The Red Skelton Hour
A comedy-themed variety show, hosted by the popular comedian Red Skelton. It run with no interruption from 1951 to 1971. From 1956 to 1962, the show's head writer was Sherwood Schwartz, who had previous experience as a comedy writer for Bob Hope's radio show. During the 1960s, the show had its own regular cast of singers and dancers. Guests of the show included then-popular bands, such as the Beach Boys (in their network television debut), The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and The Supremes. By the early 1970s, the program was thought to appeal primarily to older audiences and to residents of rural regions. It was canceled, as the network wanted something that would attract an urban audience.
- 1951-1971
- 20 seasons
- NBC
- Comedy
- TV-G
A comedy-themed variety show, hosted by the popular comedian Red Skelton. It run with no interruption from 1951 to 1971. From 1956 to 1962, the show's head writer was Sherwood Schwartz, who had previous experience as a comedy writer for Bob Hope's radio show. During the 1960s, the show had its own regular cast of singers and dancers. Guests of the show included then-popular bands, such as the Beach Boys (in their network television debut), The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, and The Supremes. By the early 1970s, the program was thought to appeal primarily to older audiences and to residents of rural regions. It was canceled, as the network wanted something that would attract an urban audience.
Season 3 Episode Guide
39 Episodes 1953 - 1954
Episode 1
McPugg's Last Fight
Tue, Sep 22, 1953 30 mins
Red Skelton performs as Cauliflower McPugg and Freddie the Freeloader.
Episode 2
Clem and the Check
Tue, Sep 29, 1953 30 mins
Episode 3
Appleby's Cocktail Party
Tue, Oct 6, 1953 30 mins
Episode 4
The Nervous Tenor's Audition
Tue, Oct 13, 1953 30 mins
Episode 5
Hobo's Dilemma
Tue, Oct 20, 1953 30 mins
Red plays Freddie the Freeloader who tries to convince a boy not to run away from home and become a hobo like him.
Episode 6
Appleby the Dreamer
Tue, Oct 27, 1953 30 mins
Red Skelton performs as George Appleby and Sheriff Deadeye.
Episode 7
Freddie's Masquerade
Tue, Nov 3, 1953 30 mins
Red Skelton performs as Freddie the Freeloader.
Episode 8
The Marriage Broker
Tue, Nov 10, 1953 30 mins
Episode 9
How to Be Happily Married
Tue, Nov 17, 1953 30 mins
Episode 10
California Gold Rush
Tue, Nov 24, 1953 30 mins
Episode 11
Flugelmeyer's Secret Formula
Tue, Dec 1, 1953 30 mins
Clem Kadiddlehopper must defend Flugelmeyers secret beer formula from spies.
Episode 12
Dr. Schlepper
Tue, Dec 8, 1953 30 mins
Episode 13
It Happened at the Stationhouse
Tue, Dec 15, 1953 30 mins
Episode 14
Christmas with the Skeltons
Tue, Dec 22, 1953 30 mins
Episode 15
The Great White Hunter
Tue, Dec 29, 1953 30 mins
Red Skelton performs as Cauliflower McPugg. Cameo: John Wayne.
Episode 16
Accidents Will Happen
Tue, Jan 5, 1954 30 mins
Red Skelton performs as Freddie the Freeloader. Guest Star: Jackie Gleason.
Episode 17
A Voyage to Paris
Tue, Jan 12, 1954 30 mins
Episode 18
What Fathers Should Know
Tue, Jan 19, 1954 30 mins
Episode 19
Clem the Campus Soda Jerk
Tue, Jan 26, 1954 30 mins
Episode 20
The Train Trip
Tue, Feb 2, 1954 30 mins
Red Skelton performs as Freddie the Freeloader, San Fernando Red, and Willie Lump-Lump.
Episode 21
Deadeye at the Golden Nugget
Tue, Feb 9, 1954 30 mins
Ed Sullivan joins Red's monologue and interviews Cauliflower McPugg. Also Red as Deadeye plays cards in a saloon and is captured by Indians
Episode 22
Captain Hook
Tue, Feb 16, 1954 30 mins
Episode 23
Cave-Man Marriage
Tue, Feb 23, 1954 30 mins
Episode 24
Toots Shor Show
Tue, Mar 2, 1954 30 mins
Episode 25
Uncle Sam Wants You
Tue, Mar 9, 1954 30 mins
Episode 26
Sherlock Holmes Satire
Tue, Mar 16, 1954 30 mins
Red Skelton performs as Willie Lump-Lump. Guest Star: Melville Cooper.
