|
Series
# |
Season
# |
Airdate |
Host
& Guests |
| 123 |
4-01 |
10/4/1953 |
Hosts:
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
Guest: Burt Lancaster, The Skylarks, Sidney Sillman,
Fay McKenzie, Peter Leeds, Eddie Ryder, Byron Kane, Marc Platt, Irving Kaye, Frankie
Branda, Suzanne Ames, Dona Cole, Dick Stabile and his Orchestra
Announcer:
Hal Sawyer
Note: Dean sings two songs, one on film ("You're the Right
One" from The Caddy) and one live ("That's Amore"). Variety
considered this Martin and Lewis offering "a good show but not from their
top section."
Buy
This Episode (paid link) |
| 124 |
4-02 |
10/11/1953 |
Host: Jimmy Durante
Guest: John
Wayne, Eddie Jackson, Jack Roth, Jules Buffano, Candy Candido, The Harold Stern
Strings, Roy Bargy and his Orchestra
Note: Jimmy Durante debuts as a Comedy
Hour host. He and guest John Wayne do a takeoff on Northwest Mountie thrillers. |
| 125 |
4-03 |
10/18/1953 |
Host:
Eddie Cantor
Guests: Jack Benny, Connie Russell, Billy Daniel, Sheldon Leonard,
Rex Ramer, Sandra Gould, Peter Leeds,Jack Boyle, Mike Ross, Al Goodman and his
Orchestra
Note: This episode is centered around the impending opening of The
Eddie Cantor Story. The show includes a tribute to comedian Willie Shore,
who was to have appeared but was killed in a car accident on October 17. This
was sort of a makeup for Jack Benny, who missed the June 7th episode due to illness.
Both TV Guide and The New York Times list Eddie Fisher as a guest,
but neither Variety nor UCLA (which has the actual kinescope) mention him. |
| 126 |
4-04 |
10/25/1953 |
Host:
Donald O'Connor
Guests: Lauren Bacall, Elaine Stewart, Joanne Gilbert, Sid
Miller, Tom D'Andrea and Hal March, Al Goodman and his Orchestra |
| 127 |
4-05 |
11/1/1953 |
Host:
Bud Abbott
Guests: Peggy Lee, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Gene Nelson, Jimmy
Thompson, Pat Horn, The Pied Pipers, Al Goodman and his Orchestra
Note: Both
Abbott and Costello were to host, but Costello fell ill the week before and wasn't
able to appear. In place of the team's skits, kinescopes were shown of their past
Comedy Hour performances. Martin and Lewis showed up to help out. |
| 128 |
4-06 |
11/8/1953 |
Host:
Jimmy Durante
Guests: Frank Sinatra, The Gay Tyroliers, Eddie Jackson, Jules
Buffano, Jack Roth, Jackie Barnett, Wanda Smith's Cover Girls, Jan Arvan, Hy Averback,
Charles Smith, Allen Henderson, The Mad Hatters, Roy Bargy and his Orchestra
Note: Jimmy sings "Start Each Day With a Song" and Frank sings "South
of the Border." |
| 129 |
4-07 |
11/15/1953 |
Host:
Martha Raye
Guests: Irene Dunne, Cesar Romero, Rocky Graziano
Note: At
the time of this episode, Martha Raye had a regular job hosting All
Star Revue once-a-month on Saturday nights (replacing the three-times-a-month
Your Show of Shows). Dubbed "the funniest femme on the teevee spectrum"
by Variety, the comedienne brings along regulars Romero and Graziano (who
plays her boyfriend). TV Guide lists Milton Berle as a guest, but The
New York Times and Variety do not. |
| 130 |
4-08 |
11/22/1953 |
Host:
Donald O'Connor
Guests: Ralph Bellamy, Corinne Calvet, Dorothy Dandridge,
Sid Miller, Jack Albertson, Snag Warris, Phil Carris, Al Goodman and his Orchestra
Note: This was the first and only color telecast of The Colgate Comedy Hour.
