Episode list

The Milton Berle Show

Pearl Bailey, Senor Wences, Al Kelly
Milton Berle is the host of the series premiere. Guests are comic ventriloquist Senor Wences, singer Pearl Bailey, harmonica player Stan Fisher, acrobatic act the Moroccans, double-talk comedian Al Kelly, flamenco dancers Rosario and Antonio, adagio dancers the Andreas, Betty Alexander (who welcomes viewers), pitchman Sid Stone and the Russ Case orchestra. Bailey sings "Tired" and "Good Enough For Me." Rosario and Antonio dance to "Capriccio Espagnol" and "Fire Dance," and Berle becomes the uncoordinated member of the Moroccans.
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Bert Wheeler, Harry Richman
Milton Berle welcome vaudeville comedian Bert Wheeler and singer Harry Richman to the program. Wheeler preforms some his venerable routines and Richman sings "Puttin' on the Ritz", the Irving Berlin song that he introduced in the film of the same name. The shows finale features Berle and Richman imitating Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson.
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Phil Silvers, Stan Fisher, The Four Carters, Evelyn Knight, Park & Clifford, Smith & Dale
Milton Berle debuts as permanent host. Guests include big band singer Evelyn Knight, vaudeville comedy team Smith and Dale, roller skating team the Four Carters, singing acrobats Park and Clifford, and comic actor Phil Silvers. Smith and Dale perform their vaudeville restaurant routine with Berle as the waiter, and Milton turns Sid Stone's Texaco pitch into a Chinese comedy bit. Sid gives Milton a slapstick lesson on how to sing.
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Lou Costello, Mary McCarty, Garry Moore, Joe Phillips, The Three Wiles
Milton Berle's guests are musical/comedy actress Mary McCarty, the Three Wiles, comedians Garry Moore and Lou Costello, hillbilly band Ozark Mountaineers, and dancers The Szonys. Berle joins the Mountaineers as dopey Cousin Elmer, and plays a French dame in the Texaco commercial with Sid Stone. McCarty sings a song about a taxi dancer and Moore does a comic poem about a cow.
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Carmen Miranda, Chico Marx, Joe Phillips
Milton Berle's guests are comic song-and-dance trio the Slate Brothers, Carmen Miranda, skaters/acrobats Ronnie and May Norman, ballet dancers Paul Haakon and Barbara Carter, vocalists the Charioteers, and Chico Marx. Berle dresses in drag like Miranda and performs with her on a number, and joins in with the Charioteers for comic disruption. Chico plays piano in his TV debut.
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Florence Desmond, Joe Phillips, Maxie Rosenbloom
Milton Berle's guests include comedian/impersonator Florence Desmond, comedian Joe Phillips, comedy entertainer Harry Richman, drummer Jack Powell, and boxer-turned-actor "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom. Berle plays Noel Coward and Desmond is Bankhead in a burlesque of Noel Coward's "Private Lives." Powell performs a drumming number while in blackface.
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The Three Stooges, Marge & Gower Champion, Jules Munshin, Borrah Minevitch's Harmonica Rascals
Berle's guests are singer/dancer Jules Munshin, Borrah Minevitch's Harmonica Rascals featuring Johnny Puleo, the Chee Heins Risley act, 70-year-old dancer Emma Francis, and dance team Marge and Gower Champion. The Champions spoof Broadway dancing styles and Munshin takes-off on singers auditioning for the Metropolitan Opera. Berle joins the Chee Heins Risley act and causes chaos with the Stooges. Francis does a soft shoe dance and joins with Berle for a big "cake walk" finish.
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Sid Caesar, Louis Prima, Verna Raymond, George M. Cohan, Jr.
Berle's guests are Sid Caesar, child actress Verna Raymond, Apache dance trio the Appletons, radio actress Hope Miller, comic dancers/acrobats Dick and Dot Remy, George M. Cohan Jr., and Three Maestros. Berle opens with a patriotic production including the song "Stay Away From the USA." He trades quips with precocious kid performer Raymond following her song-and-dance. Caesar does a routine about movie trailers and joins Berle and Miller in a sketch. Cohan closes the show with a medley of songs made famous by his father.
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The Berry Brothers, The Calgary Brothers, Gertrude Niesen, Louis Prima, The Piero Brothers
Uncle Miltie is the host of this election night episode. His guests are singer Gertrude Niesen, comics the Calgary Brothers, jugglers the Pierro Brothers, singer/musician Louis Prima, and the Cossack Quartet. Berle is carried onstage by Truman and Dewey impersonators. The Cossack Quartet performs a Russian song before being joined by Berle for goofing. Prima sings "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and gags with Berle on trumpets for "Tiger Rag." Milton stages an old vaudeville "Western Union" comedy sketch. The Calgary Brothers do a slow-motion drunk routine. Niesen sings "Wha' Hoppen, Baby" and joins Berle for "You're the Top."
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Red Buttons, Judy Canova, The Crackerjacks, Ella Logan, Russell Swan
Berle welcomes singer Ella Logan, comic Red Buttons, magician Russell Swan, comics the Arnaut Brothers, and acrobat/dancers the Crackerjacks. Logan sings "Sunny Side of the Street" and "Little Bit of Heaven." In a sketch, Buttons tries to get money from loan shark Berle. Milton begs out of magician Swan's guillotine act.
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Buddy Lester, Ted Lewis, Vivian Blaine, Danny Richards Jr., Geraldine DuBois, Pallenberg's Bears
Milton Berle's guests include comedian Buddy Lester, vaudeville singer Ted Lewis, actress Vivian Blaine, child performer Danny Richards Jr., singer Geraldine DuBois, and animal act Pallenberg's Bears. Blaine sings a medley of songs she introduced in her movies and is joined by Berle for a song-and-dance finish. Lester does a stand-up routine. Berle trades quips with precocious child Richards. In the finale, Lewis is joined by singer DuBois and the rest of the cast in top hat and tails for "When My Baby Smiles at Me."
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James Barton, Buddy Rich, Lauritz Melchior, The Christians, Lorraine Rognan
Milton's guests include actor/vaudevillian James Barton, drummer Buddy Rich, Metropolitan Opera star Lauritz Melchior, teeterboard act The Christians, and comedian Lorraine Rognan. Melchior performs the song "Because" and then does "Figaro" in a "Barber of Seville" spoof while giving Berle a shave. Barton does a stand-up where he plays three drunks, and Rognan has Berle play straight man for her comedy routine. In another sketch, Berle and Barton are applying makeup on each other for a blackface routine; they're joined by Melchior for the number.
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Henny Youngman, Maurice Rocco, Gracie Fields, Jack La Rue, Verna Raymond
Milton Berle's guests are comedian Henny Youngman, boogie-woogie singer/pianist Maurice Rocco, singer/actress Gracie Fields, actor/announcer Jack La Rue, and child actress Verna Raymond. Youngman comes up through the audience as a concessioner and the pair exchange insults; they team on a ballet send-up. Fields sings "Green-Up Time" and does a comic version of "My Hero." Fields joins Berle and Youngman in a Western sketch, and in a sentimental bit with Raymond. LaRue plays a "tough guy" in a sketch.
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Episode #1.33

