"The Milton Berle Show" (1948) TV series 1948-1956

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Directors:

Edmund L. Cashman
Sid Smith

Writers:

Milton Berle (writer)
Abe Burrows (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | unknown

Release Date:

8 June 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Plot:

The Texaco Star Theatre was one of the most popular shows in the history of television. In the first year...

Plot Keywords:

Variety | Company Sponsor Name In Title | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Milton Berle	...	Himself - Host / ... (49 episodes, 1948-1956)
Allen Roth	...	Orchestra Leader / ... (23 episodes, 1948-1956)

Also Known As:

"Texaco Star Theater" (USA)
"The Buick-Berle Show" (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (1955-1956)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

Trivia:

First televised 8 June 1948. This hour-long NBC comedy-variety series was enormously popular and responsible for exponentially increasing the sales of TV sets across the US. It wound down (some would say it just ran out of gas) in June 1956 and Milton Berle took a couple of years off before returning with a slightly revamped 30-minute version on NBC in October 1958, which failed to click with an audience now enamored by westerns, detective shows and anthology dramas. This second version left the air in May 1959. Berle spent the next seven years doing the TV guest star bit along with taking on noticeable roles in major Hollywood productions (It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), Who's Minding the Mint? (1967)) when ABC offered him another crack at hour-long prime time in September 1966, but gave him a slot up against Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, and it was bumped off in the ratings by the forces of U.N.C.L.E. The last show was broadcast on January 6, 1967.

Quotes:

Host: And now, ladies and gentlemen, as I look into your faces, and believe me, some of your faces need looking into...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Terror from the Year 5000 (#9.7)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

We Are The Men of Texaco

A Masterpiece!! Must-See TV of the 1950's!!

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

OK, I'm not sure how I can write ten lines on such a simple yet wonderful show. In one episode, they were broadcast live from an Military base, with lots of soldiers watching Milton tell his jokes. There were two lovely and pretty ladies, some musical numbers, and a spoof of robots. I quite enjoyed it. The humor is very Jewish, in fact a lot of early TV stars were Jewish (Eddie Fisher, Dinah Shore, Oscar Levant, Jack Benny, etc). This show may be pure corn, but I couldn't love it more! This show is always a great time capsule of 1950's culture. You hear jokes about pop culture, actors, brands and other stuff. Did I mention that this show was at one point the most popular show on TV? Too bad most of the kinescope recordings are lost forever.