Hollywood on Television
Betty White in 1954
Hollywood on Television was a five-and-a-half-hour, six-day-a-week live television talk show starring newcomer Betty White and radio disc jockey Al Jarvis that ran from 1949-1953. When Jarvis left the show in 1951, film star Eddie Albert took his place and co-hosted with White for six months until thirty-three and a half hours of live ad-lib television per week, featuring just the two of them, took its toll and he also resigned. White was then hosting the show alone, and is believed to have been the first female television talk show host as a result. After a period of White talking directly into the camera lens for hours at a stretch, the show began accepting guests to interact with her as well as gradually incorpora… Continue Reading (2 minute read)