''The Buster Keaton Show'' was a television series broadcast in 1950 starring

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

. It was broadcast over

KTTV KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outle ...

, which at the time was the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

affiliate of

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 Entertainmen ...

(the network would start KNXT in 1951). In 1949, comedian

Ed Wynn Isaiah Edwin Leopold (November 9, 1886 – June 19, 1966), better known as Ed Wynn, was an American actor and comedian. He was noted for his ''Perfect Fool'' comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a d ...

invited Keaton to appear on his

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 ...

comedy-variety show, ''The Ed Wynn Show'', which was televised live on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

Kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940 ...

s were made for distribution of the programs to other parts of the country, since there was no transcontinental

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until September 1951. Reaction was strong enough for a local Los Angeles station to offer Keaton his own show, also broadcast live, in 1950. ''The Buster Keaton Comedy Show'' was Keaton's second foray into the new medium of television. It followed the 1949 one-off. Broadcast

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

, no record of that first program remains and it was not seen by viewers outside California, as it was not filmed in

kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940 ...

nor was there a

linking the coasts at that time. ''Life with Buster Keaton'' (Date unknown, probably 1950 or 1951) was an attempt to recreate the first series on film, allowing the program to be broadcast nationwide. The series benefited from a company of veteran actors, including

Marcia Mae Jones Marcia Mae Jones (August 1, 1924 – September 2, 2007) was an American film and television actress whose prolific career spanned 57 years. Early years Jones was the youngest of four children born to actress Freda Jones. All three of her ...

as the ingenue,

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage, film actress and dancer. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who ...

Dick Wessel Richard Michael Wessel (April 20, 1913 – April 20, 1965) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 270 films between 1935 and 1966. He is best remembered for his only leading role, a chilling portrayal of strangler Harry "C ...

Fuzzy Knight John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight (May 9, 1901 – February 23, 1976) was an American film and television actor. He was also a singer, especially in his early career. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1928 and 1967, usually as a cowboy h ...

Dub Taylor Walter Clarence "Dub" Taylor Jr. (February 26, 1907 – October 3, 1994),Dub Taylor, 87, Actor in Westerns, The New York Times, October 5, 1994, Section B, Page 12 was an American character actor who from the 1940s into the 1990s worked extens ...

Philip Van Zandt Philip Van Zandt (October 4, 1904 – February 15, 1958), sometimes billed as Phil Van Zandt, was a Dutch-American actor of stage, film, and television. He made nearly 250 film and television appearances between 1939 and 1958. Life and career ...

, and his silent-era contemporaries Harold Goodwin,

Hank Mann Hank Mann (born David William Lieberman, May 28, 1887 – November 25, 1971) was a Russian Empire-born and American comedian and silent screen star who was a member of the Keystone Cops. According to fellow actor and original member of th ...

, and stuntman

Harvey Parry Harvey Parry (April 23, 1900 - September 18, 1985) was an American stuntman and actor whose career spanned the silent era and the disaster movie genre of the 1970s. Born on April 23, 1900 in San Francisco, California, Parry had been an Associatio ...

. Buster Keaton's wife Eleanor also was seen in the series (notably as Juliet to Buster's Romeo in a little-theater vignette). Keaton said that he canceled the filmed series himself, because he was unable to create enough fresh material to produce a new show each week. Several episodes from the show were assembled into a feature-length film that was released theatrically in the

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as ''The Misadventures of Buster Keaton''.

Lack of information

Unfortunately, there is a lack of information on this show or shows. It is unknown how many TV shows Buster Keaton starred in, how many episodes were released, what those episodes were called, what episode number they were, what year episodes were released in, etc. The most information we have is that there is a handful of available episodes from probably more than one show and a movie made which compiles footage from at least three episodes. These episodes have had several different titles attributed to them. It is entirely possible that information on ''The Buster Keaton Show'', ''The Buster Keaton Comedy Show,'' and ''Life with Buster Keaton'' is falsely attributed to one show when it correctly is about another. ''The Buster Keaton Comedy Show'' especially lacks knowledge. Some sources have listed ''Life with Buster Keaton'' as having started airing in 1951, however, ''The Misadventures of Buster Keaton'' is known to have been released in 1950. It is possible that the footage was derived from then unaired episodes, but this is unconfirmed. An episode of ''The Buster Keaton Show'', and three episodes of ''Life with Buster Keaton'' can be viewed on the Internet Archive. The former is a kinescope of a live telecast, and includes the original commercials for

Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...

cars. (This was an era where television shows typically had a single sponsor, with ''The Buster Keaton Show'' having three commercial breaks, each for Studebaker.)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buster Keaton Show Buster Keaton 1950s American sketch comedy television series 1950 American television series debuts