May 23, 1964…And Away We Go…From NYC To Miami Beach
May 23, 1964…And Away We Go…From NYC To Miami Beach
Jackie Gleason’s last show from his longtime home, at CBS Studio 50 in New York (now The Ed Sullivan Theater), aired May 23, 1964. After the summer break, the show debuted from The Miami Beach Convention Center on September 26.
Below is a photo of Jackie, and well known gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, on the train from New York to Miami. Gleason had done another famous train trip from NY to LA, and like this one, it was a non stop party all the way. This was not just a press junket though…now, the whole train was theirs and carried the entire show, the crew, writers, their families, and even all their furniture, to the Magic City.
Also shown here is a ticket to the taping of the show in NYC that answers some questions. From 1952 until 1957, “The Jackie Gleason Show” had been live on Saturday nights from Studio 50, with the exception of the 1955 season, which was the famous 39 episode filmed run of “The Honeymooners”.
Ed Sullivan’s Sunday night hit, “Toast Of The Town” had started in 1948 at the Maxine Elliott Theater (also known as CBS Studio 51), but moved to Studio 50 in January of 1953. With Gleason live Saturday nights, and in camera rehearsal Thursday and Friday, that only gave Sullivan all day Sunday to rehearse and camera block. At times, there were some difficulties with such a short time to rehearse for their Sunday night show, but everyone was a pro, and knew what to do, so things worked out.
Gleason went on hiatus from ’57 till his return in ’62 with his Saturday night “American Scene Magazine” show, but by then two things had happened: Sullivan was using both Saturday and Sunday to rehearse, and since Jackie’s departure, videotape had become a standard medium. That meant camera rehearsals were no longer a problem, and unbeknownst to most of his adoring Saturday night television audience, Jackie was going his show “live to tape” on Thursday nights at Studio 50. -Bobby Ellerbee
WTVJ, 4, Miami was the CBS affiliate, and did a special program on the train carrying the Jackie Gleason entourage to Miami.
The program was shot on film, and a kinescope of the broadcast survives.
It was digitized from film at the Lynn and Lewis Wolfson II archive that’s part of Miami Dade College.
http://www.wolfsonarchives.info/view/?id=54092&accession=TVK0085&status=DIGITIZED&wc_no=TVK0085&search_term=Jackie%20Gleason&fileid=TVK0085-R01-01.mp4
WTVJ’s newsfilm and early news tape collection is there along with collections for mother Miami television stations and home movies that Create a window into South Florida and Miami Miami over the years.
We’re pleased to have helped supply the MWA film scanners used in digitization since 2012.
Wish we could see some reruns sometime!?
I remember being in Miami when the Gleason Show was cancelled in that 1969-70 CBS purge of demographically older audience/”rural appeal” long time series (with contract escalators like Gleason’s). “The Miami Herald” reported that 170 direct jobs, and another 140 jobs deriving indirect benefits from “Gleason” were being lost. Not too much sun and fun that day.
Morley Safer…”was there a bar on the train?”…Jackie “The train WAS a bar!”
Why is the Gleason Variety show virtually unseen all these years? No excerpts, no YouTube (as far as I can tell), nothing. I’ve seen some of the 50s version at the Paley in L.A., but that’s it, old kines. Did Gleason own the show? Who controls his estate? Very strange this question never comes up. I understand they yanked out portions of the Honeymooners from the later shows, but that’s it, from an hour variety show.
How sweet it was that he chartered a whole train to move everyone AND their furniture to Miami. I wonder how many moved vs. stayed in NY. 1964 was near the start of some bad years for New York City, esp. Manhattan.
I read somewhere that Jackie Gleason owned an observation car. I worked with one sound guy who rode the train to Miami who told me it was one blow out of a party the whole time.
I remember the dramatic opening over the water and Johnny Olsen’s intro (from Miami Beach, the fun and sun capital of the world), and Gleason saying “The Miami audiences are the greatest audiences”.