I Led 3 Lives Through Just Men
Why I Love Lucy lost favor with Emmy the last two years by not appearing as a Best Comedy Series nominee, as well as its writers in their category, is quite a puzzle, since star Lucille Ball and supporting players Vivian Vance and William Frawley all were in contention. The Academy couldn’t have been jealous that the show still was #1 on TV those years – could it?
I Led 3 Lives
Syndicated Weekly 30 Minutes, 1953-1956
N: Mystery, Action or Adventure Program, 1953; Mystery or Intrigue Series, 1954
Citizen, Communist and counterspy – those were the three lives led by Herbert A. Philbrick (Richard Carlson), who for nine years pretended to be a Red in order to report their maneuverings in the United States to his contact at the FBI, Agent Jerry Dressler (John Zaremba). The only other person who knew Philbrick’s true identity was his wife Eva (Virginia Stefan). Based on Philbrick’s bestselling memoirs of the same name, this piece of Cold War paranoia is as dated as the cars seen transporting the shady types during their missions. Philbrick’s overheated narration adds to the campy quotient when watched today, as well as some of the philosophies expressed. According to this show, any intellectual who says anything negative about America is probably a Commie, as is anyone who pleads the Fifth Amendment while on trial. And while they are not nice people, they can infiltrate pillars of society just by their ability to appear normal, so watch out! In its defense, the show did have a strong leading performance by Carlson and respectable production values, especially for an off-network series. Even so, let’s count our blessings that the more respectable Dragnet (q.v.) beat it twice.
I Love Lucy
CBS Mondays 9-9:30 p.m., Oct. 15, 1951-June 6, 1957
W: Situation Comedy, 1952, 1953; Comedienne (Lucille Ball), 1952; Supporting Actress (Vivian Vance), 1953; Actress in a Continuing Performance (Ball), 1955
N: Comedy Show, 1951, 1954; Comedienne (Ball), 1951, 1955; Female Star (Ball), 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957; Supporting Actor (William Frawley), 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957; Supporting Actress in a Regular Series (Vance), 1954, 1956, 1957: Written Material (Jess Oppenheimer, Bob Carroll, Madelyn Pugh), 1954, (Oppenheimer, Pugh, Carroll, Bob Schiller, Bob Weiskopf), 1955
Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz) adores his wife Lucy (Lucille Ball), even though her antics from sneaking into being part of his band at the Tropicana Club to hobnobbing with celebrities often end in disaster. Lucy typically enlists into her schemes an ally, her landlady Ethel Mertz (Vivian Vance), whose husband Fred (William Frawley) disdained his wife as much as Ricky enjoyed his, despite Lucy’s faults. From this simple premise emerged a TV classic, one that held the #1 spot for five of its seven seasons on the air, often far ahead of everything else on TV, and still remains a top draw in repeats. Its innumerable impacts included making Ball, previously a moderately successful radio and movie actress, into a superstar; showing that TV comedy could be done effectively on film before a studio audience, thus setting a pattern that has dominated most Emmy comedy winners since from The Dick Van Dyke Show to Will & Grace; and proving that TV had officially infiltrated America’s leisure life by early 1953, when Ball’s delivery of a baby in real life coincided with her TV character giving birth to Little Ricky (played by Richard Keith from 1956-57) and made front page headlines in newspapers across America. The series’ five Emmy wins among 18 nominations looks paltry in terms of its accomplishments, and the absences of nominations for Arnaz as lead actor in a series and William Asher as principal director after the first year are glaring. Vance and Frawley (a five-time Emmy loser) never had another nomination after I Love Lucy ended, nor did writer turned producer Jess Oppenheimer; Ball was the only person from the show to win an Emmy afterward. See also The Lucy Show and Here’s Lucy.
Ball: The Lucy Show. Pugh: Here’s Lucy.
