Jackpot Bowling
| Jackpot Bowling | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | David Brown (1960-61) |
| Presented by |
Leo Durocher (January 1959) Mel Allen (January – April 1959, October 1959 – April 1960) Bud Palmer (April – October 1959, April – June 1960) Milton Berle (1960-1961) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Buddy Arnold (1960-61) |
| Running time | 15 minutes(1959-60) 30 minutes (1960-61) |
| Production company(s) | NBC Productions (1959–1960) Sagebrush/Bayuk Productions (1960–1961) |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | January 9, 1959 – March 13, 1961 |
Jackpot Bowling (also known as Phillies Jackpot Bowling and Jackpot Bowling Starring Milton Berle) was a professional bowling show on NBC from January 9, 1959 to March 13, 1961.
Jackpot Bowling was the first national TV bowling show since Bowling Headliners aired in the early days of television (1948–50). Jackpot Bowling originally aired on Fridays at 10:45 PM following the Cavalcade of Sports Friday Night Fight.
Leo Durocher was the show's first host, but bowed out after only two shows and was replaced by Mel Allen. Allen's lack of bowling knowledge made him an unpopular host, however. On April 10, 1959 Bud Palmer became the show's third host.
Allen returned in October 1959 and remained with the show until April 1960, after which Palmer returned and hosted through June.
The show was put on a summer hiatus after the June 24, 1960 episode, as its Cavalcade of Sports lead-in had ended its run on NBC. When it returned on September 19, 1960, a retooled version hit the airwaves; the series not only moved to Monday nights at 10:30, Brunswick became a co-sponsor with Bayuk's Phillies Cigars, the Hollywood Legion Lanes replaced Wayne, New Jersey's T-Bowl as the show's venue, and Milton Berle was installed as host with Chick Hearn providing play-by-play. (NBC installed Berle as host in part because the network was desperate to burn off its 30-year contract with Berle, whose popularity had been in steady decline, and also to emphasize more comedy as the nation's taste for high-budget contests had waned in the wake of the 1950s quiz show scandals.) The show now ran 30 minutes, and the professional bowler challenges were supplemented with a late-night-style monologue from Berle and segments of celebrities being interviewed by Berle and then rolling a shot for charity.
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