TAKE THE 50's & 60's OLDIES TV & GOLDEN ROCK & ROLL AGE CHALLENGE!

If you enjoyed watching our many oldies television free online video streamed memories, we invite you now to enjoy playing our Golden Age Of Television and Roots Of Rock & Roll trivia quiz to have more fun remembering, or discovering when video and rock was young. First the questions, then following them below you can check your answers below. Have fun! Test your Golden Age of Television and Roots of Rock & Roll IQ.

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1. We all (over 60, anyway) remember when comedic character actor William Bendix played Chester A. Riley in The Life Of Riley on CBS (supported by Marjorie Reynolds as his wife Peg, Lugene Sanders as sexy daughter, Babs, Wesley Morgan as son, Junior and Tom D'Andrea as best friend Jim Gillis). This version ran from 1953-1958, but William Bendix was not the first performer to play Riley on TV. Two other then unknown actors (one to become later a TV legend) played Riley in a 1949 pilot and a 1950 failed series (with Rosemary De Camp as Peg). Which two actors played Chester A. Riley before William Bendix?

2. What is Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame legend Little Richard's last name?

3. We all remember Groucho Marx on TV (see CH. 24 in on our Oldies Television main directory channel selector), His brothers Harpo & Chico guest appeared on several 50's and 60's era TV sitcoms, but were also featured in a 1958-59 TV commercial for a product one might have least expected them to advertise. Name the product (we provide the video answer below).

4. Jackie Cooper, popular in 1940's movies, had a short lived NBC television show in the early 1950's which starred Patricia Breslin as his fiance and Cleo, the floppy eared hound dog whose thoughts (wisecracks) we heard in words. What was the name of that show?

5. Which female musical performer quit The Lawrence Welk Show because, as she protested in a TV Guide, interview they made me show too much of my legs?

6. What is singer Frankie Lane's real name and what did he do in New York before success in Vegas?

7. Before vocal group The Four Seasons hit big with Sherry in 1962 on the Vee Jay record label, they performed in clubs under what name and had a regionally charted hit with what song (released on a lesser known label)?

8. You may remember Elena Verdugo as medical secretary Consuello in "Marcus Webly M.D.. But long before that, in 1949, Elena played a befuddled secretary in what CBS-TV sitcom that was rescued from cancellation in it's second (and last) season by viewer's letters?

9. The harsh rising-falling electronic synthesized "swish" became commonplace in Heavy Metal music, but it was created and first heard on a not-so-rock and roll chart topper released on the Signet label in 1959. Can you name the song and the artist? Hint: this was her only national top ten charted release, her follow up only made it to #72 on Billboard.

10. The Vulcan planet was not first heard on the original Star Trek, but the never fading William Shatner visited it on another TV series in an episode that was written by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Which weekly TV anthology series did Vulcan first appear, sanes Spock. (Ironically, Shatner was not the first lead considered for the initial Trek TV series. Who was?)

11. Everyone knows that long before SNL, Ernie Kovacs was the innovator of sketch comedy on television. What was the name of the aped musical trio in some skits and what quiz show did Ernie Kovacs host with his wife Edie Adams at the same time (early 50's)?

12. Of course Buster Crabbe was the definitive Flash Gordon in William Bebe's late 30's one reel movie serials, but who played Flash Gordon in a TV adaption reportedly filmed in West Berlin by a Danish production company?

13. What R&B singer had what one-hit wonder hit in 1956 that he recorded while stoned drunk (the song would be re-recorded by Creedence Clear Water Revival in the 70's)?

14. Now this is an easy one. Who played the lovably obnoxious Dr. Zachary Smith on Lost In Space? We'll add a litter harder 70's sci fi TV trivia: which exploitation movie queen appeared on an episode of Star Trek with guest star Vic (Mel on Alice) TaybacK?

15. Endearing Al Lewis was Grandpa Munster on The Munsters (also Schnauzer on Car 54 Where Are You), but he appeared twice as a wizard on what TV series?

