


The show would often open by showing bubbles floating around and was accompanied by a sound effect of a bottle of champagne opening, including the opening theme ("Bubbles in the Wine," composed by Welk and Frank Loesser). The show was a top 30 hit for five seasons, according to 's ratings database. (During later years, a number of Welk cast members appeared in commercials for many of the show's sponsors, filmed specifically to air during Welk broadcasts.) Nielsen Ratings The primary sponsor of The Lawrence Welk Show was Dodge (automobile maker), later to be followed by Geritol (a multivitamin), Sominex ( sleep aid), Aqua Velva ( aftershave), Serutan ( laxative), Universal Appliances (manufacturer of home appliances), Polident (a denture cleanser), Ocean Spray (fruit juice) and Sinclair Oil ( automobile fuel) served as associate sponsors for a short time. The name stuck, and it became the most popular variety show ever. Starting with the 1959–60 season the two shows were merged into The Lawrence Welk Show, reverting to monophonic broadcasts.
The lawrence welk cast tv#
Due to the fact that stereophonic television had not yet been invented (it would be 25 more years before it would become standard), ABC instead simulcast the show on its radio network, with the TV side airing one audio channel and the radio side airing the other viewers would tune in both the TV and the radio to achieve the stereophonic effect. The Plymouth show was the first American television program to air in stereophonic sound. The second show's title was Lawrence Welk Presents Top Tunes and New Talent (1956–58) and then Lawrence Welk's Plymouth Show, after another Chrysler vehicle (1958–59). During 1956–59, Lawrence Welk was broadcast two nights per week. When the show debuted nationwide, The Lawrence Welk Show was billed as the Dodge Dancing Party in 19. The syndicated version of the program aired from 1971 to 1982. Eastern time on Saturdays over some of the ABC affiliates on which he had previously appeared, along with some stations affiliated with other networks. When the show was cancelled by the head of programming there, Welk formed his own production company and continued airing the show, on local stations and, often from 7 to 8 P.M. Once a couple of studios at the ABC Prospect and Talmadge facilities had been converted to color in 1966, the show moved back there.

The 1965-66 season was taped at the Hollywood Palace because that was ABC's only West Coast TV studio at the time equipped for live or taped color production Welk had insisted that the show go color in 1965 because he believed that being broadcast in color was critical to the continued success of his program. The only seasons not produced there were 1965–66, 1976–77 at the Hollywood Palace and CBS Television City from 1977 to 1979. For 23 of its 27 years on the air, the show would originate there. The show made its national television debut on ABC Television on July 2, 1955, and was initially produced at the Hollywood Palladium, moving to the ABC studios at Prospect and Talmadge in Hollywood shortly afterwards. The original show was broadcast from the since-demolished Aragon Ballroom at Venice Beach. On May 11, 1951, The Lawrence Welk Show began as a local program on KTLA in Los Angeles, the flagship station of the Paramount Television Network and the first television station in California.

These airings incorporate an original program-usually, a color broadcast from 1965 through 1982-in its entirety. In the years since first-run syndication ended, The Lawrence Welk Show has continued to reach new audiences through repeat episodes, broadcast in the United States by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations.
The lawrence welk cast series#
The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 27½ years via the ABC network, from 1955 to 1971, and first-run syndication from 1971 to 1982. The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. American Broadcasting Company (1955–1971)
