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| The Jackie Gleason Show | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Cavalcade of Stars (DuMont) |
| Genre | Variety |
| Presented by | Jackie Gleason |
| Opening theme | "Melancholy Serenade" (CBS) |
| Composer | Jackie Gleason |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 156(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 47–50 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | DuMont |
| Release | June 4, 1949 (1949-06-04) – September 26, 1952 (1952-09-26) |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | September 20, 1952 (1952-09-20) – June 22, 1957 (1957-06-22) |
The Jackie Gleason Show is a series of American network television shows that starredJackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms.
Gleason's first variety series, which aired on theDuMont Television Network under the titleCavalcade of Stars, first aired June 4, 1949. The show's first host was comedianJack Carter, who was followed byJerry Lester. Lester moved toNBC in June 1950 to host the late-night showBroadway Open House, a precursor to "The Tonight Show", and Gleason—who had made his mark filling in forWilliam Bendix as the title character on the first television incarnation ofThe Life of Rileysitcom—stepped intoCavalcade on July 15, 1950 and became an immediate sensation.
The show was broadcast live in front of a theater audience, and offered the same kind ofvaudevillian entertainment common to early television revues. Gleason's guests included New York-based performers of stage and screen, includingBert Wheeler,Smith and Dale,Patricia Morison, andVivian Blaine. Production values were modest, owing to DuMont's humble facilities and a thrifty sponsor (Quality Drugs, representing most of the nation's drug stores).
In 1952,CBS presidentWilliam S. Paley offered Gleason a considerably higher salary to move to that network. The series was retitledThe Jackie Gleason Show and premiered onCBS Television on September 20, 1952.[1] In 1953, CBS' own orchestral accordionistJohn Serry Sr. made a cameo appearance.
While much of DuMont's programming archive was destroyed after they ceased broadcasting,[2] a surprising number ofCavalcade of Stars episodes survive, including several episodes at theUCLA Film and Television Archive. Additionally, at least 14 Gleason episodes survive at thePaley Center for Media.
In his bookThe Forgotten Network, author David Weinstein mentions an unusual aspect of the DuMont network. He notes that while Drug Store Productions was technically the sponsor, they in turn sold the commercial air time to various companies and products. Weinstein notes this as an early example of U.S. network television moving away from the single-sponsor system typical of the early 1950s. He quotes former DuMont executive Ted Bergmann describing the DuMont version as featuring six commercial breaks during the hour, with each break comprising a single one-minute commercial.[3]
The show typically opened with amonologue from Gleason, followed bysketch comedy involving Gleason and a number of regular performers (includingArt Carney) and a musical interlude featuring theJune Taylor Dancers. (Taylor later became Gleason's sister-in-law; he married her sister Marilyn in 1975.)
Gleason portrayed a number of recurring characters, including:
The series was a big hit for CBS, finishing at #8 in theNielsen ratings for the 1953–1954 season and #2 in 1954–1955.[5]The Jackie Gleason Show also earnedEmmy nominations for best variety series in 1953, 1954 and 1955, for Gleason as best star in 1954 and 1955, for Audrey Meadows as best supporting actress in 1954 and 1957, Art Carney for best supporting actor in 1957, June Taylor for best choreography in 1956, and best writing and best engineering effects in 1955. The series won Emmys for Meadows as best supporting actress in 1955, Carney as best supporting actor in 1954 and 1955, and Taylor for choreography in 1955. Gleason never received an Emmy.[6]
By far the most memorable and popular of Gleason's characters was blowhardBrooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden, featured originally in a series ofCavalcade skits known as "The Honeymooners", withPert Kelton as his wife Alice, andArt Carney as his upstairs neighbor Ed Norton. These were so popular that in 1955 Gleason suspended the variety format and filmedThe Honeymooners as a regular half-hour sitcom (television's first spin-off), co-starring Carney,Audrey Meadows (who had replaced theblacklisted Kelton after the earlier move toCBS), andJoyce Randolph. Finishing 19th in the ratings, these 39 episodes were subsequently rerun constantly in syndication, often five nights a week, with the cycle repeating every two months for decades. They are probably the most familiar body of work from 1950s television with the exception ofI Love Lucy starringLucille Ball andDesi Arnaz.
