JUST THE FACTS - DRAGNET FROM NBC-TV - CIRCA 1952 & 1966

THE STORY YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE IS TRUE...
ONLY THE NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT. - DRAGNET

Before N.Y.P.D. detective Lenny Briscoe ever rolled up to a crime scene in a big black Ford on Law & Order or Lieutenant Horatio Caine rocked Ray Bans rolling down Collins Avenue in Miami, Sergeant Joe Friday was keeping a world-weary but vigilant watch over those who would do evil in the city of angels.

DRAGNET was television's first police procedural. The fast paced and starkly photographed, DRAGNET was a weekly , 30 minute, NBC-TV drama that brought the blunt edge of daily police work into America's homes with the force of a sawed-off shotgun.






Jack Webb had played the cynical, hard edged, all-too-human ,Los Angeles detective on NBC radio's hit version of the show in the late 1940's, and he moved to the video version in December of 1951. Webb was, like his prolific and inventive contemporary, Desi Arnaz, one of the young mediums first "hyphenates." On Dragnet, Webb was the series star-producer-director-writer.He even delivered commercials for his sponsor, chesterfield cigarettes. Prior to the series ,Webb, was a veteran, Hollywood character actor on radio shows and in feature films, including Billy Wilder's classic SUNSET BOULEVARD.

The DRAGNET that debuted on NBC television was rooted in Webb's conviction that viewers needed to have a personal understanding of the challenges law enforcement officers face every day. While Sgt. Friday was no average Joe, he also wasn't a Supercop. Joe Friday was the policeman portrayed as everyman.Webb's DRAGNET offered a film noir vision of a dedicated and quietly competent peace officer who confronted everything from mundane misdemeanors to violent murder in the course of his sometimes tedious workday.

The show employed documentary camera techniques to give the show a distinctive look. Tight, taciturn dialog added pace and and a sense of realism to the crisply edited scenes. Webb maintained his own stock company of versatile players who supported him in the series,until it was cancelled in 1959.

Below are five clips that may give insight into DRAGNET, the series ,Jack Webb,the star and the appeal both held for the loyal, viewing audience. The first and second clips are excerpts of an episode that aired on May 22, 1953, entitled THE BIG PHONE CALL.Enjoy!!!!






In 1954,DRAGNET became the first television series to move to the big screen, when WARNER BROS. engaged Webb's MARK IV productions to produce DRAGNET, the movie.This scene shows that Joe Friday brought his sense of badge-heavy outrage to the film version of the television series.Enjoy!!!!!




In 1967, NBC-TV asked Jack Webb to revive DRAGNET as a mid-season replacement series , produced in LIVING COLOR. The show was updated so Sgt. Friday could confront the turbulent 1960's. Here is a scene from the 1/12/67 debut episode. Enjoy!!!!!



DRAGNET achieved unique status in our culture. It was often spoofed and satirized. Critics said it was a caricature of police work. In 1968, Webb joined Johnny Carson on NBC-TV'S THE TONIGHT SHOW for the ultimate take off on DRAGNET. Enjoy!!!!!!

HEF'S PARTY IN PROGRESS-PLAYBOY AFTER DARK FROM SYNDICATION-CIRCA 1968

Before Playboy's living logo, Hugh M. Hefner, introduced us to the GIRLS NEXT DOOR on cable, he welcomed us to the party upstairs, in syndication.



PLAYBOY AFTER DARK was the late night, television incarnation of the sophisticated men's magazine that Hefner created and published.

The talk /variety show, which was staged as a black tie party in Hef's fictitious penthouse, was produced at CBS Television City and syndicated for air on both network affiliates and independent stations across North America, between August of 1968 and May of 1970. The sixty minute show often ran in late fringe or weekend, late night timeslots.

This lavishly mounted series featured the hippest, hottest performers that
late-1960's showbiz had to offer. Pop music superstars, ranging from James Brown and B.B.KING to Steppenwolf and the Doors, appeared. The best stand-up comics of the day , including Shecky Green, Jackie Gayle,Don Rickles and Bill Cosby, were regular guests.Las Vegas lounge acts like The Checkmates LTD. were featured performers on the the show and on Playboy Club circuit.

Like the editorial content of the magazine, Hef wanted an eclectic array of guests on the show, so he would interview authors or artists, like painter Leroy Neiman.Hef's then girlfriend ,the sultry,yet wholesome Barbie Benton, was his co-host for most of the series run.The opulent,ultra-modern set was filled with alluring young women and attractive young men, moving to a mod beat while bathed in pulsating, psychedelic lighting patterns.

This was Hef's second attempt to promote and enhance the Playboy brand by using television, having hosted a similar, syndicated program entitled PLAYBOY'S PENTHOUSE, that was produced at Chicago's WBKB-TV ( now WLS-TV ) in the late 1950's.

The show's true trademark was the opening sequence. The film depicts a black ,stretch, Mercedes limousine cutting through the city ,while champagne is poured, en route to Hef's hi-rise condo, with a sparking, jazz arrangement of Playboy's Theme, by Cy Coleman setting the tempo for a night on the town.

