Arthur Godfrey and His Friends is an American television variety show

Variety show

A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...

 hosted by Arthur Godfrey

Arthur Godfrey

Arthur Morton Godfrey was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname, The Old Redhead...

. The hour-long series aired on CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 from January 1949, to June 1957 (as The Arthur Godfrey Show after September 1956), then again as a half-hour show from September 1958, to April 1959.

Many of Godfrey's musical acts were culled from Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts

Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts

Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts is an American radio and television variety show which ran on CBS from 1946 until 1958...

, which was airing on CBS at the same time. Among the more popular of his singers were Frank Parker, Marion Marlowe

Marion Marlowe

-Biography:She was born Marion Townsend in St. Louis, Missouri and is best known for her performances on the television variety series Arthur Godfrey and His Friends, from 1950 to 1955, in which she sang duets with Frank Parker, as the "Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy of the 1950s.".According to...

, Janette Davis, Julius La Rosa

Julius La Rosa

Julius La Rosa is an American traditional popular music singer who has worked in both radio and television since the 1950s.-Early years and big break:...

, Haleloke, The McGuire Sisters

The McGuire Sisters

The McGuire Sisters were a singing trio in American popular music. The group was composed of three sisters: Christine McGuire , Dorothy McGuire , and Phyllis McGuire...

, Carmel Quinn

Carmel Quinn

Carmel Quinn is an Irish entertainer who has appeared on Broadway, television and radio since coming to America in 1954.-Biography:...

, Pat Boone

Pat Boone

Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...

, Miyoshi Umeki

Miyoshi Umeki

was a naturalized American actress and standards singer. She was best known for her roles as Katsumi, the wife of Joe Kelly , in the 1957 film Sayonara, as Mei Li in the 1958 Broadway musical and 1961 film Flower Drum Song, and as Mrs. Livingston, the housekeeper of Bill Bixby's and Brandon Cruz's...

 and The Chordettes

The Chordettes

The Chordettes were a female popular singing quartet, usually singing a cappella, and specializing in traditional popular music. The Chordettes were one of the longest lived vocal groups with beginnings in the mainstream pop and vocal harmonies of the 1940s and early 1950s...

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