Trivia

First televised on 8 June 1948, this hour-long NBC comedy-variety series was enormously popular and responsible for exponentially increasing the sales of TV sets across the US. It ended in June 1956 and Milton Berle took a couple of years off before returning with a slightly revamped 30-minute version on NBC in October 1958, which failed to resonate with an audience now enamored by westerns, detective shows and anthology dramas. This second version left the air in May 1959. Berle spent the next seven years guest starring on various TV series along with taking on noticeable roles in major Hollywood productions such as El mundo está loco, loco, loco (1963) and ¡No más millones, por favor! (1967). ABC offered him another chance at hour-long prime time in September 1966, but gave him a slot up against El agente secreto de C.I.P.O.L. (1964). Due to low ratings, the series was soon cancelled. The last episode was broadcast on January 6, 1967.

Episode records are incomplete. Berle did not begin as the permanent emcee; hosts rotated during the summer of 1948 (Morey Amsterdam, Harry Richman, Georgie Price, Henny Youngman, Jack Carter and Peter Donald all were rotating hosts) but Berle won out as an audience favorite and was retained as the permanent host/star by September, 1948.

Jimmy Durante's TV debut.

The show's sponsorship shifted from Texaco to Buick in 1953 and it became known as "The Buick-Berle Show", continuing to be broadcast on Tuesday nights at 8:00 pm. In 1954 it became known simply as "The Milton Berle Show".

On 11 August 2009, the US Postal Service issued a pane of twenty 44¢ commemorative postage stamps honoring early USA television programs. A booklet with 20 picture postal cards was also issued. On the stamp honoring "Texaco Star Theater" (titled Texaco Star Theatre Starring Milton Berle (1948), 1954-1956), star/host, Milton Berle appears. Other shows honored in the Early TV Memories issue were: The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), The Dinah Shore Show (1951), Dragnet (1951), "The Ed Sullivan Show" (originally titled Toast of the Town (1948)), The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950), Hopalong Cassidy (1952), The Honeymooners (1955), "The Howdy Doody Show" (original title: Puppet Playhouse (1947)), Yo amo a Lucy (1951), Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947), Lassie (1954), El llanero solitario (1949), Perry Mason (1957), The Phil Silvers Show (1955), The Red Skelton Show (1951), The Tonight Show (which began as Tonight! (1953)), La dimensión desconocida (1959) and You Bet Your Life (1950).