"Your Show of Shows" (1950) TV series 1950-1954

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Creator:

Sylvester L. Weaver Jr.
(more)

Seasons:

3 | unknown

Release Date:

25 February 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Live, original comedy originally featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Carl Reiner and Howard Morris joined the show later...

Plot Keywords:

Variety | Cult TV

Awards:

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 5 nominations

Cast

Imogene Coca	...	Regular Performer (139 episodes, 1950-1954)
Howard Morris	...	Regular Performer (139 episodes, 1950-1954)
Sid Caesar	...	Regular Performer (113 episodes, 1950-1954)
Carl Reiner	...	Regular Performer (113 episodes, 1950-1954)
James Starbuck	...	Regular Performer (111 episodes, 1951-1954)

(more)

Series Directed by
Nat Hiken		(unknown episodes)
Max Liebman		(unknown episodes)

Series Writing credits
Mel Brooks		(139 episodes, 1950-1954)
Larry Gelbart		(139 episodes, 1950-1954)
Lucille Kallen		(139 episodes, 1950-1954)
Danny Simon		(139 episodes, 1950-1954)
Neil Simon		(139 episodes, 1950-1954)
Mel Tolkin		(139 episodes, 1950-1954)
Joseph Stein		(unknown episodes)
Sylvester L. Weaver Jr.		(unknown episodes)
Tony Webster		(unknown episodes)

Series Produced by
Max Liebman	....	producer (1 episode, 1950)

Series Original Music by
Irwin Kostal		(unknown episodes)
Johnny Mandel		(unknown episodes)
Alex North		(unknown episodes)

Series Set Decoration by
Frederick Fox		(139 episodes, 1950-1954)

Series Costume Design by
Paul Dupont		(unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Jerry Weiss	....	camera operator (3 episodes, 1952)
Bill Hobin	....	camera director (unknown episodes)
Marcia Kuyper	....	assistant camera director (unknown episodes)

Series Music Department
Clay Warnick	....	choral director (139 episodes, 1950-1954)
Charles Sanford	....	orchestra leader (111 episodes, 1951-1954)
Johnny Green	....	conductor (unknown episodes)
Ralph Hermann	....	music arranger (unknown episodes)
Irwin Kostal	....	conductor (unknown episodes)
Aaron Levine	....	music librarian (unknown episodes)
Max Liebman	....	composer: theme "Stars Over Broadway" (unknown episodes)
Mel Tolkin	....	composer: theme "Stars Over Broadway" (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Hal Janis	....	network liaison (unknown episodes)
Heino Ripp	....	technical director (unknown episodes)
David Tebet	....	press agent (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• Max Liebman Productions

Distributors

• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1950-1954) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• New Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Sid Caesar's Show of Shows" (UK) (rerun title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

International Theatre - 5 Columbus Circle, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Max Liebman Productions

Trivia:

'Neil Simon' was writing with his brother 'Danny Simon' at the time of this show.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Magic Sword (#5.11)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Stars Over Broadway

The title tells it all: Your Show of Shows

This was one of the first television shows I remember viewing when we got our first set in 1953. I was only a kid but my entire family enjoyed it. We seldom missed it on Saturday nights. A few of the funniest shows are available on VHS. Hopefully more will be released on DVD. What talent both before the cameras and behind the cameras. With writers of the caliber of Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, and Neil Simon, expect to see some of the zaniest routines ever. Add to this the most gifted comedians around at the time, Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, and Howard Morris and you can't help but have a masterpiece of wit and satire. Even though in black & white Kinescope, the humor is just as rambunctious today as it was those many years ago.

The show was live, so expect a lot of ad-libbing, bloopers, and extemporaneous hilarity. At times, even though promoted as a family series, the buffoonery got a little risqué, especially for the early days of TV Land. I remember one scene when Caesar was playing a babe in the woods type character to Imogene Coca's more experienced woman about town. The two were dining together with another couple. Caesar dropped his spoon. In retrieving it, he poked his head under the table. He was confronted by Coca's feet and legs which were spread apart. Caesar looked up her dress, gave a double take, looked at the camera with a confused stare, got back in his chair with the same dopey expression on his face. Coca asked, "What's the matter?" Caesar blubbered, "I've just seen something that I've never seen before." The routine continued along those lines as the audience cracked up in gales of laughter. At times the chorus girls who performed during interludes between sketches wore extremely abbreviated costumes for those days. Kicking their legs in the air often gave the male viewers an extra treat.

I agree with critics that the funniest skit of all was the spoof on the popular TV show of the day "This Is Your Life," with Carl Reiner parodying the role of Ralph Edwards, the MC. This classic episode is preserved on the VHS copy that was released several years ago. If you get a chance don't miss it. You'll literally howl with laughter.

"Your Show of Shows" also did lampoons of popular Hollywood films. There are two skits that stand out in my mind. One was a burlesque of the Academy Award winning "From Here to Eternity," with Caesar and Coca mimicking the roles of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr doing the beach scene with the tide coming in. In the travesty the ocean water keeps hitting the two would-be lovers in the face until it nearly drowns both of them. The other parody that I recall was of "On the Waterfront," when Caesar and Reiner do a takeoff of the famous backseat scene between Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger playing brothers when Brando coins the phrase, "I could've been a contender." Wait till you see how they fracture this Academy Award winner.

Though I relate some of the finest moments, there really were no weak or boring spots. This is amazing when one realizes the show was in a 90 minutes time slot every week, even allowing for the commercials. Truly one of the gems from the Golden Age of Television.