''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'' (also known as ''Talent Scouts'') is an American radio and television variety show that ran on CBS from 1946 until 1958. Sponsored by Lipton Tea, it starred Arthur Godfrey, who was also hosting '' Arthur Godfrey and His Friends'' at the same time.

Overview

The concept for the show was that Godfrey had several "talent scouts" who brought their discoveries onto the program to showcase their talents. The winner of each show was determined by a meter that judged the audience's applause. The radio series began July 2, 1946, and was heard on CBS Tuesday evenings at 9pm. The winner on October 1, 1946, was pianist José Melis, who later became a familiar late night television personality as the orchestra leader on

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's ''

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

'' show. In the summer of 1947, ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'' moved to Fridays at 9:30 p.m. After August 1947 it aired on Mondays at 8:30 p.m. The radio show continued until October 1, 1956. With Archie Bleyer leading the orchestra, the show's announcer was George Bryan. The show's opening (to the tune of "Four and Twenty Blackbirds") featured Peggy Marshall and the Holidays singing: :Here comes Arthur Godfrey :Your talent scout emcee :Brought to you by Lipton :Brisk Lipton Tea :You know it's Lipton Tea :If it's B-R-I-S-K :You know it's Arthur Godfrey :When you hear them play ... At that point, the music would segue into trombonist Lou McGarity and the orchestra playing Godfrey's familiar theme song, "Seems Like Old Times", sometimes with Godfrey singing or humming along. Contestants on the show included

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, The Chordettes, The McGuire Sisters and Carmel Quinn, all of whom went on to perform on ''Arthur Godfrey and His Friends''. Other contestants included

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

, The Blackwood Brothers, Lenny Bruce, Laurie Carroll, Roy Clark, Rosemary Clooney, Ken Berry, Florian ZaBach, Wally Cox,

Vic Damone Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional pop music, pop and big band singer and actor. He was best known for his performances of songs such as the number one hit "You're Breaking My ...

, The Diamonds, Eddie Fisher,

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...

Don Knotts Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show'', for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He als ...

, Steve Lawrence, Al Martino, Barbara McNair, Marian McPartland, Johnny Nash,

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, Lorraine Donahue (who later appeared on '' The Voice of Firestone''), Joe Negri, Roger Williams (pianist), and Jonathan Winters. Swedish singer Kjerstin Dellert won a contest in 1948 with '' Someone to Watch Over Me'', beginning her career as a vocalist there.

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first gained national attention with a winning performance of '' Walkin' After Midnight'' on the January 21, 1957, broadcast. Among those who auditioned but were not chosen to appear on the broadcast were

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

, The Four Freshmen, and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

Television

On television, ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'' premiered December 6, 1948. According to the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, it was the highest rated television show for the 1951–1952 season. It remained a highly popular show through the decade. The show took a great drop in ratings after orchestra bandleader Archie Bleyer left in the 1954–1955 season, but rebounded as the scouts continued to discover more talent. However, by the fall of 1957, television audiences began to prefer westerns and adventure shows to quiz programs and Godfrey's ratings dropped out of the top 30 Nielsen Chart. The show aired its final episode on January 1, 1958. On December 24, 1956, the show became the first entertainment program to be

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually Sound recording and reproduction, sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog signal, analog or Digital signal (signal processing), digital signal. V ...

d for broadcast, as the then-new technology was used for a time-delayed rebroadcast in the

Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00 ...

. An

Ampex Ampex Data Systems Corporation is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name ''AMPEX'' is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excell ...

quadruplex videotape machine recorded the initial live broadcast to the Eastern part of the country, which was replayed three hours later. As with his radio programs, CBS allowed Godfrey to periodically host the show remotely from his Virginia farm while the rest of the cast and guests performed in New York.

Broadcast history

''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'' aired Monday at 8:30-9:00 PM on CBS its entire run.

Ratings

*1950–1951:#8 *1951–1952:#1 *1952–1953:#2 *1953–1954:#3 *1954–1955:#18 *1955–1956:#16 *1956–1957:#12https://classictvguide.com/tvratings/1956.htm

References

Sources

Dunning, John. ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Listen to

Internet Archive: Arthur Godfrey

External links

* {{TopUSTVShows 1946 radio programme debuts 1956 radio programme endings 1948 American television series debuts 1958 American television series endings 1940s American radio programs 1940s American variety television series 1950s American variety television series American variety radio programs American live television series Black-and-white American television shows CBS original programming American English-language television shows Nielsen ratings winners Television series based on radio series CBS Radio programs Arthur Godfrey