''Johnny Olson's Rumpus Room'' was a 1949-1952 American

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a com ...

hosted by

Johnny Olson John Leonard Olson (May 22, 1910 – October 12, 1985) was an American radio personality and television announcer. Olson is perhaps best known for his work as an announcer for game shows, particularly the work he did for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman P ...

Broadcast history

The show aired at 10 am ET from January 17, 1949, to July 4, 1952, on the

DuMont Television 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 bein ...

. The show was one of the first

daytime television Daytime is a block of television programming taking place during the late-morning and afternoon on weekdays. Daytime programming is typically scheduled to air between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., following the early morning day ...

shows broadcast from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

to DuMont's small network of East Coast cities. Olson also hosted the DuMont talent show ''

Doorway to Fame ''Doorway to Fame'' is an American talent show broadcast on the now defunct DuMont Television Network. The series ran from May 2, 1947, to July 11, 1949. Overview The series used early television scene-blending technology to project the performer ...

'' (May 1947 – July 1949), and DuMont's Saturday-morning children's show '' Kids and Company'' (September 1951 – June 1952). According to the book ''What Women Watched: Daytime Television in the 1950s'' (University of Texas Press, 2005) by Marsha Cassidy, the DuMont daytime schedule beginning in January 1949 was: *10-10:30 am ''Johnny Olson's Rumpus Room'' *10:30-11 am ''Welcome, Neighbors'' *11 am-12 noon ''The Stan Shaw Show'' *12 noon-12:15 pm '' Amanda'' *12:15-12:30 pm ''Man in the Street'' *12:30-12:45 pm '' Camera Headlines'' *12:45-1 pm ''Fashions in Song'' *1-1:30 pm '' Okay, Mother'' *2:30-3 pm ''

Inside Photoplay ''The Wendy Barrie Show'' (also known as ''Inside Photoplay'', ''Photoplay Time'', ''Through Wendy's Window'', and ''Who's Who With Wendy Barrie'') is an American talk show hosted by Wendy Barrie, which aired from November 10, 1948, to September 2 ...

'' (''The Wendy Barrie Show'') *3-3:15 pm '' The Needle Shop'' *3:15-3:30 pm ''Vincent Lopez Speaking'' ('' The Vincent Lopez Show'')

Olson's career

In the 1940s, Olson hosted a popular

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netwo ...

also titled ''Johnny Olson's Rumpus Room'' at WTMJ in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

. Sometime after 1943, Johnny moved the show (WTMJ continued to air ''Rumpus Room'' with a new host) to WMAQ in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

as an evening variety show running 10:30 pm to 12 midnight ( CT). Olson went on to become a famous announcer on American

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

s, including as the announcer on ''

The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also i ...

'' on

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 Entertainme ...

and

first-run syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...

from 1972 until his death (the nighttime version of ''The Price Is Right'' reunited Olson with another prominent DuMont personality,

Dennis James Dennis James (born Demie James Sposa, August 24, 1917 – June 3, 1997) was an American television personality, philanthropist, and commercial spokesman. Until 1976, he had appeared on TV more times and for a longer period than any other televi ...

, for its first five years on air).

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0324859
DuMont historical website
1949 American television series debuts 1952 American television series endings 1940s American variety television series 1950s American variety television series Black-and-white American television shows DuMont Television Network original programming English-language television shows

Broadcast history

Olson's career

See also

References

Further reading

External links