Time For A Rare TV Treat

Here's a kinescope of the June 3, 1950 DuMont Network telecast of Cavalcade of Stars, hosted at the time by comedian Jerry Lester (who left the show and network shortly thereafter to become one of the headliners on NBC's Broadway Open House; he would be replaced by Jackie Gleason).



Among Jerry's guests that night, which marked the series' one-year anniversary, were actors John Garfield, Kim Stanley, and Jane Pickens, as well as ventriloquist Paul Winchell (and his sidekick Jerry Mahoney).  Don Russell, who was a DuMont staff announcer, appeared as a pharmacist for the show's producers, Drugstore Television Productions (representing several regional drug-store chains).

Enjoy!

Here's Something You Don't See Every Day..

Here's a kinescope from the May 20, 1950 DuMont Network telecast of Cavalcade of Stars, starring Jerry Lester, who would soon go on to become one of the hosts of NBC's pioneering late-night comedy-variety showcase Broadway Open House, a forerunner to The Tonight Show.  Baseball legend Jackie Robinson, singer Mindy Carson, and dancer Lucienne Boyer were among Jerry's guests that night.  He would soon be replaced by the star of a recently failed NBC filmed sitcom adaptation of the successful radio series, The Life of Riley.  A feller named Jackie Gleason.

Heeeeere's Jerry!

Here is the January 30, 1951 telecast as captured on kinescope of Broadway Open House, which was the first major late-night network television late-night entertainment show.  It aired Monday through Friday nights from 11PM until Midnight, Eastern Time and ran for 15 months.  We see Jerry Lester (who hosted the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday editions), joined by bandleader-accordionist (and songwriter) Milton DeLugg (of future Gong Show fame, or infamy), announcer Wayne Howell, singer-tap dancer Ray Malone, the Mello Larks vocal group, singer-comedian David Street, and the one and only Jennie Lewis, known by the nom-de-plume Dagmar.  Morey Amsterdam hosted the Monday and Thursday installments.  BOH,  forerunner of the long-running Tonight Show went off the air in August, 1951.  The program was the brainchild of NBC president Sylvester (Pat) Weaver, who also created the Today and Tonight shows and other innovative programs for the network.