The Entertainers

The Entertainers was a one-hour American variety show which aired on CBS from September 25, 1964 through March 27, 1965.

The Entertainers
Newhart and Burnett with a photo of Valente, 1964.
Genre	Variety show
Written by	Vincent Bogert Sydney Zelinka Tony Webster Philip Green Treva Silverman David Panich Arnie Rosen Coleman Jacoby
Starring	Carol Burnett, Bob Newhart, and Caterina Valente[1]
Country of origin	USA
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Executive producer	Bob Banner
Producer	Joe Hamilton
Running time	60 minutes[1]
Production companies	Bob Banner Associates, in association with the CBS Television Network
Distributor	CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	black and white videotape
Audio format	mono
Original release	September 25, 1964 (1964-09-25)[1] – March 27, 1965 (1965-03-27)[2]

Produced by Joe Hamilton, the series featured three hosts; Hamilton's then-wife Carol Burnett, Bob Newhart, and Caterina Valente.[2] In order to serve as a regular host, it was necessary for Burnett to leave her role in the Broadway musical Fade Out - Fade In,[3] and was summarily sued by the show's producers for breach of contact.[4]

Broadcast weekly from New York, where it was taped Friday evenings at CBS Studio 50 (now the Ed Sullivan Theater), the variety show format was typical of the period. It contained a mix of comedy sketches, musical numbers performed by a regular group of series' artists and having one or two guest stars (such as Boris Karloff, Phil Silvers, and Chita Rivera) who hosted, alongside Burnett and Valente each week. Initially airing Friday night at 8:30pm ET/PT, but after not doing well in the ratings, the show was moved in January 1965, to Saturday's at 9:00pm ET/PT, and the format was slightly altered, with Newhart and a few of the series' regulars leaving the cast, and Burnett and Valente taking co-hosting positions for the remainder of the series' run.[2]