Hullabaloo (TV series)

Overview

Directed by Steve Binder, who went on to direct If I Can Dream, Hullabaloo served as a big-budget, quality showcase for the leading pop acts of the day, and was also competition for another like-minded television showcase, ABC's Shindig!. A different host presided each week—among these were Sammy Davis, Jr., Petula Clark, Paul Anka, Liza Minnelli, Jack Jones, and Frankie Avalon—singing a couple of his or her own hits and introducing the different acts. Chart-topping acts who performed on the show included James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Dionne Warwick, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Sonny & Cher, the Supremes, Herman's Hermits, The Animals, Roy Orbison and Marianne Faithfull. Many early episodes included black and white segments taped in the UK and hosted by Brian Epstein. Sid Bernstein was the booking agent for Hullabaloo. Peter Matz, later of The Carol Burnett Show, was the orchestra leader. Peppiatt and Aylesworth were the writers.

Some of the programs in the series were videotaped at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. Most were taped in New York City either at NBC's Studio 8H (built for Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra and which would later house Saturday Night Live), or in NBC's Color studio in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. Much of the series' color videotaped footage was later transferred over to kinescope on film - as such copied in black and white. Only three half-hour episodes are known to exist in their original color videotaped form.

Dancers

The show was choreographed by David Winters, who selected and choreographed the Hullabaloo Dancers, a team of four men and six women who appeared on a regular basis. Two of them, Michael Bennett and Donna McKechnie, went on to achieve considerable fame on Broadway. Dancer Patrick Adiarte, who also attempted to launch a solo singing career on the series, went on to play Ho-Jon in the television series M*A*S*M*A*S*H. Another female dancer, model/actress Lada Edmund Jr. (known today as Lada St. Edmund, who currently resides in New Jersey) was best known as one of the caged "go-go girl" dancers in the "Hullabaloo A-Go-Go" segment near the closing sequence of the show. She also had a brief recording career with the singles "I Know Something" and "The Larue." She later co-starred with Jon Voight in the 1969 film Out of It and in Act of Vengeance released in 1974. Dancer Suzanne Charney also had some degree of fame on Broadway as the lead frug dancer in Sweet Charity, reprising her role in the 1969 film as well. David Winters went on to direct or produce over 200 TV shows, specials and films.

Broadcast history

The series was originally a one-hour broadcast, airing from 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Its first season ran 18 new episodes from January through May 1965 then, from June through August 1965, it featured selected repeats, which aired from 10:00 - 11:00 p.m.

The second season of 30 new episodes ran from September 1965 to April 1966. Reduced to thirty minutes, the episodes aired from 7:30 - 8:00 p.m. on Monday. From May through August 1966 it aired repeats, and was replaced by the sitcom The Monkees in September 1966.

In the 1965-1966 season, Hullabaloo preceded the NBC sitcom The John Forsythe Show. It was featured opposite the military drama Twelve O'Clock High on ABC and the long-running game show To Tell The Truth on CBS.

Availability

Highlights of many of the segments have been compiled for release in VHS and DVD formats. Additionally, a special entitled "Hullabaloo - a 60's Flashback" has been produced under the "My Music" umbrella for use by PBS stations during pledge drives; it premiered in March 2013.