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
GenreSitcom
Directed byCharles Maxwell
StarringHank McCune
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersSamuel Z. Arkoff
Dick Farrell
Hank McCune
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time25 minutes
Production companyUnited Television Productions
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 9 (1950-09-09) –
December 2, 1950 (1950-12-02)

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 edit

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.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Ingram, Billy (2002). TVparty!: Television's Untold Tales. Bonus Books, Inc. p. 17. ISBN 1-56625-184-2.
  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
  3. ^ "Production," Broadcasting Telecasting, p. 37, http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1954/1954-01-04-BC.pdf

External links edit