16. In 1962, a lounge group who did schtick on The Ed Sullivan Show had a one hit wonder on the Shad record label. It hit the charts when Alan Freed played the disc by mistake on his radio show. Name the song and the (sort of) doo-wop group from Lyndhurst, New Jersey?

17. Happy Days, under the palm of Garry Marshall, did not start off as a weekly TV retro-sitcom. Less The Fonz (Henry Winkler), buy with Richie (Ron Howard) and Dad (Tom Bosley) and Mom (Marion Ross), also pals played by Anson Williams and Donny Most, Happy Days started as a vignette on what popular weekend night sketch TV series on ABC?

18. Not all was successful after Jackie Gleason's pyramid of hit shows. His hosted quiz show Picture This was network television's "biggest bomb" (what Jackie himself called it on air), lasting but one airing. What was the second "biggest bomb" in the early 70's, lasting for only four showings?

19. In the early 60's, tough movie screen icons Ralph Bellamy and Lee Marvin starred in cop shows that bared a striking resemblance to Dragnet What were the shows?

20. A three parter! Gale Storm played the troublesome Margie in the late 50's My Little Margie Who played her dad, Vern Albright? And what was the failed sitcom Gale later starred in with 40's movie character actor Zazu Pitts? What two songs charted for Gale Storm on Randy Wood's (Lawrence Welk newphew's) Dot record label?

21. Comic actress Joan Davis and the immortal Magoo voice Jim Backus (later the millionaire on Gilligan's Island) co-starred in the popular late 60's sitcom I Married Joan. Can you remember the line of the choral sung theme song (less the background doom-dooms)? For the heck of it, can you remember the role name of Joan's single, bopping teenaged sister?

22. What was Little Peggy March's follow up to I Will Follow Him?

23. Who or what was Snooky Lansen?

24. Name the four regular panelists on John Dailey's What's My Line.

25. What was the first long running, top ten rated weekly TV show to "get away with" showing thong bikinis? Hint: it was a "cop show." that "booked 'em." Aw, we gave it away!

26. Who was Jack Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday's partner in Dragnet before Harry Morgan's Gannon? And, who was Henry Morgan?

27. On 50's Saturday morning syndicated kidvid, what was the name of the marionette detective on one series and. on another, the character kids drew around with a plastic sheet placed over the TV screen?

28. Bandleader Lew Anderson doubled as Clarabelle The Clown on Howdy Doody when the series ended in 1962, to be briefly and unsuccessfully revived in syndication during the early 70's. But he wasn't the first to play "You Silly Clown" and annoy Buffalo Bob. Who played the first Clarabelle?

29. What kiddie show comedian had a heart attack onstage during a live broadcast of his shown? He wore a plaid suit and hat, danced, sang and had a lisp. (No, not Uncle Floyd, wise guy).

30. Hound Dog was one of a two sided #1 hit in 1959 for The King. But Elvis Presley was not the first to record Hound Dog. Who did?

31. Alice on The Brady Bunch was not the not first hit show Anne B. Davis appeared as a major cast member in. What was Anne's first successful series role? (Hint: it also was a sitcom).

32. Ozzie & Harriet was saved from cancellation when bandleader Ozzie Nelson's son, Ricky, became a teen idol rock and roll singer with Imperial Records. George Burns & Gracie Allen tried to duplicate that hoopla on their show with son Ronnie, the record on the Verve label flopped. What songs did Ronnie Burns record?

33. On whose show did Elvis Presley make his first television appearance: a)Ed Sullivan, b)Steve Allem, c)Milton Berle, d)Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey, or e)Dick Clark.

34. The answer to this question is in the drive-in movie trailer you watch by clicking the link in the answer section. During most of the late 1960's, a budding young model/actress did prime time commercials and appeared on the box of a national brand landry detergent advertised as "The Purest". In the early 70's, while the ad campaign was still running on daytime soap operas, the model/actress made a movie that ran shockwaves through the detergent maker's advertising agency. Can you name the model/actress and the movie she made?