I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special
CBS Sunday 9-11 p.m., , 2001
N: Special Class Program (Lucie Arnaz, Desi Arnaz Jr., EP; Dann Netter, Fred A. Rappaport, Gary Smith, P)
The special shone best when celebrity fans and guest stars such as Richard Crenna recounted their favorite memories, as well as a countdown of top 10 favorite episodes voted by online guests, but some parts fell flat (e.g., the unimpressive tribute by those influenced by Desi’s music). Beside this special, Lucie earlier hosted I Love Lucy: The Very First Show on CBS March 30, 1990, which presented the original pilot for the series shot in March 1951 never seen on TV until then – it earned an Emmy nomination for Informational Special.
I Remember Mama – See Mama.
I Spy
NBC Wednesdays 10-11 p.m.*, Sept. 15, 1965-Sept. 2, 1968
W: Actor, Drama Series (Bill Cosby), 1966, 1967, 1968; Musical Composition (Earle Hagen, “Laya”), 1968
N: Drama Series (David Friedkin and Mort Fine, P), 1966, 1967, 1968; Actor, Drama Series (Robert Culp), 1966, 1967, 1968; Actress, Single Performance, Drama (Eartha Kitt), 1966; Supporting Actress, Drama (Jeanette Nolan, “The Conquest of Maude Murdock”), 1966; Writing, Drama (Friedkin, Fine, “A Cup of Kindness”), 1966 and (Culp, “The Warlord”), 1967; Directing, Drama (Sheldon Leonard, Hong Kong portions of “So Long, Patrick Henry,” “A Cup of Kindness” and “Carry Me Back to Old Tsing-Tao”), 1966; Musical Composition (Hagen), 1966, 1967; Individual Achievement, Electronic Production (Robert H. Guhl, audio engineer, “Home to Judgment”), 1968
U.S. intelligence agents Kelly Robinson (Culp) and Alexander “Scotty” Scott (Cosby) posed respectively as a tennis pro and his trainer/assistant while globetrotting for drug traffickers, murderers and the like. A definite cut above the standard spy series, thanks to many elements, chief among them dazzling (and inexplicably never-nominated) cinematography
I Will Fight No More Forever
ABC p.m., April 14, 1975
N: Writing, Special, Drama or Comedy (Jeb Rosebrook, Theodore Strauss); Editing, Entertainment (Robert K. Lambert)
In 1877 the Nez Perce Indian tribe of Utah, forced to relocate under orders from President Ulysses Grant, followed their leader Chief Joseph (Ned Romero) and tried to escape to Canada instead. Gen. Oliver Howard (James Whitmore) was sympathetic to their plight but obeyed his commander in chief reluctantly, and though the Nez Perce fought the U.S. cavalry longer and stronger than expected, the tribe eventually was depleted to the point where Chief Joseph surrendered with a speech that included the movie’s title. This TV movie from esteemed executive producer David L. Wolper is well-meaning but falls somewhat short of the mark due to several factors. It balanced both sides of the conflict so assiduously that neither Romero nor Whitmore came off as a real lead, and its objective approach also limited viewers in connecting with a depressing tale about the treatment of native Americans. And though it tried to convey a realistic aura, its occasionally intrusive narration and score by Gerald Fried emphasized its artificiality. Strauss won an Emmy for his other entertainment nomination, plus earned two nominations in 1982 for writing for the documentary Hillary’s Challenge: Race to the Sky for public television.
Strauss: They’ve Killed President Lincoln. Lambert: The Big Event, The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro.
