Dagmar's Canteen (TV series)

Dagmar's Canteen is a 15-minute American variety television series that was broadcast on NBC from March 22, 1952, until June 14, 1952.[1]

Dagmar's Canteen was broadcast from 12:15 a.m. Eastern Time until 12:45 a.m. ET, on Saturdays, starring Dagmar as the hostess of a canteen for military personnel She conducted interviews, sang and danced. A weekly feature was the reading of plays that Dagmar had written, with military people and members of the cast joining her.[2] Each episode also featured a guest star selected from the armed forces.[3]

Besides Dagmar, regulars on the show were Ray Malone, Tim Herbert and Jeanne Lewis (Dagmar's sister).[2] Milton DeLugg led the orchestra.[4] Guest performers who appeared on the show included Joey Faye,[5] Robert Scheerer,[6] and Tim Herbert.[7]

One of NBC's largest TV studios was converted into a canteen for each episode. The facility was set up with sandwiches, soft drinks, hostesses, dancing, tables, and chairs to accommodate 200 men and women from the military.[8]

Hal Friedman was the producer, and Alan Neuman was the director. Lou Meltzer and Allan Walker were the writers.[9] The program was sustaining.[10]

Reception

Critic Jack Gould found little to like about the program in a review in The New York Times. After referring to Dagmar's previous appearances in bit parts on Broadway Open House, he wrote that on Dagmar's Canteen she had to "essentially play the dumb blonde not for just one minute but for thirty."[11] Trying to turn the earlier role "into a career . . . simply does not come off", he wrote.[11] Tap dancer Malone was the only member of the supporting company who found favor in the review.

A review in The Philadelphia Inquirer complimented the work of DeLugg and Malone but said that their efforts alone were not enough to carry the program. It pointed out that the show was an effort by NBC to make use of its contract with Dagmar that extended beyond the ending of Broadway Open House. Critic Merrill Panitt wrote about the star, "Dagmar today is not the Dagmar of yesteryear, and instead of being funny with her incongruous voice inflections and her malapropisms, she's downright ludicrous".[7] He added, ". . . she succeeded only in being a parody of her former self".[7]

References
  1. McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 192. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
  2. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (1999). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (7th ed.). New York: The Ballentine Publishing Group. p. 226. ISBN 0-345-42923-0.
  3. Stretch, Bud (March 22, 1952). "Air Waves". Courier-Post. New Jersey, Camden. p. 9. Retrieved April 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  5. "Video Highlights". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. April 26, 1952. p. 13. Retrieved April 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Lentz, Harris M. III (2019). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2018. McFarland. p. 337. ISBN 978-1-4766-7033-1. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  7. Panitt, Merrill (March 25, 1952). "Heavier Dagmar Returns, But Fizzles". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 28. Retrieved April 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Wood, Mary (March 18, 1952). "Dagmar's Canteen". The Cincinnati Post. p. 6. Retrieved April 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Dagmar's Canteen" (PDF). Billboard. April 5, 1952. p. 10. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  10. "Dagmar's 'Canteen' On NBC-TV in Mar". Billboard. January 19, 1952. p. 1. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
  11. Gould, Jack (March 28, 1952). "Radio and Television: Video Offers Reappearance of Dagmar in Her Own Show -- TV Debut for 'Gangbusters'". The New York Times. p. 34. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
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