Texaco Star Theater, a comedy-variety show (radio, 1940-49; television, 1949-56), was one of the first hugely successful examples of U.S. television broadcasting. Remembered best as the show that made a household name and "Mr. Television" out of Milton Berle, the show's root was radio---first in the classic 1940-44 version hosted by radio titan Fred Allen and, later, in a new version brought to ABC (the former NBC Blue) in the spring of 1948, before Texaco first took it to television on NBC that June 8. And it would be on television that the show made its greatest pop culture impact, if not necessarily its best artistic impact. Motto: E pluribus unum (1789 to 1956) (Latin: Out of Many, One) In God We Trust (1956 to present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at federal level; English de facto Government  â€¢ President  â€¢ Vice President Federal republic George... Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video signals (programs) to a number of recipients (listeners or viewers) that belong to a large group. ... Milton as Mad Man Mooney (right), with Sweetums in The Muppet Movie. ... He has eyes like Venetian blinds and a tongue like an adder. ... // Look up ABC and abc in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ...

The Biggest, Brightest Texaco Star

Continuing a practise long established in radio, Texaco included its brand name in the show title. When the television version launched, Texaco also made sure its employees featured prominently throughout the hour, usually appearing as smiling "guardian angels" performing good deeds of one or another kind, with the Texaco logo and theme jingle playing in the background. Texaco was the name of an American oil company that was merged into Chevron Corporation in 2001. ...

But they didn't settle on Milton Berle as the permanent host right away---Berle, who hosted a freshly-revived radio version in the spring of 1948, hosted the first television Texaco Star Theater in June 1948, but as part of a rotation of hosts (Berle himself had only a four-week contract) until he was named the permanent host that fall. He was a smash once the new full season began, Texaco Star Theater hitting ratings as high as 80 and owning Tuesday night for NBC from 8-9 p.m. EST. The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ...

And, as the show landed a pair of Emmy Awards in that first year (the show itself, for Best Kinescope Show; and, Berle as Most Outstanding Kinescoped Personality), Uncle Miltie (he first called himself by that name ad-libbing at the end of a 1949 broadcast) joked, preened, pratfell, danced, constumed, and clowned his way to stardom, with Americans freshly discovering television as a technological marvel and entertainment medium seeming to bring the country to a dead stop every Tuesday night just to see what the manic-paced comedian might pull next. An Emmy Award. ...

With Berle at the helm, Texaco Star Theater was credited heavily with driving American television set sales heavily; the number of TV sets sold during Berle's run on the show was said to have grown from 500,000 his first year on the tube to over 30 million when the show ended in 1956. Texaco Star Theater was also the highest rated television show of the 1950-1951 television season, the first season in which the Nielsen Ratings were used. When TV viewers or entertainment professionals in the United States mention ratings they are generally referring to Nielsen Ratings, a system developed by the New York City-based firm Nielsen Media Research to determine which shows television viewers watch at what times. ...

Uncle Miltie was far from alone in keeping the show alive and kicking. His support players included Fatso Marco (1948-1952), Ruth Gilbert (1952-1955), Bobby Sherwood (1952-1953), Arnold Stang (1953-1955, and later the voice of Fred Flintstone), Jack Collins (1953-1955) and Milton Frome (1953-1955). The show's music was provided by Alan Roth (1948-1955) and Victor Young (1955-1956). Arnold Stang (born September 28, 1925 in Chelsea, Massachusetts) is a comic actor who plays a small and bespectacled, yet brash and knowing big-city type. ... The Flintstones, a Hanna-Barbera animated series, is one of the most successful animated television series of all time, originally running in American prime time for six seasons, from 1960 to 1966, on the ABC network. ...

As phenomenally popular as Texaco Star Theater was, it was hardly an undisturbed appeal. "Berle presented himself as one part buffoon and one part consummate, professional entertainer--a kind of veteran of the Borscht Belt trenches," the Museum of Broadcast Communications would observe decades after the show left the air. "Yet even within his shows' sanctioned exhibitionism, some of Berle's behavior could cross the line from affability to effrontery. At its worst, the underlying tone of the Berle programs can appear to be one of contempt should the audience not respond approvingly. In some cases, this led to a surprising degree of self-consciousness about TV itself--Texaco's original commercial spokesman, Sid Stone, would sometimes hawk his products until driven from the stage by a cop. But the uneven balance of excess and decorum proved wildly successful."

