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Each week, the show opened with
Tallulah Bankhead subtly highlighting the high profile of the guests. Following her introduction, the guests would present themselves in alphabetical order, culminating with Bankhead's own distinctively raspy introduction, "And my name, darlings, is Tallulah Bankhead."
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Fred Allen, who often humorously referenced the decline of his own radio career, joined
Tallulah Bankhead to recreate one of the most memorable routines from Allen's previous show: the "Mr. and Mrs. Breakfast Show." This routine sharply parodied the overly sentimental husband-and-wife morning shows
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The early shows were successful, and the program remained on Sunday nights from 6:00 to 7:30 PM ET during its first season, later shifting to 6:30 to 8:00 PM ET in its second season. NBC made significant efforts to prevent the predicted decline of radio, viewing The Big Show as a crucial element in
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In the surviving episodes, including the first-season finale, Tallulah
Bankhead and her guests seamlessly navigate the comic banter and musical segments. Bankhead was supported by a top-tier musical director, Meredith Willson. The writing team, led by Fred Allen, included Frank Wilson, who adapted
200:
Tallulah
Bankhead: This is radio, 1950. The greatest stars of our time on one big program. And the most fabulous part about this, dahlings, is that every Sunday we will present other stars of the same magnitude. Ah, pardon me if I sound like a name dropper, but, ah, just listen to three or four of
299:
As recorded in her memoirs, Tallulah
Bankhead accepted the role on the show due to financial need. However, she almost reconsidered when she became concerned that her role would be limited to that of a glorified mistress of ceremonies, merely introducing the feature performers without substantial
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wasn't quite big enough to put television in its place and keep it there. NBC cancelled the show after two seasons and a reported loss of $ 1 million, a major figure in those years. In fact, it was primarily because the program was unable to attract more advertisers than those who sustained the
229:) But NBC says nothing is impossible. All it takes is courage, vision, and a king-sized bundle of dough. Each week, there will be comedy, drama, and music, all performed by the biggest stars of the time. Of course, dahlings, now and then a clinker may sneak in, but we're going to try.
714:. Tallulah Bankhead joined as one of the rotating hosts, bringing the comedy antics and musical variety of The Big Show to the screen. The television series debuted on October 11, 1952, featuring a guest lineup that included Groucho Marx, Ethel Barrymore,
221:) Well, now, don't just sit there with your mouths open, dahlings. I know what you're thinking: you think such a radio show every week is impossible. And I'm sure that, after you hear our first broadcast, you're going to say, "That show was impossible." (
583:. "It was just a more lavish, inflated revival of radio's earliest form—the variety showcase; you could almost hear the sequins." Yet Nachman admired the show, which he said was "as close to a Broadway show as radio could whip together each week."
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this endeavor. Newsweek described it as "the biggest bang to hit radio since TV started." Demonstrating the significant investment in the program, budgets for individual installments could reach as high as $ 100,000.
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You," a touch that proved sentimental but not saccharine. So did
Bankhead's likewise customary sign-off, wishing "Godspeed" to American armed forces around the world (who also listened to the program via the
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was not just grander than most radio shows—it was also wittier, smoothly produced, smart, and ambitious, with an interesting juxtaposition of guests, but it wasn't significantly different," wrote radio historian
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involvement. "Guess what happened?" she continued. "Your heroine emerged from the fracas as the Queen of the
Kilocycles. Authorities cried out that Tallulah had redeemed radio. In shepherding my charges through
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is remembered as one of the great final stands, at its best, of classic
American old-time radio and—for its wit, colorful music, and dramatics—as good as broadcast variety programming got on either medium.
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The show's success was credited to
Bankhead's notorious wit and ad-libbing ability in addition to the show's superior scripting. She had one of the funniest writers in the business on her staff:
296:, appeared so often they could have been the show's regular co-hosts) and Groucho Marx, both of whom appeared on the first season's finale and appeared jointly on three other installments.
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variety program featuring 90 minutes of comic, stage, screen, and music talent. It was aimed at keeping
American radio in its classic era and making it robust against the rapidly growing
595:'s death, was a particularly slam-bang tribute: a medley of Cohan musicals' signature songs), the show usually concluded with each guest taking a turn singing a line from music director
650:' Chesterfield cigarettes. The show's failure to pull the audience needed to keep it alive longer than two years might also have been due to the former NBC hits now nestling on rival
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premiere that Allen delivered his famous wisecrack about TV: "Television is a new medium, and I have discovered why it's called a new medium—because nothing is well done."
313:
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The show also featured many of the nation's most familiar radio stars, some of whom were beginning to shine on the medium the show was intended to help hold at bay:
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across the country an illustrated advertisement displaying headshots of Allen, Bankhead, Carson,Durante,e and Merman. The premiere opened with this introduction:
620:, contributed as well and is considered (at least by historian Nachman) to have been the show's unofficial script doctor. The show's announcers were
88:
premiered November 5, 1950, this ad, showing NBC's full evening schedule, ran in Sunday newspapers across the country. Here's how it looked in the
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The show's lineup, including Allen and Marx, was a literal "who's who" of American entertainment of the time. They included film stars
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Dee Englebach, producer of The Big Show, sought to replicate the radio program's success on television with
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movie scripts and short stories for the dramatic segments, as well as George Foster, Mort Greene, and
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to the fictitious Duffy's Tavern, where Ed Gardner, in character as Archie the manager, awaited them.
