Colgate Comedy Hour, The cast. Bitter about his experience, he promised he would not return to television unless provided a low- key format comparable to Dave Garroway's Chicago- based Garroway at Large. Clark produced better ratings and reviews than Allen, but ultimately he and the Michael Todd Revue suffered a similar fate. Premiering with Jackie Gleason in its second sea- son, The Colgate Comedy Hour was the highest - budgeted single -sponsor extravaganza on television, with Colgate -Palmolive -Peet picking up a $3 million a year talent -production -time tab. Back for their second year were Cantor and Martin and Lewis with Gleason, Abbott and Costello, Spike Jones, Tony Martin, and Ezio Pinza slotted as starters. Ratings remained high for the original hosts, but the Sullivan show began pro- t ducing high -budget specials that chipped away at the Colgate numbers when the new hosts appeared. During the second season, The Colgate Comedy Hour also became the first commercial network series to originate on the West Coast when Cantor hosted his program from Hollywood's El Capitan Theatre on September 30, 1951. Two years later, on November 22, 1953, a Donald O'Connor Comedy Hour became the first sponsored network program to be telecast in color.

In an FCC -approved test of RCA's new compatible a_ - color system. several hundred persons monitored the broadcast in specially equipped viewing booths at a The Colgate Comedy Hour. site distant from the Colgate production theater. Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Re- search Despite an annual budget estimated at more than $6 million, during the 1953-54 season The Colgate Com- edy Hour began to experience problems. Many per- rated with Paramount Pictures, the latter supplying formers, hard pressed to generate new material guest stars and film clips from newly released motion continually, were considered stale and repetitious. pictures. The show moved away from comedy headlin- Cantor and Martin and Lewis were still highly rated ers; actor Charlton Heston hosted as did orchestra regulars, but Cantor was feeling stressed. The diminu- leader Guy Lombardo and musical star Gordon tive showman had suffered a heart attack after a Com- MacRae. To reflect these differences, the show's name edy Hour appearance in September 1952, and now was changed to the Colgate Variety Hout; but despite nearly 60 years of age, he felt the work too demanding. the changes, for the first time in its history, the series This would be his last season. To attract and maintain dropped out of the top 25 in Nielsen ratings while Sul- an audience, new hosts, including the popular Jimmy livan moved into the top five. Durante, were absorbed from NBC's faltering A// Star A feuding Martin and Lewis kicked off the last sea- Revue. Occasional "book" musicals, top-flight shows son of the Colgate Variety Hour to good reviews, but such as Anything Goes with Ethel Merman and Frank subsequent shows proved it had become increasingly Sinatra, were produced. The Comedy Hour also began difficult to sustain acceptable ratings for a series of this to tour, providing viewers with special broadcasts from budget magnitude. On December II, 1955, Sullivan glamorous locations-New York seen from the deck of drew an overnight Trendex of 42.6. The Variety Hour's the SS United States, among others. salute to theatrical legend George Abbott came in a During the 1954-55 season, the Sullivan show made distant third with a dismal 7.2. Two weeks later, on De- significant inroads on The Colgate Comedy Hour's rat- cember 25, 1955, the Colgate series quietly left the air ings. Martin and Lewis made fewer appearances, and following a Christmas music broadcast by Fred War- an emphasis was placed on performers working in big ing and his Pennsylvanians. Replaced with the poorly settings such as the Hollywood Bowl and Broadway's conceived NBC Comedy Hour; featuring unlikely host Latin Quarter. During the summer, Colgate collabo- Leo Durocher, one of the most lavish, entertaining, and

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