For Lovers of Black & White (and sometimes Living Color) Classic TV
Read about your favorite comedy stars from classic TV and Radio programs and beloved personalities in the 40′s 50′s, 60′s, 70′s and beyond. Now you have one place to read and share articles written about the celebrities and shows you remember and love, as well as view those that may have been “before your time.” These articles are offered as a tribute to these great entertainers.
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Abbott and Costello
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 Andy GriffithBefore The Andy Griffith Show, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff (who was also justice-of-the-peace and editor of the local newspaper) in an episode of The Danny Thomas Show. This episode, in which Thomas’ character is stopped for speeding in the little town of Mayberry, served as a backdoor pilot for Griffith’s own show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard. Griffith starred in the series beginning in 1960. |
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 Bing CrosbyBing Crosby was an American popular singer and Academy Award-winning actor whose career lasted from 1926 until his death in 1977. One of the first multimedia stars, from 1934 to 1954 Bing Crosby held a nearly unrivaled command of record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses. He is often considered to be among the most popular musical acts in history and is currently the most electronically recorded human voice in history. |
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 Bob and RayBob Elliott and Ray Goulding were an comedy team whose career spanned fifty years. Typically, their routines satirized radio and television interviews, with the two alternating as interviewer and interviewee. Their routines combined off-the-wall dialogue with a usually deadpan style, presented as if it were a serious interview. |
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 Bob HopeBob Hope first appeared on television in 1932 during a test transmission from an experimental CBS studio in New York. His career in broadcasting spanned sixty-four years and included a long association with NBC. Hope did many specials for the NBC television network in the following decades. |
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 Bob NewhartBob Newhart is a former accountant, then standup comedian, who later starred in two successful sitcoms, The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart. In the first, he played a Chicago psychologist and husband of Emily, played by co-star Suzanne Pleshette. In Newhart he played a Vermont Innkeeper with co-star, the late Mary Frann. |
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 Carol BurnettThe Carol Burnett Show is a sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967 to March 29, 1978 for 278 episodes, and originated from CBS Television City’s Studio 33 (later the Bob Barker studio for The Price is Right). |
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 Ernie KovacsErnie Kovacs was an American comedian whose uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his tragic, early death in an automobile accident. |
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 Fred AllenFred Allen was an American comedian whose absurdist, pointed radio show (1934–1949) made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the so-called classic era of American radio. In his last years he had a two-year stint as a panelist on the CBS quiz show What’s My Line? from 1954 until his death in 1956. |
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George Burns/Gracie Allen |
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 The HoneymoonersThe Honeymooners is a situation comedy produced by Jackie Gleason for CBS from 1955–56. It was based on characters developed by Jackie Gleason in 1951 and popularized in a series of sketches first performed on the successful variety show Cavalcade of Stars, and subsequently on The Jackie Gleason Show. |
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 I’ve Got A SecretI’ve Got a Secret is a weekly panel game show that was produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. It was created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill as a derivative of Goodson-Todman’s own panel show What’s My Line?. The original version of the show premiered in June 19, 1952 and ran until April 3, 1967. |
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 Jack BennyJack Benny was an American comedian, vaudeville performer, and radio, television, and film actor. Benny was known for his comic timing and his ability to get laughs with either a pregnant pause or a single expression, such as his signature exasperated “Well!” The television version of The Jack Benny Program, with a cast including Rochester, Dennis Day, Don Wilson, and Mary Livingston (Mrs. Benny) ran from October 28, 1950 to 1965. |
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 Jack PaarJack Paar had an impressive stint as a guest host on Jack Benny’s radio show which caught the attention of NBC officials, who eventually offered him his best known role as host of The Tonight Show. Paar was the program’s host from 1957 to 1962; after 1959 it was known as The Jack Paar Show. It became, on September 19, 1960, one of the first regularly scheduled videotaped programs in color. See other videos here: Jack Parr |
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 Lucille BallLucille Ball was an American, comedienne, actress, glamour girl and star of the landmark sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, and Here’s Lucy. Lucille Ball is one of America’s favorite stars and had one of Hollywood’s longest careers. She was a major movie star from the 1930s to the 1970s, and appeared on television for more than 30 years. |
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 Mary Tyler MooreMary Tyler Moore is an Academy Award-nominated and seven-time Emmy Award winning American actress and comedian, primarily known for her roles in sitcoms and television. Moore is perhaps best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30-something single woman who worked as a news producer at WJM-TV in Minneapolis, and for earlier playing “Laura” on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966). |
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 Steve AllenSteve Allen was an American musician, comedian and writer. As the first host of The Tonight Show, Allen was instrumental in innovating the concept of the television talk show, and is often called the father of television talk shows. The Tonight Show was quite a different show than under the succeeding hosts–with cast regulars such as Steve Lawrence and Edie Gormé, Tom Poston, and Louis Nye among others. |
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 What’s My Line?What’s My Line? is a weekly panel game show originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. The series debuted on Thursday, February 2, 1950 at 8:00 p.m. EST and aired on alternating weeks. On Wednesday, April 12, 1950, the broadcast was changed to alternate Wednesday evenings at 9:00 p.m. EST. On Sunday, October 1, 1950, CBS permanently moved the quiz show to Sunday at 10:30 p.m. EDT, finally airing weekly. The original series ran for eighteen seasons, ending its CBS run in 1967. |
