Robert Q Lewis Show, The

1 9 5 0 – 1 9 5 1 (USA)
60 minute/45 minute/30 minute episodes
1 9 5 4 – 1 9 5 6 (USA)
60 minute/30 minute episodes

Bespectacled comedian Robert Q Lewis had a good deal of exposure on network television in the 1950s without gaining much substantial success.

He made his TV debut as a substitute host on the nighttime The Arthur Godfrey Show in February 1949 before earning his own daytime CBS show in October 1950, airing each weekday from New York City between 2:30 and 3:30 pm.

In December 1950, CBS took the first 15 minutes of Robert’s show to air The First Hundred Years daily from 2:30 to 2:45 pm.

In 1951, the network announced that Bride and Groom would run Tuesdays and Thursdays between 3:15 and 3:30 pm, stealing another 15 minutes from The Robert Q Lewis Show.

Upset with his shrinking time slot, Lewis left the series, which limped along only a few weeks afterwards, retitled The Johnny Johnson Show.

In 1954, having apparently patched things up with CBS, Lewis returned to the network’s daytime lineup with a series that alternated daily with Double or Nothing during its first six months.

His new show featured a larger cast with dancer/choreographer Don Liberto and singers Jan Arden, The Chordettes, Lois Hunt, Jaye P Morgan, and Earl Wrightson.

When Morgan left a year later, she was replaced by Betty Clooney, whose sister Rosemary was a regular on Lewis’s earlier series. By September 1955, The Chordettes had been dropped, Merv Griffin added, and Earl Wrightson and Lois Hunt had gone from daily to twice-weekly appearances to save costs.

But despite these changes and an impressive guest list (including Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Gleason, Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters), the show’s ratings failed to rise, and it ended after two years.