''Johnny Olson's Rumpus Room'' is an American television

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

hosted by

Johnny Olson John Leonard Olson (May 22, 1910 – October 12, 1985) was an American radio personality and television announcer. Olson is perhaps best known for his work as an announcer for game shows, particularly the work he did for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman P ...

. It was broadcast from January 17, 1949, to July 4, 1952, on the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...

Broadcast history

The show aired at 10 a.m. Eastern Time. The show was one of the first

daytime television Daytime is a block of television programming taking place during the late-morning and afternoon on weekdays. Daytime programming is typically scheduled to air between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., following the early morning ...

shows broadcast from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to DuMont's small network of East Coast cities. Olson also hosted the DuMont talent show ''

Doorway to Fame ''Doorway to Fame'' is an American talent show broadcast on the now defunct DuMont Television Network. The series ran from May 2, 1947 in television, 1947, to July 11, 1949 in television, 1949. Overview The series used early television scene-ble ...

'' (May 1947 – July 1949), and DuMont's Saturday-morning children's show ''

Kids and Company ''Kids and Company'' is an American children's TV show (also Canadian child care business) that aired on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network on Saturday mornings from September 1, 1951, to May 2, 1953, and was hosted by Johnny Olson (billed ...

'' (September 1951 – June 1952). According to the book ''What Women Watched: Daytime Television in the 1950s'' (University of Texas Press, 2005) by Marsha Cassidy, the DuMont daytime schedule beginning in January 1949 was: *10-10:30 am ''Johnny Olson's Rumpus Room'' *10:30-11 am ''Welcome, Neighbors'' *11 am-12 noon ''The Stan Shaw Show'' *12 noon-12:15 pm ''

Amanda Amanda is a Latin feminine gerundive (i.e. verbal adjective) name meaning, literally, "she who must (or is fit to) be loved". Other translations, with similar meaning, could be "deserving to be loved," "worthy of love," or "loved very much by ev ...

'' *12:15-12:30 pm ''Man in the Street'' *12:30-12:45 pm '' Camera Headlines'' *12:45-1 pm ''Fashions in Song'' *1-1:30 pm '' Okay, Mother'' *2:30-3 pm '' Inside Photoplay'' (''The Wendy Barrie Show'') *3-3:15 pm '' The Needle Shop'' *3:15-3:30 pm ''Vincent Lopez Speaking'' (''

The Vincent Lopez Show ''The Vincent Lopez Show'', also known as ''Vincent Lopez Speaking'', is a 1949-1957 American musical television program hosted by Vincent Lopez and broadcast on the DuMont Television Network, and later on CBS Television. The latter title is a ta ...

'')

Olson's career

In the 1940s, Olson hosted a popular

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...

also titled ''Johnny Olson's Rumpus Room'' at WTMJ in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. Sometime after 1943, Johnny moved the show (WTMJ continued to air ''Rumpus Room'' with a new host) to WMAQ in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

as an evening variety show running 10:30 pm to 12 midnight ( CT). Olson went on to become a famous announcer on American

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

s, including as the announcer on ''

The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is an American television game show where contestants compete by guessing the prices of merchandise to win cash and prizes. A 1972 revival by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman of their The Price Is Right (1956 American game ...

'' on

CBS Television CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

and

first-run syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

from 1972 until his death (the nighttime version of ''The Price Is Right'' reunited Olson with another prominent DuMont personality,

Dennis James Dennis James (born Demie James Sposa, August 24, 1917 – June 3, 1997) was an American television personality, philanthropist, and commercial spokesman. Until 1976, he had appeared on TV more times and for a longer period than any other televi ...

, for its first five years on air).

References

External links

*
DuMont historical website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214212348/http://www.dumonthistory.com/a1.html , date=2022-02-14 1949 American television series debuts 1952 American television series endings 1940s American variety television series 1950s American variety television series Black-and-white American television shows DuMont Television Network original programming American English-language television shows

Broadcast history

Olson's career

See also

References

Further reading

External links