
 
It was; TV Guide pointed that out when it singled out
Sammy And Company as one of the fifty worst shows
of all time. The way they put it, the show "took the art of
smoke-blowing to new heights. And we ain't talking cigarettes."
 
This show was the basis for "The Sammy Maudlin Show" on SCTV. Whoops! Didn't see the above post addressing this. Sorry!!!
 
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