Colgate Variety Hour
In June 1955, the show changed its name to the Colgate Variety Hour to reflect a move away from pure comedy. An affiliation with Paramount Pictures resulted in episodes featuring scenes from new films and appearances by stars of the featured films. Charlton Heston was the host of several episodes in the new format.[7] A number of the earlier hosts had left by the end of the 1953–54 season (with the exception of Martin & Lewis) as the show shifted toward mini-musicals, starring hosts including Ethel Merman and Frank Sinatra, who paired together in truncated version of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes". The show was also performing on the road, unlike other seasons where the shows were transmitted from New York City or Los Angeles at 8 p.m. Gordon MacRae often served as host during this period. On December 11, 1955, Sam Levene guest starred in a Salute to George Abbott. Recurring guest stars included Pat Sheehan, Joy Langstaff, Doris Gildart, and Connie Russell.
However, ratings continued to slide while The Ed Sullivan Show got stronger. The final show, emceed by the series' last continuing host Robert Paige, aired as a Christmas special on December 25, 1955, with Fred Waring and his "Pennsylvanians" choral ensemble. The Colgate Comedy Hour was replaced on January 8, 1956, with the NBC Comedy Hour, hosted by Leo Durocher for the first three shows. After Durocher, the regular hosts changed, and after 18 broadcasts, the final show aired in June. Regular supporting casts always co-starred in each of the episodes. Jonathan Winters was featured on the show. On May 11, 1967, NBC broadcast a special Colgate Comedy Hour revival (pre-empting The Dean Martin Show, which Colgate sponsored at the time), with guests Nanette Fabray, Kaye Ballard, Edie Adams, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks (performing one of their "2000 Year Old Man" routines, which they initially ceased doing on albums in the early 1960s),[8] Phyllis Diller, Bob Newhart, Nipsey Russell, and Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. None of the performers who had performed in the original 1950–1956 shows appeared. The special, produced by George Schlatter, also served as a television pilot for a possible revival of the series, which never happened.
In the 1954–1955 season, Donald O'Connor left the show and starred in his own musical situation comedy, The Donald O'Connor Show, which aired on the NBC Saturday schedule alternating with The Jimmy Durante Show.
Notable guest stars who went on to find success in entertainment included Vera Miles, costar of Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Psycho, Bob Fosse, later a noted choreographer and director who won multiple Tonys and an Academy Award for his work, and a child-age Christopher Walken, who became an Oscar-winning actor and screen star, appeared alongside Jerry Lewis in a sketch (albeit under his given name, Ronald).
Kinescopes of the 28 shows hosted by Martin & Lewis have been airing Saturday evenings on the classic television network RTV since June 30, 2012.[9]