35. Shelley Fabares is probably best known for her role in The CoachJohnny Angel. But, Shelley was featured in a late 50's TV sitcom and had a stint on a 1954 oater. Can you name these shows?

36. Father Knows Best was the 1950's idealist family with patriarch and insurance agent Jim Anderson, Margaret was his clean feverish wife, and the siblings were Betty (eldest, "Princess," sort of whiney sister), Bud (only son and bumbling brother) and young Kathy ("Kitten," cutesy and, at times, outspoken). Can you name the actors who played these roles on the top rated NBC series?

37. Pre-Fox Network era All In The Family paved the way of removing staunch censorship from prime time television and taking on topics no producer ever would touch. Norman Lear did and Archie, Edith, Mike, Gloria and the to be spun off Jeffersons became the most watched sitcom in the 70's. However, CBS censors did nix an episode scene that Lear would make a federal case out of the censoring, if he had to. It wasn't about race or sexuality, per se, but it did involve male nudity. Do you remember the episode and Lears comments concerning it? (The answer also features a note about the late Isabel (Louise Jefferson) Sanford's final screen appearance.


38. What was the first national animated television commercial? (Hints: bratty kid, frustrated dad, cowboy hat). You can actually watch the ad in the answer section!


39. In the 1960's, a celebrity was banned from The Ed Sullivan Show after he allegedly gave Ed "the finger" on camera, in front of a live studio audience, when the host gave him a cue to cut hos performance short. Can you name that blacklisted Sullivan Show guest? Hint: it was comic, who wrote a book (cane you name it?) later apologized.

40. In the 1950's, Ted Mack hosted the Original Amateur Hour first on Dumont, then NBC, but who hosted the show on NBC Radio during the 1940's? (He also produced the Amateur Hour on the defunct Dumont network). What was the DuMont Television Network (the "forgotten network")? For the fascinating history of the innovations and downfalls of The DuMont Television Network and it's founder, click here.


41.
As a child actor, she was a cast regular in two TV sitcom series, one that ran in the 1950's, the second in the 60's.



42. What brand of cigar did Ernie Kovacs smoke on camera (allowedback in the Fifties)? Hint: his wife Edie Adams did the commercial for the brand.


43. During his NBC Buick and Texaco shows, Milton Berle had several on stage hecklers. Best known is one petite guy with a Barney Fife like face, but a sharp, whiney voice, best known retort was "ah, chip-chip-chip" following Berle's brags. Who's this heckler?

44. Berle's formidable Tuesday night competition on Du Mont was Catholic Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (whom Jackie Gleason often visited back stage). In jest, who did Archbishop Sheen credit for clearing his blackboard between uses?

45. Whose image appeared in the first experimental television broadcast? The year was 1923.

46. Ernie Kovacs was the inventor and innoventer of TV sketch comedy long before SNL, from 1949 until his death in 1962. Ernie's shows were, at one time or another, on all three networks. One of Ernie Kovac's most memorable bits was a musical trio that "monkeyed around," literally. What was the name of that combo? The answer below provides the video clip of the sketch.

47. Sleepwalk by guitar duo Santo & Johnny Farina was a #1 hit in 1959 for Harvey Weiss' Canadian American Records (who also had Linda Scott). Did Santo & Johnny ever have any other releases which made the charts? Harder question: what Hawaiian style electric guitar did Santo Farina play )Hint: made in the USA, but it was neither Gibson, nor Fender, nor Gretsch, the three top guitar mfrs. of the day).

