Ted Mack & the Original Amateur Hour

Late on Sunday afternoons I often wish Ted Mack, "GE College Bowl," and "The 20th Century" were still on the air. Unlike "The Gong Show" or "American Idol," Mack never put any of the performers down, no matter how bad they were or how little chance they had of ever making it in show business. In fact, he even refused to use the gong which his predecessor, Major Bowes, had made famous on radio. Mack's friendly attitude was such that my grandmother used to say hello to him just as if he was right there in the room instead of on a television screen. But while we often associate only a few names--Frank Sinatra, Pat Boone, and Ann-Margret, mainly--with this show, a fairly decent number of people went on to show-business careers. "American Idol" may have a higher level of talent, but it will never match the homey charm of this show.

Someone mentioned that Mack was originally from Greeley, Colorado. That's still a point of pride with the folks out there; a few years ago I was in Colorado and heard several people talking about Mack's being from there.

Every Sunday afternoon, I remembered that theme song from the program that was sponsored by Geritol. Back then, little did I know that it had the format of programs during the early days of television, where a single company had all the rights to the advertising. Also, back then I did not know that Ted Mack was an icon of television. What I also loved about this program was at the end, Ted Mack had all of the afternoon's guests parade to the audience. Interestingly enough, he was born in Greeley, Colorado, in which his original name was William Edward Maguinness. Interestingly enough, so many of those who were guests became famous such as Gladys Knight and Raul Julia. This was a program that was to have something for everybody. Indeed, this program that originated from radio's Major Bowes' Amateur Hour so many decades ago evolved into a program that should not be a forgotten part of television history.

Long before TV's American Idol became a mega-hit,there was one radio and television series that started the talent competition craze. It was called "The Original Amateur Hour". On television the host was Ted Mack. On radio it was Major Edwward Bowes and on cable it was Willard Scott. Almost 50 major stars of movies,records,stage,screen,and television got their start on this series. This was a show that made the "gong" famous(long before Chuck Barris)as well as "the wheel of fortune" and the phrase: "round and round she goes,and where she stops nobody knows." From there,the contestants would show off there talents in between the commercials. Yes,it was a simpler time,indeed. The Amateur Hour made the transition from radio to television in 1948,joining the Dumont Network,then went from NBC to ABC and finally over to CBS. The series was shown on all three major television networks where it ran until 1970,where it was last shown as part of CBS' Sunday afternoon lineup of special shows,in its final season after 22 years from 1948 until 1970.

Like "American Idol",the "Amateur Hour" was a phenomenon among the highest-rated shows on radio and then on television. In 1992,a new version of the series was revived on cable and was hosted by Willard Scott of "The Today Show",where it lasted one season. Like "American Idol,"the public chose the winners,calling operators on duty or sending postcards. Three-time winners won cash scholarships or other prizes. Unlike "American Idol",or another show on the same level,"Star Search", "Amateur Hour" was short on glitz. Contestants performed on a simple stage and exchanged scripted pleasantries with Bowes(who hosted the show on radio)and his successor Mack(who hosted the show on television). No fireworks,no bombastic sound or lighting effects. Ted Mack was forever introducing one-man bands,impressionists,bottle players,bird callers and other acts that were considered entertainment value at the time.

Some of these first-time of struggling amateurs who got their start on "The Original Amateur Hour" are a who's who of great American artists of the 20th Century. These artists included Frank Sinatra, Gladys Knight, Nick Carter, Pat Boone, Connie Francis, Jim Stafford, Ann-Margret, Robert Klein, Raul Julia, Maria Callas, Beverly Sills, Joey Dee And The Starlighters,The Primettes,with a teenage looking Diana Ross,long before she was ever discovered by Motown,and Penny Marshall in a tap-dancing number. There were others too including Robert Merrill,and also a young man by the name of Louis Wolcott,who came to be better known as Louis Farrakhan,minister of the Nation of Islam. By the way,Farrakhan,it should be noted can really play the violin. There was others as well of these great stars that appeared on the show when they were still virtually unknowns. This was a show that became the forefront of the talent competitions shows that were to come. This was a show that nourished those showbiz dreams and went on to become something even bigger beyond belief-long before "American Idol" came to view.

My uncle was on the Ted Mack Armature Hour, from what I was told he competed with Pat Boone. I wish I could find those episodes and see my uncle...Miss him very much.

This program was one of the highlights of my youth, appearing as it did during that time every Sunday afternoon on CBS. This was in a time prior to the NFL "doubleheaders" and there was lots of time to kill between the end of football and prime time; the most prominent shows to do so were "GE College Bowl", Walter Chronkite's "The 20th Century" (which later was to look to the future and become "The 21st Century", and this one. By this era (the late 1960s) the show was past both prime time and its time; the fact that it was always sponsored by Geritol showed that the producers were well aware of this. My parents both thought that Ted Mack was a pretty pale substitute for the late Major Bowes who was the radio host, but they had always heard that shortly after his show during World War II that American ships were sunk and that somehow it was assumed that coded information was being passed over the air by someone involved with the show who was in league with the Germans. Many other people from that era have confirmed that this was rumored, but obviously there is a great deal of difference in stating "It is true that it has been rumored that ..." and "It is true that...". It has been stated many places that the only truly major stars to come out of this show during the TV era were Pat Boone and Gladys Knight, joining Frank Sinatra from the show's radio days; if that is true, and the above comment is correct about all of the many stars appearing on the show, it should probably be modified to state that they were the main ones to BASE a career on their appearances on the show. The start of the show, "Round and round and round she goes, and where she stops, nobody knows," is one of the most memorable in the history of broadcasting in my opinion. This was one of the last bastions of "vaudeo", or TV vaudeville, on the air; there were often jugglers, dog acts, and the like. After this show and Ed Sullivan were canceled there was very little of that sort of material on TV for many years.