Small House of Everything

Small House of Everything

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

OVERLOOKED TELEVISION: JACKPOT BOWLING

Here's an odd one -- a short-lived bowling show hosted by Milton Berle!  Yep, professional bowlers square off and Berle offers some time-worn jokes.  PLUS, each week, Berle welcomed a special guest who had little or nothing with bowling.

This reincarnation of Jackpot Bowling ran from September 19, 1960 to March 13, 1961 on the NBC network.  An earlier incarnation ran on NBC from January 9, 1959 to June 24, 1961 with a revolving door of hosts:  Leo Durocher (for only two episodes), sports broadcaster Mel Allen through April 3, 1959, former basketball player Bud Palmer from April 10 to October 1959, then Mel Allen again through April when Bud Palmer returned for the last few shows.

On January 23, 1961, Berle's special guests were The Ritz Brothers.  Harry Ritz bowled himself down the lane and got a strike.  (I hadn't realized they were still around in 1961, but evidently the act lasted through the late 1960s although brother Al passed away in 1965.)

https://archive.org/details/jackpotbowling23January1961

1 comment:

  1. and with Chic Hearn, the Voice of the Lakers for decades (after this, of course). I couldn't manage to watch a lot of it. so didn't see the part with the comedians.

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