It was done as an experiment, as the new NTSC system developed by RCA (NBC's parent
company) hadn't yet been approved by the FCC. The show originated from the network's
Colonial Theatre in Manhattan. |
| 131 |
4-09 |
11/29/1953 |
Host:
Eddie Cantor
Guests: Frank Sinatra, Eddie Fisher, Brian Donlevy, Harold Arlen,
Connie Russell, The Debonaires, Al Goodman and his Orchestra
Note: Eddie,
Connie, and Frank join Harold Arlen for a medley of his songs. |
| 132 |
4-10 |
12/6/1953 |
Host: Jimmy Durante
Guests: Ethel
Merman, Eddie Jackson, Keye Luke
Note: Jimmy and Ethel do several duets, and
Ethel solos on the fugue from Call Me Madam. |
| 133 |
4-11 |
12/13/1953 |
Host: Perry Como
Guests: Martha
Raye, Ben Blue, Mike Mazurki, The Fontane Sisters
Note: Abbott and Costello
were originally scheduled to host this week, but with Costello still ailing, Perry
Como stepped in to substitute. |
| 134 |
4-12 |
12/20/1953 |
Host:
Donald O'Connor
Guests: Charles Coburn, Sid Miller, Scatman Crothers, Jana
Mason, Donna O'Connor (Donald's daughter), the Rose Bowl Queen and her court,
Al Goodman and his Orchestra |
| 135 |
4-13 |
12/27/1953 |
Host:
Eddie Cantor
Guests: Jimmy Durante, Donald O'Connor, Dennis Day, Connie Russell,
George Gobel, Billy Daniels, Al Goodman and his Orchestra
Note: This is a
"year-end salute to show business," with a couple of Eddie's fellow
Comedy Hour hosts along for the ride. |
| 136 |
4-14 |
1/3/1954 |
Host:
Jimmy Durante
Guests: Paul Douglas, Eartha Kitt |
| 137 |
4-15 |
1/10/1954 |
Hosts:
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
Guests: The Modernaires, Franklin Pangborn, Duke
Art Jr., Birdie Brickerbrack, Dick Stabile and his Orchestra
Note: Dean sings
"That's Amore," "Pretty Baby," and "It's Easy to Remember,"
and The Modernaires deliver "Crazy Man, Crazy." |
| 138 |
4-16 |
1/17/1954 |
Part
1 - Guests: Alan Young, Stan Freberg, Frank Sinatra, acrobats Chiquita and Johnson
Part 2 - Bing Crosby Pro-Amateur Golf Tourney from Pebble Beach, CA; Guests:
Lloyd Mangrum, Dean Martin, Phil Harris, Don Sherry; golfers Jimmy Demaret, Dutch
Harrison (winner of the tourney), Peter Haig, Bud Ward, Doug Ford; baseball players
Jerry Pretty, Ralph Kiner, Lefty O'Doul
Note: Lou Costello had not yet recovered
from his illness, so this unusual format was substituted. Variety called
it "a mishmash of vaudeo and sports that looked like a carbon of Toast
of the Town without any of the latter's class." |
| 139 |
4-17 |
1/24/1954 |
Host: Ethel Merman
Guests: Jimmy
Durante, Gene Nelson, pianists Felix De Cola and Benno Rubinyi, Jan Arvan, Sid
Marion, Al Goodman and his Orchestra
Announcer: Hal Sawyer
Note: Ethel
sings "I Got Rhythm" and duets with Jimmy on "When You're Smiling."
