Series Description:

Your Show of Shows was a live sketch comedy series from the golden age of television! The huge cast of regular musical and dance performers along with top-name guest stars provided viewers with consistently enjoyable entertainment every Saturday night!

Your Show of Shows Cast and Crew:

Performers:

Sid Caesar
Imogene Coca
Carl Reiner
Howard Morris (1951-1954)
Angela Castle
Frederic Franklin
Pauline Goddard
Virginia Curtis
Jack Russell
Wallace Siebert
James Starbuck
Mata and Hari
Dick DeFreitas (1950-1953)
Bill Hayes (1950-1953)
Marguerite Piazza (1950-1953)
Judy Johnson (1950-1953)
Nellie Fisher (1950-1952)
Jerry Ross (1950-1952)
Rod Alexander (1952-1954)
Bambi Linn (1952-1954)
Earl Redding (1950-1951)
Robert Merrill (1950-1951)
Aariana Knowles (1951-1952)
Tom Avera (1950)

Musical Performers:

The Billy Williams Quartet
The Bob Hamilton Trio
Show of Shows Ballet Company
Charles Sanford Orchestra

Writers:

Mel Brooks
Neil Simon
Woody Allen
Lucille Kallen
Larry Gelbart
Mel Tolkin

Announcers:

Carl King
Vaughn Monroe

Producer:
Max Liebman

Your Show of Shows Trivia:

Each episode of Your Show of Shows was 90 minutes long and the performances were live on NBC!

Your Show of Shows was the inspiration for the 1982 film, "My Favorite Year", produced by Mel Brooks; the 2001 TV movie, "Laughter on the 23rd Floor", written by Neil Simon; and "The Dick Van Dyke Show" television series created by Carl Reiner.

And there were other talented members of the cast and crew who went on to great success in the entertainment industry! Woody Allen brought his unique form of comedy to the big screen in numerous movies. Woody was also a writer for the "Colgate Comedy Hour (1950)", "Stanley (1956)", "The Gary Moore Show (1958)", and "Candid Camera". Larry Gelbart wrote an episode for "The Danny Kaye Show (1963)", "The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine (1971)", "M*A*S*H (1972)", and "United States (1980)". Larry also wrote the story and screenplay for "Tootsie", the 1982 movie starring Dustin Hoffman in drag. Mel Tolkin also wrote for "The Danny Kaye Show (1963)", "The Good Guys (1968)", "All in the Family (1971)", and "Archie Bunker's Place (1979)".

Your Show of Shows won the Emmy for "Best Variety Program" in both 1952 and 1953! In 1952 Sid Caesar also won for "Best Actor" and Imogene Coca won for "Best Actress". Imogene was again nominated in 1953 but lost out to Lucille Ball for her role on "I Love Lucy" in the "Best Comedienne" category. Even though Your Show of Shows didn't win any Emmys in 1954, it was nominated for four! In addition to "Best Variety Program", Sid Caesar was nominated for "Best Male Star", Imogene Coca for "Best Female Star", and Carl Reiner for "Best Supporting Actor"!

In the year 2000, 137 original Your Show of Shows' scripts were discovered in a closet in Manhattan that had been locked for 40 years!

Most of the writers for Your Show of Shows also wrote for the follow-up series, "Caesar's Hour (1954)" and "Sid Caesar Invites You (1958)". Unfortunately, Imogene Coca did not join most of the cast and crew of Your Show of Shows when they moved on to "Caesar's Hour (1954) but she returned in 1958 for the 5 month long series, "Sid Caesar Invites You".

After "Sid Caesar Invites You" was cancelled in the U.S., 13 one-half hour episodes were broadcast in Great Britain. Of course, it's not unusual for U.S. series to reappear in the U.K., but in this case, it was a bit different. The U.S. scripts were used but the film was reshot with British celebrities rather than the ones from the U.S. Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca were international stars, however, so they did appear in the UK version.

Some of the great Your Show of Shows skits included "The Hickenloopers" which was about a husband and wife who were always at each other's throats (sound like the Honenmooners?). Another about one of those huge German clocks with the characters that march around in a circle (usually played by Caesar, Coca, Reiner, and Morris) that would break every time it struck a new hour! And Caesar's portrayal of the goofy "Professor Ludwig von Space Brain" would make your sides ache from laughter! Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks' classic "2000 year-old-man" skit also got its start on Your Show of Shows.

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

The First Season

Burgess Meredith, Robert Merrill, Gertrude Lawrence, MacDonald Carey (2/25/1950)
Burgess Meredith, Robert Merrill (3/4/1950)
Rex Harrison, Robert Merrill (3/11/1950)
Melvyn Douglas (3/18/1950)
Jose Ferrer (4/1/1950)
Basil Rathbone (4/8/1950)
Rudy Valle (4/15/1950)
Jack Russell (4/22/1950)
Jose Ferrer (4/29/1950)
Al Capp (5/6/1950)
Jack Carson (5/13/1950)
Sir Cedric Hardwicke (5/20/1950)

