Last year I got the impulse to visit or revisit all of the series that have won the Emmy for best series. Because it's a little easier, I thought beginning with the comedies would be smart. So when the new year began, I began this new project: to watch ever Emmy-winning season that won for Outstanding Comedy Series.
When the Emmys began, there were fewer categories. And over the years, the categories grew strange, with designated Western and "Mystery" categories, rather complicating things. There was no designated category for comedy until the fourth year. I should also point out, this is specifically going to only cover comedy series, not variety series. While there is often a lot of overlap there, they are distinct categories and will be treated as such. But that brings us to the 1951-1952 season, and the very first Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series: The Red Skelton Show.
Of all the celebrated comedic performers of the 1940s-1970s, there are a handful that most people would immediately recognize: Bob Hope, Carol Burnett, George Burns, Lucille Ball. But somehow history has forgotten Red Skelton, and having now seen a number of his shows, I think that's a shame. Sure, you might have heard the name, but he was a true talent on the same level as the other greats and young people deserve to know who he was. The son of a circus clown, it's no hyperbole when the announcer introduces Skelton as "that clown of clowns." Skelton has certainly got that talent for making people laugh. He worked in vaudeville, radio, television, and films. And what I find really unique about Skelton is his comedy marries so many of the great notions of what comedy is.
The Red Skelton Show debuted on NBC in 1951. Like most television programs of the time, it was an outgrowth of an already popular radio show. But television allowed Skelton to truly put more of his talents on display; he was as much a visual comedian as a verbal one. He was a master of classic clown-style comedy, with broad facial expressions and pantomime. But he could also deliver classic one-liner jokes or sketch concepts. Truly, just in the first 20 episodes of the series, you would be blessed with stand-up monologues, sketch comedy, improv, mime, observational humor, slapstick, physical comedy, broad caricatures, verbal humor, sight gags, running gags, prop comedy. You name it, Skelton dabbled in it. Nearly everything comedic you turn on a television for had a place in Skelton's arsenal. For this reason alone he was truly a master and one of the greats. This was the show's first season, and when you watch it it's no surprise that even with competition from Burns and Allen and I Love Lucy the Academy chose to honor The Red Skelton Show.
Red Skelton also created a number of various character personas. Even as a kid, I knew the name Kadiddlehopper, but had nothing to connect it to, no context for it. Now, I finally do. Clem Kadiddlehopper was Skelton's village idiot character, often used on the series as an incompetent TV pitch man ("I'll give you the number to call later; we don't have time to give it now!"). Then there's Willie Lump Lump, the sad-sack drunk; San Fernando Red, the brash Southern politician; and Cauliflower McPugg, the punch-drunk boxer always hearing birds and bells ("Boy, a flock of 'em flew over that time!"). The series really highlights Skelton's versatility as a performer and some of the best sketches involve him playing multiple characters.
Every episode pretty much follows a standard formula. The series begins with Skelton delivering a monologue of jokes or impressions in front of a curtain, much like many other comedy or variety shows even today. The curtain would then open to a sketch usually featuring one of Skelton's characters. Following that would be a pre-filmed segment from "Skelton's Film Scrapbook." These sketches have the same chaotic energy as the rest of the show, and always turn out to be a clever commercial for their sponsor, Tide. In the early days of broadcasting, shows were brought to us by one sponsor, typically. And often they performers would end up doing a commercial somewhere along the way. But Skelton's very clever commercial segments are always fun and always work as comedy sketches too, and not just someone reading copy. Beyond that, Skelton seems genuinely appreciative of his sponsors and tries to do right by them. After that, there is often a musical performance of some sort by a singing group or dance performance (sometimes comedic, though not always; sometimes Skelton himself messes around with them.) Following the variety portion, we generally get one more sketch from "Skelton's Scrapbook", and then a final address to the audience before Skelton is yanked under the curtain from behind. In one episode, it is revealed the one yanking him is Bob Hope.
Of course, a series doesn't survive solely off of one performer, and The Red Skelton Show has a staple of a few actors and actresses for Skelton to play off of, particularly Lucille Knoch. It's also worth remembering that in the early days of broadcast television all of these shows were performed live every week. This meant anything could happen (and often did). People might flub a line or ad-lib a joke. One episode they actually went on the air when Skelton was just warming up the crowd beforehand and they didn't realize they'd been broadcasting for two minutes. If you're a fan of watching people make each other laugh during sketches, you'll love The Red Skelton Show. Skelton loves to play to the crowd, so sometimes he'll milk a joke, or something unexpected will happen and they'll play into it. Other times someone might drop a line and he'll point it out. Several times flubbed lines ruined a punchline and he just plays it off with a laugh. He really shines as a comedic presence; his costars often can't keep a straight face. In one episode, a gag with a man in a snowman costume fails to get the laugh. So Skelton brings that snowman back for the next several episodes as a running gag. It's a show that rewards frequent viewing as you pick up on Skelton's standby catchphrases ("Another writer just bit the dust!").
Some of the sketches or set-ups are also inspired. There's one very cleverly designed visual gag where Willie's wife as a prank has nailed all the furniture in the room sideways to the wall. The technical aspects of this sketch and the physical comedy are delightful. If you're a fan of Lucy's vitameatavegamin bit, Skelton pioneered a similar concept in vaudeville featureing a pitchman selling Guzzler's Gin.
While the show is appropriate for all ages, and the comedy works for many different age groups, it doesn't shy from a bit of more adult humor. There's a smart satirical sketch in one episode about the perfect marriage in which the husband is cheating on his wife, and then they reverse it to her point of view and she's cheating on him.
What also stands out is how genuine Skelton feels as a personality. As I mentioned, he truly seems to care about his show and his advertisers. He cares about his audience. He's always gracious to thank an article or a favorable mention of his show. What he wants most is to make people laugh. Repeatedly, he will close out his show by apologizing to the audience if he offended them in any way, because it was all in good fun. He speaks of the power of laughter to make you forget your troubles for just a little while. He was a true clown in the greatest sense of the word; not a scary grotesque in greasepaint, but a master of delivery, pantomime, and doing anything for a laugh.
The series might be difficult to find, but if you want to watch it, Shout Factory has them all up available to view on their website, ShoutFactoryTV.com. Some episodes and sketches are also on YouTube, and there are probably VHS and DVD collections out there somewhere.
T-I-D-E, Tide presents Red Skelton!
FAVORITE EPISODES: Episode 2, The Skeltons at Home (the Christmas show), Episode 14
UP NEXT: I Love Lucy
Blood and Chrome
10 years ago