The Answers Follow Below















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The TV Trivia Answers

1. Herb Vigran played Chester A. Riley in a 1949 pilot of The Life Of Riley which no network, not even the failing Du Mont, would pick up. Then, about a year later, none other than the great one, Jackie Gleason was contracted by CBS to play the patriarch Brooklyn aircraft factory worker. Gleason's version would run 26 weeks, then be cancelled. Director Abby Berlin believed in the series and revived it in 1954 with William Bendix as Riley, who moaned What A Revoltin' Development This Is. Bendix and ensemble (noted in the question) kept the sitcom going for 5 seasons.

2. Little Richard was known to his mother as Richard Pennington

3. What late 1950's TV commercial Chico & Harpo Marx appeared in? Click here to see it!

4. Jackie Cooper starred with Patricia Breslin and Cleo the dog in the short lived 50's TV sitcom The People's Choice

5. Singer and "Champagne Lady" Norma Zimmer quit The Lawrence Welk Show because, she said, the dresses she was given to wear rode too far up her legs. Bandleader Welk scoffed the allegation on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson, stating, "We do not use cheesecake on our show. Welk then led the Doc Severinson Orchestra...and ah one, and ah two-eh...

6. Jersey born Frank La Vecchio grew up singing in his Catholic School choir. Trying to make it in New York as a singer, he slept penniless on benches in Manhattan's Central Park before getting a gig in Las Vegas. From there, Mercury Records renamed him Frankie Lane, released his version of That's My Desire. That "78," like most of Frankie's records which followed, including title tunes from westerns, zoomed to number one on the national charts and the rest is history.

7. The Four Seasons, before their first hit Sherry played Jersey area night clubs as The Four Lovers, having one regionally charted record Como Si Bella b/w "Bermuda"on their own Star record label.

8. From 1949 to 1952, Elena Verdugo played Millie the secretary in NBC's Meet Millie. Other notables on the show: character actor Florence Halop, Marvin Kaplan (decades later, he was a regular customer at Mel's Diner on Alice). Kaplan's character roles were mostly that of a likeable, but hapless also-ran.

9. The synthesized ascending-descending "swish" was first heard in the beguine tempo blues tune, The Big Hurt by an L.A. singer dubbed Miss Toni Fisher on writer Wayne Shanklin's Signet label (flip side was Memphis Belle). The follow up You Never Told Me beguine with swish and 1989 You Won't Forget Me barely charted. Toni Fisher died in 1995 of a massive heart attack. The swish effect, created by Shanklin, would live on in heavy metal music. Similar music trivia: stereophonic and multiple track recording was developed by noted guitarist Les Paul in the late 1940's and brought to Ampex Electronics, a professional recording studio equipment manufacturer, for development.

10. Illogical as Spock may perceive it, his planet Vulcan and bossman William Shatner first came about on an episode of One Step Beyond in the 1959 episode titled The Promise written by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry (As illogical: Shatner visited Vulcan in '59, but when the first pilot for Star Trek was presented to and rejected by all three existing networks, Jeffrey Hunter was at the lead role helm playing Captain Christopher Pike. Throw the footage out? Never! It was beamed into a two parter flashback, episode titled The Cage and when Pike appeared to testify on behalf of successor Kirk, the character was quadraplegic and deformed (because Hunter refused to do Roddenberry the favor of reprising the role one-shot, after he was told to beam off The Enterprise).

11. Ernie Kovac's monkey business combo was The Nairobi Trio and he also hosted, with wife Edie, NBC's Can You Top This? on ABC 1950-51.

12. Steve Holland (a/k/a Steve Hollander) endeavored to re-create Flash Gordon for television, a European attmpt syndicated briefly in the United States in the late 1950's. In the 1980's public television stations ran the original 30's-40's movie theatre serials with Buster Crabbe to a larger audience. After all, what was Flash Gordon without his nemesis, Ming the Merciless (Charled Middleton).

13. It was none other than Screamin' Jay Hawkins who, in 1956, sang (and screamed and growled) I Put A Spell On You totally plastered. The song reached the top ten national charts and by popularity, not payola. Okeh Records, the label who released Screamin', was a subsidiary of Columbia, whose policy prohibited paying for play. CCR would later record a more sober version.

