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\nSeptember 21, 1963…”The Jerry Lewis Show” Debuts On ABC<\/p>\n
\nSeptember 21, 1963…”The Jerry Lewis Show” Debuts On ABC<\/p>\n
This is a strange tale, but you’ll love the video of Jerry riding the crane and singing.<\/p>\n
You would have thought that one of the worlds top comedians would have been a natural hit, but the show only ran 13 weeks. ABC originally had high hopes for Lewis’ live, two-hour Saturday night variety series. They signed the comedian to a 5-year contract for a reported $35 million. The network also purchased the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles and re-christened it The Jerry Lewis Theater, after spending over a million dollars to renovate and equip it with 4, RCA TK60 black and white cameras, and a new control room.<\/p>\n
“The Jerry Lewis Show” premiered on September 21, 1963, but by Thanksgiving, it was apparent that the show was a failure. In a scramble for a mid season replacement, ABC hired Nick Vanoff to produce a new show. Vanoff, in turn, hired William O. Harbach to help him develop the series. They hurriedly came up with the concept of “The Hollywood Palace”.<\/p>\n
The final “Jerry Lewis Show” aired on December 21, 1963, and The Hollywood Palace premiered on January 4, 1964. The Palace took over the first hour of Lewis’ old time slot. The second hour was given to the local affiliates for their own local and syndicated programming. The old El Capitan Theater was once again re-named, this time as “The Hollywood Palace.”<\/p>\n
The video will start a segment from the Lewis show where he climbs aboard the crane to sing “Birth Of The Blues”. This is a rare clip, so enjoy! -Bobby Ellerbee<\/p>\n
(Clip source: https:\/\/youtu.be\/XtL4K9srXwQ?t=21<\/a><\/p>\n