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Jimmy Durante: Just a minute, just a minute. I heard that last remark, and I resemble it!
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s November 26, 1950, installment, for example, took the cast of Bankhead, Fred Allen,
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Except for special tributes (the series premiere, coinciding with the anniversary of
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304:, said the critics, I had snatched radio out of the grave. The autopsy was delayed."
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that had become a radio staple a decade earlier. And it was on
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tide. The show ran from November 5, 1950, to April 20, 1952.
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Ace, Goodman. Interview with Richard Lamparski, WBAI, 1970.
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As promised, the second week's program featured the guests
192:. To make sure no one missed the launch, NBC ran in Sunday
803:"News of TV and Radio: Jerry Lester to Leave 'Open House'"
327:" character. She was a guest on the second installment of
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850:, page 35. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1991.
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Bankhead, Tallulah. New York: Harper & Row, 1952.
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news show, which aired from 1997 to 1998, was titled
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and, when it occasionally originated from Hollywood,
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In the spring of 1980, a 90-minute TV series titled
225:) Oh, no, that doesn't sound quite right, does it? (
547:Other shows in the radio universe were referenced.
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201:the names we've lined up for next week's show:
770:On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio
641:American Home Products/Whitehall Pharmacal's
319:'s illustration was used by NBC to promote
68:Learn how and when to remove this message
311:
79:
763:
927:
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286:, the mastermind of radio's legendary
858:. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1952.
848:Tallulah Bankhead: A Bio-Bibliography
915:Necrology of Old Radio Personalities
899:Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs:
411:; and jazz and popular music titans
24:
757:
616:. Fred Allen, a longtime friend of
529:The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
13:
682:Three 30-minute programs replaced
672:Edgar Bergen, and Charlie McCarthy
152:with a stellar line-up of guests:
40:tone or style may not reflect the
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865:. New York: Pantheon Books, 1998.
800:Lohman, Sidney (April 29, 1951).
745:The Big Show with Keith Olbermann
601:May the Good Lord Bless and Keep
135:
50:guide to writing better articles
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945:American variety radio programs
940:American comedy radio programs
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1:
935:1950s American radio programs
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698:at 6:30 p.m. E. T., and
387:; musical/comedy stage stars
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839:. New York: Doubleday, 1971.
96:). Clockwise from top left:
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909:Tallulah: A Passionate Life
692:at 6 p.m. Eastern Time and
148:began November 5, 1950, on
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920:OTR Actors and Their Roles
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700:You Can't Take It With You
606:Armed Forces Radio Service
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886:Old-Time Radio Collection
837:The Better of Goodman Ace
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731:. Nominated for several
140:Hosted by stage actress
695:The Amazing Mr. Malone
657:The Jack Benny Program
357:Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
332:
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846:Carrier, Jeffrey L.
331:(November 12, 1950).
94:Kingsport, Tennessee
90:Kingsport Times-News
16:For other uses, see
660:(directly opposite
648:Liggett & Myers
950:NBC radio programs
808:The New York Times
333:
317:David Stone Martin
176:, Russell Knight,
117:
861:Nachman, Gerald.
780:978-0-19-507678-3
702:at 7 p.m. E. T.
217:Pinnn-za! (
142:Tallulah Bankhead
106:Tallulah Bankhead
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42:encyclopedic tone
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907:Philip Oliver's
882:Internet Archive
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373:Martin and Lewis
353:Marlene Dietrich
190:Meredith Willson
124:was an American
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256:Hanley Stafford
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542:Paul Winchell,
524:Harriet Nelson
503:Duffy's Tavern
433:Billy Eckstine
409:Robert Merrill
403:; opera stars
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385:Gloria Swanson
381:George Sanders
361:Carmen Miranda
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812:. Retrieved
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534:Phil Silvers
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389:Eddie Cantor
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329:The Big Show
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272:Warner Bros.
264:DavidBrian,n
240:Groucho Marx
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211:Jane Powell,
203:Groucho Marx
182:Ethel Merman
158:Mindy Carson
146:The Big Show
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114:Ethel Merman
98:Mindy Carson
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86:The Big Show
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18:The Big Show
733:Emmy Awards
689:Dimension X
618:Goodman Ace
553:Jack Carson
512:Garry Moore
508:Phil Harris
349:Gary Cooper
325:Baby Snooks
321:Fanny Brice
284:Goodman Ace
252:Fanny Brice
248:Ezio Pinza,
244:Jane Powell
207:Fanny Brice
166:José Ferrer
929:Categories
786:2019-08-23
751:References
716:Ben Grauer
706:Television
637:RCA Victor
622:Ed Herlihy
544:and more.
516:Jan Murray
498:Ed Gardner
494:Joan Davis
471:Vaughan.
457:Édith Piaf
429:Perry Como
369:Sam Levene
308:Top talent
194:newspapers
178:Paul Lukas
154:Fred Allen
130:television
110:Fred Allen
870:Listen to
739:'s first
421:Peggy Lee
289:Easy Aces
274:picture,
268:John Agar
767:(1998).
365:Bob Hope
227:Laughter
223:Laughter
219:Laughter
880:in the
827:Sources
557:Ed Wynn
777:
674:. But
646:, and
644:Anacin
587:Finale
383:, and
741:MSNBC
520:Ozzie
469:Sarah
126:radio
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816:2023
775:ISBN
522:and
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