Ladies' Date

{{infobox television

| image =

| caption =

| runtime = 30 minutes

| creator =

| starring = Bruce Mayer

| country = United States

| network = DuMont

| first_aired = {{start date|1952|10|13}}

| last_aired = {{end date|1953|7|31}}

| num_episodes =

}}

Ladies' Date is a 1952-1953 American daytime television series that was broadcast on the DuMont Television Network.{{cite book |last1=Hyatt |first1=Wesley |title=The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television |date=1997 |publisher=Watson-Guptill Publications |isbn=978-0823083152 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofda00hyat/page/254/mode/2up|accessdate=22 March 2020|page=254}} The program was an afternoon variety/audience participation show, hosted by Bruce Mayer, who had been the host of a similar series locally in Detroit.

Overview

An audience-participation program, Ladies' Date included party games and stunts with features such as "Pen Pusher's Parade", "Notable Neighbor", "Lady for a Day", and "Ideal Mother-in-Law".

Broadcast history

Meet the Ladies, a program that Mayer wrote and produced in Detroit, was the basis for Ladies' Date. It began on radio and then was televised, and it was the most popular daytime program in the Detroit area. When he moved to WABD-TV in New York, he sent 2,500 letters to organizations to invite women to participate in the new program.{{cite news |last1=Lester |first1=John |title=Ladies Date's Bruce Mayer keeps gals gay |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1108760799/?match=1&terms=%22Ladies%27%20Date%22%20%22Bruce%20Mayer%22 |access-date=December 11, 2024 |work=The Newark Star-Ledger |date=December 19, 1952 |page=31|via = Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription }}

Ladies' Date was broadcast from WABD. The program aired Monday through Friday from 1pm to 1:30pm ET from October 13, 1952, to July 31, 1953.McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television (4th ed.), p. 411. New York: Penguin Books. {{ISBN|0-14-024916-8}} Sandy Howard was the producer, and Jim Saunders was the director.{{cite book |last1=Hyatt |first1=Wesley |title=Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops |date=October 6, 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0515-9 |page=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ty21CgAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA43&dq=%22Ladies'%20Date%22%20Dumont&pg=PA43#v=onepage&q=%22Ladies'%20Date%22%20Dumont&f=true |access-date=December 11, 2024 |language=en}}

Preservation status

As with most DuMont series, no episodes are known to exist.

See also

References

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Bibliography

  • David Weinstein, The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004) {{ISBN|1-59213-245-6}}
  • Alex McNeil, Total Television, Fourth edition (New York: Penguin Books, 1980) {{ISBN|0-14-024916-8}}
  • Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows, Third edition (New York: Ballantine Books, 1964) {{ISBN|0-345-31864-1}}