In the fall of 1964, legendary crooner and film star Bing Crosby made a failed attempt to be part of the television sitcom landscape. The series was titled, The Bing Crosby Show.
A Closer Look
As Bing Crosby noted in January 1965 about his then-new self-titled sitcom, “It’s been fun, and it hasn’t been too hard a chore. But according to the rating, we haven’t been doing so well. I think I’d have to get on a glass-bottom boat to find the rating. It’s a rat race. If you don’t get a rating, they dump you.”
In the series, Crosby played a married architectural engineer with two children. Beverly Garland (formerly of the groundbreaking Decoy female detective series, and future star of the later years of My Three Sons), portrayed Crosby’s TV wife. His small-screen daughters were played by Carol Faylen and Diane Sherry Case.
Rock Bottom
At one point shortly before it was canceled, The Bing Crosby Show rated in 77th place among all network evening shows with a rating of 14.9.
Before the situation comedy began, its star had infrequently appeared on TV on only a special basis each year.
In January of 1965, Crosby further noted, “I don’t know whether we’ll continue next year. I’m interested in doing a little work — a movie or something. My contract is with ABC. I suppose it’s up to ABC to sell the show to sponsors. If they don’t buy, we won’t be on next season.”
The famed entertainer was not despondent by his show’s low ranking, pressing on that it needed “a couple of years to get a good rating.”
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He agreed to do the series only if he could do so, “leisurely,” he said.
Crosby also viewed the show as “an opportunity to get another series on the air for my company.”
That organization was Bing Crosby Productions, which brought Ben Casey to air for ABC and Slattery’s People on CBS.
In the End
In the end, The Bing Crosby Show never saw a second season. But he continued to host variety specials like The Hollywood Palace, which was on ABC and a production of his Bing Crosby Productions shingle.
Crosby would also, however, then go on to star in and produce iconic Christmas specials for the NBC TV network.
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This article originally appeared on Newsbreak.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
Featured Image Credit: The Real Times 1960s – Facebooks / Newsbreak.