IBM Presents Clarence Darrow
NBC p.m., Sept. 4, 1974
W: Writing, Special, Drama or Comedy (David Rintels)
N: Actor, Special (Henry Fonda); Technical Direction (Heino Ripp, technical director; John James, Bob Keys, Jon Olson, Kurt Tonnessen, cameramen); Lighting Direction (Lon Stucky)
Legendary actor Fonda portrays an equally legendary attorney in this loving recreation of his one-man show that first ran on Broadway in the spring of 1974 for 29 performances before he collapsed from exhaustion and received a pacemaker. Rested and ready for TV, Fonda vigorously captured the crusading liberal defender recounting all of his major cases, including the Scopes “monkey trial” where he lost in court but won in public opinion. I wish the show spent more time on this case rather than try to present all of them rather fairly, but still it’s a fine piece of its genre, and director John Rich (unbelievably not nominated) did a superb job of capturing Fonda without overusing closeups nor denying that there was a live audience watching him (and loving it). Fonda took this to Broadway again in March 1975, but apparently everyone who wanted to see it watched it on TV earlier, and it closed after 18 performances, though he did earn a Tony nomination for it. But embarrassingly for Emmy, this was the second of three losses for Fonda, and arguably the one he deserved most (he lost to Laurence Olivier in Love Among the Ruins). Most of the other nominees later won except for John James, whose national TV career seems to be the sum total of this special. The presentation is available on DVD as Clarence Darrow.
Rintels: Andersonville, Day One, Fear on Trial, Hallmark Hall of Fame, The Senator, Washington: Behind Closed Doors, World War II: When Lions Roared. Fonda: Hallmark Hall of Fame, The Red Pony. Ripp: Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Kraft Music Hall, Live from Studio 8H, The Perry Como Christmas Show, The Perry Como Show, Saturday Night Live. Keys: Fail Safe, The Golden Girls, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Julie Andrews … The Sound of Christmas, The Kennedy Center Honors, Liberty Weekend, Motown Returns to the Apollo, Neil Diamond … Hello Again, The Neil Diamond Special, The Perry Como Christmas Special, The Sentry Collection Presents Ben Vereen-His Roots, We the People 200, Whose Line Is It Anyway? Olson: Doug Henning’s World of Magic, The Flip Wilson Show, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Mitzi and a Hundred Guys, Our Town, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. Tonnesson: Dick Clark’s Live Wednesday, An Evening with Julie Andrews and Harry Belafonte, Jennifer Slept Here, Punky Brewster, Sara, The Tonight Show. Stucky: Armstrong Circle Theater, Dean Martin Presents Music Country, Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music II, Mitzi and a Hundred Guys.
The Immortal
ABC Tuesday 8:30-10 p.m., Sept. 30, 1969
W: Film Sound Editing (Alex Bamattre, Michael Colgan, Douglas H. Grindstaff, Joe Kavigan, Bill Lee, Josef E. Von Stroheim)
N: Cinematography (Howard R. Schwartz)
Cranky Jordan Braddock (Barry Sullivan), worth $25 million, nearly died until a pint of O negative blood he receives from Benjamin Richards (Christopher George), a test driver at Braddock Industries’ proving grounds, temporarily rejuvenated him. A greedy Braddock wanted to keep the process going, and learning Richards is virtually immortal, he offered to pay for more transfusions from him. Richards refused, so Braddock kidnapped him and faked his death, but Ben escaped and fleed for his life. The first ABC Movie of the Week entry, this starts promisingly but devolves into cliches, and the pace is sluggish for a thriller. George and Carol Lynley, who played his girlfriend Sylvia, stayed with the property when it became a short-lived series on ABC in 1970-71, when The Dean Martin Show on NBC and movies on CBS killed it. The win came no doubt from the smashing opening sequence when the noise cut seamlessly from Braddock’s jet crash to Richards’ test run of a car. Winner Von Stroheim, the son of actor Erich Von Stroheim, later earned an Oscar nomination for his sound work on 1976’s A Star is Born.
Bamattre: North and South Book I, V: The Final Battle. Grindstaff: Fantastic Journey, Fantasy Island, A Fire in the Sky, The Last Hurrah, Mannix, Max Headroom, Medical Story, Mission: Impossible, Police Story, Power, The Quest, Star Trek, To Kill a Cop. Kavigan: Mission: Impossible. Von Stroheim: Mannix, Medic, QB VII.
Schwartz: Airwolf, The Ghost of Flight 401, Land of the Giants, Rainbow, Rich Man Poor Man, Sandsburg’s Lincoln.
