An American comedy/variety series hosted by Red Skelton, which featured him and various guests in comedy skits and gags.
Guests included Mickey Rooney, Ray Kellogg, Chanin Hale, Jackie Coogan, Michael Ross, Beverly Powers, and Shirley Mitchell.
The show aired on NBC from 1951–53, on CBS from 1953–70, and again on NBC from 1970–71 after The Rural Purge.
Tropes for the series:
- Accidental Pervert: In a silent spot, Red is wooing a tall woman with a large, and pushed up, bust. Her father, a short, bald man objects. At one point her father arrives and the young woman runs away. Red does not see this because he is bashfully looking the other way. He reaches over and his hand comes to rest on the guy's bald head. Red panics and pulls his hand away.
- Can't Get in Trouble for Nuthin': In "The Cop and the Anthem" (an adaptation of the O. Henry short story), Freddie the Freeloader wants to get sent to jail for Christmas because it's nice and warm, and he likes the people there. But no matter what he does, he can't get there. Ironically, as soon as he feels inspired to get a job and make something of his life, he's arrested for loitering.
- Fantasy Sequence: During the Christmas season, Freddie the Freeloader wakes up on a snowy park bench. He finds a Raggedy Ann doll, which a shopper has accidentally dropped. Freddie indulges in some pantomime with the doll... which then comes to life. They dance together and ice skate together (after being given skates via a Christmas Miracle) until Raggedy Ann changes back to a doll and is reclaimed by the shopper who had dropped her.
- Get into Jail Free: Played for Laughs in "The Cop and the Anthem": Freddie the Freeloader plans to celebrate Christmas by getting arrested so he can spend the winter in the relative comfort of prison.Freddie: Warm cells, soft mattresses, three square meals a day... if I get there in time, I can hang my stocking up with the rest of the fellas!
- No Fourth Wall: Occurs frequently.
- Red often makes jokes about flubbed lines and similar mistakes, and informs the audience about things that have gone wrong.
- Very common in a literal form during episodes focused on Freddie the Freeloader: Freddie would be unable to open his front door for one reason or another, and would simply walk around the front wall into his house.
- Shockingly Expensive Bill: Invoked for laughs in "The Cop and the Anthem". Freddie the Freeloader, in one attempt to get sent to jail, convinces the staff of a high-end French restaurant that he's an Eccentric Millionaire and orders a lavish dinner. When the bill comes, he reads off a list of expenses that covers the front, back, and edges of the paper, then blithely admits that he doesn't have a penny to his name. Much to his frustration, the people let him off the hook out of Christmas Spirit.
- Signing Off Catchphrase: "Good night, and may God bless."
- Silence Is Golden: Each episode wrapped up with "The Silent Spot", in which Skelton would perform a skit in pantomime.
- Soft Glass: Parodied in one sketch where Skelton, playing a Wild West tough guy, orders a row of shots in a saloon. He dramatically breaks one glass after emptying it, then eats the next one with a grin for the camera.
