The Ed Wynn Show

The Ed Wynn Show was an American comedy/variety show originally broadcast from September 22, 1949–July 4, 1950 on the CBS Television Network. Comedian and former vaudevillian Ed Wynn was the star of the program. 39 episodes were produced and broadcast live from Hollywood, making The Ed Wynn Show the first program to do so,[1] and transmitted via kinescope to New York.

The Ed Wynn Show
Also known asThe Camel Comedy Caravan
GenreComedy
Variety
Written byHy Faber
Hal Kanter
Seaman Jacobs
Leo Solomon
Vin Bogert
Directed byRalph Levy
StarringEd Wynn
Narrated byBob LeMond
ComposerLud Gluskin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes39
Production
ProducerHarlan Thompson
Production locationsHollywood, USA
Running time30 minutes
Release
Original networkCBS
KTTV (Los Angeles)
WCBS-TV (New York)
Picture formatBlack-and-white
Original releaseSeptember 22, 1949 (1949-09-22)
(Los Angeles premiere date)
October 6, 1949 (1949-10-06)
(New York premiere date) –
June 15, 1950 (1950-06-15)
(in Los Angeles)
July 4, 1950 (1950-07-04)
(in New York)

The show also served as the commercial television debuts of comedian Groucho Marx, singer/actress Dinah Shore, comedy team The Three Stooges, Hattie McDaniel, Buster Keaton, Leon Errol and husband and wife comedy team Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Production

The Ed Wynn Show premiered on September 22, 1949 on CBS. The series starred Ed Wynn (1886–1966), a well-established comedian of stage, vaudeville, film and radio. The series consisted of vaudeville-like skits and music performed by the days' popular artists. Speidel wrist watches was the show's original sponsor. Speidel was soon replaced as sponsor by Camel cigarettes. Under the sponsorship of Camel, the series was known as The Camel Comedy Caravan.[2]

The Ed Wynn Show achieved several "firsts" during its short run. It was the first television series to originate from Hollywood. The series was broadcast live from KTTV in Los Angeles and using the kinescope film process, the films were sent to New York and transmitted on the CBS Eastern and Midwestern stations a week later.[3] The Ed Wynn Show was also one of the first television series to use the kinescope process in an effort to preserve episodes for later distribution. Sometimes after the live broadcast was finished, some re-takes were kinescoped and edited into the film to improve the east coast version.

The series was known for its list of prominent guest stars every week. Some notable guest stars included Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Frances Langford, The Charlivels, Eve Arden, Celeste Holm, Hattie McDaniel, Buddy Ebsen, Garry Moore, The Modernaires, Mitzi Green, Gloria Swanson, William Frawley, Joe E. Brown, Charles Laughton, Vera Vague, Carmen Miranda, Cesar Romero, Peggy Lee, Groucho Marx, Buster Keaton,[4] Dinah Shore, The Three Stooges,[5] Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz[6] made their television debuts on The Ed Wynn Show.

The series ran one season ending on July 4, 1950.

Broadcast history

Los Angeles broadcast history

KTTV, Channel 11

  • 9/22/1949 - 12/15/1949 Thursdays 9:00-9:30 pm
  • 12/24/1949 - 2/18/1950 Saturdays 8:00-8:30 pm
  • 2/25/1950 - 4/22/1950 Saturdays 9:00-9:30 pm
  • 4/27/1950 - 6/15/1950 Thursdays 7:00-7:30 pm

(Except 6/8/1950 Thursday 9:00-9:30 pm)

New York broadcast history

WCBS-TV, Channel 2

  • 10/6/1949 - 12/29/1949 Thursdays 9:00-9:30 pm
  • 1/7/1950 - 3/25/1950 Saturdays 9:00-9:30 pm
  • 4/4/1950 - 7/4/1950 Tuesdays 9:00-9:30 pm

Awards and nominations

Although the series was not very popular with television audiences, The Ed Wynn Show did receive a George Foster Peabody Award for Outstanding Entertainment for the year 1949[7] and a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Live Show for the year 1950.

YearAwardCategoryResult
1949George Foster Peabody AwardOutstanding EntertainmentWon
1950Primetime Emmy AwardBest Live ShowWon

References
  1. "The Ed Wynn Show 1949-1950". Jim Davidson. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  2. Terrace, Vincent (2008). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-7864-8641-0. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  3. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing. p. 410. ISBN 978-0-3074-8320-1. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  4. Meade, Marion, Buster Keaton: Cut to the Chase (1995) HarperCollins p. 225
  5. Lenburg, Jeff, with Maurer, Joan Howard, and Lenburg, Greg, The Three Stooges Scrapbook (2012), Citadel Press p. 179
  6. Jones, Gerard (1993). Honey, I'm Home!: Sitcoms: Selling The American Dream. MacMillan. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-3120-8810-1. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  7. "The Ed Wynn Show Winner 1949 - CBS Television". Peabody. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
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