July 10, 1950

Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the first television broadcast of the musical program Your Hit Parade, on NBC.

The show had aired on radio since 1935, featuring, over the years, many singers (including Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Buddy Clark, Dinah Shore, Bea Wain, and Andy Russell), and various orchestra leaders (such as Al Goodman, Carl Hoff, Axel Stordahl, and Mark Warnow).

During the summer of 1950--as the weekly Hit Parade radio show continued--there were four experimental television broadcasts of the program.  The shows were telecast from New York's International Theatre, at Columbus Circle.

The show's primary singing stars, at the outset of the summer shows, were Eileen Wilson and Snooky Lanson.  

The summer broadcasts also featured singer Dorothy Collins--as well as the Hit Paraders (the show's choral group), and the Hit Parade dancers.  Andre Baruch was the program's announcer, and Raymond Scott its orchestra leader.  

Publicity photo of Eileen Wilson, Snooky Lanson, and Dorothy Collins, the primary singing stars of TV's Your Hit Parade from 1950 to 1952.

Ms. Wilson had starred on the Hit Parade radio program since 1948; for part of her time on the show her co-star was Frank Sinatra.  Prior to joining the program, she had been a singer with big bands--including, notably, the Les Brown orchestra.

Mr. Lanson had joined the Hit Parade radio show only weeks before the initial TV broadcast. 

During the 1940s, he had been a vocalist with the Ray Noble orchestra. In 1950, before being hired for the Hit Parade, he had had a hit song, "The Old Master Painter," recorded with the Beasley Smith orchestra. He was also heard regularly on various Nashville-based radio programs, both local and national.  One of the programs, on which he had starred for a number of years, was the music show Sunday Down South. It originated from Nashville station WSM, and was aired by NBC.

Cover of script, first Hit Parade TV broadcast, July 10, 1950

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dorothy Collins had also recently joined the radio program, to sing the show's Lucky Strike jingles, which were written by orchestra leader Raymond Scott.  Mr. Scott had become the radio show's bandleader in 1949, after the death of his brother, Mark Warnow, who had led the orchestra for years.  Previously, Ms. Collins had for several years been a vocalist with Mr. Scott's orchestra--on the radio, on records, and in public appearances. 

For the summer TV broadcasts, Ms. Collins had dual roles: she sang the show's commercial jingles, and also appeared in song productions on the program. Her role on the television show would soon be elevated; she would become, along with Ms. Wilson and Mr. Lanson, one of the show's three main singing stars.

In October of 1950--in that the summer experimental shows were a success--the Hit Parade TV program began airing weekly; the radio show continued as well.  Both shows aired on Saturday nights from New York's Center Theatre, at Rockefeller Center.

In the image, above, of the cover page for the script of the TV show's debut broadcast, one can see the logo "BBDO Television."  BBD&O was the advertising agency which oversaw the production of the Hit Parade radio and TV broadcasts--as well as overseeing many other television and radio programs of the period.

Composer Lalo Schifrin

Lalo Schifrin, no doubt best known for composing the theme to the 1960s and 1970s television series Mission: Impossible--for which he received a Grammy Award--died last week, at age 93. 

The theme song was also used in a 1988-1990 version of the TV show--and in the Mission: Impossible series of films, beginning in 1996, starring Tim Cruise.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/arts/music/lalo-schifrin-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.TE8.uffQ.8PnO8iaVY2rL&smid=url-share

Mr. Schifrin, as The New York Times noted in its obituary, also wrote the scores for such films as Bullitt, Cool Hand Luke, Voyage of the Damned, and Dirty Harry. During his career, six of his movie scores were nominated for Academy Awards.

Reporter Jeré Longman wrote this, in the Times obituary:

Perhaps Mr. Schifrin’s most provocative movie moment came in “Bullitt” (1968), with what The Washington Post described as “a radical absence of music.” As Mr. McQueen famously squealed through the streets of San Francisco in his Ford Mustang during a 10-minute car chase, there was no background music.

When the movie’s director, Peter Yates, objected, Mr. Schifrin is said to have responded, “Silence is also music.”

June 19th

 Happy Juneteenth...

"Good Night, and Good Luck."

On Saturday (from 7-9 p.m., Eastern time), CNN will be broadcasting--live, from Broadway--the drama Good Night, and Good Luck.

