Television, the new upstart in entertainment, was still struggling to make inroads into the marketplace in 1950, but radio executives were clearly worried. Prices of television sets were coming down, and new TV stations were coming online all across the country.
By the end of the year, there would be more than 100 licensed Television broadcasters around the nation, and more than 3 million receivers.
While radio was still the main source of in-home entertainment in the United States, radio executives saw Television as a major threat, and at NBC they decided to do something to combat it.
They decided to put on a really big show.
And they chose the `glamorous and unpredictable' Tallulah Bankhead to be mistress of ceremonies, along with Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa, who would share in the hosting duties.
Clockwise from top left: Mindy Carson, Jimmy Durante, Tallulah Bankhead, Fred Allen and Ethel Merman (from the Wikipedia)
Tallulah Bankhead, for those who may not remember her, was an established star of stage, and movies, and a familiar voice on the radio.
Her best known film performance was probably in Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944), which garnered her an Academy Award nomination. She was reportedly David Selznick's first choice to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind, but she did not photograph well in technicolor and was considered a bit long in the tooth for the part.
Much of her professional success came on the Broadway stage, in plays like The Little Foxes and Noel Coward's Private Lives. But she was most famous, perhaps, for being a personality and a notorious bon vivant.
Her outrageous personality, quick wit, and distinctive southern accent made her a natural for the radio, even if she gave the censors a heart attack every time she opened her mouth.
Once heard, she was rarely forgotten. She would, however, only host the first season of The Big Show.
When it premiered in November of 1950, The Big Show was radio's biggest weekly extravaganza. It featured the top musical, comedic, and dramatic stars of the era - and it ran for 90 minutes every Sunday night.
It was the most ambitious radio series ever made with an astounding budget of up to $100,000 per show.
Although Television would eventually conspire to kill it, while it lasted . . . it was glorious.
Tallulah Bankhead received national acclaim for her role as hostess, and for her performances in comedy routines, musical numbers, and dramatic scenes. The critics loved her.
But the public was enamored with the box with the moving pictures. The Big Show may have been a critical success, but not a financial one. After two years, and a loss of 1 million dollars, NBC pulled the plug.
Radio drama would continue throughout the 1950's, but its days were numbered. Most successful radio shows had a counterpart on television. Gunsmoke, Dragnet, Have Gun-Will Travel . . . radio successes, true.
But bigger yet on TV.
We are fortunate to have roughly two dozen of The Big Shows available.
The Wikipedia lists some of the guests as: Ethel Barrymore, Charles Boyer, Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Carmen Miranda, Bob Hope, Martin and Lewis, Ginger Rogers, George Sanders, and Gloria Swanson; musical/comedy stage stars Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, Judy Holliday and Gordon MacRae, Louis Armstrong, Rosemary Clooney, Perry Como, Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, the Ink Spots, Frankie Laine, Judy Garland, Edith Piaf, Frank Sinatra, Rudy Vallee and Sarah Vaughan.
And for those of us who remember, and love, those old stars of yester-year. These shows are a genuine treasure.
Fred Allen, Jimmy Durante
21 MB
Groucho Marx, Fanny Brice
21 MB
Eddie Cantor, Mindie Carson
21 MB
Fred Allen, Ed Wynn, Jack Carson
21 MB
Fred Allen, Phil Silvers
22 MB
Clifton Webb, Jimmy Durante
21 MB
Bob Hope, Phil Harris
21 MB
Jimmy Durante, Robert Merrill
21 MB
Vivian Blaine, Jose Ferrer
21 MB
Fred Allen, Danny Thomas
21 MB
Louis Calhern, Jack Carter
21 MB
Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa
21 MB
Ray Bolger, Gary Cooper
21 MB
Fred Allen, Robert Cummings
21 MB
Groucho Marx, Judy Garland
21 MB
Fred Allen, Jack Carson
21 MB
Jack Haley, Paul Kelly
21 MB
Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa
21 MB
Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa
21 MB
Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa
21 MB
Judy Holliday, Carmen Miranda
21 MB
Groucho Marx, Bob Hope
21 MB
Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa
42 MB
Eddie Cantor, Jack Carson
21 MB
Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa
21 MB
Jimmy Durante, Milton Berle
21 MB
Fred Allen, Portland Hoffa
21 MB
George Sanders, Bea Lillie
14 MB
Richard Eatham, Joe Frisco
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