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Where’s Potsie?Happy Days was a great show. No, not THAT Happy Days. We’re talking about the 1970 variety show. Louis Nye hosted this summer series with regulars Bob and Ray, Chuck McCann, and the Happy Days Singers. Special guests included Duke Ellington, and filmed interviews with Edward G. Robinson, George Raft, and Charles Laughton.
Who played this guy?
The Invisible Man was a show from England that ran on CBS for two years. Not to be confused with the 1970’s version with David McCallum, this version had an actor who was never seen at all. He was either concealed in bandages or only heard. The producers kept his real identity a secret. It remains a secret to this day.
Tough Time Slot
The Johns Hopkins Science Review ran for eight years on the Dumont Network. It dealt with health and science issues such as cancer, baby feeding, and X-rays. The competition was fierce. It ran against Milton Berle, Break the Bank, Arthur Godfrey and Dragnet
The Singing Sergeants From the people who brought you the Korean War…
In an effort to drum up recruits, the United States military had it’s own show called the Armed Forces Hour. Entertainment was provided by the Navy Dance Band and the Singing Sergeants.
Pick a Rhumba
Dance instruction was the main focus of this 1946 entry. The featured dance was the “Ranchero” and the series was called Let’s Rhumba
Yul Brynner in the stage version of The King and I Yes, Siam
Yul Brynner reprised his role of the King of Siam in Anna and the King. Based on the popular Broadway show, The King and I, this sitcom lasted only four months.
Little Big Show
Someone thought that a good idea for a show would be a western about General Custer. It didn’t last. Custer bit the dust in 13 weeks.
Game Show for Dummies
Famed ventriloquist, Edgar Bergen hosted Do You Trust Your Wife?, an early Newlywed Game prototype. Johnny Carson would eventually replace Bergen as host, bringing along his own dummy, Ed McMahon. (Sorry Mr. McMahon, we couldn’t resist)
We’ll Always Have Paris in Reruns
Movies have always been an inspiration for television. The movie Casablanca, however, seems almost too sacred to fool with. So it seems odd that Casablanca became a TV in 1955. Odder still was the scheduling. It was seen every three weeks on ABC.
Mime Me a Tune
Dotty Mack was a popular show that lasted for three years, first on Dumont and then on ABC. The players would mime to popular music. Sometimes they would use puppets.
Put me Under, Quick!
The first, and possibly the only, hypnosis show on television, The Amazing Polgar, was a ten minute show that aired for less than a month. Apparently, the audience was getting sleepy.
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