When Commercial TV began in earnest in 1948, it was not easy getting established entertainers to grace the airways. The movies frowned on TV, so you didn't see established movie folk on the small screen. Nor did you see the leading hit makers from the record world. For the most part, the initial TV personalities were those who had outlasted vaudeville and had been discarded by the movie and record industry. NBC found such a 'has been' in Milton Berle with excellent results. The Dumont TV Network came up with Jackie Gleason, and the rest is history. Gleason was so pent up with under utilized talent that he burst upon the scene with Dumont as a host, comedian, comic actor, and even a singer. He was such a hit with Dumont as the host of Cavalcade of Stars and because of the lax nature of Dumont's creative process, he was able to have major imput into what he thought he could bring to his show.
The ability to do what he wanted, coupled with the time to do it, honed his considerable skills and quickly made him a major star. Once established, he quickly segued over to CBS where they were looking for the equivilent of NBC's Milton Berle. Jackie Gleason delivered in spades and has provided the TV viewer with a massive portfolio of excellent works.
You can enjoy many of Jackie Gleason's early TV moments on Dumont TV Network.Com as well as on Nostalgia Television Network, which can be found at NTV Tele.Net. Both, of course, are on the 49 channel video portal TV4U.Com.
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