In Concert – See ABC Wide World of Entertainment
In This House of Brede
CBS p.m., Feb. 27, 1975
N: Lead Actress, Special, Drama or Comedy (Diana Rigg)
Rigg played a successful middle-aged Londoner who leaves behind her worldly possessions to become a nun at Brede Abbey. Her reasons why she did so come near the end of the movie, at which time most viewers will have checked out from this sluggish and not-so-engaging drama. Riggs’ monologue at that point is great, but the remainder of the role calls her to be reserved, an attribute not normally associated with the actress and not really that appealing. If you want a really moving portrayal of this theme, watch the 1959 Oscar-nominated The Nun’s Story instead. This was one of the last of the infrequent revivals of The General Electric Theater in the mid-1970s - see also Tell Me Where It Hurts.
Rigg: The Avengers, Rebecca, Victoria and Albert.
It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown
CBS p.m., April 16, 1984
N: Animated Program (Bill Melendez, Lee Mendelson, P)
Snoopy assumes Jennifer Beals’ outfits and moves from the 1983 movie smash Flashdance in this lesser Peanuts outing, dated in its dancing, music and outfits and unwisely drawing full-bodied adults in the dance sequences, something Charles Schulz never did in his cartoon strip. Somewhat incredibly, CBS repeated this cartoon three times through 1988 before deservedly consigning it to relative oblivion.
Melendez: Mendelson:
It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown!
CBS p.m., March 26, 1975
N: Children’s Special (Bill Melendez, Lee Mendelson, P)
The Peanuts gang takes on another holiday, with Linus promising Sally that the Easter Beagle will provide joy to children on its special day. That variation on the plot of the better remembered It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is nothing special, but Marcie’s mistaken attempts to color eggs with Peppermint Patty and Snoopy playing landlord to Woodstock will bring a smile at least to any average viewer. This program competed against another Peanuts special, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown.
Melendez: Mendelson:
The Jack Benny Hour Specials
CBS Various 60 Minutes, April 1959-March 17, 1960
W: Direction, Comedy (Ralph Levy, Bud Yorkin)
One of the greatest comedians of all time supplemented his biweekly appearances on his regular series (see next entry) with more elaborate occasional live productions featuring dazzling musical numbers and big name guest stars like Julie Andrews and Bob Hope for a year, along with Benny’s typically impeccable comic delivery and strong material by his regular writers. Levy and Yorkin, both with years of live TV variety experience to their credit (Levy directed the Emmy-winning The Ed Wynn Show and The Alan Young Show earlier plus directed Jack’s regular sitcom from 1951-57), took full advantage of these expanded specials and made them sprightly, but it does seem unfair to have two directors listed in one nomination, since they worked separately on the shows involved. CBS later reran some of them as part of a 1963 summer series called Comedy Hour Special – ironically, the network would can Benny the following year.
Yorkin: An Evening With Carol Channing, An Evening With Fred Astaire, Henry Fonda and the Family, Sanford and Son.
The Jack Benny Program
CBS Sundays 7:30-8 p.m.* (also NBC), Oct. 28, 1950-Sept. 10, 1965
W: Comedy Series, 1959, 1961; Series Performance by a Comedian, Singer, Host, Dancer, M.C., Announcer, Narrator, Panelist or Any Person Who Essentially Plays Himself (Jack Benny), 1957; Actor, Continuing Comedy (Benny), 1959; Writing, Single Program, Comedy (George Balzer, Hal Goldman, Al Gordon, Sam Perrin, “The Ernie Kovacs Show”), 1959; Writing, Comedy (Balzer, Goldman, Gordon, Perrin), 1960
N: Variety Series, 1954; Series, Half Hour or Less, 1956; Comedy Series, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960; Writing, Comedy, (Balzer, Perrin, Milt Josefsberg, Jack Tackaberry), 1954 and (Balzer, Goldman, Gordon, Perrin), 1955, 1956, 1963; Comedian (Benny), 1955, 1956; Direction, Single Program, Comedy (Seymour Berns, “The Gary Cooper Show”), 1959; Direction, Comedy (Fred De Cordova), 1963
Jack Benny played a vain miser bachelor and lousy violinist who went by the name of Jack Benny, oddly enough, and had . It does not sound like much, but with Apart from the awards previously listed, Benny earned the first Trustees Award from the Academy in the 1957 awards ceremony due in part to “the consistency, quality and good taste of his programs through many years and many media.”
