Nat King Cole TV 1956 -57


The show originally aired without a sponsor, but NBC agreed to pay 
for initial production costs; it was assumed that once the show actually 
aired and advertisers were able to see its sophistication, a national 
sponsor would emerge. None did; many national companies did not 
want to upset their customers in the South, who did not want to see 
a black man on TV shown in anything other than a subservient position. 
Although NBC agreed to continue footing the bill for the show until a 
sponsor could be found, star Nat 'King' Cole pulled the plug on it himself 
in its second season. In the 1956 season, the show had a 15-minute 
running time. It was expanded to a 30-minute segment in 1957. 
Said Cole of the doomed series, "Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark." 


Quests appearing in this collection


Ella Fitzgerald 
Pearl Bailey 
Harry Belafonte
Tony Bennett 
Cab Calloway 
Sammy Davis Jr.
Gogi Grant 
Mahalia Jackson 
Eartha Kitt 
Frankie Laine 
Peggy Lee 
Johnny Mercer
Mel Tormé 
Margaret Whiting
Cornel Wilde
Lisa Kirk
Mills Bros
Tony Martin
Norman Granz
Betty Hutton
Billy Eckstine
Van Horne
Lurlean Hunter
Harry Warren

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