''Garroway at Large'' was an experimental American musical variety show program with the host

Dave Garroway David Cunningham Garroway (July 13, 1913 – July 21, 1982) was an American television personality. He was the founding host and anchor of NBC's ''Today'' from 1952 to 1961. His easygoing and relaxing style belied a lifelong battle with depressi ...

in the

Golden Age of Television The first Golden Age of Television is an era of television in the Television in the United States, United States marked by its large number of live productions. The period is generally recognized as beginning in 1947 with the first episode of th ...

. It was telecast at 10pm on Saturday (and later on Sundays and Fridays) on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from April 1949 to 1954. ''Garroway at Large'' aired with a full symphony orchestra conducted by Joseph Gallicchio. There were two female singers, Betty Chapel and

Connie Russell Connie Russell (May 9, 1923 – December 18, 1990) was an American singer and movie actress. Born in New York City, she appeared in seven films from the 1930s through the 1950s. She was far better known as a singer than as an actress, as h ...

and a male singer,

Jack Haskell John Thomas Haskell (April 30, 1919 – September 26, 1998) was an American singer and announcer in the era of old-time radio and later in television. Early years Haskell was born in Akron, Ohio and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He majored in musi ...

. In addition, the Hamilton Trio, a contemporary dance group, appeared each week, along with comedian

Cliff Norton Clifford Charles Norton (March 21, 1918 – January 25, 2003) was an American character actor and radio announcer who appeared in various movies and television series over a career spanning four decades. Early years Norton was born in Chi ...

. The show had only one local Chicago broadcast on April 8, 1949 before becoming an NBC Network program. The series is notable for introducing an innovative presentation and staging to television. When television began in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the shows adopted the familiar theatrical

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

concept, separating the stage from the audience area. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, several programs originated from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where Garroway was a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

on radio station WMAQ. When Garroway was assigned to host on television, he abandoned the usual conventions for a more casual approach in which the reality of the studio was acknowledged. Followed by a single camera, he walked around the entire large studio space and simple abstract sets as he talked to guests and the TV viewer directly. This live staging technique, known as the "Chicago Style", was developed further on Garroway's next show, ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

''.

References

* Teruaki Georges Sumioka, ''The Grammar of Pop TV Program'' (2006)

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0313078
''Garroway at Large'' Archive of American Television''Prop Man at Large'', a photo feature about ''Garroway at Large'' from ''Life'' magazine's October 10, 1949, issue
1949 American television series debuts 1954 American television series endings 1940s American variety television series 1950s American variety television series American live television series Black-and-white American television shows NBC original programming