Change On the Air

Texaco dropped its sponsorship of the show and Buick became the new sponsor in 1953, prompting the show's name chance to The Buick-Berle Show. A year later, it became, simply, The Milton Berle Show, its title until its run ended at last in 1956. By then, Berle and his audience had probably burned out on each other; though Berle would remain one of the nation's beloved entertainers, overall, the show that made him a superstar was clearly spent for steam and fresh ideas, and two subsequent attempts at television comebacks hosting his own show lasted barely a year each. (Berle did, however, contribute his part to the making of a rock and roll legend: in his final season, he opened his stage to Elvis Presley amid the beginning of his international popularity.) Buick is a brand of automobile built in the United States, Canada, and China by General Motors Corporation. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known as The King of Rock n Roll, was an American singer, song producer and actor. ...

Part of the problem was variety shows becoming costlier to produce, compared to the Texaco days when, among other factors, name guest stars didn't mind the low appearance fees they got for appearing, because they could bank the exposure they got in even one appearance on the Berle show. But part of the problem was Berle himself: with competition crowding him more and more as the years went on, as more television performers and creators found their camera legs and brought new, more polished ideas to the air, Berle tried refining his camera persona and evolving from the freewheeling, manic style he cultivated so successfully in the Texaco years. The net result: The balance between excess and decorum now weighted more toward decorum, which wasn't exactly what Uncle Miltie at the height of his popularity represented. He began losing many of his former fans, who preferred when he kept things more unpredictable.

Radio Days

Texaco Star Theater was actually born on radio almost a decade before Uncle Miltie rode it to television legend. Born in the late-1930s as a modestly successful variety show, starring Ed Wynn as "The Fire Chief" (after Texaco's brand of gasoline), Texaco Star Theater's first and in many ways most aesthetically enduring success was the version premiering in 1940 and starring Fred Allen. Allen got Texaco Star Theater after his previous sponsors, Ipana toothpaste and Sal Hepatica laxative, decided to cease their tandem sponsorship of Allen's previously-successful hour, Town Hall Tonight. // Events and trends A public speech by Benito Mussolini, founder of the Fascist movement The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the global depression. ... Ed Wynn (November 9, 1886 - June 19, 1966) was a popular United States entertainer, born Isaiah Edward Leopold in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Allen presided over Texaco Star Theater from 1940-42 as an hour-long show on Wednesday and then Sunday nights, to 1942-1944, as a half-hour show, until Allen withdrew from work for over a year on his doctor's advice (the humourist and ad-lib master battled hypertension/high blood pressure for much of his later life). It was during the half-hour version of the show that the more cerebral (if barbed) Allen premiered the continuing comic sketch for which many remember him best: the multi-character, topical takeoffs of "Allen's Alley."

Though some believe the title Texaco Star Theater was retired temporarily, in favour of Texaco Time, after Allen scaled the show back to half an hour, the show retained the Texaco Star Theater title offcially---the confusion probably stems from announcer Jimmy Wallingford's first words of introduction: "It's Texaco time starring Fred Allen"; Wallingford customarily continued his introduction, as the opening music continued, by referring to Texaco Star Theater. Before Wallington held the slot, the show's announcer was a then little known radio personality who would soon enough become another of the nation's beloved radio and television stars: Arthur Godfrey. Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American broadcaster and entertainer, born in New York City. ...

Legacy

Texaco Star Theater's legacy is without question. As Fred Allen's radio hit it was one of the most cleverly cerebral comedy-variety shows of its time. When it moved to television with Milton Berle, it proved a groundbreaker for two decades' worth of variety programming and, in its cantankerous star, gave the medium the first star it could call its own. Uncle Miltie wasn't quite as effective on radio as he was on camera, and the television version of Texaco Star Theater allowed him the full spread of his talent, visual and verbal, uniting them toward a height he couldn't have achieved even in his legendary vaudeville and silent-screen days.

As often happens those it inspired soon outperformed it, and its star also became, as the Museum of Broadcast Communications phrased it, "the first TV personality to suffer from over-exposure and burnout." But for being there at the birth, and cutting the umbilical cord with such immediate and memorable effect, weaning a country from radio as its primary home entertainment medium, Texaco Star Theater earned its legend.