Episode 27
Episode #3.27
Tue, Mar 23, 1954 30 mins
Episode 28
King Putt
Tue, Mar 30, 1954 30 mins
Episode 29
Freddie's Picnic
Tue, Apr 6, 1954 30 mins
Episode 30
Going to Work
Tue, Apr 13, 1954 30 mins
Episode 31
Episode #3.31
Tue, Apr 20, 1954 30 mins
Episode 32
Episode #3.32
Tue, Apr 27, 1954 30 mins
Episode 34
The Referee
Tue, May 4, 1954 30 mins
Red does a monologue including a reference to the Private Schine photograph in the ongoing Army-McCarthy hearings. He interacts with an audience member (Johnny Carson) in a gag about pitted glass in his glasses. The two main skits involve him as a group of foreign news reporters, "Lord Beaverhead", a Brit who keeps "sweetening" his tea with shots of booze, and produces props like a misshapen world globe and a big fish that sings "Some Enchanted Evening." The others are a french, Danish and Indian counterpart, named "John Cameron Sabu" who reads dispatches from a snake in a basket. The other shows him as Cauliflower McPugg, the punchy boxer, trying his hand at refereeing a middleweight match, but getting caught up in the action.
Episode 35
Prince Valiant
Tue, May 11, 1954 30 mins
Red Skelton performs as George Appleby. Special guest: Johnny Carson.
Episode 36
The Artist's Dilemma - guest Tom Harmon
Tue, May 18, 1954 30 mins
Episode 37
Clem Goes to Mexico
Tue, May 25, 1954 30 mins
Red Skelton performs as Clem Kadiddlehopper. Special Guest: Lola Montes.
Episode 38
Mississippi Showboat
Tue, Jun 1, 1954 30 mins
Red Skelton performs as Willie Lump-Lump.
Episode 39
Freddie Goes to the Cleaners
Tue, Jun 8, 1954 30 mins
Episode 40
Dial 'B' for Brush with guest performers Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Jr. & Vampira
Tue, Jun 15, 1954 30 mins
The show is 26 min. long, including Red's opening monologue and a weatherman skit. The Bela/Lon/Vampira skit is intact. SPOILERS: The writing is not exactly Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein quality, but Skelton is amusing. He slips in a marijuana joke, and a tranny joke re Denmark (Christine Jorgensen was in the news.) "Dial B for Brush" comprises most of the show, taking place on three different sets (home lab, graveyard, and morgue with working Jacob's ladder) which are pretty elaborate for TV. There's also an ambitious dance-routine (giving band leader David Rose a chance to shine) with ghosts and skeletons double-exposed into the graveyard set. Clem Kadiddlehopper, for those who've never seen Red's character, is a Lou Costello without a brain to steal, though that doesn't stop Bela as "Prof. Lugosi" from trying. He wears a tux under his lab coat, and does the graveyard scene with Lon and Vampira in his Dracula cape. Lon barks like a dog, wears furry claws and wolf fangs, but takes the teeth out for dialogue (explaining that he just got new wolf dentures at the dentist's). He's Lugosi's half brother ("and half wolf") who sounds exactly like Lenny, and is named (for irony's sake) George. Vampira gets to do her famous shriek, and shows off her absolute deadpan delivery and her weirdly tiny waistline. The ad-libbing does not seem as distressing to Bela as some writers have maintained - many asides actually sound scripted. After his mind-swap, Clem calls Bela "Mother!" and Bela shoots back, "Yes?" then covers his mouth, as if embarrassed. Pretty sure that was arranged. Red also warns a bit player on Bela's gurney not to ad-lib around stars, which suggests Bela might have complained during rehearsal. At one point, Lon reads Red's cue card for him, and Red makes fun of Bela's pronunciation of "tetse" fly. Bela seems to be having fun (but you do worry about the old guy being chased around a set full of props and "bodies") while Lon and Red definitely are. Red's jokes are largely corny, but he did have a sharp wit - he was the one who at Harry Cohn's crowded funeral cracked, "See? You give the people what they want, and they'll turn out."
