50 years ago today, Hullabaloo premiered! An American musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 12, 1965 through August 29, 1966. Similar to Shindig! it ran in prime time in contrast to ABCs American Bandstand. The series was originally a one-hour broadcast, airing from 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday. In June 1965, it shifted to the 10 p.m. slot (featuring selected repeats of the first season), but three months later, the network cut the show to thirty minutes and moved it to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, where it remained to the end of its run, whereupon it was replaced by the sitcom The Monkees. In the 1965-1966 season, Hullabaloo preceded the NBC sitcom The John Forsythe Show. It was featured opposite the military drama Twelve OClock High on ABC and the long-running game show To Tell The Truth on CBS. There were a total of 16 one-hour broadcasts and 28 half-hour broadcasts. Directed by Steve Binder, who went on to direct Elvis Presleys 68 Comeback Special, Hullabaloo served as a big-budget, quality showcase for the leading pop acts of the day, and was also competition for another like-minded television showcase, ABCs Shindig!. A different host presided each week—among these were Sammy Davis, Jr., Petula Clark, Paul Anka, Liza Minnelli, Jack Jones, and Frankie Avalon—singing a couple of his or her own hits and introducing the different acts. Chart-topping acts who performed on the show included Dionne Warwick, The Lovin Spoonful, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Sonny & Cher, the Supremes, Hermans Hermits, The Animals, Roy Orbison and Marianne Faithfull. Many early episodes included black and white segments taped in the UK and hosted by Brian Epstein. Sid Bernstein was the booking agent for Hullabaloo. Peter Matz, formerly of The Carol Burnett Show, was the orchestra leader. Some of the programs in the series were videotaped at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. Most were taped in New York City either at NBCs Studio 8H (built for Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra and which would later house Saturday Night Live), or in NBCs color studio in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. Much of the series color videotaped footage was later transferred over to kinescope on film - as such copied in black and white. Only three half-hour episodes are known to exist in their original color videotaped form.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 16:01:00 +0000
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