The NBC Comedy Hour

Synopsis

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. Where to watch The NBC Comedy Hour series? Click the "Watch Now" button above to stream all seasons and episodes of The NBC Comedy Hour in HD for free on SFlix.

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