"Today" Show Reunites Family Sitcoms Next Week

Tune in next week for the Today show's reunions with Eight Is Enough (Monday, March 1), The Partridge Family (Tuesday, March 2), and 227 (Thursday, March 4). Under the banner Great TV Families Reunited, such stars as Dick Van Patten, Shirley Jones, and Marla Gibbs will take to the Today show stage to reminisce about their classic TV shows.

"Your Show of Shows" 60th Anniversary

Sixty years ago today Your Show of Shows debuted, creating a blueprint for American TV sketch comedy to come. The forerunner of such shows as The Carol Burnett Show and Saturday Night Live, Your Show of Shows is a touchstone of the kind of programming for which the Golden Age of Television is known.

Following the demise of the short-lived 1949 series Admiral Broadway Revue, many of the talents from that show were assembled to make up Your Show of Shows, including producer Max Liebman, writers Mel Tolkin and Lucille Kallen; and stars Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Additionally, such stars as Carl Reiner and Howard Morris and such writers as Mel Brooks and Neil Simon contributed to the show's legendary behind-the-scenes and in-front-of-the camera chemistry. Memorable sketches include the Bavarian "Clock" that goes awry with the performers as mechanical figures; "This Is Your Story" a take-off of "This Is Your Life" with an unforgettable Howard Morris as "Uncle Goopy"; the recurring Professor sketch with Carl Reiner interviewing Sid Caesar's eminent expert; and the movie parodies, such as "From Here to Obscurity" a send-up of "For Here to Eternity" in which Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca are splashed by the waves as they lay on the beach.

Not to be forgotten is that in addition to the famed comedy sketches, Your Show of Shows, as a variety series, also employed the considerable talents of such regulars as singer Bill Hayes and choreographer James Starbuck (working with such talents as Bambi Linn & Rod Alexander and Marge & Gower Champion).

"My view of comedy is you have to believe what the [performers] are doing. You have to believe it, so you can laugh. Because if it's off the wall, you'll laugh one time. If they can't follow the story, and they don't believe it, they lose interest. Even though it's a comedy. So they have to believe you, [as if] you're doing a drama. It's a funny drama. You don't know it's funny. The fun is that you don't know it's funny. Let the audience find out." — Sid Caesar

The Archive of American Television interviewed many of the contributors to Your Show of Shows including Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, and Marge Champion; and late greats Lucille Kallen, Mel Tolkin, and Howard Morris. Check out the Archive's curated Your Show of Shows page (with links to Caesar's other "live" series: Admiral Broadway Revue and Caesar's Hour) to watch reminiscences of these interviewees on this classic series.

Jack Benny Puts Up His Own Money

Jack Benny was pained to part with his money. So ingrained was this part of the Jack Benny persona that on his radio program, among his biggest laughs came when a robber held him up demanding "Your money or your life?" prompting a long pause from Benny... who finally said "I'm thinking it over!"

In the 1950s, when Benny's popular radio show made the transition to TV (where it had a fifteen year run), audiences were well aware of Benny's penchant for stinginess. So his appearance on quiz show The $64,000 Question was especially popular.

But equally funny was the follow-up to Benny's quiz show stint, when $64,000 Question host Hal March returned the favor by guest-starring on The Jack Benny Program. The twist? March would participate in Benny's version of The $64,000 Question... with Benny putting up his own money! The result was a very funny, very memorable show (March is quite a sport, as you'll see). Watch Archive interviewee Irving Fein (Benny's longtime manager) talk about Benny's initial appearance on The $64,000 Question, plus an embed of the Jack Benny episode itself at the Archive's page for The Jack Benny Program: "Hal March Show."

Look also for Benny's visit from his "fan club" president and secretary who answer a burning question they have about Benny's hair.

David Canary Retiring from "All My Children" in April

Daytime Emmy-winner David Canary, who has played one of soap's most famous dual roles-- twin brothers Adam & Stuart Chandler on All My Children-- is retiring from the series after a 27-year run. Canary is also known for two primetime '60s TV classics: western Bonanza (playing ranch foreman Candy Canaday) and primetime soap Peyton Place (as Dr. Russ Gehring).

David Canary was interviewed by the Archive of American Television on July 19, 2004 and his interview is now available on EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG

Interview Description:
David Canary was interviewed for two hours plus in New York, NY. Canary spoke in great detail about the daytime soap opera All My Children and the dual role for which he is most well known, the twins “Stuart and Adam Chandler.” He described the challenges of playing the roles and how the show has changed over the years. Canary also talked about his significant work as a regular on primetime’s Peyton Place and Bonanza,, as well as the soap Another World. For Bonanza, he described the production, significant episodes featuring his character “Candy Canaday,” and working with the regular cast. He also detailed guest roles on such series as Gunsmoke. The interview was conducted by Connie Passalaqua.

New Archive Newsletter

The first of the Archive of American Television's quarterly newsletters is out. If you'd like to be on our mailing list, enter your e-mail information in the box on the right column of our homepage.

