6.6 /10 1 Votes
5.6/10 TV Country of origin United States Original network CBS Final episode date 17 April 1952 Language English | 7.4/10 IMDb Starring Renzo Cesana Original language(s) English First episode date 22 January 1952 Network CBS Cast Renzo Cesana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Original release January 22 – April 17, 1952 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Continental was a 1952 CBS television series starring Renzo Cesana in the title role. The 15-minute program was shown on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11:15pm, at the end of the night's prime time schedule.
Contents
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Synopsis
The series used a subjective camera, as Cesana spoke directly to women in the viewing audience in a suave manner, with each episode a different romantic rendezvous, accompanied by lounge music played on an electronic organ. Occasionally, he would recite the lyrics to a song.
In an era when advertisers and advertising agencies played major roles in program creation and sponsorship, the show began as a syndicated 15-minute radio show created, written and produced by agency owner Cesana on Los Angeles station KHJ in February 1951. It directly followed The Lonesome Gal, a nationally syndicated radio show in which host Jean King played records and spoke in a soothing monologue to male listeners. The Continental failed to attract an audience and was soon cancelled. Cesana convinced television station KNBH to air a video version, which went on the air twice weekly beginning in June 1951. The show was picked up briefly by the CBS network, where it debuted on January 22, 1952, and pitched its last woo on April 17, 1952.
Cesana was back as the Continental on New York radio station WMGM in 1953. A package of 13 new quarter-hour television episodes of The Continental was syndicated in 1954.
Recordings
Cesana obtained a recording contract with Capitol Records during the run of The Continental, although he confessed to Time magazine, "I'm the only Italian living who can't sing." Recordings by Renzo Cesana, in which he recites song lyrics to musical accompaniment, appear as unnamed tracks at the end of several CDs in the Capitol Records Ultra-Lounge series, always unmentioned in the liner notes. Among them are "Violets for Your Furs" and "Walk the Lonesome Night."