Broadway Open House
| Broadway Open House | |
|---|---|
As Dagmar rose to fame on Broadway Open House, Alfred Eisenstaedt photographed her for the July 16, 1951 issue of Life.
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| Genre | Variety show |
| Created by | Sylvester L. Weaver, Jr. |
| Starring |
Jerry Lester (1950-1951) Morey Amsterdam (1950) Dagmar (1950-1951) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Studio 6H, NBC Studios New York City |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | NBC Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Original release | May 29, 1950 – August 24, 1951 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Tonight Starring Steve Allen |
| Related shows | The Tonight Show |
Broadway Open House is network television's first late-night comedy-variety series. It was telecast live on NBC from May 29, 1950 to August 24, 1951, airing weeknights from 11pm to midnight. One of the pioneering TV creations of NBC president Pat Weaver, it demonstrated the potential for late-night programming and led to the later development of The Tonight Show.
The show was originally to be hosted by comic Don "Creesh" Hornsby (so named because he yelled "Creesh" often), but he died of polio two weeks before the premiere broadcast. Hornsby's popularity at the time with celebrities who caught his act can be judged from this anecdote by Sharlotte Spencer (in her book From CIA Wife to Sobriety):
Hornsby's replacements, hosting different nights each week, were Morey Amsterdam (Monday and Wednesday) and the raucous Jerry Lester (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays), the brother of character actor Buddy Lester. However, Amsterdam soon exited the show, leaving Lester the sole host, performing sketches with his crew of sidekicks (including some of the earliest TV appearances of brassy Barbara Nichols), running through standard nightclub comedy routines and introducing the show's vocal group, the Mello Larks. Lester's signature bit was to twist his eyeglasses at a 45 degree angle on his face. The show had occasional guests, including Lenny Bruce, who appeared May 1950 and Charlie Parker who appeared October 31, 1950 (an audio recording exists of his appearance on the show), and there were also audience participation bits, such as having women from the audience join the female cast members in modeling fur coats. The sponsors included Anchor Hocking glassware and Blatz Beer.
However, devising new material night after night became a treadmill of desperation. The solution was to hire bosomy blonde Jennie Lewis, who was given no script and told, "You just sit there and act dumb. Your name is Dagmar." With her new name, she sat on a stool with a sign around her neck saying "Girl Singer," did breathing exercises, and soon performed as a reader of poems and plays, while Lester made occasional jokes about her "hidden talents." Her appearances created a sensation, leading to much press coverage and a salary increase from $75 to $1,250. With Dagmar getting all the attention, Lester walked off his own show in May 1951, and Dagmar carried on as host. On July 16, 1951, she was featured on the front cover of Life, and the show came to an end one month later.
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