"Tonight Show" Walk Out

Long before the Conan O'Brien-Jay Leno hubbub of the last several weeks, there was a much more famous and dramatic exit of a Tonight Show host: Jack Paar.

Fifty years ago today, following his monologue, Jack Paar walked out on The Tonight Show (with his tearful utterance: "...there must be a better way of making a living than this"). Paar had been angered over a joke that had been "bleeped" by the network and on February 11, 1960 announcer Hugh Downs was left to contend with the hosting duties. A few weeks later, Jack Paar returned to the show and remained until 1962.

Hugh Downs talks extensively about this infamous moment in television history in his Archive of American Television interview (in chapter four), his conversation with Paar before it happened and Downs' reaction when it was happening.

"They showed a shot of me looking astonished and I explained to the audience why I looked astonished because I didn't know he was going to leave when he left. I knew he was going to leave, but I didn't know how soon."

Audio of Paar's walk out speech as posted on You Tube:

The Archive of American Television Presents: "Orson Welles King Lear" Debuts on DVD

The Archive of American Television Presents: King Lear features a "live" TV production of Orson Welles in the title role, in a 1953 Omnibus production directed by Peter Brook. In reviewing the show Variety raved: "Welles scored a notable triumph [and] on an equal level of attainment was Peter Brook's highly imaginative and fluid staging of the production."

Here's a preview:

"Days of Our Lives" Matriarch Frances Reid Has Died

Frances Reid, who played "Alice Horton" on Days of Our Lives from its inception in 1965, has died at the age of 95. She also starred in the soap opera Portia Faces Life in 1954 and was an early cast member of the long-running soap As the World Turns. Reid was awarded a Daytime Emmy for Lifetime Achievement in 2004.

Frances Reid was interviewed by the Archive of American Television on August 13, 2003. Her one-and-a-half hour Archive interview is currently available online.



Interview Description:
Frances Reid talked about her early career working in live television, and her first experiences working on daytime dramas, on programs such as Portia Faces Life and As the World Turns. She described in detail her longtime role as matriarch "Alice Horton" on the daytime drama Days of Our Lives. She discussed her many co-stars throughout the years on the show, notably Macdonald Carey, who portrayed her character's husband "Tom Horton." Reid explained the production process on a daytime drama, and touched on some of the memorable storylines featured on the show throughout the years. Finally, she briefly described her involvement in the actors union AFTRA.

The Best Sitcom Episode of All-Time

The credo of a clown— 'A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants'
— Chuckles the Clown

Voted at one time the #1 best TV episode by TV Guide* and also the #1 ranked sitcom episode in TV Land To Go: The Big Book of TV Lists, TV Lore, and TV Bests, the classic Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust" makes its DVD debut today (with The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Complete Sixth Season).


The October 25, 1975 episode was in the black comedy vein, as the WJM newsroom finds it hard not find amusement in the unfortunate death of kiddie-show host "Chuckles the Clown," who, dressed like 'Peter Peanut' in a parade, was "shelled" by a rogue elephant. The one holdout among the bemused staffers is Mary Richards, that is, until the most inopportune time to get the giggles...

The Archive of American Television has interviewed the co-creators of The Mary Tyler Moore Show— James L. Brooks and Allan Burns— as well as several of the main cast members, including Mary Tyler Moore and Edward Asner, who fondly recall this classic TV episode, newly posted on the Archive's "Chuckles Bites the Dust" show page.

* In a more recent polling, TV Guide listed "Chuckles" as the #3 TV episode (following Seinfeld's "The Contest" and The Sopranos' "College")

"Andy Griffith Show" Producer Aaron Ruben Has Died

Aaron Ruben, who produced The Andy Griffith Show and was Emmy-nominated for Sanford and Son, has died at the age of 95. Ruben began his career as a writer in radio, transitioning to television with series and specials that included Caesar's Hour; in his early career he also directed for television, notably for The Phil Silvers Show. One of his last producing credits was the sitcom Too Close for Comfort. In his later years, Ruben was a court appointed children's advocate.

Aaron Ruben was interviewed by the Archive of American Television on February 25, 1999. His four-and-a-half hour Archive interview is currently available to view online.

"I'm certainly proud to have been at the beginnings of The Andy Griffith Show. Andy gives me more credit than I deserve because he's quoted about how I set the style for that show. I don't know. I'm just glad I was there and was an important part of the structuring of the show. I nurtured it and nursed it and I thought I took really good care of it. It was five of the best years of my life in the business."

Interview Description
Aaron Ruben was interviewed for four-and-a-half hours in Beverly Hills, CA. Ruben discussed his start as a radio writer for many popular stars including Dinah Shore, Burns and Allen, Fred Allen, Henry Morgan, and Milton Berle. He talked about the first time he worked in television on The Sam Levenson Show with Selma Diamond, and his television directorial debut on The Phil Silvers Show. He spoke about his transition to producing, starting with the now-classic series The Andy Griffith Show. Mr. Ruben talked about other television shows he produced including Gomer Pyle, USMC; Sanford and Son; CPO Sharkey; and Matlock.