Danny Kaye - The Great Donivitch Kayeoff

Old Time Radio Listener

THE DANNY KAYE SHOW

In December 1944 it was announced that Pabst Sales Co. was dropping The Kenny Baker Show in favor of a vehicle for rising star Danny Kaye. Pabst had tried to sign established comedian Fred Allen for the show at a whopping cost of $25,000 per episode but the effort fizzled when Allen reportedly sniffing that he didn’t care to work for a beer company. Kaye agreed to a package costing the beer producer $16,000 per week, 2/3 the cost of Fred Allen.
The Danny Kaye Show debuted on January 6, 1945 and featured Eve Arden, Frank Nelson, Lionel Stander among others. Music was provided by Harry James and a 26-piece orchestra. Interestingly, before signing onto the show James contractually insisted that his wife would never be mentioned and that he would not serve as a comedy stooge for Kaye. Lionel Stander served as the second man while Ken Niles was announcer (followed by Fred Robbins and Dick Joy). Dick Mack of Warwick & Legler was the producer.
Initially Phil Rapp was approached to script the show but talks fell through and Kaye’s wife Sylvia Fine was responsible for much of the writing when it first took to the air. The highly regarded Goodman Ace took over writing duties when the show returned in the fall on September 28 at a salary of $3,500 per episode. Eventually Ace walked away calling the entire effort a “lost cause.” During its sixteen-month run (minus a 1945 summer hiatus) The Danny Kaye Show never really found its rhythm and could only draw mediocre ratings. In an effort to steady the ship after a shaky start, Kaye, who owned the show package, called in MCA to advice in March 1945 – after just months on the air – when early ratings for the show proved disappointing for Pabst. Even bandleader Henry James ran into issues with the American Federation of Radio Artists early in the show’s run when the organization insisted that he was talking too much and should have to join the actors’ union.
When the series returned in the fall of 1945 Danny Kaye was on a European tour and could not even appear on his own show. Big name talent including Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny, and George Burns and Gracie Allen were hired to take Kaye’s place. Pabst pulled the plug on The Danny Kaye Show on May 31, 1946. Samuel Goldwyn, who had Kaye’s motion picture contract, had opposed his getting into radio from the beginning, claiming the performer relied too much on visual gimmicks to be successful in the purely aural arena. While the radio program did little to further Kaye’s career although it did not hinder him much, either, as indicated by his many years of success that were still to come.

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Danny Kaye - Wikipedia