14. Sure you knew. It was that fantastic character actor Jonathan Fricke who called the poor robot You Bubbleheaded Booby, among other things, on Irin Allen's Lost In Space And from the notorious late 60's Ilsa bad lady dominatrix movies, Dyanne Thorne played a non-speaking gun moll on Star Trek.

15. Al Grandpa Munster Lewis played the wizard on Lost In Space and was the dance marathon barker's smirking assistant in the classic 1970 movie, They Shoot Horses, Don't They also starring Gig Young and Jane Fonda.

16. Although The Knockouts never peformed it on their appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, their Darling Lorraine mock doo-wop on Bobby Shad's label (backed with instrumental Riot In Room 3C) climbed to #7 on the national charts after Alan Freed accidentally (on purpose?) played over New York's WOR radio.

17. Happy Days, less Fonzie, was born on ABC's Love American Style. Apparently, the ABC brass liked it so much, they asked Gary Marshall to make it a weekly series (or, he pitched them on it, depending on whose story you believe). And from that came Marshall's wife Penny and Cindy Williams' Laverne & Shirley and Erin Moran's short lived Joanie Loves Chachi. "L.A,S," was predominantly on Friday Nights, but was bounced around Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays, especially after it started losing ratings steam.

18. The Montefuscos was the dead in the water sitcom about Italian patriarch Joe Montefusco, played byJohn Apnea, supporting cast Ron Carey and (would you believe) Linda Dano. Six episodes ran weekly in 1975, four were repeated, the show thereafter never to be seen again.

19. In the 60's, Ralph Bellamy was the Man Against Crime and Lee Marvin headed M Squad.

20. Starting in 1952, Charles Farrel played Vernon Albright the dad of My Little Margie. The show was the summer replacement for I Love Lucy for several years. Then, Gale Storm (Margie) teamed up with movie character actress Zazu Pitts in the failed 1959 CBS sitcom Oh, Sussanah. Things went better musically for Gale Storm when sang a pop version of the blues tune I Hear You Knocking (1958) and Dark Moon (1960) for Dot Records, label owned by TV bandleader Lawrence Welk and managed by Welk's nephew, Randy Wood.

21. Altogether now: I Married Joan, what a whirl, what a girl what a wife. Joan Steven's' bobby soxed, blue jeaned sis was named Beverly, played by star Joan Davis' real life same named daughter. Jim Backus had his hands full as hubbie Judge Bradley J. Stevens. Ths show ran from 1952-1955 weekly, then went into syndication as a five day a week "strip."

22. After receiving an international gold record for her RCA smash I Will Follow Him (awarded her in 1962), producers Hugo & Luigi (Creatore) followed it up with the chart topping I Wish I Were A Princess.

23. Snooky Lansen was one of four regular singers on Your Hit Parade during the shows final years. The others who concluded the weekly music series were Dorothy Collins, Giselle MacKenzie, and Russell Arms.Ths zhow made changes in the vocal line-up during it's impressive run.

24. The Four What's My Line panelists were Ogden Nash, Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennet Cerf and Arlene Francis.

25. In it's second season, Hawaii 5-0 (book'em, Dano) began "sneaking in" beach shots of buxomly Hawaiian gals in bikini thongs. The irony: star Jack Lord was a religious man who began each filming day reciting The Lord's Prayer. The thigh high mini's were not so hard on the male eye, either and gals got their share of beefcake.

26. Pudgy faced Ben Alexander was Officer Frank Smith, partner to Joe Friday when Dragnet originated in 1950 on NBC-TV. Harry Morgan "joined the LAPD force" when Webb revived Dragnet in the mid 60's. His brother, Henry, was a conservative lobbyist, frequently seen bashing libs as a panelist on I've Got A Secret and To Tell The Truth. Remember the title Webb used when he syndicated the original Dragnet in re-runs? His Mark IV Productions re-titled the repeats Badge 714. Why? Who knows.