Berns: The Red Skelton Show, The Second Bill Cosby Special. De Cordova:
Jack Lemmon in ’S Wonderful, ’S Marvelous, ’S Gershwin
NBC Monday p.m., Jan. 17, 1972
W: Single Program, Variety or Music (Jack Lemmon, star; Joseph Cates, EP; Martin Charnin, P); Director, Comedy, Variety or Music Special (Charnin and Walter C. Miller); Choreography (Alan Johnson); Music Direction, Variety, Musical or Dramatic Program (Elliot Lawrence); Technical Direction and Electronic Camerawork (Heino Ripp, technical director; Albert Camoin, Frank Gaeta, Gene Martin, Donald Mulvaney)
N: Writing, Comedy, Variety or Music Special (Charnin)
One of the Bell System Family Theatre specials of the 1970s, this presentation sparkled chiefly due to the presence of Fred Astaire, sounding great singing and occasionally dancing to the Gershwin hits that often accompanied him in 1930s movies. Host Jack Lemmon gamely joined Astaire for a song as well. Actually, this came across as nothing more than a glorified episode of The Bell Telephone Hour (q.v.), with that series’ faults (an often flat visual style, taped in a studio without an audience) as well as its virtues. Emmy voters overawarded it the same way they would The Julie Andrews Show (q.v.) the next season, with it winning in five of six categories. The wins reflected more the love for Lemmon, Astaire and Gershwin than the total package, and the directing wins in particular were undeserving.
The Jackie Gleason Show
CBS
W:
N:
The June Taylor Dancers, who were shot from overhead during part of their routines as their leg movements resembled designs generated by turning a kaleidoscope.
Jackpot
NBC Weekdays Noon-12:30 p.m.*, Jan. 7, 1974-Sept. 26, 1975
W: Director for a Game Show (Mike Garguilo), 1974
N: Game Show Host (Geoff Edwards), 1976
Sixteen players spent a week alternating in answering riddles under rules and price calculations too convoluted to explain in this limited space. This wordplay exercise from executive producer Bob Stewart may have been a bittersweet success, as it outrated its ABC competition, Password, which Stewart created when he worked for producers Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. But The Young and the Restless on CBS did better than both of them, and a shift to a half-hour later in the summer of 1975 resulted in cancellation due to worse numbers against All My Children on ABC and Search for Tomorrow on CBS. Its failure in the long term probably stemmed from the fact that riddles are a dicey strategy to employ in a game show, and there were too many players in the game, which prevented much viewer identification. Perm-haired Geoff Edwards hosted other game shows in the 1970s and 1980s without another Emmy nomination or much success, including a 1989 syndicated revival of Jackpot.
Gargiulo: The $20,000 Pyramid, more.
Jane Eyre
NBC p.m., March 24, 1971
W: Music Composition, Special (John Williams)
N: Actor, Lead, Single Program (George C. Scott); Actress, Lead, Single Program (Susannah York)
The classic romantic chestnut received a polished though not definitive presentation here, filmed in England with many familiar British actors in support. Scott is as masterfully commanding as always, and while York is not quite in his league, she still managed to hold her own opposite him. With his second Emmy win here (the first was Heidi a few years earlier), composer John Williams concentrated more on movie work thereafter and did not have another Emmy nomination until 30 years later. This was York’s only Emmy nomination, coming three years after her sole Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress for 1969’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
Williams: Academy Awards, Alcoa Premiere, Heidi. Scott: Ben Casey, A Christmas Carol, The Crucible, East Side/West Side, Hallmark Hall of Fame, 12 Angry Men.