Mon, Jan 17, 1949
Milton's guests include singer Tony Martin, singer Carmen Miranda, trampolinists Margo, Paul and Paulette, and impressionist Florence Desmond. Milton appears wearing his Carmen Miranda outfit.
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Episode #1.34

Mon, Jan 24, 1949
Milton Berle's guests include dancers the Unger Twins (Gustaf and Bertil), singer Frances Faye, slapstick comics Low, Hite, and Stanley (one short, one average, one tall), dancers the Caites, and singer Julie Wilson. Berle replaces one of the Unger Twins in a comic mirror routine, and teams with Costello for the old A&C math routine. The finale is in a turn of the century beer garden with all the cast.
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Episode #1.35

Mon, Jan 31, 1949
Comedian Jack Carter fills in for an ill Berle. Guests are comic actress Beatrice Lillie, ballet dancer Kathryn Lee, the Borrah Minevitch Harmonica Rascals, comic Johnny Burke, the Gauthier Steeplechase dog and pony act, and actor Cyril Ritchard. Lillie sings several novelty songs with Ritchard as her foil. Burke does a routine from WWI.
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Episode #1.36

Mon, Feb 07, 1949
Jack Carter returns as guest host. His guests are vocal group the Mills Brothers, comedians Jack Durant and Gracie Fields, unicyclists La Brach and Bernice, and dog act Gaudsmith Brothers.
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Episode #1.37

Mon, Feb 14, 1949
Phil Baker guests hosts for Berle, who's recovering in Florida. His guests include comics Herb Shriner and Benny Rubin, Sid Silvers; Marion Harris, Jr., The Skating Mocks, Fred and Sledge, and comic actress Beatrice Kaye.
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Episode #1.38

Mon, Feb 21, 1949
Walter O'Keefe fills in for an ill Berle. Scheduled guests include Lucille Ball, Paul Winchell, the Ink Spots, the Mathes Duo, tap dancer Bobby Brandt, and comic Wally Brown. The Ink Spots perform "If I Didn't Care" and "Maybe."
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Episode #1.39

