''The Alan Dale Show'' is an early American
television program which ran 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 1948, and then 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 1950-1951.
Broadcast history
''The Alan Dale Show'' was a
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
variety show starring singers
Alan Dale
Alan Hugh Dale (born 6 May 1947) is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale enjoyed theatre and rugby. After retiring from the sport, he took on a number of occupations, before deciding to become a professional actor at age 27. Dale subsequentl ...
and
Janie Ford and set in a record store. The program, produced and distributed by DuMont, premiered August 10, 1948, and aired Tuesday nights from 7:00 to 7:15 pm ET on most DuMont affiliates.
Other regulars on the program were Karen Rich, The Sapphires, and The Arnold Holop Ensemble. John Shafer was the announcer.
The network cancelled the series after a few months, but the series continued locally on DuMont's New York station
WABD
WABD (97.5 FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Mobile, Alabama. The station, established in 1973 as WABB-FM, is owned and operated by Cumulus Media. Its studios are on Dauphin Street in Midtown Mobile, and its ...
until March 1949.
[Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1964). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows'' (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. ] This show was reportedly the first DuMont series to use kinescopes for network broadcast.
In 1950, Dale hosted a series on CBS which bore the same name as the DuMont series. From June to November 1950, the new ''Alan Dale Show'' aired on Friday nights at 11 pm ET. Ford did not star in the CBS version; musical accompaniment was provided by the Milt Green Trio, a trumpet/piano/guitar unit. The show changed to a weekly evening program by December of the year. The CBS version of ''The Alan Dale Show'' was cancelled on January 16, 1951.
The CBS version of the program included singer Anne Sterling and the Milt Green Trio musical group. A weekly contest provided opportunities for winners of talent contests to appear on the program.
Jack Lescoulie
Jack Lescoulie (November 17, 1912 – July 22, 1987) was a radio and television announcer and host, notably on NBC's ''Today'' during the 1950s and 1960s; a newspaper source lists his date of birth as May 17, 1912. Lescoulie was also known for h ...
was the producer, and Jan Fogel was the director.
Episode status
One June 1948 episode of the DuMont version, when it was still a local show on DuMont flagship station
WABD
WABD (97.5 FM) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Mobile, Alabama. The station, established in 1973 as WABB-FM, is owned and operated by Cumulus Media. Its studios are on Dauphin Street in Midtown Mobile, and its ...
, is held in the J. Fred MacDonald collection at the
Library of Congress.
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, 2004)
*Alex McNeil, ''Total Television'', Fourth edition (New York:
Penguin Books, 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 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)
External links
*
DuMont historical website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alan Dale Show
CBS original programming
DuMont Television Network original programming
1948 American television series debuts
1951 American television series endings
Black-and-white American television shows
English-language television shows
Lost television shows
American music television series