| The Garry Moore Show | |
|---|---|
 Cast photo: Garry Moore, Carol Burnett, and Durward Kirby, 1961 | |
| Created by | Garry Moore |
| Starring | Garry Moore Carol Burnett (1959–1962) Durward Kirby Marion Lorne (1958–1962) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30/60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | June 26, 1950 (1950-06-26) – January 8, 1967 (1967-01-08) |
The Garry Moore Show is the name for several separate Americanvariety series on the CBS television network in the 1950s and 1960s. Hosted by experienced radio performerGarry Moore, the series helped launch the careers of many comedic talents, such asDorothy Loudon,Don Adams,George Gobel,Carol Burnett,Don Knotts, Lee Goodman,James Kirkwood, Jr.,Lily Tomlin, andJonathan Winters.The Garry Moore Show garnered a number ofEmmy nominations and wins.
The show originally started as a radio program; CBS eventually awarded Moore his own early-evening television show in its place.Durward Kirby, Moore's radio partner since 1940, made the move to TV with him and appeared throughout all three versions of the TV show.
The first incarnation of the show began in June 1950 as a Monday-through-Friday, 30-minute evening series. It was also simulcast on radio. The show changed to a once-weekly, one-hour format by August. The primetime edition, titledThe Garry Moore Evening Show, alternated withThe George Burns and Gracie Allen Show on Thursday nights from September through December 1951.[citation needed]
In the fall of 1950, Moore moved to a daytime show on CBS, at first in the early afternoon and later in midmorning. The series featured a relaxed and flexible combination of comedy skits, monologues, singing, and interaction with the studio audience. It was an important commercial success for CBS, and it ran in this format until mid-1958.[citation needed]
On October 6, 1952, the program was cut from an hour to 30 minutes, still beginning at 1:30 pm Eastern Time but ending at 2 pm rather than the previous 2:30 ending. It originated atWCBS-TV in New York City.[1]
In 1958, Moore ended the previous show because of his demanding work schedule, but he returned in the fall with a weekly, hour-long evening series, with the same title and similar format.Allen Funt'sCandid Camera segments became a regular feature of this series, along with a lengthy recap segment titled "That Wonderful Year". In 1959, Moore produced two LP records on the Warner Bros. label:That Wonderful Year, 1930 andThat Wonderful Year, 1940. In its first season, this version ofThe Garry Moore Show faced competition on NBC from the drama seriesThe Californians and the ABC crime/police showConfession, hosted byJack Wyatt.[2]
The show was taped every Friday evening at CBS Studio 50 (later renamed theEd Sullivan Theater) and was broadcast the following Tuesday night. The cast of the second version includedMarion Lorne (who appeared as her other Broadway and acting commitments permitted throughout this run) and rising starCarol Burnett (1959–62), who honed her comedic skills for her own future successfulvariety show. In addition to the performances of the cast and guests, vocal performers included the George Becker Singers and the dancers under the choreography of Ernest Flatt, including lead dancerDon Crichton.
Bob Banner was the executive producer,Joe Hamilton (Burnett's future husband) was series producer, andIrwin Kostal was the orchestra leader. David "Dave" Geisel was the director.[3]
In the summer of 1960, the series was replaced for nine weeks by the dramaDiagnosis: Unknown.The Garry Moore Show was removed from the CBS line-up in 1964, at Moore's request, to allow him to take a long-needed vacation, which lasted more than two years.[4][5]
Moore returned with yet another version of the show in the fall of 1966; this time, it was in color. Due to competition fromBonanza on NBC, the show was cancelled after only four months. It was replaced on the CBS schedule byThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
As of 2012, at least four episodes of the second version of the show are available on DVD.
