Kraft Music Hall

Seasons

1958

6.3

A few years after Perry Como left as host, "The Kraft Music Hall" was revived as a regular series from 1967-71. There was no set host during this period, and various guest hosts, usually a singer or comedian, presided on a weekly basis. There were several theme shows during "Music Hall"'s run, among them "A Taste of Funny, " hosted by Groucho Marx, "The Golden Age of TV Comedy, " hosted by Milton Berle, and "The Best of Broadway, " hosted by Henry Fonda. Frequent guest hosts included Berle, Eddy Arnold, John Davidson, and the singing team of Tony Sandler and Ralph Young. The Country Music Association Awards were first run as a special edition of the Music Hall in 1967. A victim of the general decline of weekly variety shows, "The Kraft Music Hall" was cancelled in 1971.

Episode List

S1 • E1

...And All That Brass

Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass host this salute to brass with Louis Armstrong; comic Jackie Vernon and his battered trumpet; and singer Robin Wilson.

S1 • E2

The Hollywood Musical

Rock Hudson's debut as a TV star-host on this combined tribute and satire of Hollywood's early musicals.

S1 • E3

Give My Regards to Broadway

Bobby Darin portrays entertainer extraordinaire George M. Cohan in this musical tribute with guests Liza Minnelli, Kaye Stevens, Dennis Day, ragtime pianist Max Morath, pantomimist George Carle, and madcap musicians Pompoff, Theddy and Family.

S1 • E4

Tin Pan Alley Today

George Burns is the host for this journey along the new Tin Pan Alley. Illustrating the current trend in popular songs and singing styles are Dionne Warwick, Nancy Ames, English musical star Tony Tanner, the bossa nova beat of Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66, and pop group Harpers Bizarre. Also for a touch of comedy, Dick Cavett performs an up-to-date monologue and joins George in a vaudeville routine.

S1 • E5

How the West Was Swung

Host Lorne Greene opens a musical scrapbook of the Old West with guests Lou Rawls, Jerry Van Dyke, Barbara Eden, Bobby Van and the Baja Marimba Band.

S1 • E6

The Phyllis Diller Happening

Host Phyllis Diller presents her comedy with her guests Bob Hope, Sonny and Cher, singer/talk show host Mike Douglas and trumpeter Hugh Masekela. Phyllis offers a wide range of advice to beleaguered housewives and shows off her talent as a harpsichordist. In a sketch set in the year 1997, she and Hope portray the last two hippies on earth.

Fiddler on the Loose with Jack Benny, Henny Youngman, Morey Amsterdam, Liberace

S1 • E7

Fiddler on the Loose with Jack Benny, Henny Youngman, Morey Amsterdam, Liberace

Host Jack Benny tries to upstage Liberace with his outfits, than with his musical ability. Renown violinist Rabin is given instruction by Jack and the two are joined by Morey in performing an offbeat version of Beethoven.

S1 • E8

Stagedoor Johnny

A freewheeling caricature of the world of the Roaring Twenties.Tony Randall stars as Stage-Door Johnny, a fickle and well-heeled heel about town. Cab Calloway, Gilbert Becaud, Michele Lee, Marilyn Maye and Nathaniel Frey portray speak-easy patrons, flapper cuties, honky-tonk performers and a gangland overlord. Walter Winchell, who chronicled the era, appears as himself..

Dinah Shore Presents The Nashville Sound

S1 • E9

Dinah Shore Presents The Nashville Sound

Dinah Shore hosts a tribute to the music of Nashville, with a blend of rock, folk, pop, jazz, and Country and Western. Guests include Ray Charles, Eddy Arnold, Johnny Mercer, the Everly Brothers and the dancing Stoney Mountain Cloggers.

S1 • E10

A Taste of Funny

Groucho hosts plus reviving two popular characters Captain Spaulding and Professor Quackenbush. Juggling folk duo Times Square Two perform. Soupy becomes the Great Explodo while Burns and Schreiber entertain with their cab driver/passenger routine.

S1 • E11

Mitzi Gaynor Christmas Show

Mitzi sings and dances through several cute seasonal costumes and sings a variety of classic holiday numbers. A highlight is Santa Claus played by Johnny Carson's Tonight Show sidekick Ed McMahon, seriously getting into the part, and Cyril Ritchard and Tony Tanner as a lighthearted Ebeneezer Scrooge and Cratchit singing "Where would You Be Without Me?".

S1 • E12

Woody Allen Looks at 1967

Woody Allen hosts a tongue-in-cheek look back at the year 1967 in skits and musical numbers. Guests include Liza Minnelli, Aretha Franklin, John Byner and William F. Buckley.

S1 • E13

Trio for Tonight

S1 • E14

A Grand Night for Swinging

Bobby Van joins host Bobby Darin in a vaudeville routine. George Kirby does an impersonation of Bobby Kennedy. Bobbie Gentry sings "Hurry Tuesday's Child." All the Bobbies perform "Nothing Can Stop Us Now."

S1 • E15

Physical Phitness

S1 • E16

Vacation à la King

Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, The Serendipity Singers, Phil Harris, Alice Faye

S1 • E17

Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, The Serendipity Singers, Phil Harris, Alice Faye

The Class of '68 featuring The Fifth Dimension, John Davidson, Tom Jones, Michele Lee, Flip Wilson, Professor Irwin Corey, Buffy Sainte-Marie

S1 • E18

The Class of '68 featuring The Fifth Dimension, John Davidson, Tom Jones, Michele Lee, Flip Wilson, Professor Irwin Corey, Buffy Sainte-Marie

S1 • E19

The Comedy Survival Kit

Mardi Gras 1968 featuring Phil Harris, Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, Lana Cantrell

S1 • E20

Mardi Gras 1968 featuring Phil Harris, Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, Lana Cantrell

S1 • E21

Vaudeville '68

S1 • E22

County Fair #1

S1 • E23

Two on the Aisle

S1 • E24

Country Fair #2

S1 • E25

Country Fair #3

S1 • E26

Country Fair #4

S1 • E27

County Fair #5

S1 • E28

Country Fair #6

S1 • E29

County Fair #7

Shari Lewis entertains with her puppets and Byner with his impressions. Eddy Arnold solos several times including "Love Finds a Way." The Minstrels perform " Oh Susannah. "