''The Leslie Uggams Show'' is an American variety television series starring actress/singer Leslie Uggams. The series aired on CBS as part of its 1969 fall lineup, and was the second variety series to feature an African American host, the first since the 1956 - '57 '' The Nat King Cole Show'' on NBC.

Synopsis

''The Leslie Uggams Show'' gave Uggams, who had first come to wide public notice as a singer on the early 1960s hit '' Sing Along With Mitch'', her own program to showcase herself and other black performers; unlike other early variety programs which were hosted by black entertainers but featured a large number of whites in the cast, only one of Uggams' regulars,

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

Dennis Allen, was white. A recurring feature of the program was the ongoing series of sketches entitled "Sugar Hill", which dealt with the lives of middle class black family in a large American city. The series was given the challenging time slot of 9:00 P.M. on Sunday nights which in the early to mid 60's had proven to be unsuccessful for such variety shows as '' The Judy Garland Show'' and '' The Garry Moore Show'' since the chief competition for both programs was the venerable western series ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U ...

''. When Moore's show was cancelled in January, 1967, '' The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' premiered and immediately became a huge hit for CBS managing to more than hold its own against ''Bonanza''. However, in the spring of 1969, CBS pulled that variety series due to its controversial content and scheduled Uggams's show for the 1969-1970 fall season. Scheduled opposite ''Bonanza'', which was still a massive hit for NBC, and a series of fairly recent (by the standards of the era) movies on ABC, ''The Leslie Uggams Show'' had difficulty developing an audience and was cancelled in December 1969. '' The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' took over the Sunday night slot on CBS starting on 21 December 1969, with '' Hee Haw'' taking over Campbell's vacated Wednesday night slot.

Cast

* Leslie Uggams.....Host * Dennis Allen.....Regular * Johnny Brown.....Regular * Lillian Hayman.....Regular * Lincoln Kilpatrick....Regular * Allison Mills.....Regular *

Roger Carroll Kolman Carroll Rutkin (October 6, 1928 – July 30, 2019), better known as Roger Carroll, was an American radio disc jockey and television announcer. Career 1940s Carroll became an announcer at WFMD in Frederick, Maryland, in 1945 (age of 15). I ...

.....Announcer *

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...

.....Orchestra Leader

Episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie Uggams Show 1969 American television series debuts 1969 American television series endings 1960s American comedy television series 1960s American variety television series English-language television shows CBS original programming