I have been looking for information about a summer replacement show that I think was called the Keith Prezel, or the Keith Presel show. I find nothing about it anywhere on the net. I don't know if I am spelling it right, or exactly when it was on. Does anyone know what I am talking about?
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A question about a 1960s summer replacement
- Thread starter mbayus
- Start date
It's "Keefe Brasselle." My mom watched it when I was a kid.
The variety show was on CBS.
First seen in the wartime comedy Janie (1944), American actor Keefe Brasselle was never more than a second-string leading man in Hollywood, though he enjoyed moderate success as a nightclub singer. Brasselle's biggest bid for film stardom, the title role of The Eddie Cantor Story (1953), also proved to be his Hollywood Waterloo; as bad as this movie was, the actor's interpretation of Cantor was worse. Nonetheless, Brasselle's career took an upswing when he entered television in the early 1960s. The reason was quite simple: Brasselle was a close friend of CBS programming executive James Aubrey. For whatever reason, Brasselle was catapulted to a production position at CBS, and allowed to develop no fewer than three new, expensive weekly series. In addition, the performer hosted a summer variety series, which most critics found to be a textbook example of mediocrity. The three new CBS series died, and Brasselle's relationship with Aubrey cooled. In 1966, Brasselle would turn on his former mentor, writing an a clef novel about the cutthroat world of network broadcasting, subtly titled The Cannibals. For reasons unknown, one of the principal targets of Brasselle's vitriol was beloved comedian Jack Benny, called Jackie Benson in the novel; perhaps it was because Benny had never publicly acknowledged Brasselle's existence and reportedly thought that Keefe's name was "Keith Brazil." Shortly after making headlines for a deadly-weapon assault in 1971, Keefe Brasselle said adios to the entertainment world by starring in an X-rated musical comedy, If You Don't Stop It, You'll Go Blind (1974); it was, need we say, light years away from The Eddie Cantor Story. ~ quoted from Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
There are about 64,100 results on Google.
The variety show was on CBS.
First seen in the wartime comedy Janie (1944), American actor Keefe Brasselle was never more than a second-string leading man in Hollywood, though he enjoyed moderate success as a nightclub singer. Brasselle's biggest bid for film stardom, the title role of The Eddie Cantor Story (1953), also proved to be his Hollywood Waterloo; as bad as this movie was, the actor's interpretation of Cantor was worse. Nonetheless, Brasselle's career took an upswing when he entered television in the early 1960s. The reason was quite simple: Brasselle was a close friend of CBS programming executive James Aubrey. For whatever reason, Brasselle was catapulted to a production position at CBS, and allowed to develop no fewer than three new, expensive weekly series. In addition, the performer hosted a summer variety series, which most critics found to be a textbook example of mediocrity. The three new CBS series died, and Brasselle's relationship with Aubrey cooled. In 1966, Brasselle would turn on his former mentor, writing an a clef novel about the cutthroat world of network broadcasting, subtly titled The Cannibals. For reasons unknown, one of the principal targets of Brasselle's vitriol was beloved comedian Jack Benny, called Jackie Benson in the novel; perhaps it was because Benny had never publicly acknowledged Brasselle's existence and reportedly thought that Keefe's name was "Keith Brazil." Shortly after making headlines for a deadly-weapon assault in 1971, Keefe Brasselle said adios to the entertainment world by starring in an X-rated musical comedy, If You Don't Stop It, You'll Go Blind (1974); it was, need we say, light years away from The Eddie Cantor Story. ~ quoted from Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
There are about 64,100 results on Google.
The three shows Brasselle produced were "The Baileys Of Balboa,"
"The Cara Williams Show" (which was yet another bomb for Frank
Aletter, who played her husband), and "The Reporter." The less-than-
stellar ratings of these shows not only helped lead to Jim Aubrey's being
fired (although there were other reasons, including a potential FBI investigation
into some of his financial activities), they enabled ABC to make the 1964-65
season one of its best, pre-1976; CBS won the season with a number of midseason
timeslot changes, but ABC clicked that year with "Bewitched," "Peyton Place,"
"The Addams Family," "Shindig," "12 O'Clock High," and "Voyage To The Bottom
Of The Sea." CBS managed to come up with only "Gilligan's Island," "Gomer Pyle,
USMC," and "The Munsters" as hits.
It would make for a good discussion (although I think we've discussed it to death)
as to who was more ruthless: Aubrey or Brasselle. When Jack Benny came to
negotiate a new contract in 1964, Aubrey is said to have told him, "You're through."
(Benny returned to NBC that fall and remained there until his death in 1974.) Garry
Moore, after proposing some changes in his Tuesday-night show, was told, "Not a
chance." This may be the real reason he gave up both the variety show (which
returned briefly in 1966) and "I've Got A Secret."
"The Cara Williams Show" (which was yet another bomb for Frank
Aletter, who played her husband), and "The Reporter." The less-than-
stellar ratings of these shows not only helped lead to Jim Aubrey's being
fired (although there were other reasons, including a potential FBI investigation
into some of his financial activities), they enabled ABC to make the 1964-65
season one of its best, pre-1976; CBS won the season with a number of midseason
timeslot changes, but ABC clicked that year with "Bewitched," "Peyton Place,"
"The Addams Family," "Shindig," "12 O'Clock High," and "Voyage To The Bottom
Of The Sea." CBS managed to come up with only "Gilligan's Island," "Gomer Pyle,
USMC," and "The Munsters" as hits.
It would make for a good discussion (although I think we've discussed it to death)
as to who was more ruthless: Aubrey or Brasselle. When Jack Benny came to
negotiate a new contract in 1964, Aubrey is said to have told him, "You're through."
(Benny returned to NBC that fall and remained there until his death in 1974.) Garry
Moore, after proposing some changes in his Tuesday-night show, was told, "Not a
chance." This may be the real reason he gave up both the variety show (which
returned briefly in 1966) and "I've Got A Secret."
bpatrick said:The three shows Brasselle produced were "The Baileys Of Balboa," "The Cara Williams Show" (which was yet another bomb for Frank Aletter, who played her husband), and "The Reporter".. . . CBS managed to come up with only "Gilligan's Island," "Gomer Pyle, USMC," and "The Munsters" as hits.
As noted in Bart Andrews and Brad Dunning's 1980 book The Worst TV Shows Ever, Brasselle came up with the idea for The Baileys of Balboa because his mentor Aubrey absolutely hated Gilligan's Island and especially its premise (Aubrey reportedly said, "Get those castaways off that [expletive deleted] island!" to Gilligan creator Sherwood Schwartz, and thought it would have been better if the show were about a charter boat service - as the ill-fated Baileys was).
Here's an interesting thread at the jackbenny.org message boards about Aubrey/Brasselle and the Novel, etc...From July 2006-Exactly 4 years ago..
http://www.jackbenny.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=571&highlight=keefe+brasselle
http://www.jackbenny.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=571&highlight=keefe+brasselle
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