Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983)
Arthur Godfrey was seen for the last time in the final broadcast of “The
Arthur Godfrey Show” on CBS-TV. The hour-long series originally aired
from January 1949 to June 1957 as “Arthur Godfrey and His Friends”.
The variety show was live, and Godfrey often did away with the script
and improvised. He refused to participate in commercials for products
he did not believe in himself.
Inner Sanctum Mysteries, a popular anthology series that aired from Jan.
7, 1941 to Oct. 5, 1952 (NBC/CBS), was created by producer Himan Brown
and was based on the generic title given to the mystery novels of Simon
and Schuster. The anthology series featured stories of mystery, terror
and suspense, and its tongue-in-cheek introductions were in sharp
contrast to shows like Suspense and The Whistler. The early programs
opened with Raymond Edward Johnson introducing himself as, “your
host, Raymond.” The program’s familiar and famed audio trademark
was the eerie creaking door which opened and closed the broadcast.
The DuMont Television Network was one of the world’s pioneer
commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the
distinction of being first overall in the United States. It began
operation on August 15, 1946 and aired it’s final telecast on the
6th of August, 1956. The country would be without a fourth major
network until the Fox network was launched in 1986.
Portland’s KPTV channel 27, now channel 12, was an affiliate of
DuMont from September 1953 to September 1955.
From left: Jack Paar, Hugh Downs, and band leader Jose Melis
Jack Paar drew millions of viewers every week night while he was host
of the Tonight show (1957-1962. The late night talk show was later
renamed “The Jack Paar Show”. His original announcer was actor
Franklin Pangborn, but he was let go within weeks for not showing
enough enthusiasm. He was replaced by Hugh Downs who stayed
with the show to the final airing on March 30, 1962.
Paar left the show, citing he could no longer handle the strenuous
load of putting on a 105 minute show, five nights a week. A new
host was chosen to replace him, his name was Johnny Carson.
From the first show in 1957
The General Electric Theater was produced by MCA-TV/Revue, was broadcast
every Sunday evening at 9:00pm, EST, beginning February 1, 1953 and ending
May 27, 1962. Each of the estimated 209 television episodes was an adaptation
of a novel, short story, play, film, or magazine fiction. On September 26, 1954,
Ronald Reagan debuted as the only host of the program.
