Admiral Broadway Revue

Admiral Broadway Revue[1] is an American live television variety show that ran from January 28 to June 3, 1949. The show was notable for being "television's first full scale Broadway type musical revue."[2]

Admiral Broadway Revue
GenreVariety
Created byMax Liebman
Written byMel Brooks
Lucille Kallen
Max Liebman
Mel Tolkin
Directed byMax Liebman
StarringSid Caesar
Imogene Coca
Marge Champion
Gower Champion
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes19
Production
ProducerMax Liebman
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time52 minutes
Release
Original networkDuMont
NBC
Picture formatBlack-and-white
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseJanuary 28 (1949-01-28) –
June 3, 1949 (1949-06-03)

Distribution

The program was broadcast live on Fridays from 8 to 9 p.m. ET simultaneously on both the NBC and DuMont networks. Live broadcasts were carried by 24 stations in 16 cities. Another 14 stations broadcast kinescope recordings of the live episodes.[2]

The dual-network distribution resulted from Admiral executives' desire to have the program on NBC and to have it seen in Chicago. During the show's time slot, DuMont had sole use of the coaxial cable linking New York City to Chicago. Therefore, the company used both networks.[3]

Overview

Episodes of Admiral Broadway Revue included music, comedy. well-known guest stars and "lavish production numbers".[4] Each episode's dances, sketches, and songs related to a common theme such as cross-country, night life, and Radio City.[5]

The show was telecast from the since-demolished International Theatre (also known as the Park Theatre) at 5 Columbus Circle in New York.[6] The hour-long series was directed by Max Liebman, hosted by Sid Caesar, and also starred Imogene Coca. Liebman, Caesar, and Coca went on to work on NBC's Your Show of Shows, which debuted February 25, 1950.[1]

Admiral Broadway Revue was immediately preceded by a one-hour program from Chicago, hosted by Jack Carter. Together, the two formed NBC's Saturday Night Revue.[7]

The series was sponsored by TV-set manufacturer Admiral, a competitor of NBC's parent company RCA and of DuMont, both of which manufactured TV sets. Cancellation of the series resulted from demand for Admiral's TV sets exceeding the company's manufacturing capacity. Admiral's executives chose to shift the money spent on the program into an increase in manufacturing capabilities.[7]

Its final episode aired June 3, 1949.[1]

Personnel

Admiral Broadway Revue provided the first pairing of Caesar and Coca. Marge and Gower Champion performed dance numbers on the shows.[7]:67 Others appearing on the show included Roy Atwill, Mary McCarty, Bobby Van, and Loren Welch.[4] Charles Sanford conducted the orchestra, and Don Walker orchestrated the music.[8] Writers for the program included Lucille Kallen and Mel Tolkin.[7]:67

Episode and script status

Episodes of Admiral Broadway Revue were made available on videocassettes by Video Dimensions.[9] The Paley Center for Media holds 18 kinescope episodes of the series, and the UCLA Film and Television Archive has one episode.

In 2000, workers who opened an apparently overlooked closet in New York City Center found boxes of papers that belonged to Liebman, including "many scripts" from Admiral Broadway Revue. A contemporary newspaper report indicated that the papers would go to the Library of Congress, where researchers could use them.[10]

See also

References
  1. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2003). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present Eighth Edition. Ballantine Books. pp. 13–14. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
  2. "Admiral Television Show Starts Jan. 28". The News. New Jersey, Paterson. January 19, 1949. p. 31. Retrieved May 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Brighton, Dick Jr. (January 30, 1949). "Televiewing". The Sunday News. New Jersey, Ridgewood. p. 34. Retrieved May 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  5. "Admiral's TV Show Network Premiere Tomorrow Night". The Boston Globe. Massachusetts, Boston. January 27, 1949. p. 35. Retrieved May 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. International Theatre in New York at CinemaTreasures.org
  7. Adir, Karin (2001). The Great Clowns of American Television. McFarland. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-7864-1303-4. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  8. Suskin, Steven (2011). The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-979084-5. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  9. "Sid Caesar's filmography". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. August 2, 1990. p. 64. Retrieved May 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "And the jokes were SO old..." The Anniston Star. Alabama, Anniston. November 15, 2000. p. 16. Retrieved May 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

Further reading
  • David Weinstein, The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004) ISBN 1-59213-245-6
  • Alex McNeil, Total Television, Fourth edition (New York: Penguin Books, 1980) ISBN 0-14-024916-8
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