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"Pioneers of Primetime"

B

bpatrick

Tonight at 8 (ET) on my local PBS station,
WUNC/4 Chapel Hill, there's a one-hour program
about the early variety shows titled "Pioneers
of Primetime." It features clips and interviews
with Milton Berle, Steve Allen, Rose Marie, and
(I think) Red Skelton, to name a few. Some of the
interviews would have to be several years old, as
Berle, Allen, and Skelton are no longer with us.
If your local PBS station is showing this, it might
be worth a look.
 
> Tonight at 8 (ET) on my local PBS station,
> WUNC/4 Chapel Hill, there's a one-hour program
> about the early variety shows titled "Pioneers
> of Primetime." It features clips and interviews
> with Milton Berle, Steve Allen, Rose Marie, and
> (I think) Red Skelton, to name a few. Some of the
> interviews would have to be several years old, as
> Berle, Allen, and Skelton are no longer with us.
> If your local PBS station is showing this, it might
> be worth a look.
>

Just watched it. Covered Vaudeville, radio and TV and how the prominent acts adapted to the changes. Good stuff, especially some really good Skelton material
 
I'll give it a C. Too many interviews; not enough clips showing these people in their prime (and giving viewers a chance to discover/remember what all the fuss was about). Too little on Gleason; touching only on the Honeymooners and omitting any mention of all the other great characters (Poor Soul, Reggie Van Gleason, Joe the Bartender....). No discussion of why so many of the early comedy-variety performers crashed and burned in such a short time. No discussion of the musical-variety programs. Way too much on Skelton. Why was Sammy Davis, Jr even there. If they were only doing comedians, he was primarilly a singer-dancer and never had his own show. OK, point out TV was all-White but don't pretend it was different. And Rose Marie didn't belong either. No reference to the fact that while the old-guard who came from radio had started in Vaudeville; the new TV comics were younger and largely came out of the Catskills circuit.

I guess they just patched together whatever interviews and clips were available and made the story fit the material.



>
> Just watched it. Covered Vaudeville, radio and TV and how
> the prominent acts adapted to the changes. Good stuff,
> especially some really good Skelton material
>
 
> I'll give it a C. Too many interviews; not enough clips
> showing these people in their prime (and giving viewers a
> chance to discover/remember what all the fuss was about).
> Too little on Gleason; touching only on the Honeymooners and
> omitting any mention of all the other great characters (Poor
> Soul, Reggie Van Gleason, Joe the Bartender....). No
> discussion of why so many of the early comedy-variety
> performers crashed and burned in such a short time. No
> discussion of the musical-variety programs. Way too much on
> Skelton. Why was Sammy Davis, Jr even there. If they were
> only doing comedians, he was primarilly a singer-dancer and
> never had his own show. OK, point out TV was all-White but
> don't pretend it was different. And Rose Marie didn't
> belong either. No reference to the fact that while the
> old-guard who came from radio had started in Vaudeville; the
> new TV comics were younger and largely came out of the
> Catskills circuit.
>
> I guess they just patched together whatever interviews and
> clips were available and made the story fit the material.
>
>
> I'm inclined to agree with you. Not enough clips.
And if they were going to talk about vaudeville comedians,
why did they leave out Groucho, who found the way to television
longevity with his game show, You Bet Your Life? That far
outlasted the comedy-variety shows, save Skelton's (Gleason
was off the air for a time in the late '50s and early '60s).

Sammy Davis Jr. did have a short-lived variety show on NBC,
but not until 1966; he also had a syndicated talk show in
the mid-'70s. I think he was there just to show what blacks
had to endure offstage.

And having Donald O'Connor didn't make much sense either.

In short, I agree: the program tended to emphasize Skelton.
Why not an entire program about him? That would be a real
treat.
> >
> >
 
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