''Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt'' is a TV series on

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hosted by

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan (; – 25 August 1688) was a Welsh privateer, plantation owner, and, later, the lieutenant governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he and those under his command raided settlements and shipping ports o ...

. The show aired from January 26 to June 1, 1951, originally from 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. ET and then to 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET.

Program formats

''Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt'' began January 26, 1951, replacing ''

Versatile Varieties ''Versatile Varieties'', also known as ''Bonnie Maid Versatile Varieties'' and ''Bonny Maid Versatile Varieties'', was a TV series that ran from 1949 to 1951 on NBC, CBS and ABC under three different formats. The sponsor was Bonnie Maid Linoleum. ...

''. The first format for the Morgan show was a take-off on ''

The Original Amateur Hour ''The Original Amateur Hour'' is an American radio and television program. The show was a continuation of '' Major Bowes Amateur Hour'', which had been a radio staple from 1934 to 1945. Major Edward Bowes, the originator of the program and its ...

'' with Morgan as host, and featuring

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(in her TV debut),

Art Carney Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best kn ...

Pert Kelton Pert L. Kelton (October 14, 1907 – October 30, 1968) was an American stage, movie, radio, and television actress. She was the original The Honeymooners#Alice Kramden, Alice Kramden in ''The Honeymooners'' with Jackie Gleason. During the ...

, and

Arnold Stang Arnold Sidney Stang (September 28, 1918 – December 20, 2009)
''

The program "featured people who had unusual abilities", such as a man who picked a violin's strings with his teeth and a girl who played an instrument while tap dancing. In April, NBC changed the title and format to ''The Henry Morgan Show'', a music-variety show featuring singers Dorothy Claire and Dorothy Jarnac in musical segments between Morgan's comedy skits. This latter format lasted until June 1.

Production

Campbell Soups sponsored the program. Dick Schreiber was the director.

Will Glickman Will Glickman (March 7, 1910 – March 11, 1983) was an American playwright who frequently collaborated with Joseph Stein. Glickman made his Broadway debut in 1948 with sketches he and Stein wrote for the revue '' Lend an Ear''. The two went on ...

and

Joe Stein Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage, based on the novel ''Joe'' (1991) by Larry Brown * Joe (2023 film), an Indian film * ''Joe'' (TV ser ...

were the writers. It originated from WNBT.

Critical response

A review of the premiere episode in ''

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'' said that the program did not deliver as promised. Instead of "contestants with odd and weird talents", the review said, "Two of the acts sounded most familiar." The reviewer recalled having heard those two acts on a radio program several years earlier. The review concluded, "The 'Great Talent Hunt' is not really odd, weird or unusual." That episode was also reviewed in the trade publication ''

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'', which said that the show's premise "could lead to a lot of fun", but Morgan and others on the show "seemed to press too much". The review said that Morgan, known for his "wonderfully off-beat, sardonic and often caustic wit", tried too hard to be nice. It also noted problems in staging and said that Stang's "material was weak and served to break up the routine rather than bolster it." Excess commercialism also drew criticism, both for the number of commercials and for devices such as asking guests about their favorite soup.

References

Bibliography

*Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York:

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, 1980) *Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'', Third edition (New York:

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...

, 1964)

External links