Five Star Jubilee

Five Star Jubilee is an American country music variety show carried by NBC-TV from March 17–September 22, 1961. The live program, a spin-off of ABC-TV's Jubilee USA, was the first network color television series to originate outside New York City or Hollywood.[1]

Five Star Jubilee
Genrecountry music variety
Directed byFred I. Rains
Starring
Voices ofJoe Slattery
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasonssummer
Production
Executive producers
ProducerBryan T. Bisney
Camera setupmulti-camera
Running time30 minutes
Production companyCrossroads TV Productions
Release
Original networkNBC-TV
Original releaseMarch 17 (1961-03-17) –
September 22, 1961 (1961-09-22)
Related
Jubilee USA
L-R: Tex Ritter, Jimmy Wakely, Snooky Lanson, Carl Smith and Rex Allen at the Landers Theatre. Note the Massey Ferguson tractor at right.

From March 17 to May 5, the weekly show aired on Fridays from 8–8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, but moved to 8:30–9 p.m. from May 12 to September 22. The series featured five rotating hosts: Snooky Lanson (first show March 17), Tex Ritter (March 24), Rex Allen (March 31), Jimmy Wakely (April 7) and Carl Smith (April 14). All five appeared on the May 12 show, which was the first in color.

Produced from the Landers Theatre in Springfield, Missouri, the program was similar to Jubilee USA and featured some of the same cast, including Bobby Lord, Cecil Brower, Speedy Haworth and Slim Wilson's Jubilee Band. Barbara Mandrell (who had toured with Red Foley and a Jubilee USA personal appearance unit) made her network debut on the program at age 12.[2] The final program was hosted by Foley, who also appeared on the July 7 show. In April he had been acquitted of tax evasion charges, which were believed to have originally kept him out of consideration as a host. The sponsor was Massey Ferguson.

Performers

Production

Five Star Jubilee debuted March 17, 1961 in black-and-white, but switched to color on May 12. The first two color programs (May 12 and 19) were videotaped beginning at 1:30 a.m. local time Friday (for playback that evening) after nearby KTTS-AM signed off at 1:00 a.m., because of unforeseen RF interference from its transmitter with the color TV picture.[3] Despite the hour, both shows had audiences at the theater.[4] NBC resolved the problem for the May 26 program, which was the first live color show.[5] The series was aired by 150 NBC affiliates, although not by WNBC-TV in New York.

The program was produced from the Landers Theatre with KYTV-TV's assistance using two new NBC color mobile units (built for World Series coverage)[6] and three RCA TK-41 cameras. Because it was the first color TV series outside New York City or Hollywood, scenic designer Andy Miller created the first color scenic stage sets for television outside those two cities after receiving brief training at NBC in New York. The director was Fred Rains (floor director for Jubilee USA) and the consulting producer was the Jubilee's Bryan Bisney. Scriptwriters were Don Richardson and Bob Tubert.

Notes
  1. "'Jubilee' Turning to Color TV" (April 30, 1961), Springfield Leader-Press
  2. Byrne, Bridget "Barbara Mandrell: Just a Mom at 'Heart'" (January 19, 2000), BPI Entertainment News Wire
  3. "Interference Disrupts 5-Star Jubilee Plans" (May 12, 1961), Springfield Leader-Press
  4. Hocklander, Sony "Celebrating 100 Years" (August 10, 2008), Springfield News-Leader, "Life," p. 1C
  5. Terry, Dickson "The Show that Put a Town on the Map" (August 6, 1961), TV Guide, p. 8
  6. "'Jubilee' Turning to Color TV" (April 30, 1961), Springfield Leader-Press

References
  • Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (1992), The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows, Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-345-37792-3.
  • Byrne, Bridget "Barbara Mandrell: Just a Mom at 'Heart'" (January 19, 2000), BPI Entertainment News Wire
  • Hocklander, Sony "Celebrating 100 Years" (August 10, 2008), Springfield News-Leader, "Life," p. 1C
  • "Interference Disrupts 5-Star Jubilee Plans" (May 12, 1961), Springfield Leader-Press
  • "'Jubilee' Turning to Color TV" (April 30, 1961), Springfield Leader-Press
  • Terry, Dickson "The Show that Put a Town on the Map" (August 6, 1961), TV Guide, p. 8
  • Weekly program listings (1961), TV Guide, Vol. 9, March–September
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