Once Upon a Tune
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image =
| caption =
| alt_name =
| genre = Music/Variety
| creator =
| writer = Sid Frank
| director = Barnaby Smith
| creative_director =
| developer =
| presenter =
| starring = Bea Arthur
Reginald Beane
Charlotte Rae
Gordon Dilworth
Phil Hanna
Holly Harris
| voices =
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme =
| endtheme =
| composer = Coleman Dowell
| country = United States
| language = English
| num_seasons =
| num_episodes =
| list_episodes =
| producer = Bob Loewi
| editor =
| location =
| cinematography =
| runtime = 30 minutes
| channel = DuMont
| first_aired = {{start date|1951|3|6}}
| last_aired = {{end date|1951|5|15}}
}}
Once Upon a Tune is a weekly half-hour American television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network, premiering on March 6, 1951, and running to May 15, 1951.
The series presented original musical productions which were often satirical and tongue-in-cheek adaptations of either classic fairy tales or contemporary Broadway musicals. Bea Arthur made her TV debut on this series.[http://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=once+upon+a+tune&p=1&item=T85:0428 Paley Center entry]
Episode status
The Paley Center for Media holds kinescope copies of three episodes – one spoofing "Three Little Pigs",[http://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=once+upon+a+tune&p=1&item=T85:0428 Paley Center entry] one spoofing "Rapunzel",[http://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=once+upon+a+tune&p=1&item=T85:0427 Paley Center entry] and the third on a 57-minute kinescope film reel. (This latter reel also contains an episode of Mr. Dynamite, a TV series or pilot based on an earlier Hollywood movie of the same name based on a Dashiell Hammett story.)[http://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=once+upon+a+tune&p=1&item=T86:1035 Paley Center entry]
According to Edie Adams, an actress who worked at DuMont for several years, much of the network's programming archive was destroyed in the 1970s.{{Citation needed |date=May 2023}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
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}}
External links
- [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0793333/ Once Upon a Tune at IMDB]
- [https://dumonthistory.com/a2.html DuMont historical website]
Category:American musical comedy television series
Category:DuMont Television Network original programming
Category:1950s American satirical television series
Category:1951 American television series debuts