The play, which had its debut at the Winter Garden Theatre the first week of April, will have its final performance on Sunday.

The show stars George Clooney, as the legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow.  The play concerns Mr. Murrow's 1950s CBS television news/documentary program See it Now, and the 1954 episodes of the program which Mr. Murrow and producer Fred Friendly (played by Glenn Fleshler) aired about Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Good Night, and Good Luck originally appeared as a 2005 film--directed by Mr. Clooney, and co-written by Mr. Clooney and Grant Heslov.  The film starred David Strathairn, as Edward R. Murrow; Mr. Clooney portrayed Fred Friendly.

The play was written by Mr. Clooney and Mr. Heslov. Its director is David Cromer.

During television's live era, many Broadway performers appeared on dramatic programs on TV.  According to CNN, however, this is the first time a Broadway performance has been aired on live television.

Mr. Clooney has had prior experience with live television. During the time he was a star of the NBC medical drama ER (1994-2009), an episode of the show (the first episode of the 1997-1998 season) was performed live.

In 2000, as well, Mr. Clooney was an Executive Producer of the CBS live television special Fail Safe, the nuclear-oriented drama, which was a remake of the 1964 film directed by Sidney Lumet (which itself was based on the 1962 novel Fail Safe, by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler). Mr. Clooney also acted in the production.

On Saturday, from 6:30-7 p.m., CNN will air a pre-show special about the 7-9 p.m. telecast.

Memorial Day

Today, in a Washington Post piece about Memorial Day, the subject of language, regarding the observance of the holiday, was briefly addressed--specifically, the use of the phrase "Happy Memorial Day."

A link to the website of the Wounded Warrior Project was included in the Post story; the site has a page devoted to Memorial Day.

The page includes the following:

On Memorial Day, it's important to remember we are honoring our fallen. For many, this day is not a happy occasion but a solemn one. Here is some guidance on the appropriate messages to convey:

• Rather than “Happy Memorial Day,” say something like “Have a meaningful Memorial Day."
• It’s also not appropriate to thank a service member for their service on this day, as it is a day for remembering and honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
• Take a moment to recognize and remember. You can even say, “Today and always, I’m remembering [name]."  

The Wounded Warrior web page also includes this:

Memorial Day is a reminder of the brave men and women who served our country and gave their lives for our freedom.

It's not just a day off; it's a time to think about why we remember these heroes. For veterans, it's a chance to honor those who are no longer here.

Use this day to show how grateful we are for their bravery, and as a promise that we'll always remember their courage and sacrifice.

An American Tragedy

Remembering George Floyd, who died--so terribly, so cruelly--five years ago today.

Truth, in fiction

Novelist Anne Tyler released her 25th novel, Three Days in June, in February; it is published by Alfred A. Knopf.

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Days-June-Anne-Tyler-ebook/dp/B0D3Z7X54Y/ref

Elizabeth Egan, a writer and editor at the New York Times Book Review, interviewed Ms. Tyler at the time, for a Times article.

Ms. Egan wrote, of Ms. Tyler:

She quit writing reviews years ago. “That was my one foray into nonfiction,” Tyler said. “If I’m writing fiction and I get deep enough into it, all of a sudden it feels like I’m telling the truth. If I’m writing nonfiction, I write down something I absolutely believe, and it’ll look like a lie.” (bold type added above--as well as below)

Ms. Tyler's remarks put me in mind of an interview the novelist (and essayist) Cynthia Ozick gave to The Atlantic, in May of 2023; the interview was an adjunct to a short story she published in The Atlantic the same month.

She was interviewed by Oliver Munday, an associate creative director at The Atlantic.

Ozick: Writing for me is hard labor, no matter the length or the form. I start out in fear and doubt, and continue in this state of prolonged discontent and conscious forcing, until certain unpredictable moments of excitement take over, when the thing begins to know itself and its own trajectory. In the long-distance run of a novel, this can come as late as three-quarters of the way through. The short story at times knows what it intends to happen from the start, but is wholly perplexed as to how to get there. When the dam suddenly breaks, even the words find themselves...

Munday: Aside from short stories, what are you currently working on?

Ozick: How not to lie when writing make-believe.