Below are two clips from a Groovy-er time and place, baby.

First is the opening sequence to PLAYBOY AFTER DARK.Enjoy!!!!!





Next, a true member of Rat Pack royalty, the multi-talented Sammy Davis Jr., honors Hef with his presence and with a performance of I GOTTA BE ME,with a comic assist from Bill Cosby.Enjoy!!!!!

WE CALL IT PASSOVER - BOB HOPE ON THE OSCARS FROM NBC-TV & ABC-TV - CIRCA 1954 & 1988

WELCOME TO THE ACADEMY AWARDS, OR AS IT'S KNOWN AT MY HOUSE, PASSOVER!
Bob Hope- 1968 Academy Awards telecast

Twenty six times, the orchestra at the Academy Awards launched into a brassy, elegant arrangement of "Thanks for the Memories," as America's global ambassador of laughter, the fast and funny Bob Hope, strode to center stage and delivered his singular,comic commentary on the glittering night ahead.



For eighteen of those appearances, Hope served as the host of Hollywood's most glamorous evening, with his unfulfilled dream of striking Oscar gold becoming the core of his rapid fire monologues.

As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honors the best work and most talented professionals in cinema for the eighty-first time,tonight, and as actor-entertainer Hugh Jackman takes his place among the performers privileged to host the Oscars, Here are two clips of Bob Hope at his best.

First,Hope on NBC-TV,at the 1955 academy awards, in the good company of Brando, Bogart and Cary Grant. Enjoy!!!!!



While Hope was never honored for his individual film work, he did receive four honorary Oscars recognizing his humanitarian efforts and myriad contributions to the art of movie-making.

The next clip , from ABC-TV, shows two American, entertainment legends, Hope and Lucille Ball,making their last,joint Oscar appearance, in 1988. Enjoy!!!!!

CHRISTMAS GARLAND AND JUDY IN JULY - THE JUDY GARLAND SHOW FROM CBS-TV - CIRCA 1963

Looking back, it appears that multi-talented, Judy Garland lived her life on the dark side of the rainbow.

The highs were intoxicating and the lows debilitating.

She was inspired and insecure, fabulous and flawed, talented and tormented.

Born ,Frances Gumm, into a family of vaudevillians in 1922, her manifold vocal, comic and dramatic gifts made a her an adolescent star on stage, screen and radio.

Her emotional venerability and volatile relationships took a serious toll throughout her adult years. Even a spotlight couldn't lift the darkness that consumed her psyche and shrouded her soul.Still, when the incomparable Garland summoned the strength and the courage to perform , she earned critical raves, the loyalty of her fans and two Oscar nominations.

In 1963, the former child star was looking for a new career challenge and CBS television offered the opportunity. The Tiffany network had, since 1961, tried in vain to blow away NBC - TV's hit Western drama, Bonanza. To the CBS programmers, there was no higher caliber performer to take aim on the Cartwright's than Judy Garland.

With jazz icon, Mel Torme set to conduct the orchestra, comedian Jerry Van Dyke cast as her sidekick and a glittering cadre of guest stars, that ranged from Tony Bennett to Barbra Streisand, booked to appear, The Judy Garland Show was placed on the 1963, CBS-TV, Fall schedule.

Clearly she was given the series at the hand of CBS patriarch William Paley, since the network's president, James Aubrey, made it clear, publicly, that he was no fan of the little woman with the huge voice.

The series debuted On Sunday September 29, 1963 @ 9PM, Eastern time, with the versatile Donald O'Connor as Garlands's special guest.

Below is a clip from the series Holiday episode that aired on December 22, 1963 and which featured two of her children, Lorna and Joey Luft.Enjoy!!!!!



In the clip ,posted below, Garland and her daughter,Liza Minelli,perform a singing and dancing duet of Bye Bye Baby from the Broadway and Hollywood, musical hit, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, followed by some ad-lib riddled, comic cross-talk.The episode was recorded in Black and White, on July 16, 1963 at CBS Television City and aired on Sunday, November 17, 1963 at 9pm Eastern. Enjoy!!!!




By the end of the season, with the NBC's Bonanza firmly entrenched in first place, and the pressures of weekly, television production exacting a heavy price on the fragile star, The Judy Garland Show was cancelled. Garland returned to nightclubs and performed until her death.Her exemplary, show business legacy lives on.

THE GREAT ONE AND THE TALENTED, LITTLE KID - FROM THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW ON CBS-TV- CIRCA 1954

The legend and lore of master comedian, actor, and pool shark Jackie Gleason usually center on tales of alcohol propelled, nocturnal carousing in New York's trendiest, showbiz hangouts, Broadway bars and Swing Street supper clubs. The adult adventures of a man on the town, that only ended when the glow of neon in the night had long since faded into the bright light of dawn.

Gleason's Manhattan penthouse, which he once characterized in a magazine interview as "a sable-lined dump," was a long, difficult subway ride from the dingy, cold water , Bensonhurst flat in which he grew up.

