Arthur Godfrey and His Friends

"Arthur Godfrey and His Friends" was a television variety show which ran from 1949 until 1959. At the same time that this show was on the air, Arthur Godfrey was also performing on "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts". He also had a morning show which was simulcast on both the CBS radio and the television networks. He got his real start in the late 1930s on the CBS affiliate in Washington D.C. with his local early morning radio show. This program was picked up for the network in the early forties which led to the big break on television in 1949.

Godfrey had been a major star on radio, and the news that he was switching over to television was a sign that television was the Coming Thing. Both "Arthur Godfrey and His Friends" and "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" were top hits for years. Godfrey liked to surround himself with young talent that did not have a major following. Among the more popular of his stars were Frank Parker and Marion Marlowe, Janette Davis, Julius LaRosa, Haleloke, The McGuire Sisters, Carmel Quinn, Pat Boone, Miyoshi Umeki and The Chordettes. Godfrey frequently played his trademark ukulele.Frank Parker was a big name star of the 1920's and 1930's appearing on the stage and radio. He was noted for his Irish songs.

The show was live, and frequently Godfrey did away with the script and improvised. He refused to participate in commercials for products he did not believe in.

But toward the middle of the 1950s, Godfrey's image began to tarnish. He began to fire all of his regular co-stars, often for the thinnest of reasons. He even fired LaRosa in the middle of a live broadcast in 1953 for having lost his "humility". He got into press wars with Ed Sullivan, Dorothy Kilgallen and John Crosby, and he had his pilot's license suspended for buzzing an airport tower. All of this led to a slow decline in his shows' popularity.