''Broadway Open House'' is network television's first late-night comedy-variety series.Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 138. It was telecast live on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from May 29, 1950, to August 24, 1951, airing weeknights from 11pm to midnight. One of the pioneering TV creations of NBC president

Pat Weaver Sylvester Laflin "Pat" Weaver Jr. (December 21, 1908 – March 15, 2002) was an American broadcasting executive who was president of NBC between 1953 and 1955. He has been credited with reshaping commercial broadcasting's format and philosophy ...

, it demonstrated the potential for late-night programming and led to the later development of ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

''.McNeil, Alex. ''Total Television: a Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present''. Penguin, 1985.

Hosts

The show was originally planned to be hosted by comic Don "Creesh" Hornsby (so named because he yelled "Creesh" often). Hornsby had been brought into the variety show business by

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

, whose topical humor would serve as the basis for most of the late-night talk shows that would follow. One week before he was to begin hosting, the 26-year-old Hornsby suddenly contracted

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

, from which he died on the day he was to host his first show, May 22, 1950. Hornsby's sudden demise forced NBC to postpone the show and rush to find new hosts on short notice. For the first few weeks, there were different hosts including Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis,

Henny Youngman Henry "Henny" Youngman (16 March 1906 – 24 February 1998) was a British-born American comedian and musician famous for his mastery of the " one-liner", his best known being "Take my wife... please". In a time when many comedians told ela ...

and

Robert Alda Robert Alda (born Alfonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo; February 26, 1914 – May 3, 1986) was an Italian-American theatrical and film actor, a singer, and a dancer. He was the father of actors Alan and Antony Alda. Alda was featured in a ...

, among others, with

Morey Amsterdam Moritz "Morey" Amsterdam (December 14, 1908 – October 28, 1996) was an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. He played Buddy Sorrell on CBS's ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' from 1961 to 1966. Early life Amsterdam was born in Chicago ...

hosting Mondays and Wednesdays. ''Broadway Open House'' was performed before a live studio audience, in the manner of a stage show.

, an NBC executive at the time, noticed the positive feedback that Jerry Lester (then hosting '' Cavalcade of Stars'' for Dumont) and his manic personality had received on a recent appearance on NBC and offered Lester the hosting position almost immediately. Lester initially hosted the Tuesday, Thursday and Friday episodes of ''Broadway Open House'' until Amsterdam exited the show, leaving Lester the sole host. Lester performed sketches with his crew of sidekicks (including some of the earliest TV appearances of brassy

Barbara Nichols Barbara Marie Nickerauer (December 10, 1928 – October 5, 1976), known professionally as Barbara Nichols, was an American actress who often played brassy or comic roles in films in the 1950s and 1960s. Early life and career Nichols was b ...

), running through standard nightclub comedy routines and introducing the show's vocal group, the Mello Larks. Lester's signature bit was to twist his eyeglasses at a 45 degree angle on his face. The show had occasional guests, including Lenny Bruce, who appeared May 1950 and

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

who appeared October 31, 1950 (an audio recording exists of his appearance on the show), and there were also audience participation bits, such as having women from the audience join the female cast members in modeling fur coats. Lester's fondness for bean bags became a

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...

on the series. The sponsors included

Anchor Hocking Anchor Hocking Company is a manufacturer of glassware. The Hocking Glass Company was founded in 1905 by Isaac Jacob (Ike) Collins in Lancaster, Ohio, and named after the Hocking River. That company merged with the Anchor Cap and Closure Co ...

glassware and Blatz Beer.

Cast and crew

Other ''Broadway Open House'' cast members were tap dancer Ray Malone, accordionist Milton DeLugg, announcer

Wayne Howell Wayne Howell Chappelle (February 16, 1921 – July 8, 1993) was a voice-over announcer for the NBC television and radio networks from 1947 through 1986. He was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and became one member of a core group of New York-base ...

and vocalists

Jane Harvey Jane Harvey (born Phyllis Taff, January 6, 1925, Jersey City, New Jersey – August 15, 2013) was an American jazz singer, known for recording several tracks with famous musicians such as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman during the 1940s. Harv ...

