The Hank McCune Show
The Hank McCune Show is an American television sitcom. Filmed without a studio audience, the series is notable for being the first television program to incorporate a laugh track.[1]
| The Hank McCune Show | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Directed by | Charles Maxwell |
| Starring | Hank McCune |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Samuel Z. Arkoff Dick Farrell Hank McCune |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company | United Television Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | September 9 – December 2, 1950 |
The series began as a local Los Angeles program in 1949. NBC placed it on its national primetime schedule at the start of the 1950–51 season. It debuted at 7:00pm Eastern Time on September 9 and was cancelled three months later. It was briefly resurrected as a syndicated program in 1953–54,[2] but without a laugh track.[3]
Overview
The premise foreshadowed that of The Larry Sanders Show in that it contained a show within a show. Former radio comedian McCune portrayed a television variety show host named after himself, and each week the character managed to blunder his way into a variety of comic predicaments.
The supporting cast included Larry Keating, Charles Maxwell, Frank Nelson, and Florence Bates.
References
- Ingram, Billy (2002). TVparty!: Television's Untold Tales. Bonus Books, Inc. p. 17. ISBN 1-56625-184-2.
- The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946 - Present by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, Ballantine Books, 2003, p. 502, ISBN 0-345-45542-8
- "Production," Broadcasting Telecasting, p. 37, http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-01-04-BC.pdf