27. Amidst the barrage of cartoons on 50's Saturday children's TV block time, Fearless Fosdick was a crime fighting marionette (villains included Noah Napps, the insomniac robber) and kids drew against a clear plastic sheet over TV screens around the elusive Winky Dink.

28. Leaving to become CBS' Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan played the first Clarabelle on NBC's Howdy Doody.

29. Zany comic Pinky Lee went into cardiac arrest on air during a live telecast. Pinky survived, the daily show (1950-55 bopping around on all the networks) didn't. It ended on NBC. (The network denied Lee had a heart attack. Lee's press agent told reporters he collapsed from a sinus attack).

30. Willie Mae "Big Mama Thornton," blues singer, was the first to record Hound Dog in 1953 for Vanguard Records, backed by the Johnny Otis combo.

31. In the early 1950's Anne B. Davis was photographer's assistant Soshi (Thanks,Jim H.) on The Bob Cummings Show before serving The Brady Bunch a decade later.

32. Ronnie Burns bummed out dad George and mom Gracie as well as Verve Records when, opposite to the onslaught of hits by rival Ricky Nelson bolstering his folk's TV show, Kinda Cute b/w Double Date was a no-play bomb for Ron Soon after he was a regular on parent's Burns & Allen, the long running CBS show was cancelled by it's sponsor, Carnation and the network.

33. Elvis Presley made his first appearance on The Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey Show in 1957. The King appeared later on shows hosted by Milton Berle, Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan, but never appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand or the Saturday Night show (manager Col. Parker said "no."). When Elvis appeared on Steve Allen's Show, Steve, who despised Rock & Roll, had The King sing Hound Dog to a live hound dog.

34. So, who was the laundry detergent ingenue model who shocked the ad agency by going from the "Purest Detergent For Baby" mom to the star of an X rated adult movie? Find the answer in the "bikini"drive-in movie trailer you can watch in a new window by clicking this link! If you already know the answer, you'll probably want to click the link and watch the trailer anyway. It was her last movie sppearance that we know of. (Viewer Discretion Advised --- boy, now we sound like Fox!).

35. Shelley Fabares began TV acting at age 8 on the syndicated Annie Oakley western, six years later she would be daughter Mary Stone on ABC-TV's The Donna Reed Show. She still looks as youthful today as she diid then. (Thanks, Rose, for correcting us on The Donna Reed Show family name. We have visitors smarter than our researcher!

36. The Father Knows Best opening credits rollcall: Robert Young (later Marcus Welby, MD was dad/hubbie Jim Anderson, Jane Wyatt (later Spock's mother on the original Star Trek) as wife/mom, Eleanor Donahue (who also appeared on Star Trek) was Betty, Billy Gray was James, jr. better known as Bud, and Lauren Chapin was Kathy. Peter Tewksbury, bossman and oft director, was tough and even bullyish at times, cast interviews conveyed, and would not allow even a "the" or "and" be added to the dialogue; under his thumb, the script had to be followed precisely.

37. It was the All In The Family episode which showed Mike and Gloria's newborn, Joey, au naturale, tiny male organ included, that CBS censors refused to air the show without the seven second scene cut. That is, until executive producer Normal Lear threatened to take the network to federal court. The network legal beagles knew Lear headed a strong media anti-censorship group and apparently decided it was the lesser of two evils (or more accurately, less costly) to let the episode run and take backlash from "The Moral Majority," a conservative religious fundamentalist group who hated the show to begin with. The show ran and, as Lear put it in newspaper quotes, "no state ceded from the union." (But, when Sally Struthers refused to do a quasi-nude flash in an episode where she posed nude for an artist - and pushed Rob Reiner's character hubbie Mike's liberal lattitude - Lear relented. Go figure). Carroll O'Connor, the lovable bigot Archie and Jean Stapleton, the lovable Edith laughed off the Joey ruckus while Sherman Helmsley and the late Isabel Sanford made George & Louise Jefferson Lear's next TV hit. In 2004, before we lost her, Isabel Sanford made her final screen appearance, starring as a homeless woman who inspired a mentally challenged child in the award winning and moving independent film, Click Three Times.

