The Pearl Bailey Show
The Pearl Bailey Show is an American variety show that aired on ABC Saturdays 8:30–9:30 P.M. from January 1971 to May 1971.[1] A Cooper-Finkel Company production in association with the Pearl Bailey Production Corporation, the show starred veteran entertainer Pearl Bailey.
The Pearl Bailey Show | |
---|---|
Genre | Variety show |
Written by |
|
Directed by | Dean Whitmore |
Starring | Pearl Bailey |
Composer | Louis Bellson |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes | 15 |
Production | |
Producer | Bob Finkel |
Running time | 60 mins |
Release | |
Original network | ABC |
Original release | January 23 – May 8, 1971 |
Overview
Pearl Bailey had a decades long successful career as a singer and stage and film actress by the time she was given her her own variety show in 1971. Bailey's husband, drummer Louis Bellson, was the conductor of the Orchestra for the show. The Robert Sidney Dancers and the Allan Davies Singers were regulars, performing a variety of musical entertainment.
The Pearl Bailey Show featured an array of guest performances by prominent entertainers, including Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, The Supremes, Tony Bennett, Ike & Tina Turner, and Liberace. "She got everybody she wanted. Nobody would turn her down," recalled the show's producer Bob Finkel.[1] Despite the array of guests, the show was cancelled in less than four months, Finkel suggests due to Bailey "harassing" the executives at ABC with "suggestions and complaints."
Episodes
Episode No. | Airdate | Guests |
---|---|---|
1 | January 23, 1971 | Louis Armstrong |
2 | January 30, 1971 | Lucille Ball |
3 | February 6, 1971 | Liza Minnelli |
4 | February 13, 1971 | Ethel Waters
Hines, Hines and Dad |
5 | February 20, 1971
(reaired on May 8, 1971) |
Phil Harris |
6 | February 27, 1971 | Perry Como |
7 | March 6, 1971 | Jimmy Durante |
8 | March 13, 1971 | Wayne Newton |
9 | March 20, 1971 | Debbie Reynolds |
10 | March 27, 1971 | Douglas Fairbanks Jr. |
11 | April 3, 1971 | Danny Thomas
Orie Sasaki |
12 | April 10, 1971 | Peggy Lee
The Pastor Brothers |
13 | April 17, 1971 | Gregory Peck |
14 | April 24, 1971 | Ella Fitzgerald |
15 | May 1, 1971 | Liberace |
— | May 8, 1971 | Rerun of episode #5 |
References
- Hyatt, Wesley (2003). Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. p. 199. ISBN 9781476605159. OCLC 606977128.