In a Paris sequence, Ethel plays a tourist and sings "I Love Paris"
and "C'est Magnifique" At the end of the show, Ethel is presented with
a Golden Globe award for her work in the film Call Me Madam. With
this episode, Pete Barnum replaces Sam Fuller as executive producer. Ethel uses
Jimmy's production staff. |
| 140 |
4-18 |
1/31/1954 |
Host:
Eddie Cantor
Guests: Groucho Marx; Wally Cox; Connie Russell; Billy Daniel;
Ricky Vera; Ida Cantor; Marilyn Cantor; Jesse, James and Cornell
Note: Eddie
brings his wife and daughter along for a celebration of his 62nd birthday. |
| 141 |
4-19 |
2/7/1954 |
Host:
Jimmy Durante
Guests: Tallulah Bankhead, Carol Channing, Eddie Jackson
Note: Wearing a black wig, Jimmy conducts an all-girl orchestra, with Tallulah
and Carol as vocalists. |
| 142 |
4-20 |
2/14/1954 |
Host:
Donald O'Connor
Guests: Beatrice Kay, George Prentice, Scatman Crothers, Sid
Miller
Note: This episode, O'Connor's last for The Comedy Hour, features
the entertainer's Las Vegas night club revue. RCA Vice President John West presents
Donald with the Emmy award he won three days before. |
| 143 |
4-21 |
2/21/1954 |
Host:
Gene Wesson
Guests: Sonja Henie, Abbott and Costello, Keefe Braselle, The
Jud Conlon Singers, Norman Abbott, Carolyn Jones, Joyce Jameson, Mike Ross, Glenn
Strange, Will J. White, Al Goodman and his Orchestra
Announcer: Hal Sawyer
Note: This was Lou Costello's first appearance on the show since his illness.
He does a sketch with Bud in which he encounters both Frankenstein's monster (Glenn
Strange reprising his role from A&C Meet Frankenstein) and the Creature
From the Black Lagoon. In one of her earliest TV roles, Carolyn Jones appears
in a sketch about what would happen if coffee were outlawed. Keefe Braselle played
the title role in The Eddie Cantor Story. |
| 144 |
4-22 |
2/28/1954 |
"Anything
Goes"
Guests: Ethel Merman, Frank Sinatra, Bert Lahr, Sheree North, Arthur
Gould-Porter, Al Goodman and his Orchestra
Note: This is an adaptation of
a Broadway musical that opened in 1935 and starred Ethel Merman. It was written
by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse and featured songs by Cole Porter. The producer
of this version is Jule Styne, and the executive producer is Leland Hayward. |
| 145 |
4-23 |
3/7/1954 |
Host:
Eddie Cantor
Guests: Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Jack Palance, Brandon
de Wilde, Eddie Fisher, Billy Daniel, Al Goodman and his Orchestra
Note: Guests
Hepburn, Holden, Palance, and de Wilde were winners of the annual Look
Motion Picture Achievement Awards. Awards to Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra were
cut when the show ran over. |
| 146 |
4-24 |
3/14/1954 |
Host:
Jimmy Durante
Guests: Eddie Cantor, Robert Montgomery, Patrice Munsel, Marion
Colby, Eddie Jackson, Jules Buffano, Jack Roth, Roy Bargy and his Orchestra
Note: Durante presents his original opera Inka Dinka Doo. He and Cantor
switch roles in a "Maxi the Taxi" type segment where Jimmy plays the
driver. |
| 147 |
4-25 |
3/21/1954 |
Hosts:
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
Guests: Les Paul and Mary Ford, dancers Janik
and Arnaut, Fred Darian, The Pied Pipers, Veola Vonn, Norman Abbott, Helen Eby-Rock,
Evelyn Russell, Harry Mendoza, Danny Richards Jr., Al Goodman and his Orchestra
Note: This was Lou Costello's first appearance as host since his illness.
