Your Show of Shows

(Applause Books). On a Saturday evening in 1950, a live, 90-minute variety program called YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS! premiered on NBC and instantly won acclaim from the critics and public alike. An inspired, witty and sophisticated mixture of comedy, satire and song and dance, the program starred the gifted and inimitable Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Ted Sennet's book, first published in 1977, and now extensively revised and expanded, demonstratres more than ever why the show remains one of television's most glowing achievements. Here are generous, illustrated excerpts from the hilarious sketches that provided Caesar and Coca with opportunities for peerless dual and solo turns, as well as interludes of opera and ballet performed by the leading artists of the day, and the bits by the talented company of players. This edition also includes complete texts from some of the show's funniest skits, comments from Sid Caesar himself, as well as other comedic luminaries who pay tribute to the show's influence, and never-before-seen photographs from the collection of the show's producer and director, Max Liebman. YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS is indisputably one of television's durable treasures. For those who cherish its memory to those who are experiencing it for the first time, Ted Sennett's expanded new edition of this book will be a welcome gift of laughter.