THE BIG SHOW

For one brief, shining moment a radio show became a hit in the era of television, a time when nearly everyone reasoned (rightly) that radio's days as the predominant form of home entertainment were over.

It was 1950 and the NBC program was called The Big Show, a star-studded 90 minutes that attracted the biggest names in the entertainment industry and beyond.

The star attraction was the outrageous hostess, a most unusual pick for a master of ceremonies, stage and screen actress / ultimate diva Tallulah Bankhead.

The program aired Sunday nights at 6:00pm but despite the network putting everything it had behind the program in an attempt to salvage the medium, The Big Show reportedly lost a million dollars and was cancelled after a couple of years, then moved unsuccessfully to television as the All-Star Revue with Tallulah as one of the rotating hosts.

Here's an episode of The Big Show from December of 1950 with guests Fred Allen, Margaret Truman, Joan Davis, Phil Silvers, The Sons of The Pioneers and more. The highlight of every episode was Tallulah's madcap putdowns and acid tongued bouts with the guests. (I edited out a boring 13 minute dramatic presentation with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.)

Quicktime