The Entertainers
The Entertainers is a one-hour American variety show which aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, through March 27, 1965.
Produced by Joe Hamilton, the series featured three hosts:
Hamilton's then-wife Carol Burnett, Bob Newhart, and Caterina Valente. In order to serve as a regular host, it was necessary for Burnett to leave her role in the Broadway musical Fade Out - Fade In, and she was summarily sued by the show's producers for breach of contract, resulting in her return to the musical in February 1965 for what turned out to be its final weeks.
Broadcast weekly from New York, where it was taped Friday evenings at CBS Studio 50 (now the Ed Sullivan Theater), the variety show format was typical of the period. It contained a mix of comedy sketches, musical numbers performed by a regular group of series artists and having one or two guest stars (such as Boris Karloff, Phil Silvers, and Chita Rivera) who hosted, alongside Burnett and Valente each week. It initially aired Friday nights at 8:30pm ET/PT, but after not doing well in the ratings the show was moved, in January 1965, to Saturdays at 9:00pm ET/PT, with the format slightly altered: Newhart and a few of the series' regulars left the cast, Burnett and Valente assumed co-hosting duties for the remainder of the series' run, and new theme music was created.
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