This Is Show Business

Clifton Fadiman hosted This Is Show Business.

This Is Show Business is an American panel discussion program about the entertainment industry, hosted by Clifton Paul Fadiman (1904-1999), which aired on CBS Television from July 15, 1949, to March 9, 1954, and then again as a summer series on NBC from June 26 to September 11, 1956.^[1]

Overview[edit]

Guest celebrities, such as Merv Griffin (1925-2007), or Dave Garroway (1913-1982) ^[2] dropped by to visit the panel of intellectuals and humorists, including Sam Levenson (1911-1980), Abe Burrows (1910-1985), and playwright George S. Kaufman (1889-1961). In September 1951, This Is Show Business entered television history as the first CBS program to have been televised live from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts. Kaufman, who was Jewish, was suspended because of viewer complaints after the December 21, 1952, Christmas broadcast in which he said, "Let's make this one program on which no one sings 'Silent Night'!"^[1]

On September 29, 1953, Jackie Gleason (1916-1987), Phil Foster, and John Raitt (1917-2005) were This Is Show Business guest stars.^[3]

After its five-year run on CBS, the series resumed for the summer of 1956 on NBC. This time the panel consisted of Burrows, Walter Slezak (1902-1983), and author Jacqueline Susann (1918-1974), later the author of The Valley of the Dolls. Susann's husband, Irving Mansfield, was the producer for the later episodes. Byron Paul was the director.^[1]

Scheduling[edit]

In its first season, This Is Show Business preceded Toast of the Town, later The Ed Sullivan Show on the CBS Sunday lineup. In the 1950-1952 seasons, This Is Show Business alternated with The Jack Benny Program.

In the last full season on CBS, the series followed The Red Skelton Show on Tuesday evenings and faced competition from Danny Thomas, then on ABC with his Make Room for Daddy, and Fireside Theatre, an anthology series on NBC.^[4]

References[edit]