Stars Who's Names Appear BEFORE The Title Of The TV Show

[LKellerIII]

Looks like he's been quite busy; Wikipedia shows him
appearing on "Joan of Arcadia" (2003-2005), although
not necessarily as a regular; and in the 2005 movie
"Sweet Land." He has a long list of credits going back
to the 1950s and has appeared either on television or
in the movies in every decade up through the 2000s.

It's interesting how some actors can hide in plain sight. I recognized Paul Sands in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm a few years ago, and thought I hadn't seem him in anything since the 60s. So I was surprised to see all his credits on imdb. In Curb, he guest-starred as a French chef (accent and all) that Larry David and Ted Danson hire for their new restaurant. Problem was, tne resturant had a kitchen open to the diring room, and the chef (Sands) couldn't help yelling profane epithets that the diners would hear. The French accent made it funnier.

Back to the subject of the thread, I'll nominate:

"Ann Jeffries as Marion Kerby, the ghostess with the mostest. Robert Sterling as George Kerby, that most sporty spirit. And Leo G. Carroll, host to said ghosts as Topper."

Loved that show, and the opening - as a kid.

 

[bpatrick]

Likewise, in the latter stages of Dave Garroway's time as
host of the "Today" show (around 1960) the show was
retitled "The Dave Garroway Today Show," reverting to
the original title when John Chancellor replaced him in 1961.

 

[Ultimajock]

The MTM people tended to do this a lot. I mean recycle people between their shows. Like Valarie Harper's ex-husband Richard Schaal, who seemed to constantly be on some MTM show. He played various roles on MTM, Bob Newhart, Phyllis, Rhoda, etc, but he never cut it.

...Schaal eventually did star in his own sitcom, the syndicated Please Stand By, but even that one IIRC has never been resurrected on cable reruns...

 

[cd637299]

re Paul Sand....as he is still with us, I should have said "Who *is* Paul Sand?" Mea culpa.

cd

 

[Bob1370]

Of course there is one even higher level of credit for a star of the show than having your name before the title...having your name AS the show title. Lots of TV's biggest stars with long running hits, from Andy Griffith to Bob Newhart to Mary Tyler Moore to Dick Van Dyke to Garry Moore to Arthur Godfrey to Jack Benny to Red Skelton to Jackie Gleason, enjoyed that honor. Notice how all these were CBS shows? NBC has had a few shows named for their stars over the years as well (Flip Wilson, Dean Martin, Seinfeld, Caesar's Hour, the last few years of Milton Berle's series) but it seems to have been a more common practice at Black Rock than at 30 Rock...

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

After being called The CBS-TV News for its first three years, the name for CBS's nightly newscast became Douglas Edwards with the News starting in 1951. IIRC, it didn't become The CBS Evening News until Walter Cronkite took over.

From the news department--this time local Rockford, IL TV news--during at least the late 1970s WTVO-17 (then NBC, now ABC since 1995) titled their newscast "Bruce Richardson and the News" after their longtime newscaster (IIRC 35 years on WTVO). Clip from a January 1979 newscast is on YouTube courtesy of FuzzyMemories TV (with lots of Chicago TV history and clips):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqqOxtTgjtA

 

[LKellerIII]

After being called The CBS-TV News for its first three years, the name for CBS's nightly newscast became Douglas Edwards with the News starting in 1951. IIRC, it didn't become The CBS Evening News until Walter Cronkite took over.

From the news department--this time local Rockford, IL TV news--during at least the late 1970s WTVO-17 (then NBC, now ABC since 1995) titled their newscast "Bruce Richardson and the News" after their longtime newscaster (IIRC 35 years on WTVO). Clip from a January 1979 newscast is on YouTube courtesy of FuzzyMemories TV (with lots of Chicago TV history and clips):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqqOxtTgjtA

Similarly, Los Angeles in the 50s and 60s had the The George Putnam News on KTLA and KTTV. For those of you who may not know, the pompous stentorian voiced Putnam was considered the inspiration for the Ted Baxter character on the Mary Tyler Moore sitcom.

 

[trusty]

The Ralph Renick Report in Miami.

