Hullabaloo (TV series)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

50px Guest host Petula Clark introducing her new single, "Round Every Corner," on the October 25, 1965 broadcast

Hullabaloo was a musical variety series that ran on NBC from January 12, 1965 through August 29, 1966. In contrast to American Bandstand, it ran during prime-time.

Directed by Steve Binder, who went on to direct Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special, it was originally a one-hour broadcast, airing from 8:30 - 9:30pm on Tuesday nights. In June 1965, it shifted to the 10:00pm time slot, but three months later, the network cut the show to thirty minutes and moved it to 7:30pm on Monday nights, where it remained to the end of its run, whereupon it was replaced by the sitcom The Monkees.

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, Jack Jones, Brian Epstein, and Frankie Avalon—singing a couple of his or her own hits and introducing acts such as The Rolling Stones, Sonny and Cher, the Supremes, Herman's Hermits, and Marianne Faithfull.

The Hullabaloo Dancers—a team of four men and six women—appeared on a regular basis. Two of them—Michael Bennett and Donna McKechnie—went on to achieve considerable fame on Broadway. Dancer Patrick Adiarte went on to star as Ho-Jon in the television series M*A*S*H.

Highlights of many of the segments have been compiled for release in VHS and DVD formats.