''Uptown Jubilee'' was a short-lived American all-

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

variety show on

CBS Television 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 Entertainmen ...

from September 13 to October 20, 1949. The show aired live on Tuesday nights from 8pm to 9pm ET during September, and on Thursdays from 8:30pm to 9pm ET during October.

Broadcast history

The program aired three times as an hour-long show, each with a different title: premiering as ''Uptown Jubilee'', changing to ''Harlem Jubilee'', and finally ''Sugar Hill Times'', the title also used during the two half-hour telecasts on October 6 and 20. The show was hosted by

Willie Bryant William Stevens Bryant (August 30, 1908 – February 9, 1964) was an American jazz bandleader, vocalist, and disc jockey, known as the "Mayor of Harlem". Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, while growing up he took trumpet l ...

, with performers including

Maxine Sullivan Maxine Sullivan (May 13, 1911 – April 7, 1987), born Marietta Williams in Homestead, Pennsylvania, United States, was an American jazz vocalist and performer. As a vocalist, Sullivan was active for half a century, from the mid-1930s to just be ...

, Timmie "Oh Yeah" Rogers,

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

, The Jubileers, and

Don Redman Donald Matthew Redman (July 29, 1900 – November 30, 1964) was an American jazz musician, music arrangement, arranger, bandleader, and composer. Biography Redman was born in Piedmont, West Virginia, Piedmont, Mineral County, West Virginia, Un ...

and His Orchestra.. ''Sugar Hill Times'' was among the first regularly scheduled prime time network television series with an all-black cast. This series premiered with the title ''Harlem Jubilee'' but after the first episode aired CBS learned that the title was already registered for use by KHJ, a radio station in Los Angeles. ''Uptown Jubilee'' was used for the second episode and that title was found to be too close to another title registered so CBS changed the title to ''Sugar Hill Times'', starting with the third episode, as reported by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on October 9, 1949. The show, scheduled against

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...

's ''

Texaco Star Theater ''Texaco Star Theater'' was an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting, remembered as the show that gave Mi ...

'', the hottest show of the 1949-50 season, failed to find an audience, so after the third episode the shows running time was cut to 30 minutes and the show aired on alternate Thursdays. CBS couldn't find a sponsor in New York willing to pay the low price of $4,000 for the show—a typical hour went for $10,000 on a network at the time—so after five episodes the show was canceled. Two unnamed members of the cast later complained that the shows producer, Barry Woods, had "done nothing to help keep the show alive" but Willie Bryant, host of the show, in a letter to the ''

Washington Afro-American ''The Washington Afro-American'' newspaper is the Washington, D.C., edition of '' The Afro-American Newspaper''. History The newspaper was founded in 1892 by Civil War veteran, Sgt. John H. Murphy, Sr. Murphy merged his church publication, ''T ...

'' newspaper, dated December 27, 1949, stated "Of all the persons who were in any way connected with "Sugar Hill Times" Barry was by far the most interested and the most cooperative. Until the very last, he fought to keep the show going, and did so at the risk, sometimes of his own position at CBS. The fault of the closing down of this show lies elsewhere. And were I given the chance to return to TV and name my own producer, I would name Barry Woods!"

References

Bibliography

* *{{citation, first=Alex, last=McNeil, title=Total Television, publisher=Penguin Books, year=1996, isbn=0-14-024916-8

External links

''Uptown Jubilee'' and ''Harlem Jubilee'' at IMDB
1949 American television series debuts 1949 American television series endings 1940s American variety television series CBS original programming American live television series Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows

Broadcast history

See also

References

Bibliography

External links