''Off the Record'' is a comedy television series that aired on the
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...
in October 1948.
[Bob Leszczak, ''Single Season Sitcoms 1948-1979: A Complete Guide'', p. 144]
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Broadcast history
The show, slated to air Tuesdays at 7pm ET, and starring Zero Mostel
Samuel Joel "Zero" Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in ''Fiddler on the Roof'', Pseudolus on stage and on ...
and Joey Faye
Joey Faye (born Joseph Antony Palladino, July 12, 1909 or 1910 or 1902– April 26, 1997) was an American comedian and actor.
Born in New York City, he gained fame as a comic in vaudeville and claimed that he created two of vaudeville's more renow ...
, only lasted two episodes, October 19 and October 26, 1948. Mostel claimed he had been promised a live audience, but the available studio was too small to hold an audience.WTTG
WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outlet WDCA (channel 20). WTTG and WDCA share ...
in Washington, DC. This latter show, hosted by Art Lamb and Aletha Agee, featured singers lip-synching to current pop songs, and is on YouTube.1951–52 episode on YouTube
/ref>
Preservation status
As with most DuMont series, no episodes are known to exist.
See also
*List of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network
This is a list of programs broadcast by the DuMont Television Network, which operated in the United States from 1942 to 1956. All regularly scheduled programs which were aired on the DuMont network are listed below, regardless of whether they orig ...
*List of surviving DuMont Television Network broadcasts
The DuMont Television Network was launched in 1946 and ceased broadcasting in 1956. Allen DuMont, who created the network, preserved most of what it produced in kinescope format. By 1958, however, much of the library had been destroyed to recover ...
* 1948-49 United States network television schedule
References
Bibliography
*David Weinstein, ''The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television'' (Philadelphia: Temple University Press
Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach t ...
, 2004)
*Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York: Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British 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 following year.[Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...]
, 1964) {{ISBN, 0-345-31864-1
External links
DuMont historical websitescreengrab of Zero Mostel and Joey Faye on ''Off the Record'' (1948)
DuMont Television Network original programming
1948 American television series debuts
1948 American television series endings
Black-and-white American television shows