Danny Kaye - The Great Donivitch Kayeoff

THE DANNY KAYE SHOW


In December 1944 it was announced that Pabst Sales Co. was
dropping The Kenny Baker Show in favor of a vehicle for rising
star Danny Kaye. Pabst had tried to sign established comedian
Fred Allen for the show at a whopping cost of $25,000 per episode
but the effort fizzled when Allen reportedly sniffing that he
didn’t care to work for a beer company. Kaye agreed to a package
costing the beer producer $16,000 per week, 2/3 the cost of Fred
Allen.

The Danny Kaye Show debuted on January 6, 1945
and featured Eve Arden, Frank Nelson, Lionel Stander among
others. Music was provided by Harry James and a 26-piece
orchestra. Interestingly, before signing onto the show James
contractually insisted that his wife would never be mentioned and
that he would not serve as a comedy stooge for Kaye. Lionel
Stander served as the second man while Ken Niles was announcer
(followed by Fred Robbins and Dick Joy). Dick Mack of Warwick
& Legler was the producer.

Initially Phil Rapp was approached to script the show but talks
fell through and Kaye’s wife Sylvia Fine was responsible for much
of the writing when it first took to the air. The highly regarded
Goodman Ace took over writing duties when the show returned in
the fall on September 28 at a salary of $3,500 per episode.
Eventually Ace walked away calling the entire effort a “lost
cause.” During its sixteen-month run (minus a 1945 summer hiatus)
The Danny Kaye Show never really found its
rhythm and could only draw mediocre ratings. In an effort to
steady the ship after a shaky start, Kaye, who owned the show
package, called in MCA to advice in March 1945 – after just
months on the air – when early ratings for the show proved
disappointing for Pabst. Even bandleader Henry James ran into
issues with the American Federation of Radio Artists early in the
show’s run when the organization insisted that he was talking too
much and should have to join the actors’ union.

When the series returned in the fall of 1945 Danny Kaye was on a
European tour and could not even appear on his own show. Big name
talent including Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny, and George Burns and
Gracie Allen were hired to take Kaye’s place. Pabst pulled the
plug on The Danny Kaye Show on May 31, 1946.
Samuel Goldwyn, who had Kaye’s motion picture contract, had
opposed his getting into radio from the beginning, claiming the
performer relied too much on visual gimmicks to be successful in
the purely aural arena. While the radio program did little to
further Kaye’s career although it did not hinder him much,
either, as indicated by his many years of success that were still
to come.





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Danny Kaye - Wikipedia