Mon, Feb 28, 1949
Milton Berle returns after an illness and exhaustion. His scheduled guests include: singer/comedienne Virginia O'Brien, acrobats The Gauchos, comic actor Billy Gilbert, singer/actor Robert Alda, and musical/comedy performer Pat Rooney Sr. Alda sings and joins Berle for in a sketch about the foreign legion; Gilbert and Berle do a routine; O'Brien performs "Go To Sleep My Baby" and joins in a parody of Hollywood movie-making; Berle joins Rooney for the closing song and dance.
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Episode #1.40

Mon, Mar 07, 1949
Milton's guests include actor William Boyd, singer Jane Froman, comic Henny Youngman, acrobatic team the Vanderbilt Boys, and the Lane Brothers. Highlights include a spoof of Boyd's signature role, B-westerns hero Hopalong Cassidy.
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Episode #1.41

Mon, Mar 14, 1949
Uncle Miltie's guests this week include: Peter Lorre, singer Phil Regan, Stewart Morgan Dancers, Irish-American Celtic musicians the McNulty Family and Broadway singer Joan Roberts. Roberts, from the original cast of "Oklahoma!" performs songs from the show; Lorre and Berle do a sketch about "The Cabinet of Dr. X"; Miltie spoofs musical recitals; and a St. Patrick's Day salute to Irish songs.
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Episode #1.42

Mon, Mar 21, 1949
Milton Berle's guests include Ethel Merman, Teddy Hale, Keye Luke, acrobatic act Los Gattos, Teddy Hale, and composers Joan Whitney and Alex Kramer, Charles Tobias, Maud Nugent and Lou Brown. Berle opens dressed as a Roman riding in a chariot. He joins Merman for "The Varsity Drag" and "Friendship," and the two go for a drive. She solos on "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "I Got Rhythm." The finale is a salute to songwriters.
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Episode #1.43

Mon, Mar 28, 1949
Berle's scheduled guests on this show include: band leader Desi Arnaz; the Beatrice Kraft Dancers; ex-boxer Jack Dempsey; comedian Jackie Miles; and actress June Havoc. Berle opens the show dressed as an organ grinder with a monkey; Desi closes the show with a South American production number.
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Episode #1.44

Mon, Apr 04, 1949
Milton's guests include comic actor Victor Moore, singer Jean Sablon, Gloria Colbert and a cameo by Basil Rathbone. The featured sketch cast Berle as Sherlock Holmes and Moore as Dr. Watson with Rathbone in the role of 'Rathbone of Scotland Yard'.
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Episode #1.45

Mon, Apr 11, 1949
Berle's scheduled line-up features: film actor Boris Karloff, opera singer Richard Tucker, harmonica player Stan Fisher, dancers Merle, Duval and Lee, and actress Peggy Ryan. Karloff and Berle do a mad scientist skit; Ryan tap dances; Tucker sings "La Donna E Mobile"; Fisher plays "Rumanian Rhapsody"; the cast performs in a take-off of opera.
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Episode #1.46

Mon, Apr 18, 1949
Uncle Miltie's scheduled guests include: Martha Raye, Dolores Gray, tap dance trio the Rockets, and actor Basil Rathbone. Rathbone and Berle do a spoof of murder mysteries; Raye sings "It's a Good Day"; Berle and Raye perform in the sketch "The Sheik of Araby."
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Episode #1.47

Mon, Apr 25, 1949
Berle's guests include comedian/magician Carl Ballentine, comic actors Lew Hearn and Lou Sorin, Ethel Merman,and vaudevillian/songwriter Jack Norworth. Berle and Sorin join Hearn in his old "Belt to the Back" sketch. "The Amazing Mr. Ballentine's" magic tricks go awry. Norworth does a medley of his big songs.
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Episode #1.48

Mon, May 02, 1949
Berle's scheduled guests include film actor Walter Huston, vocalist Georgia Gibbs, and jugglers the Kanazawa Trio.
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Episode #1.49

Mon, May 09, 1949
Milton's guests are opera star Robert Merrill, dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, comedy team Lessy and Moore, and dancers Tip Tap and Toe. Lessy and Moore clown to "Wait 'Till the Sun Shines Nellie" and join Berle in a restaurant sketch.
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Episode #1.50

Mon, May 16, 1949
Berle's guests this week include comedian Georgie Price, "mentalist" Dunninger, the Blackburn Twins, dancer Pat Rooney Jr., and actress/singer Janet Blair. Miltie opens dressed as Napoleon. Much of the program is devoted to the reopening of the famed vaudeville theater The Palace with cast members imitating many of its stars.
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