Red Skelton Show, The


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

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About

The Red Skelton Show, which premiered on 30 September 1951, was not only one of the longest running variety series on television, but also one of the first variety shows to make the successful transition from radio to television. Despite his popularity as an entertainer in nightclubs, vaudeville, radio and 26 feature films, Skelton was unsure of the new medium. Consequently, he continued his weekly radio broadcasts while simultaneously working on the first two season of his television show.

The series originally aired in a half-hour format on NBC. Despite an outstanding first year in which his show was ranked fourth in the Nielsens and won two Emmy awards, the series' ratings toppled in its second season. When NBC canceled the show, it was immediately picked up by CBS, and The Red Skelton Show became a Tuesday night staple from 1954 to 1970.

The format of the series was similar to Skelton's radio program. Each show began with Skelton performing a monologue based on topical material, followed by a musical interlude. He would then perform in a series of blackout sketches featuring one or more of his characters. The sketches were a mixture of new material and old routines (including his popular "Guzzler's Gin") perfected over the years in vaudeville and in nightclubs. At the end of the program, Skelton would become serious and express his gratitude to his audience for their love and laughter. His signature closing line became "Good night and may God bless."

The Red Skelton Show, unlike other variety series, did not rely on guest stars every week. Skelton had a strong group of support players, most of whom had worked with him on his radio program. They included Benny Rubin, Hans Conried, Mel Blanc, and Verna Felton.

Most of Skelton's characters were first developed for radio and worked equally well on television. Among the best known were Junior the Mean Widdle Kid (who was famous for his expression, "I Dood It"), country boy Clem Kadiddlehopper, Sheriff Deadeye, boxer Cauliflower McPugg, drunkard Willy Lump-Lump, and con man San Fernando Red. Skelton had a reputation for his extensive use of "headware." Each character had his own specific hat, which Skelton used as a means to find the center of each personality.

The only television addition to his repertoire of characters was Freddie the Freeloader, a hobo who never spoke. A special "silent spot" featuring the hobo character was added to the program, and provided Skelton the opportunity to demonstrate his talents as a pantomimist.

Skelton's forte was his use of slapstick. He seemed oblivious to physical punishment and often ended his vaudeville act by falling off the stage into the orchestra pit. One of his most popular pieces was created for his premiere show. At the end of his monologue, while Skelton was taking a bow, two hands reached out from under the curtain, grabbed him by the ankles, and swept him off the stage.

Many stars got their start on The Red Skelton Show. Johnny Carson, one of Skelton's writers, was called upon to fill in for the star when, in 1954, Skelton injured himself during a rehearsal. The Rolling Stones made one of their earliest American appearances on the show in 1964.

Critics often chastised Skelton for breaking into laughter at his own material on the air. But, no matter how many times he succumbed to his giggles, took another pratfall, mugged for the camera, or made asides to the audience, his popularity only increased.

Although the series remained among the top 20 rated shows, CBS canceled it in 1970, citing high production costs. But it was also the case that Skelton's main audience was very young viewers and speculation suggested that the network wanted to increase its audience share of young adults. The next season, Skelton returned to NBC in a half-hour format on Monday night, but the new show lasted only one season.

During the run of his variety series, Skelton was also able to demonstrate his dramatic abilities. He played the punch-drunk fighter, Buddy McCoy, in Playhouse 90's The Big Slide (CBS, 1956) for which he was nominated for an Emmy award as Best Actor.

-Susan Gibberman

REGULAR PERFORMERS

Red Skelton

David Rose and His Orchestra

Carol Worthington (1970-1971)

Chanin Hale (1970-1971)

Jan Arvan (1970-1971)

Bob Duggan (1970-1971)

Peggy Rea (1970-1971)

Brad Logan (1970-1971)

The Burgundy Street Singers (1970-1971)

PRODUCERS

1951-1970; Nat Perrin, Cecil Barker, Freeman Keyes, Ben Brady, Gerald Gardner, Bill Hobin, Seymour Berns

1970-1971; Guy Della Cioppa, Gerald Gardner, Dee Caruso

PROGRAMMING HISTORY

NBC

September 1951-June 1952   Sunday 10:00-10:30

September 1952-June 1953   Sunday 7:00-7:30

CBS

September 1953-June 1954   Tuesday 8:30-9:00

July 1954-September 1954 Wednesday   8:00-9:00

September 1954-December 1954   Tuesday 8:00-8:30

January 1959-June 1961   Tuesday 9:30-10:00

September 1961-June 1962   Tuesday 9:00-9:30

September 1962-June 1963   Tuesday 8:30-9:30

September 1963-June 1964   Tuesday 8:00-9:00

September 1964-June 1970   Tuesday 8:30-9:30

NBC

September 1970-March 1971   Monday 7:30-8:00

June 1971-August 1971   Sunday 8:30-9:00

FURTHER READING

Abramson, M. "The Red Skelton Story." Cosmopolitan (New York), September 1956.

Busch, N. F. "Red Skelton: Television's Clown Prince." Reader's Digest (Pleasantville, New York) March 1965.

Chassler, S. "Helter Skelton." Colliers (New York), 29 March 1952.

"Clown of the Year." Newsweek (New York), 17 March 1952.

"Invincible Red: Tormented Skelton is Top U.S. Clown." Life (New York), 21 April 1961.

Jennings, D. "Sad and Lonely Clown." Saturday Evening Post (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), 2 June 1962.