The Second Season

Robert Cummings (9/9/1950)
Arlene Francis (9/16/1950)
Lee Bowman (9/23/1950)
Ralph Bellamy (9/30/1950)
Nanette Fabray (10/7/1950)
Jose Ferrer (10/14/1950)
Madeleine Carroll (10/21/1950)
John Conte (10/28/1950)
Wendy Barrie (11/4/1950)
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (11/11/1950)
Veronica Lake (11/18/1950)
Henry Morgan (11/25/1950)
Glenda Farrell (12/2/1950)
Melvyn Douglas (12/9/1950)
Marsha Hunt (12/16/1950)
Paul Winchell, Jerry Mahoney (12/23/1950)
Arlene Francis (12/30/1950)
Bill Goodwin (1/6/1951)
Martha Scott (1/13/1951)
Lena Horne (1/20/1951)
Nanette Fabray (1/27/1951)
Dane Clark (2/3/1951)
Sarah Churchill (2/10/1951)
Robert Cummings, Herb Shriner, Pearl Bailey, Clifford Guest (2/17/1951)
Fred Allen, Pearl Bailey, Helene and Howard (2/24/1951)
Joan Bennett (3/3/1951)
Tom Ewell (3/10/1951)
Signe Hasso (3/17/1951)
Richard Carlson (3/24/1951)
Virginia Field (3/31/1951)
John Conte (4/7/1951)
Marsha Hunt (4/14/1951)
Richard Greene (4/21/1951)
Wendy Barrie (4/28/1951)
Skitch Henderson (5/5/1951)
Faye Emerson (5/12/1951)
Signe Hasso (5/12/1951)
Larraine Day (5/26/1951)
Constance Bennett (6/2/1951)

The Third Season

Wendell Corey (9/8/1951)
Marguerite Chapman (9/15/1951)
Tom Ewell (9/22/1951)
Eva Gabor (9/29/1951)
Kim Hunter (10/6/1951)
Charlton Heston (10/13/1951)
Geraldine Page, Gino Bechi (10/20/1951)
Richard Arlen (11/3/1951)
Marguerite Piazza (11/10/1951)
Nina Foch (11/17/1951)
Robert Preston (11/24/1951)
Patrice Munsel (12/1/1951)
Jimmy Nelson, Danny O'Day, Herb Shriner (12/8/1951)
Florence Desmond, Herb Shriner (12/15/1951)
Charlton Heston (12/22/1951)
Madge Evans (12/29/1951)
Marguerite Piazza (1/5/1952)
John Hodiak (1/12/1952)
Binnie Barnes (1/26/1952)
Teresa Wright (2/2/1952)
June Lockhart (2/9/1952)
Arlene Francis (2/16/1952)
Margaret Lindsay (2/23/1952)
Leo Genn (3/1/1952)
Larry Storch (3/8/1952)
Dave Garroway, Roger Price (3/15/1952)
Jan Peerce, Virginia Grey (3/22/1952)
Bill Hayes, Jose Greco (3/29/1952)
Betty Furness (4/5/1952)
Patrice Munsel (4/12/1952)
Arlene Dahl (4/19/1952)
Burr Tilstrom's Kukla, Fran and Ollie (4/26/1952)
Marguerite Piazza (5/3/1952)
Colleen Gray (5/10/1952)
Carl Reiner (5/17/1952)
Judy Johnson (5/24/1952)
Dennis King (5/31/1952)

The Fourth Season

Marilyn Maxwell (9/13/1952)
Jack Palance (9/20/1952)
Ella Raines (9/27/1952)
Wanda Hendrix (10/4/1952)
Dennis O'Keefe (10/11/1952)
Alicia Markova (10/18/1952)
Corinne Calvet (10/25/1952)
Jeffrey Lynn (11/1/1952)
Jane Wyatt (11/8/1952)
Richard Ney (11/15/1952)
Nancy Olson (11/22/1952)
Victor Jory (11/29/1952)
Dave Garroway, Wally Cox (12/6/1952)
Nina Foch, Herb Shriner (12/13/1952)
Maria Riva (12/20/1952)
Faye Emerson (12/27/1952)
Glynis Johns (1/3/1953)
Michael Redgrave (1/10/1953)
Frederic Franklin (1/17/1953)
Robert Preston (1/24/1953)
Marguerite Chapman (1/31/1953)
Marguerite Piazza (2/7/1953)
Jackie Cooper (2/14/1953)
Alicia Markova, Carl Reiner (2/21/1953)
Jimmy Nelson, Danny O'Day (2/28/1953)
Dave Garroway (3/7/1953)
Arleen Whelan (3/14/1953)
Burr Tillstrom's Kukla, Fran and Ollie, Maria Tallchief (3/21/1953)
Wendell Corey (3/28/1953)
Diana Lynn (4/11/1953)
Paul Douglas (4/18/1953)
Carl Reiner (4/25/1953)
Gene Nelson (5/2/1953)
Ilona Massey (5/9/1953)
Jean Pierre Aumont (5/16/1953)
Andy Russell (5/23/1953)

The Fifth Season

John Cameron Swayze, Nat "King" Cole (9/12/1953)
Lena Horne, Carl Reiner (9/19/1953)
Howard Morris (9/26/1953)
Jean Pierre Aumont (10/10/1953)
Eddie Albert (10/17/1953)
Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg (10/24/1953)
Mata and Hari (11/7/1953)
Nina Foch (11/14/1953)
Margaret Hayes (11/21/1953)
Faye Emerson (12/5/1953)
Claude Dauphin (12/12/1953)
Jayne Meadows (1/2/1954)
Marilyn Maxwell (1/9/1954)
Charlton Heston (1/16/1954)
Angela Lansbury (1/30/1954)
Margaret Truman (2/6/1954)
Eddie Albert (2/13/1954)
Jackie Cooper (2/27/1954)
Zachary Scott (3/6/1954)
Rita Gam (3/27/1954)
Phyllis Kirk (4/3/1954)
Pat Crowley (4/24/1954)
Louis Jourdan (5/1/1954)
Eddie Albert (5/8/1954)
Eartha Kitt (5/29/1954)
Faye Emerson (6/5/1954)