The Jayne Mansfield Story
CBS p.m., Oct. 29, 1980
N: Costume Design, Special (Warden Neil); Makeup (Alan Friedman, Lona Mardock Jeffers); Hairstyling (Sylvia Abascal, Janis Clark)
This bio of the titular (in both senses) 1950s movie blonde bombshell, played by Loni Anderson, also featured Arnold Schwarzenegger as her bodybuilder husband Mickey Hargitay, with a mostly no-name supporting cast. Loni and Arnold had the right bodies for their characters – too bad they delivered ridiculous dialogue with straight faces in scenarios that represented maybe 5 percent of the truth. It was appropriate that this minor camp classic was honored for its superficial attributes only, and that none of them won as well. For a similar 1980 TV-movie, see Marilyn: The Untold Story.
Neil: Filthy Rich, Happy Birthday, Bob!, John Davidson Christmas Show, John Davidson Christmas Special.
The Jim Nabors Hour
CBS Thursdays 8-9 p.m., Sept. 25, 1969-May 20, 1971
N: Live or Tape Sound Mixing (Neal Weinstein), 1970
Tired of playing the lead in Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. after the show had run five years and Nabors had played the title character two years before that on The Andy Griffith Show, Jim Nabors took the popular alternative in the fall of 1969 and hosted one of 15 hour-long variety series then on the networks. Joining him from his previous series were Frank Sutton and Ronnie Schell, along with talented Broadway star Karen Morrow. A strong performer in its first season, finishing at #12, the show still had drawing power at #29 in 1970-71, but NBC’s The Flip Wilson Show was more popular, and since CBS was ridding itself of shows that did not have appeal to young, urban viewers like this one, Nabors was toast. The nominated episode featured Vikki Carr as guest star.
The Jim Nabors Show
Syndicated Weekdays 60 Minutes, September 1978-1979
N: Host or Hostess – Talk, Service or Variety Series (Jim Nabors)
Ever wondered what the ex-star of Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. would be like as a daytime talk show host? No? Apparently a majority of Americans agreed with you, as this one missed bringing Nabors back to the popularity he enjoyed with that show and the previous entry. Nabors lost to Phil Donahue for Donahue.
John Denver’s Rocky Mountain Christmas
ABC p.m., Dec. 10, 1975
N: Special, Comedy-Variety or Music (John Denver, star; Jerry Weintraub, EP; Rich Eustis, Al Rogers, P); Directing, Comedy-Variety or Music Special (Bill Davis); Art Direction or Scenic Direction (Ken Johnson, art director)
Only the staunchest John Denver hater would dislike this easygoing Yuletide special, which effectively combines his storytelling and performing with beautiful location shots of Colorado in the winter (and why was there no nomination for the cinematography, Emmy voters?). Even the guest shots by Olivia-Newton John (duetting with Denver on their hit “Fly Away”), Valerie Harper (singing along with Denver in another tune) and Steve Martin singing and playing his banjo (wow - although Martin was a writer here, so that explains it) are effective. This was the last Emmy nomination for Eustis, Rogers and Davis, and the last entertainment Emmy nod for Denver (he received a final one in 1986 for hosting the PBS informational special Winds of Everest).
Denver: Doris Day Today, An Evening with John Denver, The John Denver Show. Weintraub: An Evening with John Denver, The John Denver Show, Neil Diamond: I’m Glad You’re Here With Me Tonight, The Neil Diamond Special. Eustis: The Dean Martin Show, An Evening with John Denver, The John Denver Show. Rogers: The Dean Martin Show, An Evening with John Denver, The John Denver Show. Davis: An Evening with John Denver, The Julie Andrews Hour, Marlo Thomas in Free to Be … You and Me. Johnson: An Evening with John Denver, Once Upon a Brothers Grimm, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.
