This is almost an hour long and if you have some yearning to watch the entire hour, click over here and view a larger image. This is the December 14, 1950 episode of Broadway Open House, an early TV series that is remembered largely as the forerunner of The Tonight Show.
The show debuted on May 29, 1950 and ran until August 24, 1951, airing at the then-unheard-of hour of 11 PM to Midnight. Networks in those days signed off early but the legendary Sylvester "Pat" Weaver at NBC thought the broadcast day (and therefore, his network's profits) could be expanded. It was all done live for about eleven dollars and most of the episodes I've seen are about as clumsy and cheap-looking as this one. Which is not to say they were not entertaining.
When the show was originally announced, its host was to be a comedian named Don "Creesh" Hornsby. Little is known about him except that he liked to yell "Creesh!" as a catch-phrase. Hey, it's still a funny word: Creesh. Next time you're in public, try shouting it over and over and see if you don't get big laughs.
Sadly, two weeks before debut date, "Creesh" Hornsby passed away. Some histories say it was a car accident. Some say it was polio. Whatever the cause, NBC had to scramble to replace him and they came up with two hosts — Morey Amsterdam and Jerry Lester — who alternated nights. After a while, Amsterdam went on to other projects and Lester took over his duties, abetted by a statuesque young lady named Dagmar. The big joke was that he was about as tall as her formidable bustline so when they stood together, guess where he was looking.
Lester was also aided by a constantly-changing stream of writers. Allan Sherman was briefly one. So was Stan Burns, who was later one of Steve Allen's main writers. If you make it to the end of this video, you'll see a credit for Danny and Doc Simon. Doc, of course, was later better known as Neil Simon.
I've seen a half-dozen of these and always found them fun, largely because of the tireless energy of Jerry Lester. He was like a guy hosting a party who was a little too determined to make sure no one didn't have a good time. He could sing, dance, tell jokes, do stunts, interview guests and even work in his own catch-word, which was "beanbag" — admittedly, not as witty as "creesh."
You probably won't make it through the whole thing but watch a little. This was about as polished as television got in 1950…
