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JERRY LEWIS SHOW, THE ("IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD" PREMIERE) (TV)

Summary

Jerry Lewis hosts this live two-hour comedy/variety talk show. This episode celebrates the premiere of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," featuring the film's stars as guests.

Jerry takes the stage in front of the orchestra. A giant globe with names of the film's stars on it floats by and pops. Jerry performs his opening monologue, lamenting how he was not in the movie.

Producer and director Stanley Kramer appears live from the Pacific Cinerama Dome theatre on Sunset Boulevard, where the film's premiere is being held. Jerry provides the introduction as Kramer greets each guest on the street at the Cinerama: Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, Phil Silvers, Jonathan Winters, Peter Falk, Don Knotts, Carl Reiner, Dorothy Provine, and Madlyn Rhue. They enter a limo and it drives off toward the Jerry Lewis Theater so they can join him.

Jerry conducts the orchestra and pantomimes some of the instruments.

Jerry interviews Winters at the host desk. Jerry presents Winters with a menu of characters to create. Winters performs impressions including Willard Cratchlow from a small radio station farm hour, as well as the whole cast of a late show horror movie.

Jerry introduces Provine and Rhue in the audience. They stand and wave. Jerry reads from old playbills and interviews Merman. Jerry reminds the audience to watch Winters on the Jack Parr Show.

In a live on-stage commercial, Jerry shows the audience how to use a Polaroid color pack camera. He takes a photo of a female model and shows the photo to both the camera and the live audience.

Merman performs a medley of "Doing What Comes Naturally," "Got the Sun in the Morning," "Life is a Bowl of Cherries," "You're the Top," "Anything Goes," "It's De Lovely," and "Everything's Coming Up Roses." She receives a standing ovation.

Jerry interviews Caesar and comments that Caesar makes pain funny. Caesar appears in a previously recorded sketch as a bumbling expert in a meeting of studio executives.

At the desk, Jerry thanks Caesar. He mentions this was the first time he used a pre-taped sketch on his show.

Jerry interviews Silvers, who tells Jerry that he's never boring. They reminisce about show business and Jerry's father's career as a singer during burlesque shows. Silvers tells a story about Jerry's early career, when Silvers showed up on stage during Jerry's Copacabana show wearing a shabby bathrobe and slippers. It was the only time he ever saw Jerry nonplussed (speechless). Jerry holds Brylcreem product box.

Jerry interviews Falk and asks him to read from several dramatic scenes, but they all set him up to sound like a gangster in the end.

Jerry introduces Kramer, who is presented with an award by a comically nervous Knotts, who accidentally breaks a fake award statue into multiple pieces.

Jerry introduces Dick Shawn, who pretends to sit on Jerry's lap. They have a short interview about talent and "animal appeal" in modern singers, which Shawn then mocks. He notes that dance has also changed and performs a song and dance with animal noises called "The Cockamamie".

Jerry asks the audience and viewers to march, give to, and volunteer for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Jerry briefly interviews Carl Reiner and Mickey Rooney. They discuss how the guests on the show and in the movie appreciate each other, and how it's an honor to entertain with comedy. To close the show, Jerry says good night from Hollywood, thank you.

Fade to black, no closing credits.

Notable commercials and recognizable celebrity spokespeople include the following: BF Goodrich tires; Polident; Polaroid; L&M cigarettes; Aqua Net; Weldwood; Brylcreem; 1964 Dodge; MacLean's toothpaste; Alka-Seltzer; Jolly Green Giant; Max Factor makeup; Clairol shampoo. Dodge commercial features James Brolin; and Jerry Lewis on-stage live for Polaroid.

Cataloging and preservation of this program was made possible by Mel Brooks.

Details

  • NETWORK: ABC
  • DATE: November 2, 1963 9:30 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 1:56:16
  • COLOR/B&W: B&W
  • CATALOG ID: 115224
  • GENRE: Comedy/Variety
  • SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
  • SERIES RUN: N/A
  • COMMERCIALS:
    • TV - Commercials - 1964 Dodge
    • TV - Commercials - Alka-Seltzer
    • TV - Commercials - Aqua Net by Rayette
    • TV - Commercials - B.F. Goodrich
    • TV - Commercials - Brylcreem
    • TV - Commercials - Clairol
    • TV - Commercials - Jolly Green Giant
    • TV - Commercials - L&M cigarettes
    • TV - Commercials - Macleans
    • TV - Commercials - Max Factor
    • TV - Commercials - Polident
    • TV - Commercials - Weldwood from United States Plywood

CREDITS

  • Jerry Lewis … Host, Talent, for Polaroid
  • Sid Caesar … Guest
  • Ethel Merman … Guest
  • Mickey Rooney … Guest
  • Dick Shawn … Guest
  • Jonathan Winters … Guest
  • Don Knotts … Guest
  • Peter Falk … Guest
  • Carl Reiner … Guest
  • Phil Silvers … Guest
  • Stanley Kramer … Guest
  • Dorothy Provine … Guest
  • Madlyn Rhue … Guest
  • James Brolin … Talent, for Dodge