The Ad-Libbers
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The Ad-Libbers
''The Ad-Libbers'' is a CBS comedy sketch game show that began on August 3, 1951, and ended on September 1, 1951, as a summer replacement for '' Mama''. Format Home viewers were invited to send in story ideas. The host would read the story outline to the performers, who would then attempt to ad-lib dialogue to fit the story. Cast The show was hosted by Peter Donald. Regulars included Jack Lemmon, Charles Mendick, Patricia Housley, Joe Silver, Earl Hammond and Cynthia Stone. Background The series was based on a similar program titled ''What Happens Now?'' The program aired on local New York station WOR-TV in 1949 and was hosted by Nelson Olmsted. Regulars on the 1949 program included Ross Martin, Carol Ohmart and Larry Blyden Ivan Lawrence Blieden (June 23, 1925 – June 6, 1975), known as Larry Blyden, was an American actor, stage producer and director, and game show host. He made his Broadway stage debut in 1948 and went on to appear in numerous productions on ...
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Peter Donald
Peter Donald (June 6, 1918 – April 20, 1979) was a British-born actor who worked in American radio and television. He has been called "one of radio's great dialecticians."Cox, Jim (2007). ''Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether from the 1920s to the 1980s – A Biographical Dictionary''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . pp. 79–80. Early years Donald was born in Bristol, England, in 1918. His father (a comedian) and mother (a singer) were performers in Vaudeville. He graduated from the Professional Children's School in New York in 1936. Radio Donald first appeared on radio in 1927, playing Tiny Tim in a production of '' A Christmas Carol''. At age 11, he was the announcer for ''Uncle Olie and His Kne-Mel Gang'' on CBS. He became an announcer on CBS in 1931. He was famed as the character of Ajax Cassidy on Fred Allen's radio show, the Irishman who conti ...
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Carol Ohmart
Armelia Carol Ohmart (June 3, 1927 – January 1, 2002), known professionally as Carol Ohmart, was an American actress and former model who appeared in numerous films and television series from the early 1950s until the 1970s. Over the duration of her career, she would appear in several notable horror and film noirs, including lead roles in '' The Wild Party'' (1956) and William Castle's ''House on Haunted Hill'' (1959). Born to a Mormon family in Salt Lake City, Ohmart spent most of her early life in Seattle and Spokane, Washington. After graduating high school, she returned to Utah where she won the title of Miss Utah, and subsequently placed fourth in the Miss America pageant. Her appearance in pageants led to modeling work, which included posing for artist Milton Caniff. Ohmart made her feature film debut in Michael Curtiz's ''The Scarlet Hour'' in 1956, followed by various television appearances, as well as roles in several horror films, such as ''House on Haunted Hill' ...
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CBS Original Programming
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainment Group division of Paramount Global. Its headquarters is at the CBS Building in New York City. It has major production facilities and operations at the CBS Broadcast Center and the headquarters of owner Paramount Global at One Astor Plaza (both also in that city) and Television City and the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. It is also sometimes referred to as the Eye Network in reference to the company's trademark symbol which has been in use since 1951. It has also been called the Tiffany Network which alludes to the perceived high quality of its programming during the tenure of William S. Paley. It can also refer to some of CBS's first demonstrations of color television, which were held in the former Tiffany and Company Building in Ne ...
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Black-and-white American Television Shows
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. However, there are exceptions to this rule, including black-and-white fine art photography, as well as many film motion pictures and art film(s). Photography Contemporary use Since the late 1960s, few mainstream films have been shot in black-and-white. The reasons are frequently commercial, as it is difficult to sell a film for television broadcasting if the film is not in color. 1961 was the last year in which the majority of Hollywood films were released in black and white. Computing In computing terminology, ''black-and-white'' is sometimes used to refer to a binary image consisting solely of pure black pixels and pure white ones; what would normally be called a black-and-white image, that is, an image containing shades of ...
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1951 American Television Series Endings
Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United Kingdom announces abandonment of the Tanganyika groundnut scheme for the cultivation of peanuts in the Tanganyika Territory, with the writing off of £36.5M debt. * January 15 – In a court in West Germany, Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment. * January 20 – Winter of Terror: Avalanches in the Alps kill 240 and bury 45,000 for a time, in Switzerland, Austria and Italy. * January 21 – Mount Lamington in Papua New Guinea erupts catastrophically, killing nearly 3,000 people and causing great devastation in Oro Province. * January 25 – Dutch author Anne de Vries releases the first volume of his children's novel ''Journey Through the Night'' ...