Judd for the Defense
ABC Fridays 10-11 p.m.*, Sept. 8, 1967-Sept. 19, 1969
W: Actor, Drama (Carl Betz), 1969; Film Editing (Bill Mosher, “An Elephant in a Cigar Box”), 1969
N: Drama (Harold Gast, P), 1969; Actress, Single Performance (Lee Grant, “The Gates of Cerberus”), 1968
Judd (Betz)
Services on request to all federal civil rights statutes.
Mosher: Bracken’s World, The Waltons. Gast: Cannon. Grant: Citizen Cohn, Fay, The Neon Ceiling, Peyton Place, Ransom for a Dead Man, The Shape of Things.
Judgment: The Court-Martial of Lt. William Calley
ABC p.m., Jan. 12, 1975
W: Videotape Editing (Gary Anderson, Jim McElroy)
Stanley Kramer produced and directed this ABC Theatre recreation of Lt. Calley (Tony Musante) facing charges for killing civilians in the 1968 My Lai (pronounced “me ligh”) massacre in Vietnam. Defending him against the prosecutor (Bo Hopkins) was lawyer George Latimer (Richard Basehart), who did a masterful job until Calley’s superior Frank Crowder (Harrison Ford), testifying with immunity, tearfully implicated him. The lieutenant then took the stand in a failed last-ditch effort to save himself. A balanced drama - it can be viewed either that Calley deserved his sentence or was a scapegoat for other, higher-ranking officers involved - that could have been great had Kramer not interjected himself as an on-camera host between sequences to add so-so commentary (and an overdone conclusion at the end to boot), which made him resemble one of the “court reporters” from those hokey scripted trial shows before the “real thing” became popular on TV. Also, Musante’s performance was flat, especially in comparison to Basehart and Ford, who were Emmy nominee-worthy in my opinion, and the harsh bright lighting typical of daytime soap operas at the time dates it. But the Emmy award here was well deserved - the cuts between shots is seamless and provide a snappy pace going between each person on the stand. This was the first of two Emmys for both Anderson and McElroy.
Anderson: American Bandstand’s 25th Anniversary, American Playhouse, Family Ties, Soap. McElroy: Fame, The Golden Girls.
Judy Garland and Her Guests, Phil Silvers and Robert Goulet
CBS p.m., March 19, 1963
N: Program Achievement, Music
In this delicious special Judy was in fine form physically and vocally, with plenty of solo singing (including a rendition of “Get Happy” that outdid her performance of it in the 1950 movie Summer Stock) as well as vocalizing with old movie pal Phil Silvers and Broadway sensation Robert Goulet. The trio’s rapport was warm, and the comic bits written by Larry Gelbart were charming too. This special’s success led to Garland getting her own series on CBS in the fall of 1963 – see The Judy Garland Show. Why this earned no nominations for directing (Charles Dubin), writing (Gelbart) or performance in a variety or musical program or series (Garland) is beyond me.
The Judy Garland Show (special)
CBS p.m., Feb. 25, 1962
N: Program of the Year; Variety Program; Performance, Variety or Musical Program (Judy Garland); Electronic Camera Work (Lou Onofrio)
Joined by Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin as her guest stars, this is mainly Judy’s show, singing solo and with the guys. She really rips it up toward the end, with most all of the big numbers associated with her except “Over the Rainbow” (e.g., “The Trolley Song,” “Swanee River”), and the studio audience lapped it up rapturously. It’s probably the closest thing on TV capturing how she was at her legendary 1961 Carnegie Hall performance – a gutsy display that should have claimed an Emmy. The same can be said of the imaginative angles used to capture her in close-ups and shadows by Onofrio, who previously was technical director for The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show. After this for Judy came Judy Garland and Her Guests, Phil Silvers and Robert Goulet (see previous entry), followed by her series of the same name of this special.
Garland: The Judy Garland Show
Julie & Carol at Carnegie Hall
CBS p.m., June 11, 1962
W: Program Achievement, Music; Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series (Carol Burnett)
“There’ll be no Mozart tonight!” Burnett proudly proclaimed at the start of this deservedly praised special teaming her with her buddy Julie Andrews for the first time professionally at the titular New York theater. Taped on May 10, 1962, this set the pattern for two later specials starring the duo, with banter, singing (solos and duets, comic and straight, including a medley) and a main sketch with music, in this case a takeoff on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music (of course, ironically Andrews later starred in the movie version). Incredibly, the witty script by Mike Nichols, among others, received no nomination at all. Burnett also won this Emmy for her work on Carol and Company.