The show's original variety format and title returned in September 1956 and continued until June 1957. Then, in October 1958, Gleason debuted a half-hour version ofThe Jackie Gleason Show, withBuddy Hackett as a sidekick, but it was short-lived, cancelled in January 1959.
| The Jackie Gleason Show | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Talk show |
| Presented by | Jackie Gleason |
| Narrated by | Johnny Olson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 (excludingYou're in the Picture) |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 24-25 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | February 3 (1961-02-03) – March 24, 1961 (1961-03-24) |
In 1961, Gleason began an ill-fated stint as host of agame show calledYou're in the Picture, which lastedonly one episode, and was so poorly received that it led to Gleason offering an on-air apology to his viewers the following week. Committed to filling a quota of episodes, Gleason renamed the seriesThe Jackie Gleason Show and turned it into a short-livedtalk show, featuring one-on-one informal interviews with Art Carney,Jayne Mansfield,Bobby Darin, and other friends and celebrities. It ran for eight episodes.
In 1962, Gleason returned to the tried-and-true variety format with hisAmerican Scene Magazine. The official title of the show was, again,The Jackie Gleason Show.American Scene was initially taped in New York City; after two seasons, production moved toMiami Beach (1964), on Jackie's insistence. (This caused difficulties for announcerJohnny Olson, who had several other announcing jobs; Olson commuted frequently between New York City and Miami to accommodate Gleason.)
Gleason would begin his monologue each week and be surprised by the flamboyant jackets worn by bandleader Sammy Spear. (Beholding Spear's animal-print blazer, Gleason quipped, "I've heard of Tiger Rag, but this is ridiculous!") Ralph Kramden, Reggie Van Gleason, the Poor Soul, and the rest of Gleason's comic characters were regular attractions.Frank Fontaine, as bug-eyed, grinning "Crazy" Guggenheim (evolved from his John character fromThe Jack Benny Program), starred in the Joe the Bartender skits, delighting fans with his nutty speaking voice and goofy laugh, and charmed by his surprisingly mellow singing voice.June Taylor's chorus girl routines revived for the television generation the aerial patternkaleidoscope formations made famous on film byBusby Berkeley. During this time, Gleason's show finished #17 for the 1962–1963 season, #15 for 1963–1964, #21 in 1964–1965 and #24 in 1965–1966.[5]
In fall 1966, the show title reverted to simplyThe Jackie Gleason Show (dropping theAmerican Scene format), and would remain so until its cancellation in 1970. By this point episodes included guest stars and skits. A component during this period was the musicalHoneymooners episodes, which had first been tried on Gleason's variety show during the 1956–1957 season. These were later collected asThe Color Honeymooners, withSheila MacRae andJane Kean as Alice and Trixie, respectively. The regular cast included Art Carney;Milton Berle was a frequent guest star. The show was shot in color on videotape at the Miami Beach Auditorium (today called the Fillmore at the Jackie Gleason Theatre), and Gleason never tired of promoting the "sun and fun capital of the world" on camera.[7] Hordes of vacationers took Gleason's advice, boosting Florida's economy. Later specials were taped at the Olympia Theatre's Gusman Center acrossBiscayne Bay in downtown Miami. The shows began with the television camera in front of a boat speeding toward the shore of Miami Beach, and ended with Gleason bellowing, "Miami Beach audiences are the greatest audiences in the world!"
During this period,The Jackie Gleason Show earned three more Emmy nominations, for Carney for special classification in 1966 and for variety series and writing in 1967. Carney won two Emmys for his work in 1967 and 1968.[6] The series also ranked at No. 5 in 1966-1967 and No. 9 in 1967-1968.[5] Music was composed byMilton Kaye.[8]
At the end of the 1968–1969 season,The Jackie Gleason Show still garnered decent ratings, ranking at No. 25 in the Nielsens and CBS renewed it for an eighth season. The following year would bring a radical change to the series: Gleason went on a stringent diet in 1969 and lost approximately 60 pounds. When the show returned in September 1969, there was much publicity about Gleason's new slimmer look. To gracefully incorporate his weight loss into the show, it was explained that Ralph Kramden also had gone on a diet and lost weight.
This change proved to be somewhat of a detriment – especially since Carney had gained weight. Jokes about Kramden's weight had been a strong component of humor for theHoneymooners sketches.[7] A skinnier Ralph did not seem as funny to viewers and the overall ratings for the program began to slip. Coupled with the fact that the CBS network was concerned with demographics and wanted to change its image with more urban-oriented shows (to attract younger, more affluent audiences). In addition, CBS wanted Gleason to do only the hour-long Honeymooners and drop the variety episodes that garnered lower ratings. Gleason objected to this and, on February 16, 1970, CBS announced the cancellation of Gleason's series, during a time frame that also saw the cancellation ofThe Red Skelton Hour andPetticoat Junction, in the opening salvos of what would become popularly known as therural purge.
Beginning in late December 1970 CBS began airing selected reruns ofThe Jackie Gleason Show (featuring only the colorHoneymooners episodes) in prime time on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. which replacedThe Tim Conway Comedy Hour.[9]
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