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1951 American Television Series Debuts
Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United Kingdom announces abandonment of the Tanganyika groundnut scheme for the cultivation of peanuts in the Tanganyika Territory, with the writing off of £36.5M debt. * January 15 – In a court in West Germany, Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald", wife of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment. * January 20 – Winter of Terror: Avalanches in the Alps kill 240 and bury 45,000 for a time, in Switzerland, Austria and Italy. * January 21 – Mount Lamington in Papua New Guinea erupts catastrophically, killing nearly 3,000 people and causing great devastation in Oro Province. * January 25 – Dutch author Anne de Vries releases the first volume of his children's novel ''Journey Through the Night'' ...
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1950s American Comedy Game Shows
Year 195 ( CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 195 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus has the Roman Senate deify the previous emperor Commodus, in an attempt to gain favor with the family of Marcus Aurelius. * King Vologases V and other eastern princes support the claims of Pescennius Niger. The Roman province of Mesopotamia rises in revolt with Parthian support. Severus marches to Mesopotamia to battle the Parthians. * The Roman province of Syria is divided and the role of Antioch is diminished. The Romans annexed the Syrian cities of Edessa and Nisibis. Severus re-establish his head ...
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Billboard (magazine)
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music industry. Its music charts include the Hot 100, the 200, and the Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in different genres of music. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows. ''Billboard'' was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs, and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. ''Billboard'' began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox, phonograph, and radio became commonplace. Many topics it covered were spun-off ...
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Larry Blyden
Ivan Lawrence Blieden (June 23, 1925 – June 6, 1975), known as Larry Blyden, was an American actor, stage producer and director, and game show host. He made his Broadway stage debut in 1948 and went on to appear in numerous productions on and off Broadway. In 1972, he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in the revival of ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' which he also produced. That same year, he became the host of the syndicated revival version of ''What's My Line?'' At the time of his death, Blyden was slated to host a new game show, ''Showoffs''. He died of injuries sustained in a single-car accident while vacationing in Morocco on June 6, 1975. Early life Blyden was born to Adolph and Marian (née Davidson) Blieden in Houston, Texas, and raised in the Jewish faith. As a child, he attended Wharton Elementary School and Sidney Lanier Junior High School. Blyden became interested in acting at a young age and made hi ...
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Ross Martin
Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of South Sudan Antarctica * Ross Sea * Ross Ice Shelf * Ross Dependency Australia * Ross, Tasmania Chile * Ross Casino, a former casino in Pichilemu, Chile; now the Agustín Ross Cultural Centre Ireland *"Ross", a common nickname for County Roscommon * Ross, County Mayo, a townland in Killursa civil parish, barony of Clare, County Mayo, bordering Moyne Townland * Ross, County Westmeath, a townland in Noughaval civil parish, barony of Kilkenny West, County Westmeath * Ross, County Wexford * The Diocese of Ross in West Cork. The Roman Catholic diocese merged with Cork in 1958 to become the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross, while the Church of Ireland diocese is now part of the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross. This area, centered aroun ...
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Mama (American TV Series)
''Mama'' was a weekly CBS Television comedy-drama series that ran from July 1, 1949 until March 17, 1957. The series was based on ''Mama's Bank Account'' by Kathryn Forbes, which was also adapted for the John Van Druten play (1944) and the subsequent film '' I Remember Mama'' (1948), and told the ongoing story of a loving Norwegian family living in San Francisco in the 1910s through the eyes of the elder daughter, Katrin Hansen (Rosemary Rice). Katrin would be seen looking through the pages of the family album at the start of each episode with the opening narration: This old album makes me remember so many things in the past. San Francisco and the house on Steiner Street where I was born. It brings back memories of my cousins, aunts and uncles; all the boys and girls I grew up with. And I remember my family as we were then. My big brother Nels, my little sister Dagmar, and of course, Papa. But most of all, when I look back to those days so long ago, most of all, I remember ... Mam ...
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Nelson Olmsted
Nelson Olmsted, (January 28, 1914, Minneapolis, Minnesota - April 8, 1992, Torrance, California) was an actor in films, recordings, radio and television from the 1950s to the 1970s. Sometimes billed as Nelson Olmstead, he was best known for an unusual NBC radio series, ''Sleep No More'' (1956–57), in which he narrated his own adaptations of terror tales and science-fantasy stories. Life & legacy After study at the University of Texas, Olmsted began in radio in the late 1930s as an announcer for WBAP in Fort Worth, Texas. When he launched ''Black Night'' (1937–1939), a late-night 30-minute horror series, it was only a local program, but it created a sensation, with mail arriving at WBAP from ten states. A review in ''Radio News'' took note of the chilling music (by Gene Baugh) and horrific sound effects (by A.M. Woodford). Produced by Ken Douglass, the series began November 5, 1937, with Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and then continued on with original scripts b ...
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