''The Victor Borge Show'' is a 30-minute American variety television program that was broadcast live on NBC from February 3, 1951, to June 30, 1951. It was sponsored by Kellogg.

Premise

The program starred

Victor Borge Børge Rosenbaum (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish-American comedian, conductor, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the North America and Europe. His ...

, an "internationally known pianist and comic interpreter of music". Episodes usually included Borge's playing both a straight concert piece and a humorous interpretation. The Phil Engalls Orchestra provided musical support. Episodes also included guest stars who performed and chatted with Borge.

Perry Lafferty Perry Francis Lafferty (October 3, 1917 – August 25, 2005) was an American television producer and network television executive who produced several television programs, including the CBS programs ''All in the Family'', ''M*A*S*H'', '' Maude'' ...

was the director, with Borge,

Eddie Lawrence Eddie Lawrence (born Lawrence Eisler; March 2, 1919 – March 25, 2014) was an American monologist, actor, singer, lyricist, playwright, artist, director and television personality, whose comic creation, the Old Philosopher, gained him a devoted ...

, and

Max Wilk Max Wilk (July 3, 1920 – February 19, 2011) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author of fiction and nonfiction books. In all, Wilk was the author of 19 books, four films, three produced plays as well as many TV shows and magazine ar ...

as writers. The program was a mid-season replacement for the ''Hank McCune Show.'' Its network competitors were ''

Hollywood Theatre Time ''Hollywood Premiere Theatre'' was the original title of an American television program that was broadcast more often as ''Hollywood Theatre Time'' on the ABC Television Network from September 20, 1950 to October 5, 1951. Content varied from wee ...

'' on ABC and ''The Sam Levenson Show'' on CBS. It was replaced by ''

Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of ''Tom Corbett—Space Cadet'' stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, and other media in the 1950s. The stories followed the adventures of Corbett, Astro ...

''. A review in the trade publication ''Billboard'' said: "This is not a program which produces multitudes of belly laughs. But it is filled with sly good humor and clever satire."

Problems

Borge "was better in guest spots than having his own show." Lafferty said years later that trying to convert Borge's talented, but specialized, skills into a TV program "was the hardest thing in my career." Lawrence and Wilk managed to create new routines each week even though, as Lafferty said, "Borge fought everything we tried to do." One of the skits had Borge encountering difficulty trying to play a song, but other people walked in and played it perfectly.

Radio

Borge's television series was preceded by ''The Victor Borge Show'' on radio. Four versions of the program were broadcast on network radio. Source: ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Victor Borge Show, The 1951 American television series debuts 1951 American television series endings 1950s American variety television series English-language television shows NBC original programming