Red Skelton is largely forgotten by modern audiences for whatever reason. Probably because he
mostly left the public eye when his last series went off the air in 1971. His show was on in various
incarnations over twenty years, but always ranked in the top ten--even the last year he was on CBS!
Can you imagine cancelling a show in the Top Ten? The last year NBC picked him up for a 1/2 hour
verison, but it didn't work and he left the airwaves. If anything, most people who remember him
do so from his 1962-70 CBS hour long run, but there is scant little of that to see. And it's probably
mostly due to the usual problem--expensive MUSIC rights. He had musical guests (like the Supremes!)
on his hour long shows, but the 1/2 hrs. usually did not. And, unlike his contemporaries, Red SKelton
didn't do guest spots on other people's shows (with rare exception) and appear on talk shows. Many
of his 1/2 hr. b&w shows from the 50's are available and the last season of NBC 1/2 hr. shows is available.
One annoying thing is that dvd releases of Red Skelton material are often poor quality and overlap in
content all over the place. Oh, well. But I remember enjoying him every Tuesday night. I suppose
modern audiences would think he was just plain too silly, but we need more silliness nowadays, don't
we?
