The NBC Comedy Hour was a comedy show that ran on NBC in the first half of 1956, intended to be a replacement for The Colgate Comedy Hour. Leo Durocher hosted the show in January, and Gale Storm from February until April 8; from April 22 on, hosts were called in per episode. Comic Jonathan Winters was a more frequent face than any of the hosts; he appeared in 17 of the 18 episodes. Stan Freberg was also a guest 6 times. A group of acting chimpanzees named The Marquee Chimps performed parodies of movies in 3 episodes. The show was a critical and ratings failure: Variety stated "A more poorly conceived, routined and paced outing would be difficult to imagine." It was cancelled in June, having already been pre-empted 4 times in 5 months. It was succeeded by The Steve Allen Show, whose reputation became a marked contrast to that of The NBC Comedy Hour.
Status
First Air Date
1/8/1956
Last Air Date
5/6/1956
Number of Seasons
1
Number of Episodes
18
Rating
(0 votes)
Networks
Overview
The NBC Comedy Hour was a comedy show that ran on NBC in the first half of 1956, intended to be a replacement for The Colgate Comedy Hour. Leo Durocher hosted the show in January, and Gale Storm from February until April 8; from April 22 on, hosts were called in per episode. Comic Jonathan Winters was a more frequent face than any of the hosts; he appeared in 17 of the 18 episodes. Stan Freberg was also a guest 6 times. A group of acting chimpanzees named The Marquee Chimps performed parodies of movies in 3 episodes. The show was a critical and ratings failure: Variety stated "A more poorly conceived, routined and paced outing would be difficult to imagine." It was cancelled in June, having already been pre-empted 4 times in 5 months. It was succeeded by The Steve Allen Show, whose reputation became a marked contrast to that of The NBC Comedy Hour.
