The Steve Allen Show
| The Steve Allen Show | |
|---|---|
| Genre | variety show |
| Starring | Steve Allen |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC, ABC |
| Release | June 24, 1956 – December 27, 1961 |
The Steve Allen Show was an award-winning U.S. television variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, and from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC.[1].
The show won a Peabody Award in 1958 for its "genuine humor and frank experiments" during a year when most shows were "conspicuously lacking" such elements.[2]
The show launched the careers of cast members Don Knotts, Tom Poston, Louis Nye, Pat Harrington Jr., and Bill Dana.[1] The show's most popular sketch was the "Man on the street" which featured Knotts as the nervous Mr. Morrison, Poston as the man who could not remember his own name, Harrington as Italian golf player Guido Panzini, Nye as the smug Gordon Hathaway, and Dana as José Jiménez.[1] Hathaway's greeting of "Hi Ho Steverino!" became a catchphrase[1][3] as did Jimenez's "My name José Jiménez."[4] Dayton Allen also appeared in the sketch and spawned the catchphrase "Whyyyyy not?"[5] Gabe Dell, previously a member of The Bowery Boys, was also a cast member. Gene Rayburn was the show's announcer and Skitch Henderson was the bandleader.[1]
Although Allen had a personal disdain for rock and roll,[6] the show featured numerous rock and roll artists in their earliest TV appearances. The show presented Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Louis Jordan & The Tympany Five, The Treniers, The Collins Kids, and a very young Frank Zappa performing music using bicycle as an instrument.
After being cancelled by NBC in 1960, the show returned in 1961 on ABC. Nye, Poston, Harrington, Dell, and Dayton Allen returned. New cast members were Joey Forman, Buck Henry, The Smothers Brothers, Tim Conway, and Allen's wife, Jayne Meadows. The new version was cancelled after fourteen episodes.[1]
Kinescopes of the NBC version were rerun on Comedy Central in the early 1990's hosted by Allen.
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f The Steve Allen Show from the Museum of Broadcast Communications
- ^ Winners Archive Search from the Peabody Awards website
- ^ "Louis Nye, 92; Comedian Coined Phrase 'Hi-Ho, Steverino' During Appearances on 'Steve Allen Show'". Los Angeles Times. 2005-10-11. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Thompson, Robert (2002). "Bill Dana". St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. Gale Group.
- ^ Associated Press (2004-11-18). "Dayton Allen, 85, Cartoon Voice Actor, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Austen, Jake, TV A-Go-Go: Rock on TV from American Bandstand to American Idol (2005), p.13
External links
 | This article about a television show originating in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |