Mon, Jun 7, 1948
Milton Berle is the host of the series premiere. Guests are comic ventriloquist Senor Wences, singer Pearl Bailey, harmonica player Stan Fisher, acrobatic act the Moroccans, double-talk comedian Al Kelly, flamenco dancers Rosario and Antonio, adagio dancers the Andreas, Betty Alexander (who welcomes viewers), pitchman Sid Stone and the Russ Case orchestra. Bailey sings "Tired" and "Good Enough For Me." Rosario and Antonio dance to "Capriccio Espagnol" and "Fire Dance," and Berle becomes the uncoordinated member of the Moroccans.
Mon, Jun 14, 1948
Harry Richman hosts. His Guests dancers Valerie Bettis and Duncan Noble, acrobatic dance team Costello Twins, musical quartet The Vagabonds, comedy team Willie Howard and Hal Gary, singer Betty Reilly, and tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. With Texaco pitchman Sid Stone and Russ Case and his orchestra.
Mon, Jun 21, 1948
Milton Berle welcome vaudeville comedian Bert Wheeler and singer Harry Richman to the program. Wheeler preforms some his venerable routines and Richman sings "Puttin' on the Ritz", the Irving Berlin song that he introduced in the film of the same name. The shows finale features Berle and Richman imitating Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson.
Mon, Sep 13, 1948
Peter Donald hosts with guests comic Sid Caesar, comic/singer Willie Howard, acrobatic team the Dewey Sisters, dance duo De Marios, and Gil Maison with his dog act. Caesar performs his airplane routine from "Tars and Spars" and appears in an U.N. sketch with Donald. Berle makes a brief cameo.
Mon, Sep 20, 1948
Milton Berle debuts as permanent host. Guests include big band singer Evelyn Knight, vaudeville comedy team Smith and Dale, roller skating team the Four Carters, singing acrobats Park and Clifford, and comic actor Phil Silvers. Smith and Dale perform their vaudeville restaurant routine with Berle as the waiter, and Milton turns Sid Stone's Texaco pitch into a Chinese comedy bit. Sid gives Milton a slapstick lesson on how to sing.
Mon, Sep 27, 1948
Milton Berle's guests are musical/comedy actress Mary McCarty, the Three Wiles, comedians Garry Moore and Lou Costello, hillbilly band Ozark Mountaineers, and dancers The Szonys. Berle joins the Mountaineers as dopey Cousin Elmer, and plays a French dame in the Texaco commercial with Sid Stone. McCarty sings a song about a taxi dancer and Moore does a comic poem about a cow.
Mon, Oct 4, 1948
Milton Berle's guests are comic song-and-dance trio the Slate Brothers, Carmen Miranda, skaters/acrobats Ronnie and May Norman, ballet dancers Paul Haakon and Barbara Carter, vocalists the Charioteers, and Chico Marx. Berle dresses in drag like Miranda and performs with her on a number, and joins in with the Charioteers for comic disruption. Chico plays piano in his TV debut.
Mon, Oct 11, 1948
Milton Berle's guests include comedian/impersonator Florence Desmond, comedian Joe Phillips, comedy entertainer Harry Richman, drummer Jack Powell, and boxer-turned-actor "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom. Berle plays Noel Coward and Desmond is Bankhead in a burlesque of Noel Coward's "Private Lives." Powell performs a drumming number while in blackface.
Mon, Oct 18, 1948
Berle's guests are singer/dancer Jules Munshin, Borrah Minevitch's Harmonica Rascals featuring Johnny Puleo, the Chee Heins Risley act, 70-year-old dancer Emma Francis, and dance team Marge and Gower Champion. The Champions spoof Broadway dancing styles and Munshin takes-off on singers auditioning for the Metropolitan Opera. Berle joins the Chee Heins Risley act and causes chaos with the Stooges. Francis does a soft shoe dance and joins with Berle for a big "cake walk" finish.
Mon, Oct 25, 1948
Berle's guests are Sid Caesar, child actress Verna Raymond, Apache dance trio the Appletons, radio actress Hope Miller, comic dancers/acrobats Dick and Dot Remy, George M. Cohan Jr., and Three Maestros. Berle opens with a patriotic production including the song "Stay Away From the USA." He trades quips with precocious kid performer Raymond following her song-and-dance. Caesar does a routine about movie trailers and joins Berle and Miller in a sketch. Cohan closes the show with a medley of songs made famous by his father.
Mon, Nov 1, 1948
Uncle Miltie is the host of this election night episode. His guests are singer Gertrude Niesen, comics the Calgary Brothers, jugglers the Pierro Brothers, singer/musician Louis Prima, and the Cossack Quartet. Berle is carried onstage by Truman and Dewey impersonators. The Cossack Quartet performs a Russian song before being joined by Berle for goofing. Prima sings "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" and gags with Berle on trumpets for "Tiger Rag." Milton stages an old vaudeville "Western Union" comedy sketch. The Calgary Brothers do a slow-motion drunk routine. Niesen sings "Wha' Hoppen, Baby" and joins Berle for "You're the Top."
Mon, Nov 15, 1948
Berle welcomes singer Ella Logan, comic Red Buttons, magician Russell Swan, comics the Arnaut Brothers, and acrobat/dancers the Crackerjacks. Logan sings "Sunny Side of the Street" and "Little Bit of Heaven." In a sketch, Buttons tries to get money from loan shark Berle. Milton begs out of magician Swan's guillotine act.
Mon, Dec 6, 1948
Milton Berle's guests include comedian Buddy Lester, vaudeville singer Ted Lewis, actress Vivian Blaine, child performer Danny Richards Jr., singer Geraldine DuBois, and animal act Pallenberg's Bears. Blaine sings a medley of songs she introduced in her movies and is joined by Berle for a song-and-dance finish. Lester does a stand-up routine. Berle trades quips with precocious child Richards. In the finale, Lewis is joined by singer DuBois and the rest of the cast in top hat and tails for "When My Baby Smiles at Me."
Mon, Dec 13, 1948
Milton's guests include actor/vaudevillian James Barton, drummer Buddy Rich, Metropolitan Opera star Lauritz Melchior, teeterboard act The Christians, and comedian Lorraine Rognan. Melchior performs the song "Because" and then does "Figaro" in a "Barber of Seville" spoof while giving Berle a shave. Barton does a stand-up where he plays three drunks, and Rognan has Berle play straight man for her comedy routine. In another sketch, Berle and Barton are applying makeup on each other for a blackface routine; they're joined by Melchior for the number.
Mon, Dec 20, 1948
Milton Berle's guests are comedian Henny Youngman, boogie-woogie singer/pianist Maurice Rocco, singer/actress Gracie Fields, actor/announcer Jack La Rue, and child actress Verna Raymond. Youngman comes up through the audience as a concessioner and the pair exchange insults; they team on a ballet send-up. Fields sings "Green-Up Time" and does a comic version of "My Hero." Fields joins Berle and Youngman in a Western sketch, and in a sentimental bit with Raymond. LaRue plays a "tough guy" in a sketch.