Marx, Arthur. Red Skelton. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1979.

Pryor, Thomas M. "Impromptu Comic: In TV, Red Skelton is a Free-Wheeling Clown." New York Times, 2 March 1952.

"Rubber Face on TV." Life (New York), 22 October 1951.

"Still Fighting for Laughs." Look (New York), 2 April 1957.

Highlights
Larry Rhine on his favorite The Red Skelton Show characters
02:48
Ron Howard on landing a bit on The Red Skelton Show, launching his TV career
01:00
Ben Wolf on Red Skelton in front on the camera
02:21
Jamie Farr on his time on The Red Skelton Show
01:07
Tucker Wiard on working on The Red Skeleton Show
01:17
William Schallert on working with Red Skelton on The Red Skelton Show
05:26
Who talked about this show

George Balzer

View Interview
George Balzer on writing for The Red Skelton Show
02:39

Charles Cappleman

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Charles Cappleman on stage managing for My Friend Irma and The Red Skelton Show
02:09

Rod Erickson

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Rod Erickson on the process of pairing advertisers with shows and attempting to pair Whitman Chocolates with The Red Skelton Show
02:41

Jamie Farr

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Jamie Farr on his role on The Red Skelton Show being similar to his role on M*A*S*H
02:02
Jamie Farr on Sherwood Schwartz writing for The Red Skelton Show
01:19
Jamie Farr on his time on The Red Skelton Show
01:07

Albert Heschong

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Albert Heschong on moving over to CBS, and on production designing for The Red Skelton Show
04:41

Ron Howard

View Interview
Ron Howard on landing a bit on The Red Skelton Show, launching his TV career
01:00

Don Knotts

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Don Knotts on Red Skelton, and his famed "blue" rehearsals and joke file
02:09

Charles Lisanby

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Charles Lisanby on doing production design for The Red Skelton Show
01:00
Charles Lisanby on working on The Red Skelton Show
00:44

Robert Mott

View Interview
Robert Mott on moving to Los Angeles and working on The Red Skelton Show
03:07

Anne Nelson

View Interview
Anne Nelson on The Red Skelton Show, and on her friendship with Skelton
08:52

Larry Rhine

View Interview
Larry Rhine on his favorite The Red Skelton Show characters
02:48
Larry Rhine on writing for The Red Skelton Show
02:19
Larry Rhine on the characters of The Red Skelton Show
04:49
Larry Rhine on Red Skelton missing shows on The Red Skelton Show
02:36
Larry Rhine on a typical week on The Red Skelton Show
03:56
Larry Rhine on Red Skelton on The Red Skelton Show, and on the writers of the show
04:48
Larry Rhine on Red Skelton Show producer Cecil Barker and on head writer Ed Simmons
02:16

William Schallert

View Interview
William Schallert on working with Red Skelton on The Red Skelton Show
05:26

Bob Schiller

View Interview
Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on writing for The Red Skelton Show; on Red's reputation among writers
04:00
Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on memorable characters and pantomimes on The Red Skelton Show
01:54

Sherwood Schwartz

View Interview
Sherwood Schwartz on agreeing to work on The Red Skelton Show
05:49
Sherwood Schwartz on seeing evidence of the power of television when a The Red Skelton Show comic sketch was taken seriously by certain viewers
04:29
Sherwood Schwartz on Red Skelton's pantomiming abilities on The Red Skelton Show
04:46
Sherwood Schwartz on his difficulties working with Red Skelton on The Red Skelton Show
08:37
Sherwood Schwartz on leaving The Red Skelton Show
01:57
Sherwood Schwartz on winning an Emmy for writing on The Red Skelton Show
02:00
Sherwood Schwartz on CBS's efforts trying to get him to stay on The Red Skelton Show
02:20

Doris Singleton

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Doris Singleton on hitting Red Skelton on The Red Skelton Show
00:45

Howard Smit

View Interview
Howard Smit on doing makeup for The Red Skelton Show
03:12
Howard Smit on working with Red Skleton and the various guest stars of The Red Skelton Show
02:59

Dick Stiles

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Dick Stiles on working at CBS Television City as a page in the early '60s and on becoming a draftsman for The Red Skelton Show
07:54

George Sunga

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George Sunga on "spying on" Red Skelton
04:43

Bob Weiskopf

View Interview
Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on writing for The Red Skelton Show; on Red's reputation among writers
04:00
Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on memorable characters and pantomimes on The Red Skelton Show
01:54

Tucker Wiard

View Interview
Tucker Wiard on working on The Red Skeleton Show
01:17
Tucker Wiard on a mentor he learned from on The Red Skeleton Show, in the early days of his editing career
00:36
Tucker Wiard on the use of computers for editing on The Red Skeleton Show
04:16

Ben Wolf

View Interview
Ben Wolf on working as a cameraman on The Red Skelton Show
06:11
Ben Wolf on Red Skelton in front on the camera
02:21
Ben Wolf on his relationship with Red Skelton
03:33
Ben Wolf on the rehearsal for The Red Skelton Show
03:13
Ben Wolf on how Red Skelton worked with the cameras
03:12
Ben Wolf on Seymour Berns, the producer of The Red Skelton Show and the directors on the show
01:43
Ben Wolf on shooting the musical numbers for The Red Skelton Show
01:10
Ben Wolf on the guest stars of The Red Skelton Show
01:08

Frederic Ziv

View Interview
Frederic Ziv on syndicating The Red Skelton Show for radio
00:48

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