But, in spite of his dysfunctional upbringing, Gleason, was man of deep sentiment and loved to give young entertainers their big break on his hit,Saturday night CBS-TV variety show.

In the clip below, The Great One shares the spotlight with South Philadelphia's Frankie Avalon, years before he became a teen idol, Annette Funicello's B-movie, beach buddy and a major Las Vegas attraction. This may be one of Avalon's first television appearances. Enjoy!!!!!

MORE AND MORE OF MOORE- ONE OF TV'S FIRST & BRIGHTEST STARS- THE GARRY MOORE SHOW FROM CBS-TV-CIRCA 1963

In the earliest days of the CBS television network, the viewers made it very clear to the programmers that they wanted a lot more of Moore, and when they got it, Moore was never enough.

Garry Moore, the affable host, personality and entertainer was one of the young medium's first, best reasons to buy ... and watch ... a television set. CBS-TV was all the better off for having him appear on their air.

It isn't always easy to explain why. Especially to those who are too young to have seen his prolific body of work on the small screen. He could carry a tune , but wasn't a singer. Moore could deliver a funny monologue and enact an impression or two, but wasn't a stand-up comedian or an impressionist. The crew-cut, bow-tied Moore never performed a dramatic role of note. He would chat-up guests, but never conducted incisive interviews.

All of that said, people loved to watch Garry Moore on television.

Born as Thomas Garrison Morfit on 1/31/1915 in Baltimore,Maryland, his ease behind a microphone at WBAL radio demonstrated an engaging, comfortable, conversational style that would propel him to stardom in a world of traditional,dulcet, stentorian announcers.CBS radio gave him a daily radio show, broadcast from Los Angeles in 1949.

It was an instant success.

As the 1950's arrived and with the rapid advent of network television, the genial host debuted in The Garry Moore Show, produced LIVE from New York and running for thirty minutes, three nights per week on CBS-TV's, primetime line-up. It was a video victory for the young performer and for the even younger CBS television network.

That show was moved to run five days per week in the afternoon on CBS daytime in the fall of 1950 and continued until the summer of 1958. The audience was large and loyal.The sponsors were lined-up to buy commercial time on the show, which generated millions of dollars per year for the CBS network.

In 1958, Moore and CBS-TV decided that Garry Moore was ready for a triumphant return to primetime. They launched The Garry Moore Show, surrounding the gregarious host with announcer/sidekick Durward Kirby, actress Marion Lorne and a then unknown comedienne, named Carol Burnett, in a comedy, variety format. The show ,while airing in black and white, was mounted with rich, elegant production values. The program had a sparkling array of guest stars over the years and a formidable writing staff, which ,at one point, included comic auteur,Woody Allen.



Moore starred in this variety program while also serving as host of CBS-TV's long running, game show, I've Got A Secret, and appearing as a guest on several TV and radio programs. The show ran until 1964. In the 1966, fall season, Moore came back to CBS-TV in a revamped, comedy-variety format,but was unable to take down NBC-TV's hit, Western drama,Bonanza. He was replaced by the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Moore later hosted a syndicated revival of the CBS-TV game show, To Tell The Truth. He did continue to do specials and guest appearances until he passed away from emphysema in 1993.He was 78 years old.

It always strikes me that, like CBS's Arthur Godfrey and NBC's Dave Garroway, because so much of Garry Moore's work was LIVE and un-preserved on videotape, few young people know his name, regard his reputation, or appreciate the impact of his protean work.

Below are six clips which comprise a 1963 episode of The Garry Moore Show on CBS-TV with guests including a young and electrifying Barbra Streisand, Enjoy!!!!!

MEET THE BEATLES - THE FAB FOUR'S EARLY TV APPEARANCES- FROM CBS-TV & BBC-TV-CIRCA 1964

This month,as we mark 45 years since The Beatles made their , historic, seismic, debut performance on CBS-TV's Ed Sullivan Show (2/9/64), a Sunday night television tradition for millions of American families, we are reminded that the Fab Four had already been video visitors in homes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

The long-haired lads had been previously been interviewed on film in Liverpool for a piece that aired 1/3/64 on NBC-TV's Jack Paar Show.

KINESCOPE HD has unearthed two vintage video clips of the rock rebels making some of their earliest television appearances.

First, legendary CBS News correspondent Alexander Kendrick,who covered World War Two in Europe with Edward R. Murrow, profiled Beatle-Mania and the Mod movement erupting along the banks of Liverpool's Mersey river for American news viewers.His story first aired on 12/7/63, it is from CBSNews.com and Pure Smokey's You Tube site.



In the UK , the Beatles often appeared as special guests on the BBC's Ready Steady Go!, which was the British equivalent of American Bandstand, Here ,in a 1964 clip, host Keith Fordyce welcomes John, Paul, George and Ringo for a Friday afternoon performance at Studio 9 in King's Way, London. The clip comes from the IRNY G, You Tube site. Enjoy!!!!!