The Victor Borge Show is a 30-minute American variety television program that was broadcast live on NBC from February 3, 1951, to June 30, 1951.[1] It was sponsored by Kellogg.[2]
Premise
editThe program starred Victor Borge, an "internationally known pianist and comic interpreter of music".[3] Episodes usually included Borge's playing both a straight concert piece and a humorous interpretation. The Phil Engalls Orchestra provided musical support. Episodes also included guest stars who performed and chatted with Borge.[3]
Perry Lafferty was the director, with Borge, Eddie Lawrence, and Max Wilk as writers. The program was a mid-season replacement for the Hank McCune Show. Its network competitors were Hollywood Theatre Time on ABC and The Sam Levenson Show on CBS.[4] It was replaced by Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.[5]
A review in the trade publication Billboard said: "This is not a program which produces multitudes of belly laughs. But it is filled with sly good humor and clever satire."[2]
Problems
editBorge "was better in guest spots than having his own show."[6] Lafferty said years later that trying to convert Borge's talented, but specialized, skills into a TV program "was the hardest thing in my career."[4] Lawrence and Wilk managed to create new routines each week even though, as Lafferty said, "Borge fought everything we tried to do."[4] One of the skits had Borge encountering difficulty trying to play a song, but other people walked in and played it perfectly.[4]
Radio
editBorge's television series was preceded by The Victor Borge Show on radio.[7] Four versions of the program were broadcast on network radio.
| Starting Date | Ending Date | Length | Network | Sponsor | Orchestra |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 8, 1943 | July 9, 1943 | 15 minutes | Blue | ||
| July 3, 1945 | September 25, 1945 | 30 minutes | NBC | Johnson's Wax | Billy Mills Orchestra |
| September 9, 1946 | June 30, 1947 | 30 minutes | NBC | Socony Oil | Benny Goodman Orchestra |
| January 1, 1951 | June 1, 1951 | 5 minutes | Mutual | Kellogg | |
| October 1, 1951 | December 28, 1951 | 5 minutes | ABC | Kellogg |
Source: On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio[8]
References
edit- ^ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 884. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
- ^ a b Chase, Sam (February 24, 1951). "Television-Radio Reviews: Victor Borge show" (PDF). Billboard. p. 8. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
- ^ a b Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle F. (24 June 2009). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Random House Publishing Group. p. 1470. ISBN 978-0-307-48320-1. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Hyatt, Wesley (6 October 2015). Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops. McFarland. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-4766-0515-9. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ "Network Accounts" (PDF). Television Digest. July 14, 1951. p. 9. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
- ^ Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America. Psychology Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-415-93853-2. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ Barkan, Elliott Robert (2001). Making it in America: A Sourcebook on Eminent Ethnic Americans. ABC-CLIO. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-57607-098-7. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ Dunning, John (7 May 1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. pp. 702–703. ISBN 978-0-19-984045-8. Retrieved November 2, 2021.