Television series
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Live, unrepeatable, and stacked with whoever NBC could book that week, this was network television still figuring out what it was for. A different comedian hosted each Sunday, backed by singers, novelty acts and full orchestras, going out live with no safety net. It's less a show than a time capsule of early-fifties showbusiness — fascinating for TV historians, patience-testing for casual viewers.
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Your Show of Shows1950
Sid Caesar's live sketch juggernaut ran the same NBC turf at the same time — the closest thing to seeing Colgate's rival, packed with parodies and physical comedy, with a young Mel Brooks writing behind the curtain.
But Surviving kinescopes are patchy, picture and sound quality are rough, and ninety minutes live can drag between the genuinely great bits.
The Ed Sullivan Show1948
This was the direct competition Colgate was built to beat — same Sunday slot, same mix of comedy, music and novelty acts — and Sullivan's stiff hosting makes the comparison instantly clear.
But Sullivan himself is a famously awkward host, and later episodes lean harder into pop music than the vaudeville comedy you'd want here.
Saturday Night Live1975
Live sketch comedy with a musical guest and a rotating weekly host — it's the format's direct descendant, proof the Colgate model never really died, just got faster and stranger.
But Fifty seasons is a lot of television; quality swings wildly by era, so you'll need to pick your years carefully.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
A Face in the Crowd1957
Colgate's rotating guest hosts were early proof that live TV could mint stars overnight; this film, made as that machine was maturing, asks what happens when that power is used badly.
Kazan's drama about a folksy entertainer manufactured into a TV star shows exactly what live broadcasting's power to create instant celebrity — the very thing Colgate ran on — could curdle into.
But It's a serious, unsettling drama with none of the music-hall warmth; if you want charm, this will unsettle you instead.
More like this (8)
The Carol Burnett Show1967
Sketch comedy, musical numbers, a brilliant rotating troupe — everything Colgate was reaching for, but with a decade more polish and a host who's an all-time great physical comedian.
But It's still variety television, so not every sketch lands, and some of the cultural references have aged into obscurity.
The Jack Benny Program1950
One of radio's biggest stars making the leap to TV, deadpan and self-deprecating in a way that still plays fresh — a masterclass in timing from someone Colgate's guest hosts were competing against.
But The comedy is gentle and character-based rather than showstopping; if you want spectacle, this isn't it.
The Dean Martin Show1965
Music, sketches, celebrity guests, and Dean Martin's boozy charm holding the whole loose thing together — the variety hour at its most relaxed and star-driven.
But It's slicker and more scripted than Colgate's rawer live energy, so some of that anything-could-happen thrill is gone.
I Love Lucy1951
Made at the exact same moment by vaudeville-trained performers, but filmed instead of live — a look at where the era's comic talent went when it left variety for the sitcom.
But It's a scripted narrative show, not a variety hour, so there are no guest stars or musical numbers to be found.
The Muppet Show1976
Guest stars, musical numbers, sketch comedy and backstage chaos — the variety hour reborn with puppets, and just as unpredictable as anything Colgate put on live.
But The tone and puppetry are aimed at a broader family audience, a long way from the original's nightclub sensibility.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson1962
Music, comedy, celebrity chat, and the loose live feel of a show finding its shape night by night — the variety spirit survived here even as the format shrank to a nightly habit.
But It's talk-show paced rather than showbiz-spectacle paced, so the big vaudeville-style set pieces are mostly gone.
The Aristocrats2005no page yet
The comedians on Colgate came out of nightclub and burlesque circuits where material like this was standard; this documentary reveals the uncensored engine that polished acts like theirs were built on top of.
A parade of stand-up comedians telling their own filthy version of the same ancient joke — a look at the raunchy, backstage comic tradition running underneath the clean vaudeville acts variety shows like Colgate put on air.
But It's relentlessly crude and repetitive by design; ninety minutes built around one dirty joke won't appeal to everyone.
The Gong Show1976no page yet
Same skeleton — host, acts, live unpredictability — run through a funhouse mirror; where Colgate chased class and star power, this show found the format's comic potential in embracing amateurism instead.
Amateur talent, celebrity judges, and gleeful chaos — the variety-show format stripped of prestige and turned into pure camp, proving the structure works even when nobody involved can actually sing.
But It's deliberately trashy and silly, with none of the polish or big-name star power that made Colgate special in its day.