Here's a find. From January of '64 until May of '65, NBC had a show in prime time called That Was the Week That Was. It was a half-hour of topical comedy done live out of New York and it was the Americanized version of a popular British show which also involved David Frost in a producing and hosting capacity. The show was a critical favorite but not hugely popular and during the '64 presidential election, it was sabotaged.
Like most good political humor, it had a liberal bent and during that election, the Republican National Committee didn't like the jokes about its candidate, Barry Goldwater. So week after week, the R.N.C. or allied organizations would buy the half-hour to air paid political ads, keeping TW3 (the show's nickname) off the air. You can't do that today but you could then. The show literally did not air for weeks.
I remember it was a great show filled with New York (and Broadway) talent including at times along with Mr. Frost, Henry Morgan, Buck Henry, Alan Alda, Elliot Reid, some amazing guest stars and the "TW3 Girl," Nancy Ames, who sang the theme each week with sharp, topical lyrics. Tom Lehrer wrote and occasionally performed songs and puppeteer Burr Tillstrom, who'd been responsible for Kukla, Fran and Ollie, did these odd "hand ballets" which were like puppet shows with no puppets on mostly-serious topics.
If you're thinking, "Hey, I'd like to see a couple of episodes of that"…well, you can't. They don't seem to exist. In the early eighties when a pilot was made to try and bring it back on ABC, I was asked to write on it and while I ended up opting for another project, I did get to meet David Frost and heard him cursing — as he apparently did often — the geniuses who'd bulk-erased all the old tapes.
But we have here a video made from a recording of the audio track from one episode, the one from June 19. 1964. The cast includes Frost, Alda, Reid, Tillstrom, Phyllis Newman, Tom Bosley and the singer you'll hear at the opening is Nancy Ames. Lacking the visual, you won't get all the jokes but you'll get a feeling for the energy of the show and the tone…and remember it was done live. Give a listen…