, Andy Roberts and David Street. The show's opening theme music was "The Beanbag Song" by DeLugg, Lester and Willie Stein. A second theme was the song "It's Almost Like Being in Love." DeLugg often played a song he wrote with Stein, " Orange Colored Sky", which became a hit for both Lester and for

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

. Vic McLeod, Paul Munro, Ray Buffum and Jac Hein were among the producers. Hein, Munro and Joseph C. Cavalier directed. Stan Burns,

Allan Sherman Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (Al ...

, Art Henley, Alan Sands, and Cal Howard were the writers. The program was developed by Sylvester "Pat" Weaver, a programming vice-president at NBC who had started his career as a production assistant on

Fred Allen John Florence Sullivan (May 31, 1894 – March 17, 1956), known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist, topically pointed radio program ''The Fred Allen Show'' (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and for ...

's radio show ''

Town Hall Tonight ''The Fred Allen Show'' is a long-running American radio comedy program starring comedian Fred Allen and his wife Portland Hoffa. Over the course of the program's 17-year run, it was sponsored by Linit Bath Soaps, Hellmann's, Ipana, Sal Hepati ...

'' in the 1930s. After the 15-month run of ''Broadway Open House'', Weaver further developed his ideas on a local show over NBC's New York station starring

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...

, which eventually took to the network in 1954 as ''The Tonight Show''. There are those who dispute Weaver's credit for ''The Tonight Show'', including hosts

and Jack Paar. Years later, Paar said "He didn't invent programs, but wrote great memos."

Dagmar arrives

Network variety shows were broadcast weekly, with the production staff having one week to create each new episode. ''Broadway Open House'' was under much more pressure, and it was a continuing challenge to come up with fresh material on a nightly basis. Starlet Jennie Lewis was given no script and told, "You just sit there and act dumb. Your name is Dagmar." With her new name, she sat on a stool with a sign around her neck saying "Girl Singer," did breathing exercises, and soon performed as a reader of poems and plays, while Lester made occasional jokes about her "hidden talents." Her appearances created a sensation, leading to much press coverage and a salary increase from $75 to $1,250. Lester was now in the peculiar position of being the second banana on his own show, and he asked NBC to put him on another program. Lester left ''Broadway Open House'' in May 1951, and Dagmar carried on as host. On July 16, 1951, she was featured on the front cover of ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'', and the show came to an end one month later. Lester was retained as a rotating host for a new early prime-time variety show the next season, ''Chesterfield Sound-Off Time'', along with

and

. NBC filled the late-night time slot for the next year with ''Mary Kay's Nightcap'', a non-comic show in which Mary Kay Stearns previewed the next day's programming. For a short time, Dagmar was given a weekly late-night show entitled ''Dagmar's Canteen''. The show's even later time slot (12:15 a.m. Sunday morning) and the lack of a comic partner for Dagmar to foil were factors in the show being short-lived. Dagmar's run on ''Broadway Open House'' and her appearances on other shows (''

Colgate Comedy Hour ''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the series ...

'', ''

The Milton Berle Show ''Texaco Star Theater'' was an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting, remembered as the show that gave Mi ...

'', ''

Masquerade Party ''Masquerade Party'' was an American television game show. During its original run from 1952 to 1960, the show appeared at various times on every television network except DuMont ( ABC, NBC, and CBS). A syndicated revival was produced for one ...

'') made her the first major female star of television. She continued making guest appearances during the late 1950s with Jack Paar on ''

''. Steve Allen remembered Hornsby, ''Broadway Open House'' and Fred Allen in a 1997 interview.

Reception

''Broadway Open House'' was an early influence on the comedy stylings of

George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercu ...

who spoke of the show in an interview with the Television Academy recorded December 17, 2007. Carlin prefaced the description of the show with other variety shows of the time, including ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night M ...

'' and ''

The Jackie Gleason Show ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...

''.

Episode status

No episodes from Amsterdam's hosting run exist. A limited number of episodes from Lester's run have survived and are archived at the

Paley Center for Media The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York with a branch office in Los Angeles, dedicated to ...

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0296315, title=Broadway Open House
Broadway Open House: “Just Call Me ‘Bean Bag’!” The first late-night show ever was insane. Why have we never heard of it?
''Slate'', May 10, 2105 1950 American television series debuts 1951 American television series endings 1950s American late-night television series 1950s American variety television series American late-night television shows American live television series Black-and-white American television shows NBC original programming NBC late-night programming