The Victor Borge Show
American variety television program
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Premise
The program starred Victor Borge, an "internationally known pianist and comic interpreter of music".[3] Episodes usually included Borge's playing both a straight concert piece and a humorous interpretation. The Phil Engalls Orchestra provided musical support. Episodes also included guest stars who performed and chatted with Borge.[3]
Perry Lafferty was the director, with Borge, Eddie Lawrence, and Max Wilk as writers. The program was a mid-season replacement for the Hank McCune Show. Its network competitors were Hollywood Theatre Time on ABC and The Sam Levenson Show on CBS.[4] It was replaced by Tom Corbett, Space Cadet.[5]
A review in the trade publication Billboard said: "This is not a program which produces multitudes of belly laughs. But it is filled with sly good humor and clever satire."[2]
Problems
Borge "was better in guest spots than having his own show."[6] Lafferty said years later that trying to convert Borge's talented, but specialized, skills into a TV program "was the hardest thing in my career."[4] Lawrence and Wilk managed to create new routines each week even though, as Lafferty said, "Borge fought everything we tried to do."[4] One of the skits had Borge encountering difficulty trying to play a song, but other people walked in and played it perfectly.[4]
Radio
Borge's television series was preceded by The Victor Borge Show on radio.[7] Four versions of the program were broadcast on network radio.
| Starting Date | Ending Date | Length | Network | Sponsor | Orchestra |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 8, 1943 | July 9, 1943 | 15 minutes | Blue | ||
| July 3, 1945 | September 25, 1945 | 30 minutes | NBC | Johnson's Wax | Billy Mills Orchestra |
| September 9, 1946 | June 30, 1947 | 30 minutes | NBC | Socony Oil | Benny Goodman Orchestra |
| January 1, 1951 | June 1, 1951 | 5 minutes | Mutual | Kellogg | |
| October 1, 1951 | December 28, 1951 | 5 minutes | ABC | Kellogg |
Source: On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio[8]