The Red Skelton Show

The Red Skelton Show was a staple of American television for almost two decades, from the early 1950s through the early 1970s.

Format during the 1960s

In 1963, the program was again expanded to a full hour and remained in this longer format for the balance of its CBS run. The format of the program itself during this period was quite simple.

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Opening Monologue

Skelton opened with a monologue. The monologue often lapsed into character humor, with two of the recurring bits being "George Applebee", a perennially henpecked husband into whom Red transformed by donning heavy black-rimmed spectacles and a misshapen derby hat, and "Gertrude and Heathcliff, the Two Seagulls", which he performed by crossing his eyes and sticking his hands into his armpits for "wings". (Johnny Carson, who was a writer on this program for a period, has reminisced about writing this spot.)

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Guest Star's Performance

This was followed by a performance by a guest star, often a singer. Musical accompaniment was generally provided by the orchestra of well-known bandleader David Rose, who was the composer of the show's familiar main musical theme, "Holiday for Strings". The guest then appeared with Red in a comedy sketch.

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Comedy Sketches

The sketches were usually built around one of Red's many characters, including "Deadeye", an incredibly inept sheriff in the Old West; "San Fernando Red", a shady real estate agent (named for the San Fernando Valley, which was still a largely rural area well outside Los Angeles at the time that the show began); "Cauliflower McPugg", a punchdrunk boxer, Clem Kadiddlehopper, a hick who was identified in at least one sketch as being from Cornpone County, Tennessee, and "Freddie the Freeloader". Freddie was a bum with a heart of gold, who was played by Skelton in clown makeup reminiscient of Emmett Kelly but somehow not as sad. Freddie could be either a speaking character or totally pantomimed.

Related Topics:
Sheriff - Old West - Real estate - San Fernando Valley - Rural - Los Angeles - Boxer - Hick - Tennessee - Clown - Emmett Kelly - Pantomime

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In fact, in its later years the show generally finished with "The Silent Spot", with Skelton pantonmiming Freddie or another silent character. (It was hard for some younger viewers to accept that such an overwhelmingly visual, physical performer had once been a staple of radio.) After "The Silent Spot", the show closed with Red looking into the camera and saying sincerely, "Good night and may God bless."

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