The Jo Stafford Show

Synopsis

The Jo Stafford Show is a 15-minute musical variety program which aired on CBS in prime time in the 1954–1955 television season. Jo Stafford began her solo singing career after success with the big band group known as The Pied Pipers. Arrangements for the program were handled by Stafford's husband, Paul Weston, himself a conductor and arranger at Capitol Records and Columbia Records. The series aired on Tuesday evenings at 7:45 Eastern Time after Douglas Edwards with the News and preceding the half-hour The Red Skelton Show. Singer Perry Como had a similar 15-minute program on CBS in the same time slot on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings. Paul Weston wrote a special theme song for the show. The show had the same cast of regular performers Stafford worked with during her Chesterfield Supper Club shows from Hollywood. Paul Weston and his Orchestra and the Starlighters provided the music and vocal accompaniments on the television show just as they had done on Stafford's hosted "Supper Club" radio programs. The television program was done live. During the year it aired, Stafford was beset with many of the on-air difficulties which came with live television, including the loss of her skirt on one show while singing "Let Me Go, Lover!". One of the cast members tripped, and as he fell, a button on his coat caught in Stafford's costume. Her skirt falling along with the actor, Stafford tried holding onto it while singing "Let me go".