Charley Weaver's Hobby Lobby
Encyclopedia
Charley Weaver's Hobby Lobby is a half-hour television interview show produced by Allan Sherman
and the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), and broadcast weekly in
the United States by the ABC network 8–8:30 pm (Eastern Standard Time) on Wednesdays in the 1959–60 television season
.
September 30, 1959. Cliff Arquette
, in his Charley Weaver persona, hosted the show
throughout the run of the series. For the first two months, the show was called Charley Weaver's Hobby Lobby, but on November 25, 1959, the name of the show was changed to The Charley Weaver Show.
The first episodes essentially followed the same format as the Hobby Lobby radio interview show hosted by Dave Elman
and broadcast from 1937 to 1948: people, both celebrities and not, were interviewed about their hobbies, both unusual and not. However, at the end of November (and perhaps earlier),
"variety and comedy sketches" had been added, and hobby discussions were dropped. Charley Weaver's "Letters from Mama" monologues concerning daily life in the fictional town of Mount Idy were always part of the show, with the other members of the cast playing characters referred to in the letters.
Allan Sherman
Allan Sherman was an American comedy writer and television producer who became famous as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, My Son, the Folk Singer , became the fastest-selling record album up to that time...
and the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), and broadcast weekly in
the United States by the ABC network 8–8:30 pm (Eastern Standard Time) on Wednesdays in the 1959–60 television season
1959-60 United States network television schedule
The 1959–60 United States network television schedule was for the period that began in September 1959 and ran through March 1960.By the end of the 1950s, the three major U.S. television networks had basically given up direct control of their TV programs. According to TV historians Castleman and...
.
History
The show premiered onSeptember 30, 1959. Cliff Arquette
Cliff Arquette
Clifford Charles Arquette was an actor and comedian, famous for his role as Charley Weaver.-Early life and career:...
, in his Charley Weaver persona, hosted the show
throughout the run of the series. For the first two months, the show was called Charley Weaver's Hobby Lobby, but on November 25, 1959, the name of the show was changed to The Charley Weaver Show.
The first episodes essentially followed the same format as the Hobby Lobby radio interview show hosted by Dave Elman
Dave Elman
Dave Elman is primarily known today as an author of a book on hypnosis. Over the course of his life he was also well known as the creator and host of a popular radio show known as Hobby Lobby as well as a songwriter and lyricist.-Early life:...
and broadcast from 1937 to 1948: people, both celebrities and not, were interviewed about their hobbies, both unusual and not. However, at the end of November (and perhaps earlier),
"variety and comedy sketches" had been added, and hobby discussions were dropped. Charley Weaver's "Letters from Mama" monologues concerning daily life in the fictional town of Mount Idy were always part of the show, with the other members of the cast playing characters referred to in the letters.
Cast
- Cliff ArquetteCliff ArquetteClifford Charles Arquette was an actor and comedian, famous for his role as Charley Weaver.-Early life and career:...
(Host) as Charley Weaver and as Charley's mother, "Mama Weaver" - Pat CarrollPat Carroll (actress)Patricia Ann “Pat” Carroll is an American actress. She performed in numerous stage productions, and portrayed the roles of "Bunny Halper" on CBS's The Danny Thomas Show, Shirley Feeney's mother on ABC's Laverne and Shirley, and is the voice of the villainous Ursula in The Little Mermaid film...
- Chuck McCannChuck McCannChuck McCann is a film actor, television actor, stage actor, and a voice actor from Brooklyn, New York.-Early career:...
as Wallis Swine - Charles R. Althoff as Grandpa Snyder
- Nancy KovackNancy Kovack__forcetoc__Nancy Kovack is a former American actress.-Biography:She attended the University of Michigan at age 15 and graduated by 19. At the age of 20 she had won eight beauty titles....
(credited as Nancy Kovac) as "witch of the year" - Irene RyanIrene RyanIrene Ryan was an American actress, one of the few entertainers who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television and Broadway....
as beauty pageant winner Miss Mount Idy
Guests
Guests on the show included:- Gypsy Rose LeeGypsy Rose LeeGypsy Rose Lee was an American burlesque entertainer famous for her striptease act. She was also an actress, author, and playwright whose 1957 memoir was made into the stage musical and film Gypsy.-Early life:...
(October 7, 1959). Hobby discussed: Sport Fishing. - Zsa Zsa GaborZsa Zsa GaborZsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian-born American stage, film and television actress.She acted on stage in Vienna, Austria, in 1932, and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", with a personality that...
(October 14, 1959). Hobby discussed: FencingFencingFencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
. - Guy MadisonGuy MadisonGuy Madison was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born Robert Ozell Moseley in Pumpkin Center, California, Madison attended Bakersfield College, a junior college, for two years and then worked briefly as a telephone lineman before joining the United States Coast Guard in...
(November 4, 1959). Hobby discussed: ArcheryArcheryArchery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity... - Eddie BrackenEddie BrackenEdward Vincent "Eddie" Bracken was an American actor.-Life and career:Bracken was born in Astoria, New York, the son of Catherine and Joseph L. Bracken. Bracken performed in vaudeville at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway musical Too Many Girls in a role he reprised for the 1940...
(November 18, 1959). - Edie AdamsEdie AdamsEdie Adams was an American singer, Broadway, television and film actress and comedienne. Adams, a Tony Award winner, "both embodied and winked at the stereotypes of fetching chanteuse and sexpot blonde." She was well-known for her impersonations of female stars on stage and television, most...
(November 25, 1959). - Abigail Van Buren (November 25, 1959)
- Faye EmersonFaye EmersonFaye Margaret Emerson was an American film actress and television interviewer, known as "The First Lady of Television". She acted in many Warner Brothers films beginning in 1941...
(December 2, 1959). - Harold Rome (December 2, 1959).
- Audrey MeadowsAudrey MeadowsAudrey Meadows was an American actress best known for her role as the deadpan housewife Alice Kramden on the 1950s American television comedy The Honeymooners.-Early life:...
(December 9, 1959). - Cedric HardwickeCedric HardwickeSir Cedric Webster Hardwicke was a noted English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly fifty years...
(December 16, 1959). - Barbara NicholsBarbara NicholsBarbara Nichols was an American actress who often played brassy comic roles in a number of films in the 1950s and 1960s.-Early life and Career:...
(December 23, 1959). - Arthur TreacherArthur TreacherArthur Veary Treacher was an English actor born in Brighton, East Sussex, England.Treacher was a veteran of World War I. After the war, he established a stage career and in 1928, he went to America as part of a musical-comedy revue called Great Temptations...
(December 30, 1959). - Maureen O'HaraMaureen O'HaraMaureen O'Hara is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne...
(1960?)
External links
- | Charley Weaver's Hobby Lobby at the | Internet Movie Database website