The Dinah Shore Show

The Dinah Shore Show is an American variety show which was broadcast by NBC from November 1951 to July 1957, sponsored by General Motors' Chevrolet division. For most of the program's run, it aired from 7:30 to 7:45 Eastern Time on Tuesday and Thursday nights, rounding out the time slot which featured the network's regular evening newscast (John Cameron Swayze's Camel News Caravan), which, like all such programs of the era, was then only 15 minutes in length.

For a later, longer-format television series starring the same performer, see The Dinah Shore Chevy Show.
The Dinah Shore Show
GenreVariety
Written byCharles Isaacs
Presented byDinah Shore
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
Production
Producer(s)Alan Handley
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time15 minutes (approx. 12-13 minutes excluding ads)
Release
Original networkNBC
Picture formatBlack-and-white
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseNovember 27, 1951 (1951-11-27) –
July 18, 1957 (1957-07-18)

Overview

The program, broadcast live, was hosted by namesake actress and singer Dinah Shore, who had come to prominence in her home state as a radio singer and the first Jewish cheerleader at Vanderbilt University before being "discovered" and subsequently appearing on national radio and feature films. She made a relatively easy transition to TV, as noted by the length of this program's run. The series had an annual summer replacement show as was the case with many live musical and variety programs of the era.

During this program's final season, it was reduced to appearing on Thursday nights only, with the Tuesday night slot going to The Jonathan Winters Show. However, during this season, Shore was given an opportunity to host a full hour-long variety show on Friday nights, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, which was to run, on varying nights and timeslots, for a total of seven seasons. The 15-minute Thursday night program was discontinued following the 1956-57 season, along with all other such series (although network evening newscasts were not expanded to the half-hour format until 1963).

Reception

In 1951, media critic John Crosby commented, "The Dinah Shore Show is a triumph of simplicity", "it is the most intelligently thought out show that has yet come east from Hollywood" (at the time, Hollywood produced shows were generally held in far lower regard than New York City produced shows), and said "it's a very pretty show to watch".[1]

Hal Webman, in the December 8, 1951, edition of Billboard Magazine, praised writer, producer, director Alan Handley for picking "just the right camera angles with which properly to make Dinah appear so agreeable visually", for giving the episode reviewed a "whirlwind pace" and noted he "mercifully confined the Chevrolet commercials to one extremely effective filmed bit, and thus maintained the steady drive, flow and pacing of the entertainment portions of the show".[2]

Publisher Bob Lanigan in the March 9, 1952, edition of Brooklyn Eagle said "time has justified the original bouquets thrown at Dinah" and commented on the "elaborate and highly individual production numbers which would do justice to any high-budget, one-hour TV variety show".[3]

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References
  1. Crosby, John (December 24, 1951). "Dinah Shore's TV Show Is Triumph Of Simplicity". St. Petersburg Times. p. 11. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  2. Webman, Hal (December 8, 1951). "Dinah Sure Never Was Finah In Hitting Her Own TV Pace". Billboard. p. 3. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  3. http://www.fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%205%2FBrooklyn%20NY%20Daily%20Eagle/Brooklyn%20NY%20Daily%20Eagle%201952%20Grayscale/Brooklyn%20NY%20Daily%20Eagle%201952%20Grayscale%20-%201879.pdf
  • Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows
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