Red Skelton on RFD-TV...

Me and a Red Skelton VHS

I don't know how long it's been part of their line-up but I happened to be searching my on-screen program guide yesterday evening and seen where The Red Skelton Hour was airing at 7pm on RFD-TV. The episode's description included a title, 'The Fastest Crumb in the West'. I looked up that episode and found that it originally aired September 21, 1965 on CBS. The airing of Red's television series is a rarity...let alone the hour long version...and so with the news that his program is being re-aired on cable/satellite channel, RFD-TV, I thought it only necessary to provide a general overview of Red's career. This by no means is a definitive essay...only a general overview filled with information that you'll more than likely find all over the internet but perhaps not presented in a conversational style which is how I prefer to write. A lot of bloggers simply provide information, bullet points, or images...but I prefer to present my blog entries in a personal/conversational way so it doesn't come across overly technical (unless the topic calls for in-depth/technical information). Red's career path began at the age of 10. He was born July 18, 1913 in Vincennes, Indiana. Now, having been born in a river town, it was only natural for someone with a zeal for entertaining that he would eventually find himself on showboats of that time period. Red's earliest years in 'show business' included not only appearing on showboats, traveling in medicine shows, and reportedly was part of a traveling circus (in later years he was known for his paintings of clowns). His rise into show business found him branching into the burlesque circuit and then switching over, in 1934, to Vaudeville.

The time-line in Red's professional career shown that he established himself in the waning stages of Vaudeville considering that most performers had, by 1934, made the professional leap onto radio. His career as a Vaudeville performer, however, was short-lived due to the fact that radio was quickly replacing Vaudeville as a viable form of entertainment. Red's first forays into radio were in the form of guest appearances on Rudy Vallee's radio program, The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour, in the fall of 1937. He went on to guest star a second time and then, in November 1937, he guest starred a third time on Rudy's influential program.

Research shows that Red began his film career in 1938 at RKO in a film titled Having Wonderful Time which starred Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Ginger Rogers. Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Jack Carson, and a host of other established radio/movie stars appeared in it. On the movie poster Red is billed as Richard (Red) Skelton. His film career is largely tied to MGM and he appeared in films as a star, supporting player, or in cameo roles. One of his films is titled The Clown, released January 16, 1953, and it's a dramatic movie. It was reported that early on when Red was doing screen tests in his attempt to get into films that he often had trouble reading dramatic parts due to his natural tendency to want to lighten a mood or be humorous. He eventually became one of the most dramatic performers you'd ever hope to see, if the story called for it, with most of the characters he portrayed in those type of films being sentimental or on the verge of mental or emotional collapse. In his pantomime sketches he was often fond of portraying those kinds of characters and could effectively convey a sense of sadness/tragedy through facial expressions alone. A lot of the films that Red appeared in for MGM fell under light entertainment/musical or broad comedy/slapstick. Some of his films are: I Dood It (1943), The Show-Off (1946), The Fuller Brush Man (1948), Neptune's Daughter (1949), The Yellow Cab Man (1950), and Public Pigeon Number One (1957). Those  particular films came later in his career...after he had established himself as a radio star...but let's back up several years...

Me and Red Skelton VHS collection

Those guest appearances on Rudy Vallee's radio series in 1937 led to his hosting a radio series titled Avalon Time which had originally been hosted by country music singer, Red Foley. There is a lot of conflicting information surrounding the hosting time-line of this series but I'm quoting information I found while researching for this blog entry. On the Radio Spirits WEBSITE for Avalon Time it gives Red's hosting tenure as January 7, 1939 to December 20, 1939. Red's biggest success came later on when he starred on The Raleigh Cigarette Program beginning October 7, 1941 on NBC. He created Clem Kadiddlehopper and Junior on this series. This series featured Red Skelton as it's star until June 6, 1944...Red was drafted into the military! He was in the military for over a year...discharged in September 1945 for medical reasons (he had suffered a nervous breakdown). Red returned to the NBC airwaves in December 1945 as host of The New Raleigh Cigarette Program. The bulk of Red's other characters emerged during this point in his career: Bolivar Shagnasty, Deadeye, San Fernando Red, Cauliflower McPug, and Willie Lump Lump. The good times with the Raleigh company came to an end in 1948 (the usual reason: budgetary concerns) and Red found himself hosting the self-titled Red Skelton Show for Tide, at the time, a relatively brand new detergent company. This series ran until the spring of 1949 on NBC radio. Afterward Red switched networks...joining the CBS radio line-up...following in the footsteps of Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, Amos 'n' Andy, and the ventriloquist/dummy duo of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. In the fall of 1949 The Red Skelton Show debuted on CBS with Tide remaining his sponsor until a switch to the Norge company. Red remained on CBS radio until June 25, 1952.

Me and Red Skelton DVDs

In the meantime, though, Red was one of the few radio performers who couldn't wait to get onto television. A lot of his contemporaries eased into a television schedule. Jack Benny, for example, continued his radio program for five years concurrent with his infrequent appearances with early television specials. Jack's final network radio series aired in May 1955...a full five years after debuting on television...but Jack never appeared in a weekly television series until 1960. Some radio performers, notably Fred Allen, attempted television programs but none of them caught on with a viewing audience even though, if you turn off the visual and just listen to the audio, his attempts at hosting television programs sound like his radio programs...but his television legacy is tied to his years as a regular panelist on What's My Line?. Red's television series debuted September 30, 1951 on NBC television...but his radio series was still airing on CBS. The radio series moved back to NBC in the fall of 1952 and Red's network radio career ended on May 26, 1953. The television series, in the meantime, moved to CBS in the fall of 1953 and it became one of the longest running variety/entertainment television shows on the network. It was part of the CBS television schedule until it's abrupt cancellation in the summer of 1970. The network was amidst it's re-programming where a concentrated effort was underway to re-brand the network and attract younger audiences and generate advertising revenue from the urban market...cancelling popular programs whose appeal was determined to be for those over 40, rural, conservative, and more strict with their money. Red went back to NBC and starred in his last regularly scheduled television series during the 1970-1971 season. His 20 year television series came to an end on NBC, ironically, the network he began his professional radio career with.

In quoted interviews from Red in the early '70s and later he often remarked that the CBS cancellation of his series must have had something to do with his political leanings (Republican) and pro-Military positions more than the overall age of his audience. It's been documented that he played to packed college campuses for years after CBS cancelled his show in 1970 and he'd often cite this as a way to show that he had appeal with younger audiences.

Me and Red Skelton VHS tapes

A lot of Red's television shows were never aired in syndication. This lack of syndicated exposure, of course, caused his series to become a 'lost' series to each generation of television viewers. Although a lot of the early television programs that featured former radio stars aren't as heavily played, even on classic TV outlets, Red's show was played even less frequently. Repeats of Jack Benny, by comparison, had a rather lengthy run on local PBS stations as well as the national CBN channel throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. Jack's television show is currently airing on niche channel, Antenna TV, as is the television series, Burns and Allen, starring George Burns and Gracie Allen. Red's series had a limited run in repeats in the latter half of the 1990s on PBS...and a lot of his television programs and sketches were becoming increasingly available on VHS home video. As you can see I have a lot of those VHS tapes and I've got several DVDs of his material. However, the release of his programs became infrequent on VHS, DVD, Blu Ray as time went by. The television series is currently airing on the RFD-TV line-up...one of those rare times where his television show is getting reran...but I don't know for how long it'll be on their line-up.