THE BIG SHOW

ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 4/22/51 (Live)
NETWORK: NBC
RUNNING TIME: 90 Minutes

The Cast
Fred Allen
Joan Davis
Portland Hoffa
Judy Holliday
Dennis King
Lisa Kirk
Herb Shriner
Fran Warren
Meredith Willson and The Big Show Orchestra & Chorus
Tallulah Bankhead (Host)

Click here to listen to excerpts from this program

Show Format

SEGMENT #1: Tallulah Bankhead and Joan Davis compare their medical ailments. Lisa Kirk joins the conversation.

SEGMENT #2: Lisa Kirk performs the song "I Feel a Song Coming On".

SEGMENT #3: Tallulah Bankhead and Fred Allen talk about doctors.

SEGMENT #4: Dennis King performs a scene from "The Devil's Disciple". Also features Martin Blane and Horace Braham.

SEGMENT #5: Tallulah Bankhead and Dennis King talk about Tallulah's theatre career.

SEGMENT #6: Tallulah Bankhead talks to Judy Holliday. Click here to read a transcript of their conversation. The segment runs 4 and a half minutes.

SEGMENT #7: Fran Warren performs the song "Here Comes the Springtime".

SEGMENT #8: Tallulah Bankhead, Fran Warren and Judy Holliday discuss the song that was just performed.

SEGMENT #9: Judy Holliday performs a comedic version of "Here Comes the Springtime" leading into a comedy routine about "her first fella". The segment runs 4 minutes.

SEGMENT #10: Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Davis and Judy Holliday talk about Spring cleaning, money and men.

SEGMENT #11: Skit - Judy Holliday and Joan Davis show Tallulah Bankhead how to call up a man and ask for a date. Also features Fred Allen and Portland Hoffa.

SEGMENT #12: Meredith Willson and The Big Show Orchestra & Chorus perform the song "Any Town is Paris When You're Young".

SEGMENT #13: Tallulah Bankhead talks to Herb Shriner about the differences between New York and Indiana.

SEGMENT #14: Meredith Willson and The Big Show Orchestra & Chorus perform the song "Reflections in the Water".

SEGMENT #15: Skit - Fred Allen has a dream about Tallulah Bankhead and Dennis King getting married. Also features the rest of this week's cast.

SEGMENT #16: Tallulah Bankhead reads a patriotic poem by Walt Whitman.

SEGMENT #17: The entire cast take turns singing the verses of the show's closing theme song, "May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You"

Show Credits*

Produced and Directed by Dee Engelbach

Written by Goodman Ace, Selma Diamond, George Foster, Mort Greene and Frank Wilson

Announcer Ed Herlihy

*Credits were announced only on a time permitting basis. These are general credits for the radio series "The Big Show" and may have differed from week to week.