YMMV / Colgate Comedy Hour

• Retroactive Recognition: Fans of sitcoms and variety will recognize Norman Lear and Ed Simmons in the writing credits, but some film buffs might be surprised to see Samuel Fuller listed as a member of the production team. Yes. That. Samuel. Fuller. Some of the announcers also went on to further fame, such as Don Pardo (Saturday Night Live, the original versions of The Price Is Right and Jeopardy!) and Mike Wallace (60 Minutes).
• Ho Yay: In spades. The book America's First Network TV Censor: The Work of NBC's Stockton Helffrich says, in reference to Martin and Lewis hosting The Colgate Comedy Hour,
  Helffrich cut entire sequences, proscribing any overt sexual impropriety or underlying gay motif.
• Seasonal Rot: The show was initially a very strong competitor against Toast of the Town, but it began to lose steam in its last one-and-a-half seasons due to a variety of factors:
  • The 1954-55 season had the most popular hosts either appear much less frequently or quit to do other shows. The most frequent host that season was Gordon MacRae, a singer with no comedy experience. NBC also started preempting the show once a month to broadcast musical specials in color. There were attempts to keep the show interesting with special events (adaptations of Broadway shows, ice skating, air shows, etc.) and remote shows (originating from such places as Miami Beach, Chicago, Las Vegas and New Orleans), but they didn't help.
  • During the summer of 1955, the show was renamed the Colgate Variety Hour and hired Charlton Heston as temporary host after having difficulty finding a suitable host. He didn't last long, being replaced by Jack Carlson and Robert Paige at the start of the 1955-56 season. Clips from current films were shown in an attempt to boost the ratings, which worked as well as the special events. Not even a couple of appearances by Martin and Lewis could help. Colgate pulled the plug following the December 25, 1955 broadcast; the quickly cobbled together NBC Comedy Hour filled out the remainder of the season until The Steve Allen Show debuted on June 24, 1956.

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