''Versatile Varieties'', also known as ''Bonnie Maid Versatile Varieties'' and ''Bonny Maid Versatile Varieties'', is a TV series that ran from 1949 to 1951 on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
,
CBS
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 Entertainm ...
and
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
under three different formats. The sponsor was Bonnie Maid Linoleum.
Program formats
*On NBC, from August 29, 1949, to January 19, 1951, on Fridays from 9pm to 9:30pm ET, was a
variety show
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...
set in a nightclub, where those not performing in the various acts would be seen sitting at tables on the sidelines.
Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint (born July 4, 1924) is an American actress of film, theatre and television. In a career spanning over 70 years, she has won an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, alongside nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two Brit ...
,
Anne Francis
Anne Francis (also known as Anne Lloyd Francis; September 16, 1930 – January 2, 2011) was an American actress known for her ground-breaking roles in the science-fiction film ''Forbidden Planet'' (1956) and the television action-drama seri ...
,
Edie Adams
Edie Adams (born Edith Elizabeth Enke; April 16, 1927 – October 15, 2008) was an American comedian, actress, singer and businesswoman. She earned the Tony Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award.
Adams was well known for her impersonation ...
, and
Janis Paige
Janis Paige (born Donna Mae Tjaden; September 16, 1922) is an American retired actress and singer. Born in Tacoma, Washington, she began singing in local amateur shows at the age of five. After high school, she moved to Los Angeles, where she b ...
appeared as "Bonnie Maids", dressed in plaid kilts, hosting and doing live ads for the sponsor. Original host George Givot was replaced after two months by comedian Harold Barry, and then later by singer
Bob Russell. Guest stars included
Mary Small
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
,
Lon Chaney, Jr.
Creighton Tull Chaney (February10, 1906 – July12, 1973), known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film '' The Wolf Man'' (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard (Dra ...
,
Bela Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...
, and
Peggy Ann Garner
Peggy Ann Garner (February 3, 1932 – October 16, 1984) was an American child actress.
As a child actress, Garner had her first film role in 1938. At the 18th Academy Awards, Garner won the Academy Juvenile Award, recognizing her body of c ...
. On January 26, replaced by ''
Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt
''Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt'' is a TV series on NBC Television hosted by Henry Morgan. The show aired from January 26 to June 1, 1951, originally from 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. ET and then to 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET.
Program formats
''H ...
'', which lasted until June 1.
*On CBS, from January 28 to July 22, 1951, a Sunday morning
children's TV show hosted by
Lady Iris Mountbatten
Lady Iris Kemp ( Mountbatten, formerly O'Malley, later Bryan; 13 January 1920 – 1 September 1982) was an English actress and model, and a member of the Battenberg/ Mountbatten family. She was the youngest great-grandchild of Queen Victoria. ...
called ''Versatile Varieties, Junior Edition''.
*On ABC, from September 21, 1951, to December 14, 1951, seven episodes were aired Fridays 9:30 to 10pm ET, alternating with sci-fi anthology ''
Tales of Tomorrow
''Tales of Tomorrow'' is an American anthology science fiction series that was performed and broadcast live on ABC from 1951 to 1953. The series covered such stories as ''Frankenstein'' starring Lon Chaney Jr., ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' st ...
''.
Personnel
Mark Hawley was the director.
was the announcer.
See also
*
1949-50 United States network television schedule
*
1950-51 United States network television schedule
*
1951-52 United States network television schedule
References
Bibliography
*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
''Versatile Varieties'' at IMDB
1949 American television series debuts
1951 American television series endings
American Broadcasting Company original programming
Black-and-white American television shows
CBS original programming
NBC original programming