 

[wbhist]

From the news department--this time local Rockford, IL TV news--during at least the late 1970s WTVO-17 (then NBC, now ABC since 1995) titled their newscast "Bruce Richardson and the News" after their longtime newscaster (IIRC 35 years on WTVO). Clip from a January 1979 newscast is on YouTube courtesy of FuzzyMemories TV (with lots of Chicago TV history and clips):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqqOxtTgjtA

Similarly, Los Angeles in the 50s and 60s had the The George Putnam News on KTLA and KTTV. For those of you who may not know, the pompous stentorian voiced Putnam was considered the inspiration for the Ted Baxter character on the Mary Tyler Moore sitcom.

That title was also used for his second stint at KTLA in the early '70's.

In New York City, I can name one example: Harper News on WPIX Channel 11, from 1973-74, anchored by the late Joe Harper - who is practically forgotten today, while his ex, Pat Harper, who co-anchored with him in his last year at WPIX (1975-76), would go on to become a NYC institution (but that's another story).

Then on Philadelphia's WCAU Channel 10 in the late 1940's into the '50's and possibly the early '60's, there was John Facenda News.

 

[Ultimajock]

...WBKB/7 Chicago offered The Flynn-Daly News (Fahey Flynn, complete with bowties fired from WBBM-TV/2, and Joel Daly) before eventually picking up the Eyewitness News branding...

 

[wbhist]

...WBKB/7 Chicago offered The Flynn-Daly News (Fahey Flynn, complete with bowties fired from WBBM-TV/2, and Joel Daly) before eventually picking up the Eyewitness News branding...

. . . and between those two developments, the station's Oct. 7, 1968 change in call letters to the present WLS-TV/7 . . .

 

[Smittian]

"Telly Savalas as"........and then Kojak doesn't appear until the very end of the opening

"Jack Klugman as" Quincy M.E.

 

[bmasters1981]

In "Hart to Hart," the voiceover of Lionel Stander tells us all about the three major players: Jonathan Hart, a.k.a. Mr. H (Robert Wagner), Jennifer Hart, a.k.a. Mrs. H (Stefanie Powers), and then his character, Max the butler. Each cast member's name appears over shots of them driving towards the screen. When Max says "when they met, it was murder" (or in #1, "their hobby is murder"), that's when a big red heart comes forth and fills the screen, bringing in the "Hart to Hart" title over a red background. Another heart wipes the title card off the screen, and then, for the balance of the opening theme, we see scenes from past episodes.

 

[Markxxx]

The MTM people tended to do this a lot. I mean recycle people between their shows. Like Valarie Harper's ex-husband Richard Schaal, who seemed to constantly be on some MTM show. He played various roles on MTM, Bob Newhart, Phyllis, Rhoda, etc, but he never cut it.

...Schaal eventually did star in his own sitcom, the syndicated Please Stand By, but even that one IIRC has never been resurrected on cable reruns...

I remember that. It had Elinor Donahue in it. Was this a network sitcom or first run syndicated?

 

[Markxxx]

You know I just watched a rerun of the Mary Tyler Moore Show and realized, either she or the shows title doesn't exist

In the opening it says "Mary Tyler Moore" then that phrase duplicates upward and downward. I suppose that's her credit but there's not show title or it's one in both

 

[LKellerIII]

You know I just watched a rerun of the Mary Tyler Moore Show and realized, either she or the shows title doesn't exist

In the opening it says "Mary Tyler Moore" then that phrase duplicates upward and downward. I suppose that's her credit but there's not show title or it's one in both

That's because the title of the show is "Mary Tyler Moore" and that's the name of the star, too - so why repeat it? We all want to add the "...Show" because that's usually how it's done, but that's obviously not how MTM herself or the producers intended it. imdb gets it right, but Wikipedia adds the "show."

 

[Ultimajock]

The MTM people tended to do this a lot. I mean recycle people between their shows. Like Valarie Harper's ex-husband Richard Schaal, who seemed to constantly be on some MTM show. He played various roles on MTM, Bob Newhart, Phyllis, Rhoda, etc, but he never cut it.

...Schaal eventually did star in his own sitcom, the syndicated Please Stand By, but even that one IIRC has never been resurrected on cable reruns...

I remember that. It had Elinor Donahue in it. Was this a network sitcom or first run syndicated?

...first-run syndicated. I used to watch because my favourite comic character actress, Marcie Barkin, was one of the supporting players; alas, like most of what she was in during the '70s, her talents were wasted...

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Unless it's just been overlooked, I feel we've missed an obvious example:

"Bill Cosby in . . . The Cosby Show."