38. What was the first national animated TV commercial with the brat and the hat? Click here to see it!.

39. Comedian Jackie Mason was banned from The Ed Sullivan Show for allegedly giving Sullivan the finger after the host signalled him to end his monologue. Mason denied the gesture at first, then issued a public apology in Variety, the show biz trade paper. The following week, Mason was allowed back on the show and Sullivan joined Jackie in his mimic of the longstanding CBS-TV Sunday night variety show, noted for bolstering Elvis' public image and welcoming The Beatles and The Rolling Stones of British Invasion to America. Jackie Mason's book was titled Oy!.

40. In the 1940's Majoe Bowes hosted accordion players, operatic bellowers and Frank Sinatra as hopeful Amateur Hour radio winners (Sinatra lost). In 1950's, Mack would do the same for tap dancers, ventriloquists (most notably Paul Winchell), and Pat Boone who also lost. Winchell, with his wooden buddies Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smith, was a three time winner.

41.
She's Angela Cartright, Danny Thomas' 50's little girl, Linda, on Make Room For Daddy and Will Robinson's 60's sister, Penny, on Lost In Space Pert and cute then, a buxomy babe now! She re-appeared as Danny Williams' (Danny Thomas') daughter when "Make Room For Grandaddy" was resurrected in the 70's.

42. Muriel Coronella.

43. Ah, chip-chip-chip, Berle's longest lasting heckler was Arnold Stang. A typical quip: on a season premiere, Stang asked Berle howlong he thought the show would be on. Berle: "As long as the people want me on." Stang: "Oh, so this is the last show.".

44. Why, of course the angels cleared Bishop Sheen's chalkboard (the heavenly spirits, not the worldly 60s rock and roll girl group. According to Nielson, Archbishop Sheen's weekly Life Is Worth Living not only beat Milton Berle some weeks in the ratings (to which Berle quipped, "Look who he has working on his side"). but until today is the highest rated weekly religious program in television history (Billy Graham Crusades are counted as specials/paid programs). Unfortunately, this was not enough to save Allen B. Dumont's shrinking television network from financial collapse. What was the DuMont Television Network (the "forgotten network")? For the fascinating history of the innovations and downfalls of The DuMont Television Network and it's founder, click here.

45. The first video transmission featured other than Felix the Cat, whose plastic model Vladamir Zworkyn and Phillip Farnsworth used as they wowed RCA and Westinghouse with their iconoscope system (1923), a crude (by today's standard) "picture tube." This ended the earlier, ill-fated spinning wheel system. RCA/NBC head David Sarnoff hired Zworkyn, who died at age 90. Farnsworth's Philco radio-television company embarked on a product troubled path.

46. To see Ernie Kovacs' monkey music trio and the band's name click here. There's more Ernie Kovacs sketch comedy genius at our main 40+ channel Oldies Television - oldiestelevision.com.
47. After Sleepwalk was a phenomenol international hit for Santo & Johnny, reaching the #1 spot on most record charts, Canadian American released three follow-up 45 singles: Santo & Johnny's Teardrop, The Long Walk Home, The Long Walk Home again re-mixed with vocal backup. All three could do no better than the 70's position on the national charts. Santo Farina's Hawaiian style electric guitar was a Carvin brand, made by a small custom guitar company in Palo Alto, California, later bought out by Valco-Supra Guitars in Chicago who made "Silvertone" guitars for Sears and "Airline" guitars for Montgomery-Ward. Like Canadian-American Records, the aforementioned guitar company succumbed to stiffer competition from the big guns.

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