Buy
This Episode (paid link) |
| |
|
3/28/1954 | Pre-empted
by The General Foods Anniversary Show, featuring highlights from Rodgers
and Hammerstein shows |
| 148 |
4-26 |
4/4/1954 | Host:
Eddie Cantor
Guests: Acrobatic dancers Chiquita and Johnson, Connie Russell,
Billy Daniel, tenor Manolo Mera, Ricky Vera
Note: This episode featured The
Eddie Cantor Follies of 1954. |
| 149 |
4-27 |
4/11/1954 | Host:
Jimmy Durante
Guests: Liberace, Marilyn Maxwell, Ben Wrigley, Eddie Jackson,
George Liberace |
| 150 |
4-28 |
4/18/1954 |
Hosts: Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
Guests: Jane Russell, Rhonda Fleming, Connie Haines, Beryl Davis, Tony Martinez,
Baby Mistin, Nestor Paiva, Benny Rubin, Jim Hayward, Dick Parks, Frank Richards,
Mike Ross, Jack Shea, Ken Mayer, Donna Kaye, Bobby Barber, Al Goodman and his
Orchestra
Announcer: Hal Sawyer
Note: Bud and Lou tangle with the government
of "Bolomania."
Buy
This Episode (paid link) |
| 151 |
4-29 |
4/25/1954 | "The
Ice Capades of 1954"
Guests: Donna Atwood, Bobby Specht, Herb Shriner,
the Old Smoothies, Jackson and Lynam, the Maxsons, Sonya Kaye, Forgie and Larson,
Helen Davidson, Paul Castle
Note: This episode originated from the Will Rogers
Memorial Coliseum in Ft. Worth, TX. |
| 152 |
4-30 |
5/2/1954 | Hosts:
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
Guests: Dick Humphreys, Gretchen Houser, The Treniers,
Marvin Seed, Robert Carson, Frances Farwell, Helen Eby-Rock, Henry Slate, John
Harmon, Charles Williams, Bobby Fain
Announcer: Hal Sawyer
Note: Dean
and Jerry celebrate their 8th anniversary as a team and recount how they first
met.
Buy
This Episode (paid link) |
| 153 |
4-31 |
5/9/1954 | Host:
Jimmy Durante
Guests: Shelley Winters, Eddie Jackson, Linda the trapeze star,
Kirkman the magician, Pansy the horse, stilt walker Harold De Garro, juggler Wally
Blair, Art Larue and his dogs, George Perkins and his crazy car
Note: In this
circus-themed episode, Durante's last for The Comedy Hour, Jimmy plays
a clown in love with Shelley the lion tamer. |
| 154 |
4-32 |
5/16/1954 | Host:
Eddie Cantor
Guests: Milton Berle; Eddie Fisher; Connie Russell; Andre, Andree
and Bonnie
Note: Eddie Cantor uses his final Comedy Hour to celebrate
and reminisce about his 45 years in show business. Eddie Fisher sings Young
at Heart and Green Years; Connie sings My Man. |
| 155 |
4-33 |
5/23/1954 | Hosts:
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
Guests: Hoagy Carmichael, Peggy Lee, Ricky Vera,
The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra, The Pied Pipers, Peter Leeds
Note: Peggy sings
"Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" and "Johnny Guitar."
Sauter and Finegan perform "Midnight Sleigh Ride" and "Holiday."
Buy
This Episode (paid link) |
| 156 |
4-34 |
5/30/1954 |
Hosts: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis
Guests: The Skylarks, Tom Ache-Latt, Sylvia Nift, Barney Holton, Phil Seatcover,
The Nick Castle Dancers, Mary Ellen Kay, Byron Kane, Paul Power, Dick Stabile
and his Orchestra
Note: Variety
thought the music in this outing was superior to the comedy sketches. The boys
do "That's Entertainment" (with special lyrics by Sammy Cahn) and "A
Shine on Your Shoes" from The Bandwagon and "Every Street's a
Boulevard In Old New York" and "Money Burns a Hole in My Pocket"
from their upcoming musical film Living It Up. In one sketch, Dean is a
newlywed and Jerry an annoying bellboy, and in another, Dean runs a lonely hearts
club with Jerry as a new member (and Dean's uncle Leonard Barr in a bit part).
Jerry goes it alone when he conducts The Skylarks singing "Danny Boy."
Vocalist Fran Warren appears in a filmed Halo Shampoo commercial. |
|
|
| | Replaced
for the summer by The Colgate Summer Comedy Hour |
|
