DINAH SHORE CHEVY SHOW, THE {GINGER ROGERS, MIKE NICHOLS, ELAINE MAY, IDA LUPINO, HOWARD DUFF} (TV)
Summary
One in this series of music/variety programs hosted by Dinah Shore. In this episode, Shore and her dancers perform the opening song and introduces the evening’s guests. Shore sings “Lucky Day” and then brings out actors and married couple Ida Lupino and Howard Duff, who confess that they are nervous in front of the cameras and enormous television audience, which in turn unnerves Shore. They explain that over the summer they intend to act in a number of plays, and reveal their “technique” for memorizing many lines: stashing small notes all around the set. They demonstrate a scene together in which they play a quarreling couple, aided by their line reminders, and Shore praises the technique. They explain that things can go wrong if the stagehands misplace the cues, however, and perform the scene again with the words decidedly out of place.
Next, actress and dancer Ginger Rogers joins Shore onstage and describes her exciting daily routine and beauty process. They chat about her frequently collaborations with Perry Como, and at Shore’s request, Rogers performs “A Newfangled Tango” with the help of backup dancers. Shore then sings a new song, “The Secret of Happiness,” and introduces a contest in which viewers can win a Chevrolet Impala automobile. She then introduces a “new and different” comedy team, Elaine May and Mike Nichols, and they join her onstage, bantering about their proper billing order. They discuss the origins of their ideas for their routines, and then act out a scene in which they portray a mother and son on the telephone. The mother laments the son’s infrequent calls, and he protests that he has been very busy at work. She mentions that she must enter the hospital for her “nerves” and warns that someday he will have equally negligent children, much to his distress. Finally, she bids him farewell, allowing him to return to his somewhat time-sensitive job at the space station.
Duff retakes the stage and chats with Shore about the challenges of being the last musical TV program of the week and the need to avoid repeating what other shows have done. He narrates a segment in which Shore and Rogers rehearse a series of song numbers in preparation for the show over the course of a week, only to be repeatedly told that another program has done something similar. Eventually, with only a few hours to go, they settle for a performance of “Jingle Bells” with an out-of-season Christmas theme. Shore then performs “It Never Entered My Mind” solo, after which Rogers and Lupino join her onstage. They discover that they have all scheduled interviews with a magazine looking to report on their alleged domestic skills, and they hurry off to make themselves presentable. The reporters, played by May and Nichols, arrive at Rogers’ home, having heard that she makes all of her own clothes. She attempts to show off her “talent” at the sewing machine, but she has trouble maintaining the façade. Next, they visit Shore, whom they think is an excellent cook, and she tries to make a chocolate cake for them, but ends up putting it in the washing machine, and they are less than impressed. Finally, they journey to Lupino’s home, and she pretends to be an expert housekeeper, but when she tries to vacuum the curtains, this too falls flat. Shore, Rogers and Lupino then sing “A Woman’s Touch” all together. Shore closes the program by singing a farewell song with all of her guest stars, followed by her signature “See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet.” Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: May 18, 1958 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:50
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:49361
- GENRE: Music/Variety
- SUBJECT HEADING: Music/Variety
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series,1956-1963
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Chevrolet automobiles
- TV - Promos - "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" upcoming episodes
- TV - Promos - "The Loretta Young Show"
CREDITS
- Bob Banner … Producer, Director
- Robert Wells … Writer
- Johnny Bradford … Writer
- Arnold Peyser … Writer
- Ray Brenner … Writer
- The Skylarks … Music by
- Dinah Shore … Host, Performer
- Ginger Rogers … Guest, Performer
- Mike Nichols … Guest, Performer
- Elaine May … Guest, Performer
- Ida Lupino … Guest, Performer
- Howard Duff … Guest, Performer