Inside NBC was a
local show
seen two days a week on NBC's flagship station in New York City.
It aired for fifteen minutes, just ahead of weather and news reports,
and
usually consisted of Bill looking behind the scenes at some aspect of
an
NBC TV or radio production. Sometimes, however, the focus would
be
entirely different, such as an early home shopping segment known as Cullen's
Corner.
An interesting footnote
to this series
came to our attention recently. Bill appeared on a 1987 episode
of
The $25,000 Pyramid and in conversation with host Dick Clark, mentioned
that Bob Stewart had produced a show called Cullen's Corner.
Presumably,
he
was referring to the segments of this series which used
that title. If that's the case, then this program, not The
Price
Is Right, marks the first collaboration with Bill and his longtime
producer and friend.
EPISODE GUIDE
Researcher Leah Biel
was
kind enough to provide us this episode guide based on listings in the
NYC
edition of TV Guide. While we doubt that many episodes of this
obscurity
survive today, it's still interesting to see the wide variety of
subjects
covered in this brief series.
| Monday,
December 12, 1955 |
[DEBUT] Bill
Cullen hosts this 15-minute
program which spotlights NBC’s personnel, history, features, and
entertainment.
NBC cameras pick up rehearsals in progress, previewing shows to appear
the same evening or later that week. |
| Friday, December
16, 1955 |
No description
given |
| Monday, December
19, 1955 |
Viewers see a Playwrights
56
rehearsal in action. Bill Cullen interviews producer Fred Coe,
director
Arthur Penn, and stars Kim Stanley and Louis Jean Heydt. |
| Friday, December
23, 1955 |
Bill Cullen visits
David Aiken as
he is made up for his role in Sunday’s Alcoa Hour production of
Amahl and the Night Visitors. The
cameras also pick
up a rehearsal of Babes in Toyland to be seen on Max
Liebman
Presents. |
| Monday, December
26, 1955 |
Bill Cullen tours
the Home
studios. Guest: Dick Linkroum, Home’s exec. producer. |
| Friday, December
30, 1955 |
Bill Cullen’s
guest, Mary Martin,
discusses the forthcoming Peter Pan. |
| Monday, January 2,
1956 |
Episode
pre-empted due to Rose
Bowl game between Michigan State and UCLA |
| Friday, January 6,
1956 |
The operation of
the NBC news department
is explained through interviews and films. The cameras pick up a
rehearsal Ken Banghart’s news program. |
| Monday, January 9,
1956 |
Bill Cullen visits
NBC’s special
effects dept. to show how fog, rain, snow, etc. are made for TV. |
| Friday, January
13, 1956 |
Les Colodny,
director of NBC’s comedy
development program, explains and tells of plans for ’56. He
introduces
an act by some new talent. |
| Monday, January
16, 1956 |
Richard Linkroum,
executive producer
of Home, conducts a tour of the Home studios. |
| Friday, January
20, 1956 |
No description
given |
| Monday, January
23, 1956 |
Tex Antoine
explains the preparation
of his weather programs. Bill Cullen interviews Henry Salomon,
producer
of Circle Theater’s Nightmare in Red, to be
repeated
tomorrow evening. |
| Friday, January
27, 1956 |
Bill Cullen takes
viewers behind
the scenes of radio’s Monitor. Guest will be Gene Rayburn. |
| Monday, January
30, 1956 |
The NBC Technical
Operations Department
demonstrates the transmission of a TV picture from coast to
coast.
Cameras pick up a rehearsal of Milton Berle’s show from Hollywood,
Cal.
Bill Cullen. |
| Friday, February
3, 1956 |
Host Bill Cullen
and Maurice Evans
discuss this Sunday’s Hallmark Hall of Fame production of The
Good
Fairy, starring Julie Harris. Chet Huntley of the NBC
News Department previews Outlook, a news program which
debuts
this Sunday. Special guest: J. Fred Muggs. |
| Monday, February
6, 1956 |
Bill Cullen visits
Sid Caesar at
his office and studios. |
| Friday, February
10, 1956 |
Bill Cullen
reviews the first NBC
telecast, April 30, 1939. This was the NBC special events pickup
of the opening of the World’s Fair at Flushing Meadows. |
| Monday, February
13, 1956 |
Bill Cullen
interviews Martha Raye. |
| Friday, February
17, 1956 |
No description
given |
| Monday, February
20, 1956 |
No description
given |
| Friday, February
24, 1956 |
No description
given |
| Monday, February
27, 1956 |
The cameras switch
to Hollywood
to pick up a rehearsal of Tuesday’s Matinee Theater production,
A Tall Dark Stranger. Its star, Zsa Zsa
Gabor, and
host John Conte are guests. Bill Cullen, in New York, does a
feature
on the early days of NBC news coverage. |
| Friday, March 2,
1956 |
The cameras switch
to the RCA Hall
of Progress in Camden, N.J., which holds electronics equipment
developed
during the past century. Bill Cullen hosts. |
| Monday, March 5,
1956 |
Guest: Stockton
Hellfrich of NBC’s
Continuity Acceptance Dept. Bill Cullen shows Martha Raye Show
in rehearsal, via film. |
| Friday, March 9,
1956 |
Host Bill Cullen
highlights NBC’s
coverage of the Presidential campaign. He also interviews
Laurence
Olivier. |
| Monday, March 12,
1956 |
Ike Kleinerman,
film editor of Wednesday’s Project 20 production, explains how
the film was
procured and edited. |
| Friday, March 16,
1956 |
Host Bill Cullen
discusses the presentation
of the TV “Emmy” Awards. |
| Monday, March 19,
1956 |
Virginia Graham of
NBC Radio’s Weekday
is Bill Cullen’s guest. |
| Friday, March 23,
1956 |
Guest: Broadcast
Film Division director
Stan Parlan. Bill Cullen hosts. |
| Monday, March 26,
1956 |
No description
given |
| Friday, March 30,
1956 |
No description
given |
| Monday, April 2,
1956 |
Bill Cullen
comments on the television
entertainment scene as reported by the New York columnists. |
| Friday, April 6,
1956 |
Bill Cullen
introduces the winner
of the Army air auditions conducted last Friday, for the female lead in
You, Me and the Gatepost, a Playwrights
’56 production
to be seen April 10. |
| Monday, April 9,
1956 |
Bill Cullen is
visited in Cullen’s
Corner by guests with unusual merchandise to sell home viewers. |
| Friday, April 13,
1956 |
Ernie Kovacs joins
Bill Cullen in
his search for “Bridie Cullen". |
| Monday, April 16,
1956 |
Bill Cullen
conducts a remote program
with WRCA-TV’s new mobile unit. |
| Friday, April 20,
1956 |
Bill Cullen does a
take off on the
smooth-talking Continental. His guest is Renzo Cezana, the real
Continental. |
| Monday, April 23,
1956 |
Bill Cullen’s
guests are Tex and
Jinx McCrary, who are celebrating their 10th anniversary with NBC. |
| Friday, April 27,
1956 |
Bill Cullen
salutes Military Reserve
Week. |
| Monday, April 30,
1956 |
Guests once again
visit Bill Cullen
in Cullen’s Corner to sell unusual merchandise to home viewers. |
| Friday, May 4, 1956 |
Today Bill
Cullen’s feature concerns
the NBC Program Development Department. |
| Monday, May 7, 1956 |
Host Bill Cullen
and his special
guest, Lee Ann Meriwether, conduct a quiz show. Contestants are
the
five finalists of the “Miss NBC” contest. |
| Friday, May 11,
1956 |
Bill Cullen’s
guest is David Broekman,
orchestra conductor and composer of Wide Wide World
theme.
The Barbara Carroll Trio performs its version of the Wide Wide
World
Theme. |
| Monday, May 14,
1956 |
In honor of
National Radio Week,
Bill Cullen shows film clips of some old-time radio performers.
His
guests, Ben Grauer and columnist Marie Torre, discuss the development
of
radio. |
| Friday, May 18,
1956 |
Bill Cullen is
host to Thomas B.
McFadden, general manager of WRCA-TV and Ray Owen from the reporting
staff
of WRCA’s Pulse. Owens discusses Pulse’s
technique
for covering news. |
| Monday, May 21,
1956 |
No description
given |
| Friday, May 25,
1956 |
No description
given |
| Monday, May 28,
1956 |
No description
given |
| Friday, June 1,
1956 |
This is the last
show of the series. |
VIDEO
Seems unlikely, doesn't it?
|
