On this day in 1963, TV showman Perry Como's
The Perry Como Show ceased its weekly airings on NBC and became a series of monthly shows, alternating with
Kraft Suspense Theatre,
The Andy Williams Show and
The Road West. The weekly
Como show continued on for the next four seasons.
Perry Como was one of television's earliest stars. The barber-turned-singer already had numerous hit records to his credit when, in 1948, NBC decided to bring cameras into the radio studio and simulcast Como's radio series,
The Chesterfield Supper Club, to its TV audience.
In 1950, Perry moved to CBS, where his 15-minute variety show,
The Perry Como Show, appeared three times a week. Five years later, Como jumped back to NBC — this time as host of an hour-long variety show featuring a mix of music and dance numbers and comedy sketches. The show was broadcast from New York's Ziegfeld Theatre, and was one of TV's first weekly color series. In 1959, the show was moved from Saturday to Wednesday and renamed
Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall.
After the show's 1967 cancellation, Como continued to return to television with occasional musical specials. His last one was filmed in Ireland in 1994, and was broadcast on PBS.