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''Hollywood on Television'' is a five-and-a-half-hour, six-day-a-week live television
talk show
A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...
that starred newcomer
Betty White
Betty Marion White (January 17, 1922December 31, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of Golden Age of Television, early television, with a television career spanning almost seven decades, White was noted for her vast work i ...
and radio disc jockey Al Jarvis that ran from 1949-1953. When Jarvis left the show in 1951, film star
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', ...
took his place and co-hosted with White for six months until thirty-three and a half hours of live ad-lib television per week, featuring just the two of them, took its toll and he also resigned. White was then hosting the show alone, and is believed to have been the first female television talk show host as a result. After a period of White talking directly into the camera lens for hours at a stretch, the show began accepting guests to interact with her as well as gradually incorporating scripts and sketches.
Similar to
Jackie Gleason
John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...
's ''
Honeymooners
''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fol ...
'' sketches on the
Dumont 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 ...
during the same era, recurring sketches involving White as a housewife named Elizabeth caught on with the viewers to the point that expanding the sketches into a half-hour
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
appeared to be the obvious next step. Series pianist
George Tibbles
George F. Tibbles (June 7, 1913February 21, 1987) was a composer and screenwriter.
He and Ramez Idriss co-wrote " The Woody Woodpecker Song" for the 1948 short film, ''Wet Blanket Policy''; the song would receive an Academy Award nomination (A ...
began writing the sketches. Studio producer
Don Fedderson
Donald Joy Fedderson (April 16, 1913 – December 18, 1994) was an American executive producer who created a number of television programs including '' The Millionaire'', ''My Three Sons'' and ''Family Affair''.
Career
Fedderson was born April ...
, Tibbles and White formed a production company called "Bandy Productions," named after Betty White's dog Bandit, and White changed over to a half hour sitcom format based on the Elizabeth sketches entitled ''
Life With Elizabeth
''Life with Elizabeth'' is an American television sitcom starring Betty White as Elizabeth and Del Moore as her husband Alvin; Jack Narz is the on-camera announcer and narrator. The series aired in syndication from October 7, 1953, to September ...
'', which ran in
syndication
Syndication may refer to:
* Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system
* Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips
* Web syndication, ...
for two years and sixty-five episodes.
In 1952, White began a parallel program called '' The Betty White Show''. This show used a similar format and had much of the same cast members. ''The Betty White Show'' saw a national audience with
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
in 1954 before being cancelled that same year.
Across the decades, White would use the skills she had honed on ''Hollywood on Television'' by hosting her own talk show in 1954 and subsequent variety series as well as starring in numerous sitcoms, including ''
Date with the Angels
''Date with the Angels'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from May 10, 1957, to January 29, 1958. The series, which stars Betty White and Bill Williams, began as a late season replacement for '' The Ray Anthony Show'' for the same sponso ...
'', ''
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Mo ...
The Golden Palace
''The Golden Palace'' is an American sitcom television series produced as a sequel to ''The Golden Girls,'' a continuation without Bea Arthur (though she did guest star in a double episode) that originally aired on CBS from September 1992 to M ...
'' and ''
Hot in Cleveland
''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American television sitcom on TV Land starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White.
The series, which was TV Land's first original series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was TV Land's hig ...
'', as well as hosting the 2012 prank show ''
Betty White's Off Their Rockers
''Betty White's Off Their Rockers'' is an American comedy television series launched in 2012, that broadcast on NBC for its first two seasons and Lifetime for its third. The series is hosted by Betty White, and is based on the Belgian televisio ...
'', which began airing 63 years after the premiere of ''Hollywood on Television''.
Kliph Nesteroff
Kliph Nesteroff is a best-selling author regarded for his vast knowledge of show business. '' Vice Magazine'' called him "The Human Encyclopedia of Comedy," and ''Los Angeles Magazine'' profiled him as "The King of Comedy Lore." ''The New York T ...
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...