Burnett: The Carol Burnett Show, Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center, more.
Julie and Carol at Lincoln Center
CBS Tuesday p.m., Dec. 7, 1971
N: Single Program, Variety or Musical (Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett, stars; Joe Hamilton, producer); Directing, Comedy, Variety or Music (David P. Powers); Writing, Comedy, Variety or Music (Bob Ellison, Marty Farrell, Ken Welch, Mitzi Welch)
Nearly 10 years after their first critical and commercial hit special, Andrews and Burnett joined forces for another entertaining hour taped at another famous New York City theater. It’s not quite the success of the first effort in comparison due to some similarities that give it a “Haven’t I seen this before?” feel, such as Carol again being loud and unrefined while Julie is controlled and elegant, and a medley based on hits of the 1960s (the first special had a Broadway medley). Nonetheless, it’s still very amusing, especially the Roman gods and goddesses sketch with Carol playing an 83-year-old actress going dutifully through the paces as Elecktra. Incidentally, Powers was the regular director on The Carol Burnett Show and the married Welches were contributors of special music material there as well.
The Julie Andrews Hour
ABC , 1972-1973
Davis: An Evening with John Denver, John Denver Rocky Mountain Christmas, Marlo Thomas in Free to Be … You and Me.
The Julie Andrews Show
NBC Sunday 9-10 p.m., Nov. 28, 1965
W: Directing Variety or Musical (Alan Handley); Videotape Editing (Craig Curtis, Art Schneider)
N: Variety Special (Alan Handley, producer; Julie Andrews, star); Writing Variety (Bill Persky and Sam Denoff); Conducting (Irwin Kostal); Music, Special (Ray Charles, vocal material); Special Classification, Individual Achievement (Gene Kelly, guest star; Tony Charmoli, choreographer)
On the heels of her movie hits Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, Julie Andrews brought her charming personality and vocals to the small screen with guest Gene Kelly. This videotaped special suffers slightly from the same sins that bedeviled the later The Julie Andrews Hour – somewhat lame sketch writing and an unnecessary use of special effects – but those drawbacks pale against the wonderful chemistry between Julie and Gene, including their choreography in a tap dance sequence and a blending of her singing “The Rain in Spain” and him doing “Singing in the Rain.” Andrews sang tunes from her hits in movies and Broadway too, and hearing her perfect tone will make you angry to think how much better the movie versions of My Fair Lady and Camelot could have been with her in the lead. Conducting nominee Irwin Kostal performed the same chores with Andrews in The Sound of Music, while Tony Charmoli competed against himself unsuccessful in his category for his choreography on The Danny Kaye Show.
Just Men!
NBC Weekdays Noon-12:30 p.m., Jan. 3, 1983-April 1, 1983
W: Game Show Host or Hostess (Betty White), 1983
N: Game Show Host or Hostess (White), 1984
The shortest-lived game show to win its emcee an Emmy, Just Men! had two women compete in predicting how seven male celebrities answered yes-or-no questions, with contestants whose answers matched a man winning a car key he held. The woman with the most keys at the end had a chance to match one of the keys with on a car onstage, winning the vehicle if she guessed right. This show netted White the first Emmy for a game show hostess and made her the first Emmy host to have been married to a previous winner in the same category, namely her late husband Allen Ludden for Password. She was not the first woman nominated in the category – that fell to Susan Stafford on Wheel of Fortune. The show’s run occurred within the different eligibility periods for the 1983 and 1984 daytime Emmys, allowing White a nomination both years. A year after that, White was a regular on The Golden Girls and won her next Emmy there. All that stemming from a show that ran a scant four months – wow.
White: