"The Milton Berle Show" (1948) TV series 1948-1956

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Directors:

Edmund L. Cashman
Sid Smith

Writers:

Milton Berle (writer)
Abe Burrows (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | unknown

Release Date:

8 June 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Plot:

The Texaco Star Theatre was one of the most popular shows in the history of television. In the first year...

Plot Keywords:

Variety | Company Sponsor Name In Title | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Milton Berle	...	Himself - Host / ... (50 episodes, 1948-1956)
Allen Roth	...	Orchestra Leader / ... (24 episodes, 1948-1956)

Also Known As:

Texaco Star Theater (USA) (alternative title)
The Buick-Berle Show (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (1955-1956)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

Trivia:

Episode records are incomplete. Berle did not begin as the permanent emcee; hosts rotated during the summer of 1948 (Morey Amsterdam, Harry Richman, Georgie Price, Henny Youngman, Jack Carter and Peter Donald all were rotating hosts) but Berle won out as an audience favorite and was retained as the permanent host/star by September, 1948.

Quotes:

Host: And now, ladies and gentlemen, as I look into your faces, and believe me, some of your faces need looking into...

Movie Connections:

Featured in This Is Elvis (1981)

Soundtrack:

We Are The Men of Texaco

A Masterpiece!! Must-See TV of the 1950's!!

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

OK, I'm not sure how I can write ten lines on such a simple yet wonderful show. In one episode, they were broadcast live from an Military base, with lots of soldiers watching Milton tell his jokes. There were two lovely and pretty ladies, some musical numbers, and a spoof of robots. I quite enjoyed it. The humor is very Jewish, in fact a lot of early TV stars were Jewish (Eddie Fisher, Dinah Shore, Oscar Levant, Jack Benny, etc). This show may be pure corn, but I couldn't love it more! This show is always a great time capsule of 1950's culture. You hear jokes about pop culture, actors, brands and other stuff. Did I mention that this show was at one point the most popular show on TV? Too bad most of the kinescope recordings are lost forever.